As the carbon storage capacity of timber is recognized, there is growing interest in timber and wooden structures as a solution to various environmental problems. The use of Korean timber with substantial carbon storage capacity is required to reduce Korean carbon emissions and circulate timber resources. In this study, fire tests were conducted to investigate the charring properties of glued laminated timber columns made of Korean larch. The fire tests were conducted under both load-bearing and non-load-bearing conditions. The fire test results showed that the charring depth was affected by the corners of the section, and that the load ratio had an insignificant influence on the charring depth when the load ratio was 0.9 or less. This study provides data that can be used to compare the charring properties of laminated wood produced using South Korean larch with the charring properties of foreign standards. This provides reference data for developing fire-resistant design standards for timber structures made from South Korean timber.

Floral nectar is a key reward in Leguminosae despite the exceptional diversity of flowers in this family. The paper aims to summarize the available data on structure, ontogeny, regulation, and possible evolution of the leguminous floral nectaries. To date, detailed characterization of ultrastructure and mode of secretion is available only for a few representative of the family whereas the majority remains understudied from this perspective. In most cases, regardless of flower symmetry, nectaries are localized between stamens and a carpel. The nectar is usually exuded from modified stomata although the exact mode of secretion by specialized parenchyma may differ between taxa. The leguminous floral nectaries often have certain features of monosymmetry with preferentially abaxial development. Nectaries were independently lost in several lineages, and equally recurrent is the emergence of substitutive, i.e. evolutionary innovative, nectar-producing structures. Floral nectaries possess a certain degree of evolutionary inertia, i.e. they remain stable even in lineages in which flower morphology underwent significant changes compared with an ancestral plan, such as shifts in merism, symmetry, organ number and alike. Due to their evolutionary stability, floral nectaries are rarely used in taxonomy of Leguminosae.

Accurate assessment of shale gas reserves hinges on a detailed characterization of gas and water distribution within shale reservoirs. Despite its importance, the nanoscale behavior of water and methane in deep shale formations, especially under elevated temperatures and pressures, remains poorly understood. This study proposes a novel molecular modeling approach to represent the complex nanocomposite porous media found in deep shale matrices. Leveraging quantitative data from experimental analyses of shale pore composition, we developed a molecular model that accurately reflects the intricate pore-slit structure within a composite of kerogen and illite, common constituents of shale. Employing a hybrid grand canonical Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulation technique, we investigated the micro-scale distribution and preferential adsorption sites of water and methane within the shale matrix. Our research further elucidates the impact of water on the pore structure of shale and delineates the co-occurrence patterns of water and methane. The simulations reveal that water and methane share similar adsorption preferences on kerogen surfaces, while methane does not exhibit specific adsorption preferences on water-bearing illite. We also find that the presence of water significantly alters the illite pore space, leading to a reduction in larger pore volumes and a concomitant increase in smaller pores. The decrease in methane content with increasing water content is more pronounced in the shrinkage cracks compared to the kerogen matrix pores and is particularly notable in the macropores of illite. The findings underscore the differential sensitivity of methane content to water levels across various shale pore types. These insights contribute to a deeper theoretical understanding of gas and water distribution mechanisms in deep shale reservoirs, offering valuable support for the evaluation of deep shale gas resource potential.

A field study was conducted at the Eastern Mediterranean Agricultural Research Institute, Adana, Turkey, during the 2022/23 cropping seasons to examine the impact of Mepiquat chloride dosage applied at different intervals to optimize growth, yield characteristics enhancement and improve fiber quality attributes of cotton. The study employed a split-split plot design with three replications. The results revealed that differences among treatments were not statistically significant for most parameters investigated. The observed discrepancies indicated that all treatments tested in 2012 delayed cotton development, whereas in 2023, they led to premium fibers. In 2023, the fiber percentage was highest in the control treatment, and in 2022, it was highest at 400 mL·ha-1. Across all years, the Selin variety exhibited the highest fiber percentage when Mepiquat chloride was applied at the bolling stage. The shoot-root ratio was highest at 400 mL·ha-1 during harvest in 2022 and at 0 mL·ha-1 during the reproductive stage in 2023. Overall, the results demonstrated that the application of Mepiquat chloride altered the physiological characteristics of the cotton plants, leading to bottom-up effects on cotton performance. This implies that the effectiveness of Mepiquat chloride in cotton production to alleviate drought stress is influenced by weather-related conditions.

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

Groundwater is becoming increasingly important in the Pacific Northwest of the USA due to declining snowpack volumes and shifts in precipitation type and timing, all connected with climate change. The Upper Williamson Basin of the Klamath Watershed is a groundwater dominated watershed with massive fluctuations in year-to-year streamflow volumes over the past four decades, including the complete absence of any live flow for several years. The precise relationship between groundwater and streamflow in the basin has been difficult to assess due to a limited number of monitoring wells and significant gaps in the water level time history. To address this challenge, we use a novel imputation technique that leverages Earth observations and machine learning to impute gaps in water level records. We use these more complete datasets to compute a groundwater storage change time series for the basin. We show that groundwater storage is highly correlated to streamflow and that groundwater storage is correlated to rainfall with a three- to four-year delay that appears variable depending on groundwater storage volumes. The tools and relationships we present make it possible for water managers to estimate when streamflows will return to the basin and be more informed to support better management.

Goal of this article is to provide the numerical and experimental assessments of an effective near-field to far-field transformation (NF–FF T) technique with planar spiral scanning for flat antennas under test (AUTs), which requires a non-redundant, i.e. minimum, amount of NF measurements. This technique has its roots in the theory of non-redundant sampling representations of electromagnetic fields and has been devised by suitably applying the unified theory of spiral scans for non-volumetric antennas to the case in which the considered AUT is modeled by a circular disk having its radius equal to one half the AUT maximum dimension. It makes use of a 2-D optimal sampling interpolation (OSI) formula to accurately determine the massive NF data required by the classical plane-rectangular NF–FF T technique from the non-redundant ones gathered along the spiral. It must be emphasized that, when considering flat AUTs, the developed transformation allows to further and significantly save measurement time as compared to that needed by the previously developed NF–FF T techniques with planar spiral scans based on the quasi-planar antennas modelings, because the number of turns of the spiral and that of NF data to be acquired depend somehow on the area of the modeling surface. The reported numerical simulations assess the accuracy of the proposed NF–FF T technique, whereas the experimental tests prove its practical feasibility.

The standard edge crush test (ECT) allows to determine the crushing strength of the corrugated cardboard. Unfortunately, this test cannot be used to estimate the compressive stiffness, which is an equally important parameter. It is because, any attempt to determine this parameter using current lab equipment quickly ends in a fiasco. The biggest obstacle is obtaining a reliable measurement of displacements and strains in the corrugated cardboard sample. In this paper, we present a method that not only allows to reliably identify the stiffness in the loaded direction of orthotropy in the corrugated board sample, but also the full orthotropic material stiffness matrix. The proposed method uses two samples: (a) traditional, cut crosswise to the wave direction of the corrugated core, and (b) cut at an angle of 45 degrees. Additionally, in both cases, an optical system with digital image correlation (DIC) is used to measure the displacements and strains on the outer surface of samples. The use of a non-contact measuring system allows to avoid using the measurement of displacements from the crosshead, which is burdened with a large error. Apart from the new experimental configuration, the article also proposes a simple algorithm to quickly characterize all sought stiffness parameters. The obtained results are finally compared with the results obtained in the homogenization procedure of the cross-section of the corrugated board. The results were consistent in both cases.

In the framework of the H2020 CLEANDEM project a small robotic vehicle was equipped with a series of different sensors, developed for the preliminary inspection of areas possibly contaminated by radiation. Such unmanned inspection allows to identify dangerous locations prior to the possible start of human operations. One of the developed devices, named MiniRadMeter, is a compact, low-cost sensor to perform gamma and neutron radiation field mapping of the environment. The MiniRadMeter was successfully tested in a simulated field mission with four "hidden" radioactive sources and a neutron generator. In this work we describe the test procedure and the results, also supported by the outcome of dedicated Monte Carlo simulations.

This paper explores indigenous perspectives on the understanding and management of cultural heritage within the Mapungubwe and Makgabeng Cultural landscapes in South Africa. State-based management system paid little attention to indigeneity resulting in contested interpretation of the archaeological past. This by-passing of indigenous input is a product of colonial and apartheid policies that glorified Western practices at the expense of black African heritage stakeholders. World heritage mechanisms are also skewed in favor of modern practice which is overly designed to be sensitive to tangible aspects of the past than the intangible elements that make up much of indigenous African heritage. We used the archaeology of Mapungubwe and Makgabeng Cultural landscapes as a test case for the impact of indigenous voices on heritage, but the results have wider applicability. We employed semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions to gather qualitative data that we calibrated with our lived experiences as products of Tsonga-speakers from this broader landscape. The results expose that indigenous people use physical manifestation of sites, ethnographic inquiry, names, oral history, spirit mediums, landscape memory, genealogy, and praise poetry to identify, interpret, evaluate, and manage their cultural heritage. Additionally, indigenous perspectives which rely on collective memory, ritual practices, and indigenous knowledge systems have huge potential for enriching our understanding of the archaeological heritage. We propose a more inclusive archaeology and heritage management practice that involve indigenous groups in the identification, interpretation, grading, and presentation of the African past.

Despite global efforts to improve vaccination coverage, the number of zero dose and under immunized children has increased in the African continent, particularly in Nigeria where more than 2.3 million unvaccinated children currently reside, making it the country with highest number of unvaccinated children on the African continent. It is thus imperative to identity barriers and facilitators of immunization in Nigeria with a view to formulate and design targeted interventions that can effectively bridge the immunization gap in Nigeria. In this review, we systematically mapped and summarized existing literature and data on key barriers to vaccine uptake, and facilitators influencing immunization practices in Nigeria. The electronic databases were systematically searched and articles that reported determinants of routine immunization uptake in Nigeria from inception of the databases up till October 2023 were included. The eligible articles were evaluated using a set of pre-defined criteria and the extracted data were analysed and visualized. This scoping review identified barriers spanning logistical, socio-economic, cultural, and healthcare system-related aspects, highlighting the need for a multi-pronged approach to address these challenges. While considerable progress has been made over the years, persistent barriers like distance between area of residence of caregivers and immunization centers, vaccine shortages, poor interpersonal relationship between healthcare workers and caregivers and cultural/religious influences persist. Lastly, collaborative efforts among stakeholders and communities remain paramount in ensuring improved routine immunization coverage across the Nigeria’s diverse socio-cultural landscape.

Due to limitation of natural sand from rivers and seas, artificial sand production from large stones or rocks is being increased. However, this sand manufacturing process is dangerous and causes several social problems such as high level of unwanted vibrations or noises. This study investigates vibration characteristics of sand and screen units in artificial sand production plant whose actuating operation is multiple with several different exciting frequencies. As a first step, vibration levels are measured at the sand and screen unit positions using accelerometers in time and frequency domains. The measurement is carried out at two different conditions: activating sand unit only and operating entire facilities such as stone crusher. Vibration signals acquired from several locations of the sand and screen units of the plant are collected and analyzed from waveforms and spectrums of the signals. It is identified that the vibration acceleration level of the screen unit is higher than that of the sand unit. In addition, it is found from the acceleration signals measured at plant office and shipping control center those places are far away from the plant location that the beating phenomenon is occurred by close driving frequencies for several sand units. In this work, the vibration caused from the beating is significantly reduced by adjusting the driving frequencies for the sand units so that they are sufficiently scattered to avoid the beating.

(1) Background: Since microplastics in the aquatic environment are difficult to prevent and can cause adverse physiological and biochemical reactions to various organisms, we aimed to analyze the effectiveness of an eco-friendly removal method using aquatic plants with high ornamental value and excellent water purification ability. (2) Methods: Iris pseudacorus and Lythrum anceps were planted in tap water contaminated with microplastics to analyze the removal rate and root adsorption of microplastics. (3) Results: The amount of microplastics in the planting boxes of Iris pseudacorus and Lythrum anceps was significantly reduced, and the adsorption of microplastics on the roots was confirmed. (4) Conclusions: It was found that the removal of microplastics in water by aquatic plants is effective and that microplastic pollution does not significantly affect plant growth. However, the removal of microplastics by adsorption on plant roots may be affected by various environmental factors, so it is necessary to consider various limitations.

Economic, social, and environmental sustainability are the results of efforts aiming to improve all aspects of milk production, respecting animal welfare and improving herd health. An epidemi-ological study was designed to assess the role of contagious pathogens (S. aureus and S.agalactiae) in a cohort of 120 dairy herds located in the southern regions of Italy. Milk quality was assessed using certified methods, and the prevalence of mastitis pathogens in bulk tank milk was determined using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Welfare scores were assessed using a scoring card that have more than 100 items, including animal-based measurements. Statistical analyses were performed using general lineal model and logistic regression procedures. The results showed that S. aureus had a significant negative effect on the amount of milk components delivered to the dairy plant, and on the level of welfare. Whereas, the presence of S.agalactiae did not show any significant association. The major risk factors associated with the presence of S.aureus were also identified to help prioritise control programs. These results support the “One Sustainability” approach im-plying that an increase of animal productivity is related to the improvement of animal health and welfare and potentially leading to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.Economic, social, and environmental sustainability are the results of efforts aiming to improve all aspects of milk production, respecting animal welfare and improving herd health. An epidemi-ological study was designed to assess the role of contagious pathogens (S. aureus and S.agalactiae) in a cohort of 120 dairy herds located in the southern regions of Italy. Milk quality was assessed using certified methods, and the prevalence of mastitis pathogens in bulk tank milk was determined using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Welfare scores were assessed using a scoring card that have more than 100 items, including animal-based measurements. Statistical analyses were performed using general lineal model and logistic regression procedures. The results showed that S. aureus had a significant negative effect on the amount of milk components delivered to the dairy plant, and on the level of welfare. Whereas, the presence of S.agalactiae did not show any significant association. The major risk factors associated with the presence of S.aureus were also identified to help prioritise control programs. These results support the “One Sustainability” approach im-plying that an increase of animal productivity is related to the improvement of animal health and welfare and potentially leading to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.

