This paper aims to investigate the usage of waste from Absorbent Hygienic Products (AHP) as a fuel for gasification or pyrolysis, two attractive routes to obtain valuable products and dispose of this kind of waste. The study experimentally investigated the devolatilization of coarsely shred-ded materials from diapers, in a laboratory-scale bubbling fluidized bed made of sand, as a rep-resentative preparatory step of above-mentioned thermochemical conversions. Two versions of shredded materials were considered: as-manufactured diapers (AHPam, as a reference), and the cellulosic fraction of sterilized used diapers (AHPus). Results were presented, obtained from physic-chemical characterization of AHPam and AHPus (TGA, CHNS/O, proximate and ultimate analysis, XRF, ICP-AES, SEM-EDS) and their devolatilizations at 500-600-700-800°C, under two different atmospheres (air plus nitrogen, or pure nitrogen as a reference). Generally, temperature had most influenced syngas composition, with better performances under pure nitrogen. At 700-800 °C under pure nitrogen, the highest syngas quality and yield were obtained. For AHPam and AHPus, respectively: (i) H2 richness equaled 29.5 vol% and 23.7 vol%, while hydrocarbons poorness equaled 14.8 vol% and 7.4 vol% on dry, dilution-free basis; (ii) 53.7 Nl 100 gfuel-1 and 46.0 Nl 100 gfuel-1 were produced. Overall, AHP emerged as an interesting fuel for thermochemical conversions.

Disposable absorbent hygiene products have evolved for superior performance, enhancing the convenience of daily lives. Yet the use of disposable hygiene pads has brought safety concerns on chemical exposure, and significant efforts have been made to assess the potential risks associated with use of hygiene pads. This article intends to overview the safety assessment framework of diapers and feminine pads, which includes hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure assessment, risk characterization, and postmarket risk management. Risk assessment of various constituents are reviewed for quantification methods and conservative estimation of exposure parameters. By reviewing the up-to-date considerations in risk assessment, we aim to provide insightful discussion on safety evaluation of current versions of disposable absorbent products. More clinical testing and postmarket surveillance are needed for continuous monitoring of potential health impacts of advanced products and constituents.

Lyme disease, the leading vector-borne ailment in the U.S., annually affects an estimated 476,000 individuals, predominantly in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. Despite its increasing incidence, the evaluation of risk within U.S. cities, including natural public lands, remains inadequate. This study focuses on blacklegged tick occurrences and Borrelia burgdorferi infection prevalence in 24 Staten Island parks, aiming to assess Lyme disease exposure risk. Monthly acarological risk index (ARI) calculations from 2019 to 2022 revealed elevated values (0.16-0.53) in specific parks, notably Wolfe’s Pond Park, High Rock Park, Clay Pit Pond Park, Clove Lake Park, and Fair View Park. June (0.36) and November (0.21) consistently exhibited heightened ARIs, aligning with peak tick collection months. Despite stable yearly infection rates at 28.97%, tick densities varied significantly between parks and years. Identifying a high transmission risk in specific parks in Staten Island, a highly urbanized part of New York City, emphasizes the continuous necessity for Lyme disease risk management, even within the greenspaces of large cities.

Many protein expression systems are primary utilised to produce a single, specific recombinant protein. In contrast, most biological processes such as virus assembly rely upon a complex of several interacting proteins rather than the activity of a sole protein. The high complexity of the baculovirus genome, coupled with a multiphase replication cycle incorporating distinct transcriptional steps, made it the ideal system to manipulate for high-level expression of a single or co-expression of multiple foreign proteins within a single cell. We have developed and utilised a series of recombinant baculovirus systems to unravel the sequential assembly process of a complex non-enveloped model virus, Bluetongue virus (BTV). The high protein yields expressed by the baculovirus system not only facilitated structure-function analysis of each viral proteins but were also advantageous to crystallography studies and supported the first atomic level resolution of a recombinant viral protein, the major BTV capsid protein. Further, the formation of recombinant double-shelled virus-like particles (VLPs) provided insights into the structure-function relationships among the four major structural proteins of the BTV whilst also representing a potential candidate for a viral vaccine. The baculovirus multi-gene expression system facilitated the study of structurally complex viruses (both non-enveloped and enveloped viruses) and heralded in a new generation of viral vaccines.