Quantifying an imaging modality’s ability to reproduce results is important for establishing its utility. In Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI), new acquisition protocols are regularly introduced, which improve upon their precursors with respect to signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), total acquisition duration, and nominal voxel resolution. This study has quantified the within-subject and between-subject reproducibility of one such new protocol (reduced-Field-of-View-Density-Weighted-Concentric-Ring-Trajectory (rFOV-DW-CRT) MRSI) by calculating the Coefficient of Variance of data acquired from a test-retest experiment. The Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC) and the Right Superior Corona Radiata (SCR) were selected as the Regions of Interest (ROIs) for Grey Matter (GM) and White Matter (WM), respectively. CVs for between-subject and within-subject are consistently around or below 15% for Glx, tCho, and Myo-Ins and below 5% for tNAA and tCr.

The cutter structure and layout scheme of PDC (Polycrystalline Diamond Compact) bits are important factors in improving efficiency. To further improve the drilling efficiency of PDC bits, axe, triangular prism, and cylindrical PDC cutters were used as research objects. Based on the measured granite data, a finite element model of non-homogeneous granite was established and verified by uniaxial compression simulation. The rock-breaking process of different cutter combination schemes was compared using the finite element method, and the parameters in the best scheme were optimized using the Box-Behnken response surface method. The results show that the constructed model of non-homogeneous granite is consistent with the stress-strain relationship of real granite and is reliable. The axe PDC cutter is more aggressive than the other two cutters and is more suitable for the front row of the bit blade tooth arrangement, while the triangular prism cutter is the second most aggressive and is suitable for the rear row of tooth arrangement, and the best combination scheme is the front row of axe cutter and the rear row of triangular prism cutter arranged alternately with the axe cutter. The optimal transverse and longitudinal distances of the optimized triangular prism cutter from the front axe cutter are 10mm and 7mm, and the optimal transverse and longitudinal distances of the rear axe cutter from the front cutter are 10.06mm and 7mm. The drilling speed is more stable during drilling and the PDC bit with mixed tooth arrangement has 16.8% and 16.6% higher rate of penetration(ROP) compared with the bit with single axe cutter and triangular prism cutter, and the drilling speed is more stable during working, which can effectively improve the rock breaking efficiency of the PDC bit. The field application proves that the bit with mixed cutter arrangement is easier to break the complex formations, with more stable ROP and better efficiency. The study can provide theoretical support for the cutter layout of the PDC bit.

The article focuses on derivation of simplified predictive models for identification of overall compressive stiffness and strength of corrugated cardboards. As a representative example an unsymmetrical 5-ply sample (with E and B flute) was used in this study. In order to exclude unreliable displacement measurement in the standard edge crush test, the virtual strain gauges are used. Video extensometry is employed here to collect measurements from the outer surfaces of the sample on both sides. Additional data allows for obtaining real force-displacement curves, which are used in the validation procedure. To emulate the experimental results, beside simple analytical model, also a 3D numerical model fully reflecting the geometry of the corrugated board, based on finite elements method was also built. In both cases a good agreement between the experimental results and the analytical and numerical calculations was observed. This proves that the proposed analytical model can be successfully used to determine the overall stiffness and compressive strength of the corrugated board, provided that the geometry and properties of all the layers of the board are known. The simple model presented in this work enables quick and reliable design and prototyping of new assemblies without the need to manufacture them.

The outdoor field test of the 4-terminal on Si tandem photovoltaic module (specifically, InGaP/GaAs on Si) was investigated and performance model, considering spectrum change affected by fluctuation of atmospheric parameters, was developed and validated. The 4-terminal on Si tandem photovoltaic module had about 40 % advantage in seasonal performance loss compared with standard InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs 2-terminal tandem photovoltaic module. This advantage is expanded in (subarctic zone) < (temperate zone) < (subtropical zone). The developed and validated model used all-climate spectrum model and considered fluctuation of atmospheric parameters, and can be applied every type of on-Si tandem solar cells.

Granulomatous mastitis is a benign disease with a clinical presentation similar to that of breast cancer, and is most commonly observed in women of childbearing age. Although it has been suggested that autoimmune diseases are involved in its pathogenesis, no specific treatments have been established. The occurrence of this disease during pregnancy has rarely been reported. Our patient was a 37-year-old woman. She was pregnant and manifested a dichorionic, diamniotic placenta. At 24 weeks of gestation, the patient experienced a sensation of hardness in her left breast. Mastitis was suspected, and she was treated with cephem antibiotics. Simultaneously, she was diagnosed with erythema nodosum in the extremities. As her symptoms did not improve, an incisional drainage was performed. Bacterial cultures were obtained at 31 weeks of gestation, and Corynebacterium kroppenstedtii was detected. An elective cesarean section was performed at 37 weeks of gestation, and the baby was delivered safely. After delivery, a needle biopsy was performed, and the patient was diagnosed with granulomatous mastitis. She was completely cured with prednisolone after weaning. In this case, the patient's condition was maintained through incision and drainage; and antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic drugs during pregnancy. This approach was chosen, taking into consideration the potential side effects of steroids. After delivery, breastfeeding and steroidal therapy proved to be effective in treating the condition.

Automatic Milking Systems (AMS) are revolutionizing the dairy industry by boosting herd effi-ciency, primarily through increased milk yield per cow and reduced labor costs. The performance of milking machines, whether traditional or automated, can be evaluated using advanced vacuum meters through dynamic testing. This process involves scrutinizing the system and milking rou-tine to identify critical points, utilizing the VaDia™ logger (BioControl AS, Rakkestad, NO). Vacuum recordings were downloaded and analyzed using the VaDia Suite™ software under the guidance of a milking specialist. Access to data from AMS across various manufacturers and herds facilitated a retrospective study aimed at describing and comparing key milk emission parameters for different AMS brands while identifying potential mastitis risk factors. Using proper statistical procedures of SPSS 29.1 (IBM Corp, USA), researchers analyzed data from 4,878 individual quarter milkings from cows in 48 dairy herds. Results indicated significant variability in milking pa-rameters associated to quarter milk yield and AMS brand. Notably, despite AMS standardizing teat preparation and stimulation, the study revealed a surprisingly high frequency of two major mastitis risk factors—bimodality and irregular vacuum fluctuations—occurring more frequently than in conventional milking systems. This study, one of the few comparing different AMS brands and their performance, highlights the crucial role of dynamic testing in evaluating AMS perfor-mance under real-world conditions.

Abstract Mastitis is a common disease of dairy animals. The source of mastitis infection may be regarded as contagious or environmental. A wide range of pathogens including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and the toxins of these pathogens can cause the disease. Mastitis is generally associated with poor hygienic and husbandry practices. The primary reservoir of infection is the mammary gland. The infectious agent enters through the milk canal, interacts with the mammary tissue/cells and multiplies. Most contagious mastitis causing pathogens are spread during milking. Most other species are opportunistic invaders from the cow's environment.

Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a rare condition characterised by chronic inflammation and granuloma formation in the breast. The aetiology of IGM is unclear. By focusing on the protein-coding regions of the genome, where most disease-related mutations often occur, whole-exome sequencing (WES) is a powerful approach for investigating rare and complex conditions, like IGM. We report WES results on paired blood and tissue samples from eight IGM patients. Samples were processed using standard genomic protocols. Somatic variants were called with two analytical pipelines: nf-core/sarek with Strelka2 and GATK4 with Mutect2. Our WES study of eight patients did not find evidence supporting a clear genetic component. The discrepancies between variant calling algorithms, along with the considerable genetic heterogeneity observed amongst the eight IGM cases, indicate that common genetic drivers are not readily identifiable. With only three genes, CHIT1, CEP170, and CTR9, recurrently altered in multiple cases, the genetic basis of IGM remains uncertain. The absence of validation for somatic variants by Sanger sequencing raises further questions about the role of genetic mutations in the disease. These observations suggest that IGM may be influenced by non-genetic factors, such as environmental triggers or immune system dysregulation, rather than being primarily a genetic disorder.

In Mexico there is a deficit in the production of pine resin, because it depends on natural forests. Therefore, it is necessary to select provenances and phenotypes of potential species such as P. oocarpa. The objective was to determine the difference between provenances and the variation of resin components and quality, as well as the effect of geographic and climatic factors. Resin from five provenances was collected from southern Mexico. The percentage of rosin, turpentine and water was obtained, as well as the acidity and saponification index. P. oocarpa resin had 80.94 % rosin, 7.7 % turpentine and 11.49 % water. The saponification and acidity index was 125.47 and 117.49 mg KOH.g_1, respectively. All variables showed differences (p≤ 0.0001) between provenances. The provenance contributed between 6.44 and 11.71 % to the total variance, the error contributed between 88.29 and 93.56 %. Geographic and climatic variables only had an effect on the percentage of turpentine; the correlation was negative with altitude and longitude, but positive with temperature and precipitation. The results allow defining seed collection sites for resin plantations and orienting the selection for a P. oocarpa improvement program.

Season plays a key role in the development of outdoor spaces for pedestrians in hot humid cities. This research studies the influence of seasonal variations on pedestrian thermal comfort on the pedestrian level by means of meteorology and field observations of selected footpaths in the major tourist area of Malacca. This experiment was carried out on selected clear calm days indicative of each season during the development of a research project, and hourly meteorological transects from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and questioned 200 respondents on their thermal awareness, comfort, and preferences were conducted. Adaptation, thermal comfort vote, thermal preference, age, season and hour of the day were significant non-meteorological factors, apart from meteorological information. The findings of analyzes showed that the thermal experience and expectation existed and in different seasons people changed perceptions for the outside thermal environment. Almost 80% local tourist and 55 % international tourist was accepted Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) range affected by the local climate and thermal adaptation. The subjective thermal sensation on physiological equivalent temperature generated an acceptable physiological equivalent temperature of 32.6°C to 36.8°C based on the seasonal variations for Malacca tourist zone in Malaysia. These findings shed light on the optimal design of outdoor spaces for increasing the utilization rate. The seasonal variation must be taken into account so that the outdoor landscape design provides more opportunities for different seasons to communicate with the atmosphere and so enhance thermal comfort and utilization.

Amidst worsening climate change, drought stress imperils global agriculture, jeopardizing crop yields and food security, necessitating urgent exploration of sustainable methods like biopriming, harnessing beneficial microorganisms to bolster plant resilience. Recent research has revealed diverse biological compounds with versatile applications produced by Schizophyllum commune, rendering this fungus as a promising contender for biopriming applications. For the first time this study aimed to investigate,the potential of S. commune exo- (EPSH) and intra-PSH (IPSH), isolated from two strains: Italian (ITA) and Serbian (SRB) under submerged cultivation, in enhancing the resilience of Pisum sativum L. seeds through biopriming technique. Testing of seed quality of bioprimed, hydroprimed, and unprimed seeds was done using a germination test, under optimal and drought conditions. In optimal conditions, the IPSH SRB increased germination energy by 5.50% compared to the control, while the highest percentage of germination (94.70%) was shown after biopriming with PSH isolated from the ITA strain. Additionally, all assessed treatments resulted in a boost in seedling growth and biomass accumulation, where the ITA strain demonstrated greater effectiveness in optimal conditions, whereas the SRB strain showed superiority in drought conditions. The drought tolerance indices increased significantly in response to all examined treatments during the drought, with EPSH ITA (23.00%) and EPSH SRB (24.00%) demonstrating the greatest effects. Results demonstrate a significant positive influence of fungal PSH, indicating their potential as biopriming agents and offers insights into novel strategies for agricultural resilience in the face of changing environmental conditions.

A testable hypothesis with quantitative predictions is put forward, proposing that strong acids produced on land at a rate correlated with global population are an increas-ing cause of increasing atmospheric CO2 pressure (pCO2). This hypothesis widens the imbalance assumed between the global uptake of CO2 by photosynthesis and emissions of CO2 from all sources, including the combustion of fossil fuels, causing greater atmos-pheric pCO2. Our modelling tests for reactions of dissolved inorganic carbon show that increasing atmospheric CO2 is caused thermodynamically by falling land surface pH values, but only with bicarbonate present. Strong acids generated by oxygen from re-duced inorganic compounds of nitrogen and sulphur emit CO2 almost stoichiometrically from dissolved bicarbonate in the pH range of most global soils, between 6 to above 8. We show that each decrease of aqueous pH value of 0.01 units from acidification of sur-face water near pH 8 potentially increases the pCO2 in the atmosphere by about 7 ppmv. The surface pH value of the ocean near 8.10 in 2000 has been shown to decrease at this rate, a result of equilibrating with the rising atmospheric pCO2. Therefore, our qualita-tive estimates of increasing atmospheric CO2 driven by irreversible acidification on land are critical and need broad scale validation. Unfortunately, these acidifying processes on land from excessive nitrogen fertiliser, export of alkaline produce from farmlands and other processes were not considered by previous biogeochemical reviews. However, several very recent research studies showing CO2 emissions from soil during nitrifica-tion are consistent with our hypothesis. Despite counter measures to curb excessive CO2 emissions, including carbon capture and geological storage, the increasing Keeling curve for pCO2 may continue to rise because zero carbon policies do not address these causes. We recommend that this hypothesis be further tested by in situ experiments in neutral soils and water, designed to compare CO2 emissions under the acidifying conditions de-scribed in this article. Corrective counter measures can then be designed and applied.

The work aims to develop an electromagnetic shielding measurement methodology and design an electromagnetic shielding effectiveness test setup for thin sheet material testing. In brief, multiple shielding effectiveness standards are described and analyzed in the thin sheet material testing framework. Two types of the developed shielding effectiveness test probe in high and low-frequency ranges are validated comprehensively. Extensive descriptions and data of developed testing methodology are also reported.

Lipids have not traditionally been considered likely candidates for catalyzing reactions in biological systems. However, there is significant evidence that aggregates of amphiphilic compounds are capable of catalyzing reactions in synthetic organic chemistry. Here we demonstrate the potential for the hydrophobic region of a lipid bilayer to provide an environment suitable for catalysis by means of a lipozyme, or lipid aggregate capable of speeding up a chemical reaction. By bringing organic molecules into the non-polar or hydrophobic region of a lipid bilayer, reactions can be catalyzed by collections of small, nonpolar or amphiphilic molecules. We demonstrate this concept by the ester hydrolysis of calcein-AM to produce a fluorescent product, which is a widely used assay for esterase activity in cells. The reaction was first carried out in a two phase octanol-water system with the organic phase containing the cationic amphiphiles cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) or octadecylamine. The octanol was then replaced with DOPC added to the water in the form of vesicles, where the reaction was also found to be carried out. The reaction was monitored using quantitative fluorescence which revealed catalytic turnover numbers on a scale of 10−4s−1 for each system, which is comparable to some slow enzymes. The reaction product was characterized by 1H-NMR measurements which were consistent with ester hydrolysis. The implications of thinking about lipid aggregates as catalytic entities are discussed in the context of biochemistry, pharmacology and synthetic biology.

African trypanosomes are an early branch in eukaryotic evolution and developed a unique endomembrane system as an adaptation to their parasitic life style. The key virulence mechanism of many pathogens is successful immune evasion to enable survival within the host, which is a feature requiring both genetic events and membrane transport in African trypanosomes. Intracellular trafficking not only plays a role in immune evasion, but also in homeostasis of intracellular and extracellular compartments and interactions with the environment. Significantly, historical and recent work has unravelled some of the connections between these processes and highlighted how immune evasion mechanisms associated with adaptations in membrane trafficking may have, paradoxically, provided specific sensitivity to drugs. Here we explore these advances in understanding the membrane composition of the trypanosome plasma membrane and organelles and provide a perspective for how transport could be exploited for therapeutic purpose.

The intelligent morphing wing structure has the characteristics of flexibility, large deformation and adaptive change, which are different from those of the conventional wing. The motion law of the variable-camber leading edge is analysed by the numerical simulation method based on kinematics theory to solve the problem of verifying the motion function and structural strength of the variable camber wing. The driving deformation and aerodynamic load simulation of the variable camber leading edge are realised by designing a follow-up load test apparatus. Based on the numerical simulation of the mechanical boundary, the motion trajectory of the upper and lower wing loading points was predicted, and a multi-point cooperative control system was developed. Multi-sensor iteration was used to ensure the loading accuracy of the test control. The test results show that the average error of the deflection angle is 4.59% in the variable camber leading edge motion test. In the variable camber leading edge strength test, the average error of applied load magnitude and direction is 0.54% and 0.24%, respectively.

Micro plasma devices (MPD) with power gains are of interest in applications involving operations in the presence of ionizing radiations, in propulsion, in control, amplification of high power electromagnetic waves, and in metamaterials for energy management. Here we review and discuss MPDs with an emphasis on new architectures that have evolved during the past 7 years. Devices with programmable impact ionization rates and programmable boundaries are developed to control the plasma ignition voltage and current to achieve power gain. Plasma devices with 1-10 μm gaps are shown to operate in the sub-Paschen regime in atmospheric pressures where ion-assisted field emission results in a breakdown voltage that linearly depends on the gap distance in contrast to the exponential dependence dictated by the Paschen curve. Small gap devices offer higher operation frequencies at low operation voltages with applications in metamaterial skins for energy management and in harsh environment inside nuclear reactors and in space. In addition to analog plasma devices, logic gates, digital circuits, and distributed amplifiers are also discussed.

A major problem of the technological production process of the metallurgical-grade silicon is formation of a large amount of microsilica. However, this material can be a significant source of raw materials for its own production. Hence, this study is aimed to solve the problem of micro-silica utilization, i.e. the technogenic dust-like waste generated during the melting of the technical-grade silicon. Within this study, the technology of the joint briquetting of microsilica was investigated with the carbonaceous reducing agents, i.e. by obtaining of mono-charge and by melting of the technical-grade silicon from the obtained mono-charge in the 200kVA ore-thermal furnace. Results of the study show that the briquettes in the melting process of the technical-grade silicon can be used in the range from 0 to 50%. The using of briquettes may significantly improve the technological parameters. When briquetted charge is applied only, the technological parameters will deteriorate significantly. The material balance of silicon melting showed the recovery rates of the main elements (Si, Al, Ca and Fe). It recorded a decrease in content of aluminum from 1.9-2.1% to 0.5-0.7%, calcium from 0.2-0.3% to 0.07-0.1% and titanium from 0.2-0.23% to 0.11-0.13% during the transition to briquetted monocharge. Phosphorus content increased from 0.004-0.005 to 0.011-0.013%.

Emphasizing the importance of acoustic attenuation in maintaining compliance with stringent noise regulations and enhancing workplace safety, the analysis covers the theoretical and practical aspects of sound attenuation in a turboengine testing stand. This paper presents a preliminary analysis and also an evaluation of a procedure for projecting a noise attenuator for industrial application and especially for turboengine test stands. While primarily focusing on the static acoustic behavior of the attenuator, considerations were also made regarding flow dynamics, Mach number-dependent attenuation, pressure drop, and self-generated noise aspects to provide a comprehensive perspective in selecting the optimal design configuration. The study investigates different calculation methods for assessment of the noise reduction for linear and staggered baffles, applied on a scaled reduced model of attenuator. Thus, the critical parameters and projecting requirements necessary for effective noise reduction in high-performance turboengine testing environments will be evaluated in a down-scaled model. Key factors examined include the selection of design parameters and configurations from various options. Advanced computational methods, like analytic and finite element analysis (FEM) are utilized to predict the acoustic performance and identify potential design optimizations. Experimental validation is performed to corroborate the simulation results, ensuring the reliability and efficiency of the attenuator. The findings indicate that a well-designed sound attenuator module can significantly reduce noise levels without compromising the operational performance of the turboengine inside a test cell.

Tack is one of the most important factors affecting the operability of prepregs, but it is still very difficult to obtain the change of prepreg tack with time at different temperatures. In this paper, a newly designed T-peel device is used to test the tack decay rate of prepregs at different temperatures. The obtained decay rate deviates less than 8.9% from the manufacturer's data. The maximum deviation of the ratio of tack decay speeds calculated by the Arrhenius equation from the experiments is not higher than -9.7%. It is proved that the present method can obtain the decay rate of tack of prepregs at different temperatures. This method is also applicable to the other two types of prepregs. The article proposes the handling life unit, an operational life measurement unit for prepregs, and establishes that the relationship between tack and remaining shelf life reduces prepreg management costs.

Railway has been used as one of the most crucial means of transportation in public mobility and economic development. For efficiently operating railways, the electrification system in railway infrastructure, which supplies electric power to trains, is essential facilities for stable train operation. Due to its important role, the electrification system needs to be rigorously and regularly inspected and managed. This paper presents a supervised learning method to classify Mobile Laser Scanning (MLS) data into ten target classes representing overhead wires, movable brackets and poles, which are recognized key objects in the electrification system. In general, the layout of railway electrification system shows a strong regularity of spatial relations among object classes. The proposed classifier is developed based on Conditional Random Field (CRF), which characterizes not only labeling homogeneity at short range, but also the layout compatibility between different object classes at long range in the probabilistic graphical model. This multi-range CRF model consists of a unary term and three pairwise contextual terms. In order to gain computational efficiency, MLS point clouds is converted into a set of line segments where the labeling process is applied. Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used as a local classifier considering only node features for producing the unary potentials of CRF model. As the short-range pairwise contextual term, Potts model is applied to enforce a local smoothness in short-range graph. While, long-range pairwise potentials are designed to enhance spatial regularities of both horizontal and vertical layouts among railway objects. We formulate two long-range pairwise potentials as the log posterior probability obtained by Naïve Bayes classifier. The directional layout compatibilities are characterized in probability look-up tables which represent co-occurrence rate of spatial relations in horizontal and vertical directions. The likelihood function is formulated by multivariate Gaussian distributions. In the proposed multi-range CRF model, the weight parameters to balance four sub-terms are estimated by applying the Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD). The results show that the proposed multi-range CRF can effectively classify detailed railway elements, representing the average recall of 97.66% and the average precision of 97.07% for all classes.

In this data deposit, I describe a dataset that is the result of content mining 167,318 published articles for statistical test results. As a result of this content mining, 688,112 results from 50,845 articles were extracted. In order to provide a comprehensive set of data, the statistical results are supplemented with metadata from the article they originate from. The dataset is provided in a comma separated file (CSV) in long-format. For each of the 688,112 results, 20 variables are included, of which seven are article metadata and 13 pertain to the individual statistical results (e.g., reported and recalculated p-value). A five-pronged approach was taken to generate the dataset: (i) collect journal lists, (ii) spider journal pages for articles, (iii) download articles, (iv) add article metadata, and (v) mine articles for statistical results.

Understanding user challenges with light dosimeters is crucial for designing more acceptable devices and advancing light exposure research. We systematically evaluated the usability and acceptability of the lido (light dosimeter) by 29 participants who wore the dosimeter near the corneal plane of the eye for 5 days. Common reasons for not wearing the dosimeter included exercise, recharging, wet environments, public settings, and discomfort. Despite these issues, participants adhered to using the dosimeter, with high compliance (89% of recording time). Our findings reveal a significant discrepancy between mean melanopic Equivalent Daylight Illuminance (300 lxmEDI) and median values (51 lxmEDI). This discrepancy indicates that, for most of the time, participants experienced significantly lower light levels. Specifically, participants were exposed to light levels above 250 lxmEDI for only 14% of their wearing time. This highlights the need for increased exposure to recommended light levels. In the evening, participants' light exposure was below the recommended 10 lxmEDI for 58% of the wear time, which is in line with the guidelines for reducing light exposure before sleep. This study highlights the critical need for strategies to enhance daily light exposure, aligning better with circadian health recommendations.

The demonstration of compliance of rolling stock against disturbance limits for railway signaling, and in particular track circuits, is subject to a large deal of variability, caused by the diverse values of the electrical parameters of the railway line and resulting transfer functions, as well as operating conditions of rolling stock during tests. Instrumental uncertainty is evaluated with a Type B approach and shown to be much less than the experimental variability. Repeated test runs in acceleration, coasting, cruising, braking conditions are considered, deriving both max-hold (spread) and sample dispersion curves compared to the respective mean values (Type A approach to the evaluation of uncertainty). The major source of variability affecting a significant portion of the spectrum is caused by the superposed oscillations of the onboard LC filter, for which different choices of the transformation window duration are discussed. The test runs and the acquired data covered overall 1 day of tests along about 300 km of the Italian 3 kV DC railway network.

The zinc oxide (ZnO) arrester is positioned on locomotive roof preventing other onboard electrical equipment from the harm caused by external and internal overvoltages. A number of locomotive arrester burnout and explosion accidents occur during traction supply network harmonic resonance causing train stoppages and power outages in the network. This study firstly carries out high-frequency tests to investigate the wide frequency band electrical characteristics of the locomotive arrester, explaining that the arrester is prone to fault during resonance. Consequently, a prognostics and health management (PHM) for locomotive arrester is proposed providing on online monitoring, fault warning and health assessment solutions, which is beneficial to the operation and maintenance of arresters in the future. The testing method and PHM scheme presented in this paper can be not only applied to the arrester, also readily expanded to other high-voltage electrical equipment on the electric locomotive.

In this project, four of fibers Bragg gratings were fabricated by injecting different volumes of liquids (star line Glass Mechanix optical adhesive material, olive oil diluted with ethanol) into the hollow core fiber. The amplitude splitting interferometric technique with a high resolution specially designed translation stage was used for the fabrication process. The fabrication was done using ultraviolet laser operated at wavelength 405nm. The fabricated Bragg length of the four fibers is equal to 3.8 cm. The results presented fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with successful fabrication at 653.3 nm Bragg reflected wavelength.