Addressing the pressing challenge of global warming, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector is a critical imperative. Battery and fuel-cell electric vehicles have emerged as promising solutions for curbing emissions in this sector. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) for typical passenger vehicles, heavy duty trucks and city buses using either proton-exchange membrane fuel cells or Li-ion batteries with different cell chemistries. To ensure accuracy, we supplemented existing studies with data from the literature, particularly for the recycling phase, as database limitations were encountered. Our results highlight that fuel cell and battery systems exhibit large emissions in the production phase. Recycling can significantly offset some of these emissions, but a comparison of the technologies examined revealed considerable differences. Overall, battery electric vehicles consistently outperform fuel cell electric vehicles regarding absolute greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, we recommend prioritizing battery electric over fuel cell vehicles. However, deploying fuel cell electric vehicles could become attractive in a hydrogen economy scenario where other factors, e. g. the conversion and storage of surplus renewable electricity via electrolysis, become important.

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) is currently used to monitor not only the spread of the pandemic virus SARS-CoV-2 but also for other viruses in endemic conditions, particularly in the absence of syndromic surveillance. Continuous monitoring of sewage requires high costs and significant time investment, highlighting the need for standardized methods and structured monitoring strategies. In this context, we conducted weekly wastewater monitoring in northwestern Italy, targeting Human Adenovirus (HAdV), Norovirus Genogroup II (NoVggII), Enterovirus (EV), and SARS-CoV-2. Samples collected at the entrance of treatment plants were concentrated using PEG/NaCl precipitation and viral nucleic acids were extracted and detected by real-time (RT-)qPCR. NoVggII resulted the most identified target (84.4%), followed by HAdV, SARS-CoV-2, and EV. Only HAdV and EV exhibited seasonal peaks in spring and summer. SARS-CoV-2 results compared with data previously collected in the same study area (February 2021 to September 2021) revealed a shift from an epidemic to a pandemic status, likely due to the evolution of variants. In conclusion, WBE, using standardized methods and an efficient monitoring strategy, proves valuable for virus surveillance in pandemic and epidemic scenarios, enabling the identification of temporal-local distribution patterns that are useful for making informed public health decision.

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

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

Vertical Indoor Farming (VIF) with hydroponics offers a promising perspective for sustainable food production. Intelligent control of VIF system components plays a key role in reducing operating costs and increasing crop yields. Modern machine vision (MV) systems use Deep Learning (DL) in combination with camera systems for various tasks in agriculture, such as disease and nutrient deficiency detection, and flower and fruit identification and classification for pollination and harvesting. This study presents the applicability of MV technology with DL modelling to detect the growth stages of chilli plants using YOLOv8 networks. The influence of different bird’s eye and side view datasets and different YOLOv8 architectures was analysed. To generate the image data for training and testing the YOLO models, chilli plants were grown in a hydroponic environment and imaged throughout their life cycle using four camera systems. The growth stages were divided into growing, flowering and fruiting classes. All trained YOLOv8 models showed reliable identification of growth stages with high accuracy. The results indicate that models trained with data from both views show better generalisation. YOLO’s middle architecture achieved the best performance.

Properties of time domain parameters of the vibration signal have been extensively studied for the fault diagnosis of rolling element bearings (REB). Parameters like kurtosis and Envelope Harmonic-to-Noise Ratio are most widely applied in this field and some important progress has been made. However, since only one-sided information is contained in these parameters respectively, problems still exist in practice when the signals collected are of complicated structure and/or contaminated by strong background noises. A new parameter, named Shock pulse index (SPI), is proposed in this paper. It integrates the mutual advantage of both parameters above and can help effectively identify fault related impulse components under the interference of strong background noises, unrelated harmonic components and random impulses. The SPI optimizes the parameters of Maximum Correlated Kurtosis Deconvolution (MCKD), which is used to filter the signals under consideration. Finally, the interested transient information contained in the filtered signal can be highlighted through demodulation with Teager Energy Operator (TEO). Fault related impulse components can therefore be extracted accurately. Simulations and experiment analyses verify the effectiveness and correctness of the SPI.