Minirhizotron tubes were installed to monitor root growth dynamics of mature Shiraz grapevines in a rootstock trial established in the hot climate Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The vertical root distribution and seasonal root growth dynamics of Shiraz on own-roots and Shiraz grafted on the rootstocks Ramsey, 140 Ruggeri and Schwarzmann was studied for five seasons across a seven-year period to a depth of 60 cm. New root production was significantly influenced by genotype, soil depth, season, growth stage and year. Soil moisture and soil tem-perature were monitored at 10, 30 and 60 cm in the last two seasons. Soil moisture at 30 cm and soil temperature at all three depths were significant predictors of root growth. New root numbers were significantly higher in 140 Ruggeri than the other rootstocks. To the depth studied, 140 Ruggeri roots were evenly distributed from the topsoil down, whereas the majority of roots of Schwarzmann and Shiraz were located at intermediate depths in the 10-40 cm ad 20-40 cm zones respectively, while Ramsey roots were found at 20 cm or below. Depending on genotype, root growth occurred across several phenological stages but tended to peak at flowering. In some years we observed root growth in early and late winter at rates exceeding that of autumn, and this was associated with warmer temperatures during this period. Overall, seasonal rooting dynamics were responsive to abiotic factors but dominated by genotype.

Conditional Independence (CI) testing is fundamental in statistical analysis. For example, CI testing helps validate causal graphs or longitudinal data analysis with repeated measures in causal inference. CI testing is difficult, especially when testing involves categorical variables conditioned on a mixture of continuous and categorical variables. Current parametric and non-parametric testing methods designed for continuous variables and can quickly fall short in the categorical case. This paper presents a computational approach for CI testing for categorical data types, which we call computational conditional independence (CCI) testing. The test procedure is based on permutation and combines machine learning prediction algorithms and Monte Carlo Cross-Validation. We evaluated the approach through simulation studies and assessed the performance against alternative methods; the generalized covariance measure (GCM) test, the kernel conditional independence (KCI) test, and testing with multinomial regression. We find that the computational approach to testing has utility over the alternative methods, and we can achieve better control over type-I-error rates. We hope this work can expand the toolkit for CI testing for practitioners and researchers.

Conventional fertilization practices can lead to many ecological problems, such as nutrient imbalance, soil acidity, and reduced soil fertility in natural rubber plantations. To address these challenges, a field investigation was strategically carried out to substitute inorganic fertilizer with organic fertilizers consisted of six treatments, i.e., no fertilization (CK), inorganic fertilizer (NPK), 25 % replacement of inorganic through organic (25%M), 50 % replacement of inorganic through organic (50%M), 75 % replacement of inorganic through organic (75%M), and 100% organic fertilizer (100%M). The soil physicochemical properties (SOC, TN, AN, C:N, pH, NH4+-N, and NO3--N) and carbon and nitrogen converting enzymes (BG, NAG, and LAP) were all determined. The partial substitution of inorganic fertilizers with organic fertilizers (i.e., 75%M at surface soil layer) showed higher SOC (14.52 g.kg-1), TN (1.06 g.kg-1), AN (20.07 mg.kg-1), C:N (14.63), NH4+-N (10.63 mgkg-1), and NO3--N(11.06 mg.kg-1) than NPK and CK. Such increase in physicochemical properties in partial replacement of inorganic with organic fertilizers plots resulted from higher carbon and nitrogen enzymes activities (BG (143.17 nmol.g-1.h-1), NAG (153.96 nmol.g-1.h-1), and LAP (153.48 nmol.g-1.h-1)) compared to NPK and CK, and further the person correlation and RDA analysis confirmed a significant positive correlation between SOC, AN, and soil enzymes. This study presents a new strategy for assessing the impact of partially replacing inorganic fertilizers with organic fertilizers in rubber plantations, mainly by modifying the soil nutrient composition in tropical regions.

This study extends the CGAN-based MODIS cloud vertical-profile (64×64-scene, about 70km width×15km height) retrieval technique developed by Leinonen et al. (2019) [1] to construct seamless 3D cloud fields for the MODIS granules [2]. Firstly, the accuracy and spatial continuity of the Leinonen et al. [1] retrievals are statistically evaluated. Then, according to the characteristics of the retrieval error, a spatially overlapping-scene ensemble generation method and a bi-directional Ensemble Binning Probability Fusion (CGAN-BEBPF) technique are developed, which improves the CGAN retrieval accuracy and support to construct seamless 3D clouds. The CGAN-BEBPF technique involves three steps: cloud masking, intensity scaling, and optimal value selection. It ensures adequate coverage of the low reflectivity areas while preserving the high reflectivity cloud cores. The technique is applied to retrieve the 3D cloud fields of Typhoon Chaba and a multi-cell convective system. The cloud structures of the CGAN-BEBPF results are highly consistent with the ground-based radar observations. It can retrieve weak clouds at the top levels of convective storms and hurricanes that were missed by ground-based radars and fill the gaps of the ground-based radar lower-level PPI scan. Overall, CGAN-BEBPF can be automated to retrieve the rich informative 3D structures of typhoons and severe convective systems over the oceans along the MODIS swath, which certainly presents great value for improving maritime and near-shore typhoons and convection prediction and other cloud-sensitive applications.

In the present study, we aimed to determine the antimicrobial resistance and genetic structure of a population of S. aureus recovered from transient and persistent intramammary infections and nares/muzzles. We investigated the antimicrobial resistance of 189 S. aureus strains using a broad antimicrobial susceptibility profile. Furthermore, 107 S. aureus isolates were strain-typed using staphylococcal protein-A (spa) typing. Here, a great proportion of strains exhibited multidrug resistance to antimicrobials, including resistance to critically important antimicrobials, although no methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains were found. Our study did not strengthen the idea that extramammary niches (i.e., nares/muzzles) are an important source for S. aureus. A discrepancy in the antimicrobial resistance between S. aureus strains isolated from nasal/muzzles and milk samples was observed. Furthermore, S. aureus isolates from transient and persistent IMIs did not differ by spa typing, suggesting that the persistence of bovine IMIs was determined by cow factors. Thus, the high level of multidrug-resistant S. aureus found in the two herds studied together with the predominance of a well udder-adapted S. aureus strain may contribute to the history of the high prevalence of mastitis caused by S. aureus, leading to great animal and public health concerns.

Urinary peptides are the products of systemic protein turn over which are excreted out of the body and hence can serve as an important biomarker for various pathophysiology. These peptides in other species of bovine have been reported to possess several bioactive properties. To investigate the potential of urinary peptides we generated a peptidome profile from the urine of Murrah Buffaloes (n=10). Urine samples were processed using &lt;10 kDa MWCO filter, filtrate obtained was used for peptide extraction using Solid Phase Extraction (SPE). Eluate, obtained after SPE was extracted using ethyl acetate and the peptide-containing aqueous phase was collected. We extensively assessed the antimicrobial properties of the urinary aqueous phase. The nLC-MS/MS of the aqueous phase from 10 animals resulted in the identification of 8165 peptides originating from 6041 parent proteins. 76 Proteases responsible for the release of these sequences from precursor proteins were also identified. We further analyzed these peptide sequences to identify bioactive peptides and classify them into anti-cancerous, anti-hypertensive, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory groups with a special emphasis on antimicrobial properties. With this in mind, we simultaneously conducted experiments to evaluate antimicrobial properties of urinary aqueous extract on three pathogenic bacterial strains S. aureus, E. coli, &amp; S. agalactiae.

As the number of end-of-life vehicles continues to grow, the field of separation technology for broken copper and aluminium parts of end-of-life vehicles has emerged as a significant area of research. As a key technology for the separation of non-magnetic non-ferrous metals, such as copper and aluminium, eddy current separation can achieve efficient separation of non-magnetic non-ferrous metals according to their differing conductivity and density. Nevertheless, further research is required in the separation of large-scale broken copper and aluminium parts of end-of-life vehicles. This paper presents a novel magnetic roller model comprising circumferential and axial periodic arrangements of permanent magnets. A single permanent magnet was constructed as an equivalent current model, and the magnetic scalar potential equations were solved using simulation tools. This allowed the distribution of the magnetic field outside the magnetic roller to be studied. The results demonstrate that the novel permanent magnet array magnetic roller can enhance the magnetic field intensity and action distance of the external magnetic field, which is more conducive to the separation of large-scale broken copper and aluminium parts of scrap cars. The findings of this research provide a theoretical foundation for the separation of scrap car broken copper and aluminium parts.

Addressing the significant challenge in high-speed cotton dibbling operations in Xinjiang—specifically, the duck bill’s ("Duck bill" is a type of duck-billed bunch planting mechanism or component). shortened opening duration leading to seed throwing and floating—a new crawler-type delayed hole-forming mechanism has been designed. This mechanism extends the duck bill horizontally, thereby prolonging its opening time, enabling cotton sowing speeds of up to 6 km/h. Following agronomic principles for cotton planting, the overall layout of the crawler-type hole-forming mechanism, the structural parameters of the key components and the trajectory of the hole-forming are determined. We use the Discrete Element Method (DEM) and multi-body dynamics coupling method to simulate and analyze the motion process of the device. The fixed the tilt angle of the duck bill α(A), the depth of the duck bill hole-forming into the soil h(B), and the angle of rotation of the moving duck bill β(C) were taken as the experimental factors, with the longitudinal length of cotton seed hole (Y1) and the hole-forming depth of cotton seed hole (Y2) as the response values. The parameter range of each factor and the preliminary influence on the response value were determined through pre-experiments and single-factor simulation test. Based on RecurDyn-EDEM coupling, a quadratic regression orthogonal rotation combination simulation test was carried out. The results show that the order of the primary and secondary factors affecting the Y1 of the time-lapse hole-forming device was: A > C > B. The order of primary and secondary factors affecting the Y2 of the delayed hole forming device was: B > C > A. When the A was 2.4 °, the B was 42.4 mm, and the C was 30.5 °, the performance of the hole-forming was the best, and the Y1 was 26.4 mm, and the Y2 was 25.0 mm. The bench verification test results show that under the optimized combination of operating parameters, the average Y1 was 29.1 mm, and the average Y2 was 23.2 mm. Compared with the results of the previous coupled simulation model, the average relative errors of the two are 7.23 % and 4.36 %, respectively, indicating the accuracy and effectiveness of the established DEM simulation model and virtual test analysis. The hole-forming area and the opening time of the duck bill after the stable operation of the machine were recorded and measured. The calculated hole dislocation rate Hc was 4.33 %, which did not exceed the national standard requirement of 6 %. The qualified rate of hole distance Hx was 94.33 %, which was much higher than the national standard requirement of 80 %. The average opening time of the duck bill at a speed of 6 km/h is 0.45 s, which is much longer than the time required for cotton seeds to fall from the duck bill 0.11 s. It meets the requirements of high-speed cotton planting in China and facilitating advancements in future high-speed planter technology.

There is a need to develop tools for mastitis management in goats and to measure the effects of milking machines on teats. Infrared thermography (IRT), as shown in cows, was a good candidate for early detection of mastitis and focusing on milking equipment and settings implicated in potential problems. The aim of this study was to test IRT to detect udder inflammation and the effects of mechanical milking on teats in relation to inflammation status, udder balance and teat shape in Alpine goats. IRT spectra were compared before and after milking in 551 goats from three commercial herds compared to their individual SCC (somatic cell count). We found no regression or trend between logSCC and IRT measurement or response to milking, even in highly inflamed goat udders. The effect of milking was significant (P

Background: The skin prick test (SPT) is used to diagnose sensitization to antigens. This study proposes a deep learning approach to infer wheal dimensions, aiming to reduce dependence on human interpretation. Methods: A dataset of SPT images (n=5844) was used to infer a convolutional neural network for wheal segmentation (ML model). Three methods for inferring wheal dimensions were evaluated: the ML model; the standard protocol (MA1); and approximation of the area as an ellipse using diameters measured by an allergist (MA2). The results were compared with assisted image segmentation (AIS), the most accurate method. Bland-Altman, distribution analyses, and correlation tests were applied to compare the methods. The study also compared the percentage deviation among these methods in determining the area of wheals with regular geometric shapes (n = 150) and with irregular shapes (n=150). Results: The Bland-Altman analysis showed that the difference between methods was not correlated with the absolute area. The ML model achieved a segmentation accuracy of 85.88% and a strong correlation with the AIS method (ρ=0.88), outperforming all other methods. Additionally, MA1 showed significant error (13.44±13.95%) for pseudopods. Conclusions: The ML protocol can potentially automate the reading of SPT, offering greater accuracy than the standard protocol.

We develop an action principle for producing a single fluid, two-constituent system with dissipation in general relativity. The two constituents in the model are particles and entropy. The particle flux creation rate is taken to be zero, while the entropy creation rate is non-zero. Building on previous work, it is demonstrated that a new term (the proper time derivative of the matter space ``metric'') is required in the Lagrangian in order to produce terms typically associated with bulk and shear viscosity. Equations of motion, entropy creation rate, and energy-momentum-stress tensor are derived. Using an Onsager approach of identifying thermodynamic ``forces'' and ``fluxes'' a model is produced which delivers the same entropy creation rate as the standard, relativistic Navier-Stokes equations. This result is then contrasted with a model generated in the spirit of the action principle, which takes as its starting point a specific Lagrangian and then produces the equations of motion, entropy creation rate, and energy-momentum-stress tensor. Unlike the equations derived from Onsager reasoning, where the analogs of the bulk and shear viscosity coefficients are prescribed ``externally'', we find that the form of the coefficients in the second example are a direct result of the specified Lagrangian. Furthermore, the coefficients are shown to satisfy evolution equations along the fluid worldline; also a product of the specific Lagrangian.

We hypothesized that reticuloruminal temperature and pH, as well as cow activity, can be used as biomarkers for the early diagnosis of clinical mastitis in dairy cows. Therefore, we aimed to detect the relationship between reticuloruminal temperature and pH, cow activity, and clinical mastitis in dairy cows. We randomly selected cows with clinical mastitis and clinical healthy cows (HG) out of 600 milking cows. We recorded the following parameters during the experiment: reticulorumen tem-perature (RR temp.), reticulorumen pH (RR pH), and cow activity. We used smaXtec boluses (smaXtec animal care technology®, Graz, Austria). In this investigation, reticulorumen data ob-tained seven days before diagnosis were compared to HG data from the same time period. CM cows were observed on the same days as the healthy cows. The healthy group’s RR pH was 7.32% higher than that of cows with CM. Reticulorumen temperature was also 1.25% higher in the CM group than in the control group. The healthy group had a higher average value for walking activity and was 17.37% higher than the CM group. The data of reticulorumen pH changes during 24 h showed that during the day, the pH changed from 5.53 to 5.83 in the CM group. By contrast, pH changed from 6.05 to 6.31 in the control group. The lowest reticulorumen pH in the CM group was detected on the third day before diagnosis. It was 15.76% lower than the highest reticulorumen pH detected on the sixth day before diagnosis. The lowest reticulorumen pH in CM cows was detected at 0 and 1 days before diagnosis. It was 1.45% lower than the highest reticulorumen pH detected on the second day before diagnosis. The lowest walking activity in the CM group was detected 0 days before diagnosis, 50.60% lower than on the fifth day before diagnosis. The lowest walking activity was detected 0 days before diagnosis, 39.57% lower than on the seventh day before diagnosis. In this study, we found that reticuloruminal temperature, reticuloruminal pH, and cow ac-tivity could be used as biomarkers for the early diagnosis of clinical mastitis in dairy cows.

A low cost, scalable and robust process has been proposed as innovative method for coating solar mirrors with a self-cleaning, transparent in the full solar range and versatile material based on auxetic aluminium nitrides, previously obtained on the laboratory scale. This work presents the scaling-up of fabrication process from laboratory to prototypal scale and pre-liminary results of outdoor self-cleaning solar mirror prototypes testing in the demonstrative CSP plant ENEASHIP located in Casaccia (Rome) ENEA research centre. Prototypes 50x40cm have shown stability in external conditions: no degradation occurs during the test campaign. Their washing restores the initial reflectance affected by soiling and the self-cleaning performance allows the utilization of a reduced quantity of water for cleaning operations with respect to uncoated glass of back surface mirrors. A similar self-cleaning AlN coating could be utilized on other solar components affected by soiling, such as glass envelopes of heat collecting elements, PV panels and everywhere are required self-cleaning performance combined to optical ones.

The genus Prototheca, unicellular, non-photosynthetic, yeast-like microalgae, is a pathogen of concern for the dairy industry causing bovine mastitis that currently cannot be cured and hence generates significant economic losses in milk production. In this study, for the first time in Ecuador, we identify Prototheca bovis as the etiologic agent of chronic mastitis in dairy cattle. Milk samples (n=458) of cows with chronic mastitis were cultured on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA). Microscopy and cytB gene sequencing were used to identify Prototheca, whereby Prototheca bovis was isolated from 15.1% (n=69) of the milk samples, one of the highest infection rates that can be found in the literature in a “non-outbreak” situation. No other Prototheca species were found. We were unable to isolate the alga from environmental samples. We showed that P. bovis was relatively resistant to disinfectants used to sterilize milking equipment on the cattle farms where it was isolated. We discuss how to avoid future infection and also hypothesize that the real prevalence of Prototheca infection in bovine mastitis is probably much higher than what was detected. We recommend a protocol to increase the diagnostic yield in the bacteriology laboratory.

The data for the study on the epidemiology of bovine mastitis were collected fromNovember 2015 to February 2016 to investigate the prevalence of mastitis in administrative towns of three selected districts of Arsi zone, Oromia Regional State, namely Iteya, Sagure, and Asella, Ethiopia; and to analyze the association between the risk factors and mastitis occurrence. Sample cows were selected and examined for clinical mastitis and at the same time, milk samples were evaluated both clinically and using the California Mastitis Test (CMT). Some parameters of the cows which have biological relation with this disease together with other potential risk factors were collected along with primary data collection. The analysis of the primary data showed that overall mastitis prevalence in the locations covered by the study was 28.6% of which 83.3% was subclinical, while 16.7% were clinical mastitis cases. Analysis related to the investigation of the existence of an association between risk factors and mastitis revealed that there was a significant association between the occurrence of mastitis and two of the risk factors evaluated, breed and age of the cow. The other risk factors investigated (i.e. parity, location, and lactation stage had no significant association with mastitis occurrence). Since mastitis is a complex disease that results from the interaction of different factors, it may be difficult to limit it to only some given factors. Environment and management factors and their combination may also have an additional impact on the epidemiology of the disease. A prevalence with the indicated magnitude together with the added effect of a lower level of awareness of the society about milk-associated zoonoses implies that this disease causes significant public health problems. In addition, mastitis may cause silent economic loss through unnoticed production loss along with reduced milk yield from subclinical and clinical (e.g. blind teats) cases. Due to a lack of awareness about mastitis and/or negligence, farmers in all corners of the country are suffering from economic and public health problems imposed by mastitis. This lack of awareness about mastitis-associated problems and/or negligence could be a possible reason for the use of raw milk which is a common scenario particularly in pastoral areas and the selling of adulterated milk which is becoming increasingly practiced in Ethiopia which is also true in these specific localities.

Today, it is difficult to have a high-field nuclear magnetic resonance device (NMR) due to the high cost of its acquisition and maintenance. These high-end machines require significant space and specialist personnel for operation and offer exceptional quality in the acquisition, processing, and other advanced functions associated with detected signals. However, alternative devices are low-field nuclear magnetic resonance devices. They benefit from the elimination of high-tech components that generate static magnetic fields and advanced instruments. Instead, they used magnetic fields induced by ordinary conductors. Another category of spectrometers uses the Earth's magnetic field, which is simple and economical, but limited in use. These devices are called Earth Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (EFNMR). This device is ideal for educational purposes, especially for engineers and those who study nuclear magnetic resonance, such as chemistry or other experimental sciences. Students can observe their internal workings and conduct experiments that complement their education without worrying about damaging equipment. This article provides a detailed explanation of the design and construction of electrical technology devices for the excitation of atomic spin resonance using Earth's magnetic fields. Covers all necessary stages, from research to analysis, from simulation, assembly, construction of each component, and the development of comprehensive software for spectrometer control.

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.

Laser Photoacoustic Spectrometers (LPAS), which provide photoacoustic spectra for detecting food frauds or adulteration, and fluorescence-based systems for recognition of contamination by heavy metal ions in water are two important families of sensors for health and environmental purposes. Both sensor families require one or more low-frequency Lock-In Amplifiers (LIAs) to extract the signal of interest from background noise. In the cited applications, the required LIA frequency is quite low (up to 1kHz), and this leads to a simplification of the hardware with consequent good results in portability, economy, reduced size, weight and low-cost characteristics. The present system, called ENEA DSP Box Due, is based on a very inexpensive microcontroller proto-board and can replace four commercial LIAs, resulting in significant savings in both cost and space. Furthermore, it incorporates a dual-channel oscilloscope and a sinusoidal function generator. This article outlines the architecture of the ENEA DSP Box Due, its electrical characterization and its applications within a project concerning laser techniques for food and water safety.

Meat serves as a vital component of the human diet, offering a rich source of protein and essential trace elements. China stands as both a significant producer and consumer of meat on a global scale, leading the world in terms of total meat production and consumption. As the standard of living within the country continues to rise, there is a growing emphasis on the nutritional value and safety of meat consumption. The tenderness of meat is a critical factor influencing its overall quality. Traditionally, tenderness has been assessed through shear force testing, a method that is inherently destructive, inefficient, and results in considerable sample wastage. In light of these drawbacks, non-destructive testing techniques have emerged as a preferred alternative, promising greater accuracy, efficiency, and convenience without compromising the integrity of the samples. This paper delves into the application of five advanced non-destructive testing technologies in the realm of meat tenderness assessment. These include near-infrared spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging, Raman spectroscopy, airflow optical fusion detection, and nuclear magnetic resonance detection. Each technology is scrutinized for its respective strengths and limitations, providing a comprehensive overview of their current utility and potential for future development. Moreover, the integration of these techniques with the latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technology is explored. The fusion of AI with non-destructive testing offers a promising avenue for the development of more sophisticated, rapid, and intelligent systems for meat tenderness evaluation. This integration is anticipated to significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of quality assessment in the meat industry, ensuring a higher standard of safety and nutritional value for consumers. The paper concludes with a set of technical recommendations aimed at guiding the future direction of non-destructive, AI-enhanced meat tenderness detection, thereby contributing to the ongoing improvement of the meat industry in China and beyond.

Molten salt electrolysis stands as an indispensable technique for the production of rare earth metals, where the judicious distribution of the electric field within the electrolytic cell is paramount for ensuring the seamless operation of the electrolysis process. This study introduces a pioneering approach by integrating the Nernst-Planck equation with the Butler-Volmer equation, thereby devising a holographic electric field model tailored for the electrolysis of the NdF3-LiF molten salt system. The paper presents pioneering experimental measurements concerning the potential distribution and voltage drop characteristics within a 6kA rare earth electrolytic cell, elucidating the interplay between decomposition voltage and current density, which substantiates the model's precision. Our findings unveil that, under operational conditions of 4010 amperes, the 6kA electrolytic cell incurs a total voltage drop of 6.3 volts, delineating a melt voltage drop of 4.43 volts, an ohmic voltage drop of 0.248 volts, and an interfacial voltage drop of 1.622 volts at the electrode-electrolyte junction. The discrepancy in error is confined to within 0.3% of the actual measured voltage of 6.28 volts.The simulation outcomes from the holographic electric field model have been confirmed to precisely and comprehensively reflect the characteristics of the electric field distribution during the rare earth molten salt electrolysis process, offering valuable theoretical insights for practical manufacturing applications.

Cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is a severe complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) strongly linked to a nearly five-fold higher risk of cardiovascular mortality. Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) are a significant cohort in which these assessments have particular relevance to the increased cardiovascular risk inherent in the condition. This study aimed to explore the subtle correlation between the Ewing test, Sudoscan-cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy score, and cardiovascular risk calculated using SCORE 2 Diabetes in individuals with T2DM. The cohort consisted of 211 patients diagnosed with T2DM with overweight or obesity without established ASCVD, aged between 40 to 69 years. The prevalence of CAN in our group was 67.2%. In the study group, according SCORE2-Diabetes, four patients (1.9%) were classified with moderate cardiovascular risk, thirty-five (16.6%) with high risk, and one hundred seventy-two (81.5%) with very high cardiovascular risk. On multiple linear regression, the SCORE2-Diabetes algorithm remained significantly associated with Sudoscan CAN-score and Sudoscan Nephro-score and Ewing test score. Testing for the diagnosis of CAN in very high-risk patients should be performed because approximately 70% of them associate CAN. Increased cardiovascular risk is associated with sudomotor damage and that Sudoscan is an effective and non-invasive measure of identifying such risk.

Silver ion (Ag+) are recognized for their potent antibacterial properties; however, their utilization in food preservation is restricted by factors such as inadequate stability, a transient antibacterial impact, and the potential for human absorption. Hydrogel-based antibacterial agents are capable of exerting their antibacterial effects by establishing appropriate microenvironments, which facilitate the efficient delivery of antimicrobial molecules to the contaminated regions of food. In previous studies, we observed that chitosan (CS) and silver nitrate (AgNO3) were able to reduce Ag+ to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with enhanced antibacterial properties. This not only significantly extended the stability of the antibacterial agent but also demonstrated exceptional inhibitory capabilities against pathogenic bacteria, including common grape contaminants such as P. expansum, A. niger, and B. cinerea. Utilizing ultrasound-induced complexation technology, this study has successfully synthesized a chitosan-silver (CS-AgNPs) hydrogel. The efficacy of this hydrogel against the pathogenic fungus responsible for jujube black spot disease has been thoroughly investigated. The morphology structures of CS-AgNPs hydrogels were characterized by TEM, FTIR and UV-vis. The results indicated that AgNPs ranging from 80 to 110 nm were uniformly dispersed within the gel matrix and remained stable for extended periods at room temperature. In vitro antibacterial assays and fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) studies revealed that the pronounced antibacterial efficacy of the CS-AgNPs hydrogel was primarily attributed to the additive antibacterial effect of CS and AgNPs. These insights underscore the significant potential of CS-AgNPs hydrogels in combating fungal diseases of jujube, offering innovative strategies and materials for the management of agricultural pathogens.

Western countries are experiencing an increasing aging population, resulting in heightened disability and mobility issues. This trend is expected to escalate in the coming decades. Therefore, ensuring adequate accessibility in collective residential housing –where individuals spend much of their daily lives– is of paramount importance. This paper presents a case study focused on the accessibility of building entrances in collective residential housing in Southeast Spain, specifically in the Region of Murcia. In this region, 9.8% of the population has disabilities, and 15.75% were over 64 years old in 2020. The study began by compiling the relevant national and regional accessibility regulations for existing buildings. Subsequently, extensive fieldwork was conducted, analyzing 150 collective residential housing buildings. Based on this analysis, a set of recommendations to enhance accessibility was formulated for buildings not complying with the regulations. The results are presented and discussed in detail. The most frequent recommendation was the construction of accessible ramps, identified as the primary solution in over 40% of cases, either alone or in conjunction with other measures. In 54% of the cases, multiple interventions were necessary to achieve effective accessibility adaptation. The findings of this study could inform the development of public policies aimed at improving accessibility conditions in urban areas.