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) is effective for the manipulation of fluids and particles in microscale. The current approach of integrating interdigitated transducers (IDTs) for SAW generation into microfluidic channels involves complex and laborious microfabrication steps. These steps often require the full access to clean room facilities and hours to align the transducers to the precise location. This work presents an affordable and innovative method for fabricating SAW-based microfluidic devices without the need of clean room facilities and alignment. The IDTs and microfluidic channels are fabricated in the same process and thus precisely self-aligned in accordance with the device design. With the use of the developed fabrication approach, a few types of different SAW-based microfluidic devices have been fabricated and demonstrated for particle separation and active droplet generation.

Introduction: We under took an in-use evaluation of a novel hypochlorous acid-based hand hygiene product with in vitro sporicidal efficacy in a NHS Older Persons inpatient ward setting. Methods: The novel hand hygiene product was implemented for a trial period of seven weeks commending in September 2023. Healthcare worker (HCW) hands were sampled before and after direct patient care, and after the application of either an alcohol-based handrub (ABHR) (n=50) or the novel product (n=50). Samples were cultured to quantify the total aerobic count (TAC) and presence or absence of MRSA, ESBLs, CREs, and C. difficile. Trends in weekly observational hand hygiene audit results were reviewed, and a survey of HCW views about the new product undertaken. Results: HCW hands had a significantly greater TAC after ABHR (p=0.01) but not after the novel product (p=0.11) compared with their respective baseline counts. 3% of 100 samples grew MRSA or ESBLs after application of the alcohol-based or novel hand hygiene products. No C. difficile was cultured from healthcare worker hands. There was no significant difference in observed hand hygiene compliance. The majority of HCW surveyed preferred the novel product to the alcohol-based hand hygiene product. Discussion: The novel hand hygiene product was more effective than ABHR at reducing the TAC on HCW hands. Poor hand hygiene technique may explain the identification of antibiotic-resistant bacteria on staff hands after ABHR or the novel product. We were not able to evaluate sporicidal efficacy since no C. difficile was cultured from hands.

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

This paper proposes a product design model for internalising users’ positive experiences through attachment. First, the research commences with a literature review to define the concepts and research status of positive experience design (PED) and product attachment. Subsequently, the design model is constructed, accompanied by relevant formulas for concept generation. Finally, the model’s validity is verified through a workshop, and its effectiveness is evaluated and discussed using the USE questionnaire. This study incorporates the seven factors of product attachment to activate positive states within the user–product relationship and facilitate the cultivation of positive thinking. Grounded in theories of PED and embracing a product attachment perspective, the attachment-driven PED model offers a systematic approach for generating design concepts that are relevant to user experience.

In the present study, the new biological sources in the form of lichen Usnea orientalis Motyka was screened for its antidermatophytic potential. Six species of dermatophytes were chosen on the basis of their prevalence for antidermatophytic assays, and the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI)-recommended broth microdilution procedure was used to detect the efficacy of extract against dermatophytes. Thin layer chromatography of lichen extracts reveals the presence of two secondary metabolites viz. salazinic acid and usnic acid. U. orientalis extract exhibited promising antidermatophytic activity against all tested pathogens. Amongst all tested pathogens, E. floccosum exhibited most susceptibility towards extract, whereas T. mentagrophytes exhibited the least susceptibility. Topical application of U. orientalis extract might be helpful in the cure of dermal infections.