To address the issue of reduced orbit estimation accuracy resulting from discrepancies between in-orbit measured geomagnetic field values and IGRF model values in autonomous orbit estimation of microsatellites based on geomagnetic field measurements, this study introduces an adaptive cubature H-infinity filtering algorithm. Firstly, it presents the low-altitude orbital dynamics model and geomagnetic field measurement model for microsatellites. Subsequently, within the adaptive cubature H-infinity filtering algorithm, a spherical simplex rule and a second-order Gaussian-Legendre quadrature criterion are employed to compute the spherical surface integral and radial integral. Additionally, a spherical simplex-radial quadrature rule is proposed to enhance the approximation accuracy of nonlinear Gaussian weighted integrals. Furthermore, by integrating extended H-infinity filtering based on game theory with the cubature quadrature rule, an inverse proportional relationship between constraint level and filtering innovation is established. This allows for adaptive adjustment of the constraint level to enhance robustness against model errors. Finally, through semi-physical simulation experiments, it is demonstrated that compared with traditional algorithms, the proposed algorithm improves autonomous orbit estimation position accuracy of microsatellites by 7.49%, while also enhancing velocity accuracy by 3.1%, thus validating its effectiveness.

The state detection of power cable is very important to ensure the reliability of power supply. Traditional sensors are mostly based on electric field detection, the operation is complex, and its efficiency needs to be improved. This paper optimizes the design and development of the magnetic field detection sensor for AC power cables. Firstly, through the establishment of the magnetic field sensor model, it is determined that permalloy is the material of the magnetic core, the optimal aspect ratio of the magnetic core is 20, and the ratio of coil length to core length is 0.3. Secondly, the coil simulation model is established, and it is determined that the optimal number of turns of the coil is 11000 turns, the diameter of the enamelled copper wire is 0.08mm, and the equivalent magnetic field noise of the sensor is 0.06pT. Finally, the amplifying circuit based on negative magnetic flux feedback is designed and the sensor is assembled, and the experimental circuit is built for sensitivity test. the results show that the sensitivity of the magnetic field sensor is 327.6mV/μT. The sensor designed in this paper has the advantages of small size, high sensitivity, easy to carry and high reliability.

Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India, is bereft of any native milch or dual-purpose cattle breed and the state depends chiefly on crossbred cattle for milk production. As most (90 percent) of the milk production in the state was contributed by Jersey crossbred cattle, the genetic evaluation study was intended to assess the milk production traits viz., test-day milk yields (TDMYs), total milk yield (TMY) and 305-day milk yield (305MY) in these crossbred cattle reared under farmers’ rearing environment. Data on monthly TDMYs (TDMY1 to TDMY10) of Jersey crossbred cows (n=81,653) reared by the farmers over 24 years (1999-2022) were collected for evaluation. The influence of non-genetic factors viz., location (agroclimatic zones), period and season of calving, and parity on TDMYs, TMY, and 305MY were assessed, and the variance and covariance components for genetic parameters (heritability and genetic correlation) of the traits were estimated by the method of restricted maximum likelihood (REML) under multivariate animal model and by random regression model (RRM). The overall means of various TDMYs ranged from 4.98 (TDMY10) to 9.95 kg (TDMY2) and, for TMY and 305MY the means were 2480.33 and 2393.71 kg respectively. The heritabilities estimated by animal model for TDMYs were high and ranged from 0.39 ± 0.01 to 0.47 ± 0.01 and were fairly less variable throughout the lactation while the estimates obtained by RRM were medium to high and ranged between 0.28 ± 0.01 and 0.65 ± 0.02 for different days in milk (DIMs). The heritability estimated for TMY and 305MY were 0.48 ± 0.01 and 0.49 ± 0.01 respectively. The estimates of heritability in mid-lactation yields were comparatively little less than those at the beginning and the end of lactation. The high estimates of heritabilities for TDMYs, TMY, and 305MY obtained in the present study offered an ample scope for improving milk production through selective breeding. Genetic correlations between TDMYs estimated by animal model were positive and moderate to high, with a range between 0.47 ± 0.01 and 0.99 ± 0.00. Considerably higher estimates (0.97-0.99) were observed between adjacent TDMYs showing strong genetic associations. By RRM, genetic correlations estimated between DIMs were positive, except for a few estimates and the magnitude of genetic correlation decreased with an increase in the interval between the DIMs. The high genetic correlation observed between the TDMYs in early and mid stages of lactation with TMY and 305MY suggested that these test day yields could be used favorably for the early selection of cows for milk production which facilitates reduction in the generation interval and consequently increase the annual genetic gain for the milk production traits.

Abstract Introduction: With the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic in Côte d'Ivoire, efforts were made to seamlessly integrate COVID-19 vaccination into the national immunization program. A collaborative initiative involving UNICEF, WHO, GAVI, and partner organizations resulted in the creation of the COVID-19 Vaccine Integration Mapping Tool. This paper presents a case study documenting the field testing of the Integration Mapping Tool and assessing the integration of COVID-19 vaccination within primary healthcare and routine immunization in Côte d'Ivoire. The study aims to describe the pilot process, gather feedback on tool usefulness and challenges, and establish integration priorities through roadmap development. Methods: Under the guidance of the Ministry of Health and Universal Coverage Cabinet, a workshop was conducted with participants from major health programs to field test the tool. Data analysis was performed using Excel, and the results were presented through tables, heat maps, and line graphs. Results: The first-of-its-kind field test of the Integration Mapping Tool in Cote d'Ivoire showcased its potential to bring key partners together to discuss the current state of integration, to improve transparency about resource allocation resource allocation, and enhance data management for the successful incorporation of COVID-19 vaccination into existing immunization systems. The integration of COVID-19 vaccines in Côte d'Ivoire showed a moderate level of progress, with improvement needed in resource allocation, payment systems, targeting of highest risk groups and vaccine administration. Support should be increased for target population identification, distribution points, quality of care mechanisms, and health personnel training. Health information systems and access to essential medicines were relatively satisfactory. Integration into existing programs, intersectoral collaboration, national health strategy, communication strategy, community participation, and data utilization require improvement. The post-workshop satisfaction survey gave the tool a score of .7 out of 10. Early lessons from Côte d'Ivoire provide guidance for enhancing integration, focusing on data-driven decision-making, collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and effective leadership. Conclusion: The successful field test of the Integration Mapping Tool (IMT) in Côte d'Ivoire marks a groundbreaking milestone, exemplifying the transformative potential of innovative tools in immunization practices. The IMT's application sets a precedent for seamless COVID-19 vaccination integration worldwide, emphasizing data-driven decision-making, collaboration, timing, and leadership. The pilot exercise's success in Côte d'Ivoire was attributed to political commitment, well-facilitated workshops, assessments, and the fact that the team in CI had previously already developed some initial integration plan.

As time continues to advance, the need for robust security threat mitigation has become increasingly vital in software. However, ensuring early effective security threat mitigation requires optimal test data and consistent test case design. It is a constant struggle to maximize test coverage through test data optimization. We conducted explanatory research to maximize test coverage of security requirements as modeled in Structured Misuse Case Description (SMCD) i.e., structured specification of misuse case, so as to improve consistency in optimal test data generation. We specified constraints upon Mal activity in Object Constraint Language (OCL) in order to minimize human dependency and improve consistency in optimal test data generation. It was evident through results that MC/DC generated optimal test data of security threats through SMCD in comparison to the Decision Coverage method thus resulting in designing a significantly lower number of test cases and yet maximizing test coverage of security threats. MC/DC generated test data with n+1, while Decision Coverage generated test data with〖 2〗^n, we, therefore, conclude that MC/DC maximizes test coverage through optimal test data from SMCD in comparison to Decision Coverage.

Continuous-wave photocathode guns are capable of delivering electron beams with high repetition rates and high average currents. However, they are limited by relatively low accelerating gradients and cathode fields. This limitation leads to a larger beam size at the gun exit due to space charge forces, making the beam more sensitive to optical aberrations and posing challenges for low-emittance electron beam transmission. This paper focuses on the aberrations induced by multipole fields. We analyze the effects of quadrupole, sextupole, and higher-order fields on beam profile and transverse emittance and propose a beam-based method for the rapid characterization and correction of these multipole fields. Furthermore, we present an experimental study conducted on the DC-SRF-II photocathode gun equipped with dedicated correctors. Both simulation and experimental results demonstrate that our approach effectively mitigates beam aberrations caused by multipole fields, resulting in improved beam symmetry and reduced emittance.

Then the purposes of this study were to compare and correlate the aerobic threshold (TH_aer) and anaerobic threshold (TH_anaer) measured during a new single judo specific incremental test and Treadmill Test for aerobic demand evaluation. Eight well-trained male competitive judo players (24.3±7.9 years; height of 169.3±6.7cm; fat mass of 12.7±3.9%) performed a maximal incremental specific test for judo mimicking the UchiKomi drills and on treadmill in different days. There was difference between specific and general TH_aer (P=0.0006) as well as weak correlation for TH_aer (r=0.32; R²=0.1; P=0.2) and TH_anaer (rs=-0.31; R²=0.1; P=0.12). When correlation was applied with normalized data (percentage of peak load) we observed moderate correlation for TH_aer (r=0.76; R²=0.58; P=0.027), but the same was not observed for TH_anaer. We conclude that there is a need of TH_aer and TH_anaer evaluation through a specific test for Judo.

The interface of a structural system in the soil is usually unsaturated. A decrease in the shear strength of the soil-structure interface can degrade the structure, especially under humid conditions. Studying the shear characteristics of the silt-concrete interface using a shear apparatus. Suction-controlled ring shear tests were carried out on the silt-concrete interface for three interface roughness values. The influence of the matric suction (s) and interface roughness (R) on the shear strength index of the silt-concrete interface was analyzed. The test results showed that high values of s and R improved the shear strength of the interface, but the result was affected by the net normal stress (NNS). High values of NNS and R improved the strain-hardening characteristics. NNS, s, and R significantly affected the interface shear shrinkage. The internal friction angle of the saturated interface was smaller than that of saturated silt, whereas the opposite occurred in the unsaturated state. The cohesion and internal friction angle of the interface rose with an increase in R, and they were larger than that of silt. A shear strength model of the silt and interface was established.

Delaying the onset of laminar-turbulent transition is an attractive method in reducing skin friction drag, especially on streamlined bodies where Tollmien-Schlichting instabilities are the dominating mechanism for transition. Miniature vortex generators (MVGs) offer an effective approach to attenuate these instabilities by generating counter-rotating vortex pairs. They are placed in pairs within an array and resemble small winglet-type elements. The conventional methodology involves adjusting MVG parameters and conducting computationally expensive DNS and/or downstream stability analyses to assess their effectiveness. However, analyzing the vortex parameters of MVG-generated vortices can potentially guide a more targeted approach in modifying MVG parameters and identifying critical factors for transition delay. Therefore, this study investigates changes in three primary MVG parameters, namely inner distance, periodicity and height, and utilizes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to create a dataset that examines the characteristics of the generated counter-rotating vortex pairs and their potential in drag reduction. The objective is to establish correlations among these parameters and their influence on delaying transition.

Delivering effective messages is critical to creating a more sustainable and resilient culture. The explosion of social media has enhanced information access but has often reinforced and polar-ized pre-existing viewpoints and norms. In contrast, digital signs are an “in your face in your space” technology that has the potential to deliver common content to a diverse local audience. Environmental Dashboard (ED) is a communications platform and set of content applications that combines information on current environmental conditions, real-time resource consumption, positive actions being taken by community members, and a community calendar. We conducted a longitudinal study to assess whether ED content delivered via digital signs in public locations would result in desirable psychological changes within a community. Participants completed surveys in six designated signage locations prior to installation (N = 174) and following two years of continuous exposure (N = 133). We observed: increases in pro-environmental social norms among people of color (a demographic emphasized); enhanced awareness of and sense of connection with the local community and ecology; increased self-reported electricity conservation; and increased perception of youth engagement (another demographic emphasized). Changes were mediated by exposure to digital signage. These findings support the hypothesis that content delivered through digital signs can strengthen pro-environmental and pro-social culture within communities.

There is currently no unified explanation for the origin of Earth's magnetic field, planetary magnetic fields, stellar magnetic fields, and neutron star magnetic fields, and most importantly, none of these theories have been experimentally verified. This paper is based on a new unified theory of mechanics and its derived applications, which may provide a better explanation for the origin of magnetic fields in celestial bodies and can be experimentally tested to better answer the observed phenomena: (1) the greater the mass of the celestial body, the stronger the magnetic field; (2) the faster the rotation speed of the celestial body, the stronger the magnetic field; (3) the higher the density of the celestial body, the stronger the magnetic field produced.

State-of-the-art augmented-reality (AR) glasses record their position and orientation in space, enabling measurements and analyses of clinical gait-and-balance tests. This study’s objective was to evaluate concurrent validity and test-retest reliability for common clinical gait-and-balance tests in people with Parkinson’s disease: the Five Times Sit-To-Stand (FTSTS) and Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) tests. Position and orientation data was collected in 22 participants with Parkinson's disease using HoloLens 2 and Magic Leap 2 AR glasses, from which test-completion durations and durations of distinct sub-parts (e.g., sit-to-stand, turning) were derived and compared to reference systems and over test repetitions. Regarding concurrent validity, for both tests an excellent between-systems agreement was found for position and orientation time series and test-completion durations. Between-systems agreement for FTSTS (sub-)durations were all excellent, while TUG turning sub-durations were excellent (turn 1) and moderate (turn 2). Regarding test-retest reliability, the within-system test-retest variation in test-completion times and sub-durations was always much greater than the between-systems variation, implying that these (sub-)durations may be derived interchangeably from AR and reference-system data. In conclusion, AR data are of sufficient quality to evaluate gait and balance in people with Parkinson's disease, with valid quantification of test-completion durations and sub-durations of distinct FTSTS and TUG sub-parts.