This bibliographic study addresses key aspects related to fishing, product safety, and climate change in the Adriatic Sea region. The examination of product safety focuses on the assessment of contaminants originating from human activities such as industry, mining, agriculture, and household waste disposal. The contamination of the aquatic environment has emerged as a pressing global concern, extending to the Adriatic subbasin. Aquatic organisms, including fish, are prone to accumulating pollutants directly from polluted water sources and indirectly through the food web. The bio-accumulation of potentially hazardous substances, particularly heavy metals, pesticides, PCBs, PAHs, and antibiotic resistance in aquatic organisms, poses a significant threat to human health. Climate change effects will deplete our seafood supply in terms of quantity and safety owing to negative consequences such as higher levels of pollution, parasites, viruses, infections, acidification, and toxicities such as shellfish poisoning. Global food safety strategies should be developed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote environmentally friendly technology, which indirectly affects seafood quality and microbiological safety, especially for Adriatic Sea, which is part of the Mediterranean Sea, characterized by the most polluted waters in the world.

In this study, 10%PTFE/PEEK blend were modified by potassium titanate whisker (PTW) and chopped glass fiber (GF), respectively. The blends were prepared by three-screw extruder. Through the investigation of thermal stability, tribological properties, mechanical properties and rheological behavior, the effects of reinforcing agents were determined. The results illustrated that the mechanical properties of 10%PTFE/PEEK blend can be dramatically improved by adding reinforcing agent of PTW or GF, and the reinforcing effect of GF was especially obvious. As for tribological properties, 1% addition was the best proportion. The friction coefficient and wear rate of the blend with 1% PTW were 0.283 and 4.97 × 10^-6 mm³/N · m, which decreased by 7.2% and 21% compared with those of the blend without reinforcing agent.

Background: Patients with thromboembolic disease, prosthetic valves, or coagulation issues are commonly prescribed anticoagulants and antiplatelets. Although common professional oral hygiene might not represent a health concern for these patients, anticoagulant and antiplatelet medication might constitute a challenge for dentists and dental hygienists since possible prolonged bleeding might interfere with dental procedures. The aim of the present study was to investigate the bleeding time of different anticoagulants and antiplatelets during a professional hygiene session adapting the Ivy test to the oral environment; Methods: 93 consecutive patients undergoing professional oral hygiene were recruited. Debridement during oral hygiene was performed using ultrasonic mechanical instrumentation, and bleeding sites were assessed and treated with gentle pressure using sterile gauzes. The time for bleeding cessation was recorded. Patients were categorized into six groups based on their drug intake, Control: no anticoagulants or antiplatelets DTI: direct thrombin inhibitors (dabigatran) AntiXa: directa factor Xa inhibitors (endoxaban, apixaban, rivaroxaban) VKA: vitamin K antagonists (warfarin, acenocoumarol) SAPT: single anti-platelet therapy (acetylsalicylic acid or clopidogrel) DAPT: dual anti-platelet therapy (acetylsalicylic acid and clopidogrel). Bleeding time was measured in seconds and mean values were assessed among the different groups. Differences between groups were investigated with Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s post-hoc correction for multiple comparisons or two-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett post-hoc; Results: Control patients presented the lowest bleeding time 50 sec, followed by AntiXa (98), SAPT (105), DTI (120), DAPT (190) and VKA (203). A statistically significant difference was present among control and DTI (p=0.004), VKA (p<0.001), DAPT (p<0.001). Conclusions: Based on the present outcomes, an increased risk of prolonged bleeding emerged in patients taking VKA and DAPT. However, bleeding did not interfere with the oral hygiene ses-sion The optimal period for dental treatment of these patients should be 2-3 hours before the next dose, without the need to temporarily suspend the medication.