This study was aimed to examine the recent trends of antibiotic resistance (AR) prevalence in Staphylococcus aureus isolated from milk of animals with clinical mastitis in areas of the Abruzzo and Molise regions in central Italy. Fifty-four S. aureus isolates could be obtained from routine testing for clinical mastitis agents carried out in the author institution in years 2021 and 2022. These were analyzed for phenotypic resistance to eight antibiotics recommended for testing by European norms and belonging to the antibiotic classes used for mastitis treatment in milk producing animals. Moreover, the presence of 14 transferable genetic determinants encoding resistance to the same antibiotics was analyzed by qPCR tests developed in this study. Phenotypic resistance to non-β-lactams was infrequent, with only one 2022 isolate resistant to clindamycin. However, low level resistance to the β-lactam cefoxitin was observed in 59.2% isolates in both years making these isolates classifiable as methicillin resistant. The AR genotypes detected were blaZ gene (50% 2021 isolates and 44.4% 2022 isolates), ermC/T- aphA3-blaZ (one 2021 isolate), ant6-ermC/T-aphA3-blaZ (one 2021 isolate), ermB-blaZ (one 2022 isolate) and mecA-mph (one 2022 isolate). An interview to the veterinarians who conferred the samples, regarding antimicrobials prescribed for mastitis treatment and criteria of usage, indicated a possible causal relation with the AR test results. The low prevalence of AR genotypes, not increasing in time, most probably reflecting the reported management of antibiotic therapies in farms. However, the frequently observed cefoxitin resistance needs to be explained genotypically, further monitored and limited by modifying antibiotic usage practices. The identification of a mecA positive isolate in 2022 suggests to investigate further if this genotype is emerging locally.

A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of subclinical mastitis (SCM) among medium to large scale household dairy farms in southwestern district, Jhenaidah, Bangladesh during July to December 2019. A total of 78 (n=100) lactating cows from household dairy farms (N=32) having three or more dairy cows were selected randomly as sampled populations. Milk samples were screened for SCM by using Surf Field Mastitis Test (SFMT). The prevalence of SCM varied among farm level [71.9% (95% CI: 53.3-86.3)], individual animal level [67.9% (95% CI: 56.4-86.3)] and quarter level [29.5% (95% CI: 24.5-34.9)]. Descriptive statistics represented the farmers and farm demography, characteristics of the sampled population, and overall management feature. Random Effect Logistic Regression identified, Body Condition Score (BCS) [OR=3.8 and 2.9, at cows level and quarter level respectively (BCS-2 vs. BCS-≥3)], and breed [OR=5.1 and 2.9, at cows level and quarter level respectively (HF× Sahiwal vs. HF × Local)] as potential risk factors. This study shows that SCM is highly prevalent in the study area, which is a major threat to the dairy industry's production performance. Regular screening by SFMT, proper hygiene, improve the management system, and farmer’s awareness is required to control the disease.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is recognized worldwide as one of the major agents of dairy cow intra-mammary infections. This microorganism can express a wide spectrum of pathogenic factors used to attach, colonize, invade and infect the host. The present study evaluated 120 isolates from eight different countries that were genotyped by RS-PCR and investigated for 26 different virulence factors to increase the knowledge on the circulating genetic lineages among the cow population with mastitis. New genotypes were observed for South African strains while for all the other countries new variants of existing genotypes were detected. For each country, a specific genotypic pattern was found. Among the virulence factors, fmtB, cna, clfA and leucocidins genes were the most frequent. The sea and sei genes were present in seven out of eight countries; seh showed high frequency in South American countries (Brazil, Colombia, Argentina), while sel was harboured especially in one Mediterranean country (Tunisia). The etb, seb and see genes were not detected in any of the isolates, while only two isolates were MRSA (Germany and Italy) confirming the low diffusion of methicillin resistance microorganism among bovine mastitis isolates. This work demonstrated the wide variety of S. aureus genotypes found in dairy cattle worldwide. This condition suggests that considering the region of interest might help to formulate strategies for reducing the infection spreading.

It is extremely fascinating and astonishing that the gravitational field on the surface of a neutron star is with a relativistic mass density of 2.65*10¹⁶~5.87*10¹⁸kgm^-3 which can be larger than the mass density of the neutron star (~10¹⁷kgm^-3).Therefore, it is the author’s first intuitional imagining that this field could directly convert into mass. In so strong a gravitational field, electron and proton could be produced directly from graviton–photon collision. The gravitational field exists in everywhere in our universe. No vacuum that the region of a space is “empty” does exist. A particle is clearly always being acted on by the gravitational field. The quantum vacuum fluctuation and vacuum polarization need be re-understood with the interaction between photon and gravitational field. Therefore, the gravitational field is naturally one of the foundations of modern physics.

Geopolymers, made from aluminosilicate raw materials, offer significant environmental advantages over conventional concrete (CC) mixes. This study explores the compressive strength, setting time, and durability of geopolymer concrete (GPC) cylinders, some of which include an additional ordinary portland cement (OPC) mix. Consistent material composition and testing methods are emphasized to achieve reliable results. MATLAB was utilized to develop and assess a neural network model predicting the compressive strength of GPC based on key variables. The model was validated using 16 experimental samples and 1047 samples from various studies. The performance plot displayed the Mean Squared Error (MSE) over iterations, identifying the best training performance at epoch 658 with an MSE of 5.3408. The Error Histogram highlighted distribution errors between predicted and actual compressive strength values, with the highest range from -1.015 to 0.3587, meaning that the predicted values were mostly within a small margin of error from the actual values. This narrow error range indicates that the ANN model has high accuracy in its predictions, as most errors are small and clustered around zero, demonstrating reliable performance in estimating compressive strength. Regression analysis showed varying correlation coefficients (training set R=0.98373, test set R=0.88164, and whole set R=0.96982), indicating adequate predictive accuracy. The results demonstrate that properly trained neural networks can effectively predict the compressive strength of GPC, highlighting its potential as a sustainable construction material.

This work focuses on the theoretical study of the effect of entanglement in the Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide (YBCO) superconductor on the critical current density, critical magnetic field, and penetration depth. Using the Ginzburg Landau (GL) theory, the expression for the GL coherence length, the critical current density, the lower critical magnetic field (Hc1), and the upper critical magnetic field (Hc2) for the entangled superconducting YBCO was obtained. At zero external magnetic fields, YBCO was found to undergo a transition from the normal state to the superconducting state at 93K and returned to normal. We found a direct relationship between the GL coherence length penetration depth and the temperature of the entangled superconducting YBCO. The graphs of the lower critical magnetic field (Hc1) and critical current density against temperature show a non-linear dependence.In contrast, the graph of the upper critical magnetic field (Hc2) against temperature (T) shows the linear dependence, which is in agreement with existing theoretical observations. On the other hand, the graph of critical current density against the distance of separation between the entangled electrons that form a cooper pair showed that the critical current density increases between 1.8 and 6 nanometers attaining a constant value after reaching 7 nanometers for infinite distances. Finally, for lower critical fields, the magnetic field decreases between 1.5 to 6 nanometers attaining a constant value of the magnetic field, for infinite values of distance of separation between the entangled pair of electrons.

This study uses a mass-spring-damping system to simulate the repeated strain of liquefaction cyclic triaxial tests. The two results are compared in this paper to understand the feasibility of the mass-spring-damping system developed in this paper and the feasibility of future research on this related topic and development potential. The main factors affecting this mode's repeated strain are the spring coefficient k and the external force Q0. The spring coefficient has an inverse relationship but does not increase in multiples. The external force has a direct proportional relationship but does not increase the result- a non-multiple increase. When the pore water pressure of the liquefied cyclic triaxial test specimen rises, it will cause the specimen to liquefy, decreasing effective stress, shear modulus G, and damping ratio D, causing an increase in strain. The shear modulus and damping ratio are related to the spring coefficients k and c. Both are variables that change with time. This article takes an original thin-tube specimen at point A in the Yunlin area in Taiwan as a testing example. Through Mathematica software, it can be obtained that the mass m=1kg, the spring coefficient k=244e-0.1t kgf/cm, and the damping coefficient c=0.739e-0.257t kgf-s/cm and external force Q0=10.1sin2πt kg; Finally, this study selected the original thin-tube specimens from four locations in the Yunlin area, and simulated the repeated strain amount of the cyclic triaxial test specimens through a spring-damping system. The results show that the spring-damping system is feasible for simulated cyclic triaxial tests because the model is simple and the parameters are easy to understand and obtain, which also shows the extensibility of this model. Preliminary results of the research show that this model can further simulate the repeated strain obtained by cyclic triaxial tests without considering the increased trend in pore water pressure and the decrease in effective stress during cyclic loading.

Staphylococcus aureus(S. aureus) is associated with mastitis in dairy cows, this study investigates the therapeutic effect of maggot antimicrobial peptides on S. aureus induced mastitis in mice. The maggot AMP was isolated and purified, tested for antimicrobial activity, and used to treat a pathological model of rat mastitis. The concentration of 1.5mg/（Kg. BW）AMP was selected as intramammary treatment in S. aureus-induced mastitis in mice. The mice were divided into four groups of 30 mice each: group I (healthy control), group II (disease control), group III (AMP), and group IV (ciprofloxacin). To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of maggot AMP in mastitis induced by S. aureus based on clinical presentation, mammary gland structure, bacterial load, histopathology, and cure. During the 7-day treatment period, all the mice in Group II died in the afternoon of the fifth day, and the clinical signs of the mice in Group III began to improve on the third day, as evidenced by the gradual recovery of the mice's mental status, dietary intake, and water intake. During the treatment period, the bacterial load count of Group III was significantly lower than that of Group II but higher than that of Group IV, while the bacterial load count of Group III gradually decreased and approached that of Group IV from the fifth to the seventh day. The levels of TNF-α in groups III and IV were significantly lower than those in group II, suggesting that maggot AMP has a certain inhibitory effect on TNF-α. Treatment with AMP@ 1.5 mg/(Kg. BW) showed restoration of clinical signs, reduced bacterial load, and lower TNF-α levels in mice, leading to significant improvement in histopathological changes as compared to disease controls. The final cure rate was 40% for mice in Group III compared to 70% for mice in Group IV, compared to all mice in Group II that died. From this study, it can be concluded that maggot AMP can be used as a potential alternative treatment option to antibiotics for the treatment of bovine mastitis.

The aim of the current study was to determine the relation between subclinical mastitis and rumination behavior registered with an online sensor system. According to the results of the general clinical examination of 650 milking cows, 10 cows with subclinical mastitis (SCM) and 10 clinical healthy cows (HG) were selected (without clinical signs of any diseases). Rumination behavior biomarkers were registered with RumiWatch noseband sensor (RWS; ITIN + HOCH GmbH, Fütterungstechnik, Liestal, Switzerland). Sensors were implanted on the first day after calving. Data from the RWS from 13th days before the diagnosis and 13 days after diagnosis of SCM were used to compare with HG data during the same period. The healthy cows were monitored during the same days as the SCM cows.

Deep underground laboratories offer advantages for conducting high-precision observations of weak geophysical signals, benefitting from a low background noise level. It is both valuable and feasible to enhance strong, noisy ground electromagnetic (EM) field data using synchronously recorded underground EM signals, which typically exhibit a high signal-to-noise ratio. In this study, we propose an EM field reconstruction method employing a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network with referenced deep underground EM observations. Initially, a deep learning model was developed to capture the time-varying features of underground multi-component EM fields using the LSTM recurrent neural network. Subsequently, this model was applied to process synchronously observed strong, noisy data from other conventional observation systems, such as those at surface, to achieve noise suppression through signal reconstructions. Both theoretical analysis and practical observational data suggest that the proposed method effectively suppresses noise and reconstructs clean EM signals. This method is efficient and time-saving, representing an effective approach to fully utilizing the advantages of deep underground observation data. Furthermore, this method could be extended to the processing and analysis of other geophysical data.

Bovine mastitis (BM) has been causing great economic and financial losses in the dairy industry worldwide and one of its major pathogenic agents is S. aureus. BM treatment still relies on antibiotics. The extensive use of antimicrobials gives rise to bacterial strains such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and mupirocin-resistant S. aureus (MuRSA). This study aimed to investigate and compare the prevalence of MRSA and MuRSA and antimicrobial susceptibility in S. aureus isolates from bovine mastitis milk in conventional and organic dairy farms. Milk samples were taken from mastitis-infected cattle in 6 conventional and 7 organic dairy farms from South Korea. According to the Food Codex, 163 suspected S. aureus colonies were isolated from the pooled milk samples from each farm. Further rapid coagulase test confirmed 11 out of 74 isolates from 4 conventional farms (CF1, CF2, CF3, CF4) while 17 out of 89 isolates from 3 organic farms (OF1, OF2, OF3) exhibited coagulase activity. Multiplex PCR amplification showed that the nuc gene marker for S. aureus was found in all coagulase-positive isolates from OF 1 and at least one isolate from CF1, CF2, CF3, and CF4. Conversely, only 2 isolates from CF2 contained mecA gene for MRSA while none had the mupA gene for MuRSA. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed that conventional farm isolates were more resistant to antibiotics particularly, against ampicillin and tetracycline, and, in turn, could imply a potential to develop multidrug resistance if stringent measures to control antimicrobial use in dairy farms is not implemented properly.

The textile sector is responsible for a number of environmental impacts. Due to the in-creasing quantities of textiles, their share is rising and a trend reversal from a linear to a circular textile chain is needed. This article presents the background, methodological approach and results of a participatory textile development model. In the commercial B2B sector, three textile prototypes were developed together with users and trialled over several months in three application areas. Textile development took into account the requirements of fibre regeneration in the product design and focused on innova-tive chemical recycling solutions. The three sustainably aligned textiles were subject-ed to spectroscopic and textile-technological tests. Screening life cycle assessments an-alysed their environmental profile and compared it with reference textiles that are used as standard. Overall, it is clear that the three textiles can match conventional ref-erence textiles in terms of quality and have considerable environmental benefits com-pared to the reference textiles. The user survey did identify concerns about a high arti-ficial fibre content, although a general rejection of recycled fibres was not observed. The results show that a transformation is possible, but must start with the fibre com-position; recycling, on the other hand, is of minor importance.

Introduction: Biliary Atresia (BA) is a common cause of neonatal cholestatic jaundice which, if recognized and treated early, can be life-saving for the infant. If the liver biopsy suggests the presence of BA, exploratory laparotomy is then carried out to confirm the diagnosis, along with the Kasai procedure to provide drainage to the bile secreted by the liver. The purpose of this study is to get a deep dive into all the various imaging modalities that can diagnose BA more effectively and with absolute certitude, thus helping prevent several children from a grave prognosis.Methodology: For the collection of the data, a search was done by two individuals using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library databases for all relevant literature. Each qualifying paper was evaluated independently by two reviewers. Each article was analyzed for the number of patients, their age, procedure modality, complexity of ethology, and incidence of the pre-decided complications. The statistical software packages RevMan (Review Manager, version 5.3), SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 20), Google Sheets, and Excel in Stata 14 were used to perform the statistical analyses. The data was obtained and entered into analytic software.Results: A total of 39 studies with 3,679 subjects were selected for the study, out of which 7 studies showed sensitivity above or equal to 95%, and an astounding 14 studies showed specificity above 95%. The value of True Positive (TP) was 1280, that of True Negative (TN) was 1817, that of False Positive (FP) was 239, and that of False Negative (FN) was 343. With a confidence interval of 95%, sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive values were calculated. The sensitivity of Ultrasonography for Biliary Atresia is 0.79, with a CI of 95% in a range of 0.77 to 0.81. The specificity of Ultrasonography for Biliary Atresia is 0.88, with a CI of 95% in a range of 0.87 to 0.90. Conclusion: Even though several radiological techniques at present help to detect BA, USG of the abdomen proves to be an effective diagnostic and a modest screening test for the detection of BA.

Asymptotic theories for fractional cointegrations have been extensively studied in the context of time series data, with numerous empirical studies and tests developed. However, most of the previously developed testing procedures for fractional cointegration were primarily designed for time series data. This paper proposes a generalized residual-based test for fractionally cointegrated panels with fixed effects. The test development is based on bivariate panel series with the regressor assumed to be fixed across cross-sectional units. The proposed test procedure accommodates any integration order between [0,1], and it is asymptotically normal under the null hypothesis. Monte Carlo experiments demonstrate that the test exhibits better size and power compared to a similar residual-based test across varying sample sizes.

The carbonyl iron particles were dispersed in a polychloroprene rubber (CR) matrix under an external magnetic field for practical application as microwave absorption composites film. The film prepared under external magnetic field with a thickness of only 0.54 mm showed least reflection loss of -15.98 dB and the reflection loss value less than -10.0 dB over the frequency range of 11.4~14.8 GHz. In comparison with the microwave absorption properties of calculation by transmission line theory based on the tested relative complex permittivity and permeability and film prepared by general route without external magnetic field, the film made with external magnetic field exhibited more excellent microwave absorption properties, strongly depending on the increment of anisotropy and rearrangement of magnetic particles. The results indicated the composite film made under external magnetic field have excellent microwave absorption properties, which suggest that the composites thin film could be used as a thinner and lighter microwave absorber.

It is shown that the relationship between gravity and quantum physics can be described in terms of the symmetry break of space due to elementary constituents, dubbed as “darks”, which constitute a universal energetic background field that extends from the cosmological level down to the nuclear level. It requires (a) the awareness of the polarisable second elementary dipole moment of a recently discovered third Dirac particle type, next to the electron-type and the Majorana-type, and (b) the awareness that Einstein’s Lambda is not a constant of nature, but, instead, a covariant integration constant with a value that depends on the scope of the cosmological system under consideration, such as solar systems and galaxies, eventually showing up as the Cosmological Constant at the level of the universe. The relationship has been made explicit by relating two major gravitational constants quantaties (the gravitational constant and Milgrom’s acceleration constant) with a single nuclear quantity (the rest mass of the pion derived from the Higgs boson value).

Faced with increasing climate challenges, this pioneering study introduces groundbreaking approaches to ensure the resilience of potato crops in east-central Poland. Our research aimed to develop an innovative, cost-effective system tailored to the diverse local conditions of this region. Conducted between 2018 and 2020, the study analyzed integrated and organic production systems across different soil types and potato varieties. The experiment was conducted using a randomized block design with three replications in two locations. Integrated practices, enhanced by mineral fertilization and chemical protection, notably delayed the onset of late blight by 16 days and extended the critical infection period by 17% compared to their organic counterparts. Remarkably, the integrated systems resulted in a 49% increase in total production and a 52% increase in commercial yields, demonstrating their effectiveness in enhancing crop resilience. Different potato varieties exhibit varied responses to cultivation systems, influencing both yield and disease resistance. Further investigation into these varietal responses can help optimize cultivation practices, leading to improved efficiency and sustainability in potato farming. Location and soil conditions have a significant impact on potato yield and the spread of potato blight. Further research into specific soil properties and the adaptation of varieties to local conditions can contribute to increased productivity and stability in potato production. This study not only paves the way towards sustainable agriculture but also highlights the crucial role of soil diversity in shaping resilient farming practices.

The teaching of mathematics at the Faculty of Military Technology of the University of Defense in the first two years of the five-year Military master’s degree is divided into the teaching of students in four specializations: Military Technologies – Mechanical, Military Technologies – Electrical, Military Geography and Cartography, and Cybersecurity. The article discusses the previous five-year experience in teaching the subjects Mathematics I, Mathematics II, Mathematics III, and Graph theory for the specialization in Cybersecurity, that the author of the paper gained while teaching, as a guarantor of these four subjects. The article provides an overview of the topics that are covered, typical exam assignments, and an evaluation of the results of the semester exams in the five years since the accreditation of the Cybersecurity specialization was granted.

The COVID-19 pandemic over the past years has shown a great need for rapid, low-cost and on-site detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In this paper, an aptamer-based colloidal gold nanoparticle lateral flow test strip was well developed to realize the visual detection of wild type SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (SP) and multiple variants. Under the optimal reaction conditions, a low detection limit of SARS-CoV-2 S protein of 0.68 nM was acquired, and the actual detection recovery was 83.3% to 108.8% for real world samples. This suggests a potential tool for the prompt detection of SARS-CoV-2 with good sensitivity and accuracy, and a new method for the development of alternative antibody test strips for the detection of other viral targets.

This study aimed to develop a state-of-the-art method for assessing chemical risks. The method combined desk research findings and the authors' practical knowledge to identify the major shortcomings in performing risk assessments at the workplace. Data were collected from nine SMEs across three sectors: agriculture, laboratory research, and conservation and restoration laboratories. The results of the discussions with the workers and on-site observations were used to develop the method to assess chemical risks. The method uses numerical factors to account for the level of conformity and the duration of exposure to support an estimation of the probability of an incident. The developed method was designed to enhance risk assessment practices and tackle common issues encountered by enterprises, including SMEs.

This study delves into the intricate interplay of economic growth components, specifically focusing on Consumption and investment in Saudi Arabia from 2000 to 2022. Employing vector error correction models and cointegration techniques, we analyze the short- and long-term dynamics within the relationship of Consumption, investment, and economic growth. Granger causality analysis is also used to discern these pivotal variables' causal connections. Our empirical analysis reveals a persistent long-term cointegration relationship among the variables, underscoring the enduring nature of their interdependency. Furthermore, our findings highlight Consumption and investment's statistically significant positive impact on economic growth. Notably, the short-term analysis unveils a stable model characterized by an annual adjustment to equilibrium of 100%.Moreover, the Granger causality study demonstrates unidirectional causal linkages between Consumption, investment, and economic growth. These findings hold substantial implications for policy formulation in Saudi Arabia. Policymakers must grasp the ramifications of burgeoning prosperity and evolving private consumption patterns on future environmental outcomes. Achieving sustainable long-term results necessitates equal emphasis on bolstering private Consumption and fostering other facets of economic growth.

The Geopyörä breakage test uses two counter-rotating wheels to nip and crush rock specimens with a tightly controlled gap between rollers. The force applied and energy consumed during breakage are measured with instrumentation. In contrast to drop weigh test (DWT) methods, the breakage energy is a response to the rock compressive strength and degree of compression, not a controlled test input, such as the kinetic input energy of a falling weight. This paper presents the detailed measures conducted to evaluate the accuracy and precision of energy measurements across various ore types using the Geopyörä device. While force measurement was assessed just for its precision. The outputs are compared directly to the DWT measures of fragmentation at the same energy and fitted A and b parameters. The test reproducibility was evaluated using a Round-Robin methodology, testing several samples in multiple laboratories. The results confirmed that the new test has sufficient accuracy to match DWT results and excellent precision to assure reproducibility.

We develop a primality test for Mersenne numbers and investigate the primality of the sequence of Catalan-Mersenne numbers. We use induction as a proof to show that the 5th Catalan-Mersenne number is a prime number, thus demonstrating the infinitude of Mersenne primes.

The BH 25 railway bridge, located in Indonesia, consists of three spans: 9.5 m (span-1 girder type), 21.9 m (span-2 truss type), and 9.6 m (span-3 girder type). Despite the initial plan for camber, it was not achieved, leading to the installation of temporary support on span-2. To assess the level of damage and determine the necessary steps, static and dynamic tests were conducted using a CC206 locomotive. The maximum deflection was recorded at -4.60 mm for span-1, -11.30 mm for span-2, and -3.42 mm for span-3. The dominant frequency in the vertical direction of span-2 was found to be 14.65 Hz. Due to the inability to achieve the planned camber and the subsequent removal of temporary support, external prestressing will be implemented, resulting in a camber of 11.82 mm. This change in prestressing also affects the dominant frequency of span-2, which becomes 17.07 Hz.

Oil and Gas companies, both national and international, along with government regulators, share a common goal of efficiently managing their valuable assets. These assets refer to the Reserves of oil and Gas located underground. Typically, production and Reserves Engineers play a crucial role in managing these reserves through the implementation of well testing techniques. Thus far, the gold standard in this field has been to ensure the optimal management and utilization of these resources. In the context of well testing, the separator has traditionally been considered the gold standard. However, despite regulatory mandates for frequency of well testing (Such as the general requirements of every 30days in the Nigeria south East zone sector), There is a lack of specific regulations regarding the expected flow measurement uncertainties. This gap in the regulations leaves room for improvement in establishing guidelines for accurate flow measurements. This paper aim to Review the various test separator employed, examine the implications of the 30days testing interval under real - world conditions, and critically assess the achievable measurements uncertainties in the field. Additionally, it will provide a candid analysis that sheds light on the expected uncertainties associated with flow measurements. The introduction of the multiphase meters in the past two decades hold the potential for significant advancements in Reservoirs management performance. However, the authors suspect that this potential has not been universally realized. This paper aim to address this issue by examining the extent to which the benefits of multiphase meters have been effectively utilized in reservoir management. By doing so, it seeks to shed light on any existing gaps and propose recommendation for maximizing the impact of multiphase metres in the field. In addition to the aforementioned objectives, this paper will also address and explore the following key aspects:Identification and review of both the strength and weaknesses associated with test separators. By thoroughly examining these attributes, we can gain valuable insight into their effectiveness and potential areas for improvement. Exploration of alternative application of test separator and their impact on well testing efficiency. Real -World comparison will be provided to highlight the advantages and challenges associated with these alternative uses, offering a comprehensive understanding of their implications. Evaluation of the contribution that multiphase flows meters (MPFMs) can bring to the testing scenario and overall performance. By assessing the capabilities and potential benefits of MPFMs, we aim to provide a comprehensive picture of their role in enhancing testing procedures. Examination of the flow measurement uncertainties that can be expected from a test separator and their potential impact on reservoirs management performance. By understanding and quantifying these uncertainties, we can gain insight into how they may affect decision -making and optimization strategies in managing our materials assets effectively. Delving into the question of reconciling multiphase flow meter (MPFMs) with test separators. This analysis aims to inject a sense of realism into the world of managing our major material assets by explaining the challenges and opportunities associated with integrating and aligning these two measurement technologies. By addressing these crucial aspects, this paper strives to provide a comprehensive understanding of the complexities involved in managing our material assets, ultimately driving towards more informed decision-making and improved performance.