Background: Circulating rare cells participate in breast cancer evolution as systemic components of the disease and thus, are a source of theranostic information. Exploration of cancer-associated rare cells is in its infancy. We determined the validity of a rare-cell detection platform and demonstrated the usefulness of a certain rare cell subset as a novel approach to characterize the breast cancer system. Methods: Linearity of the Rarmax® platform was established using a spike-in approach. The platform includes red blood cell lysis, leukocyte depletion and high-resolution fluorescence image recording. Rare cell analysis was conducted on 28 samples (before and after surgery) from 14 patients with breast cancer, 20 healthy volunteers and 9 non-cancer control volunteers. In-depth identification of rare cells, including circulating tumor cells, endothelial-like cells, erythroblasts and inflammation-associated cells, was performed using a phenotype and morphology-based classification system. Results: The platform performed linearly over a range of 5-950 spiked cells, with an average recovery of 84.6%. Circulating epithelial and endothelial-like cell subsets have been demonstrated to be associated with or independent of cancer with tumor presence. Furthermore, certain cell patterns may be associated with treatment-related adverse effects. The sensitivity in detecting tumor-presence and cancer-associated abnormality before surgery was 50% and 85.7%, respectively and the specificity was 100% and 96.6%, respectively. Conclusion: The present study supports the idea of a cancer-associated rare cell abnormality to represent tumor entities as well as systemic cancer. The latter is independent of the apparent clinical cancer.

Ensuring access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities, coupled with behavior change education in schools, is fundamental for fostering a conducive learning environment and promoting principles of inclusion, dignity, and equality. This study focuses on 12 primary schools in Anápolis, Brazil, encompassing 4,394 students and 248 teachers. WASH assessments were conducted through a questionnaire, observation of water and sanitation facilities and structures, and microbiological analysis. Over the period 2018 to 2020, the proportion of schools with safely managed drinking water surged from 42% to 92%. However, sanitation conditions in the schools were categorized as a basic level, with hygiene services rated as limited in 92% of the schools due to the absence of soap. While this study reveals that Anápolis schools generally align with WASH guidelines for basic/advanced drinking water services, there is a crucial need for enhancements in both hardware and software facilities to address sanitation and hygiene challenges.

Patients with predominantly antibody deficiencies (PAD) display hypogammaglobulinemia with a high prevalence of infections, along with autoimmune manifestations, benign and malignant lymphoproliferation and granulomatous disease. It is noteworthy that PAD patients, even those with defects in the same causative genes display a variable clinical phenotype, suggesting that additional genetic polymorphisms, located in either immune-related or non-immune-related genes, may affect their clinical and laboratory phenotype. In this context, we analyzed 80 PAD patients, including 70 with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) for SERPINA1 defects, in order to investigate their possible contribution to PAD clinical phenotype. Eight CVID patients carried heterozygous pathogenic SERPINA1 defects with normal alpha-1 antitrypsin levels. Interestingly, the presence of the Z allele (rs28929474) which was found in three patients, was significantly associated with liver disease; hepatic complications were also observed in patients carrying the p.Leu23Gln (rs1379209512) and the p.Phe76del (rs775982338) alleles. Conversely, no correlation of SERPINA1 defective variants with respiratory complications was observed, although patients with pathogenic variants exhibit a reduced probability of developing autoimmune diseases. Therefore, we recommend SERPINA1 genetic analysis in PAD, in order to identify patients with a higher risk for liver disease.

Abstract: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term impact of paediatric dentistry programmes on children and adolescents to reduce oral health inequalities. It measures and assesses the improvement effects of paediatric dentistry programmes on the oral health of children and adolescents as part of the efforts to decrease oral health disparities in this age group. It included 406 individuals who participated in student and paediatric dentistry programmes between 2013 and 2019 at screening facilities in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Frequency analysis was conducted for demographic characteristics, and binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors influencing the prevalence of dental caries as the dependent variable. Data were analysed using PASW Statistics with the statistical significance level set at α=0.05. Regarding oral health indicators based on the frequency of participation in paediatric dentistry programmes for children and adolescents, participants with seven or more sessions had lower prevalence rates of dental caries, malocclusion, and periodontal disease than those with only one session. Second, when comparing oral health indicators in paediatric dentistry programmes between primary and adolescent age groups, individuals under continuous management showed a decrease in permanent teeth affected by dental caries, dental caries prevalence, and malocclusion prevalence (excluding primary school age). Third, binary logistic regression analysis revealed significant influences (p

The influence of short term water absorption on the mechanical properties of halloysite nanotubes-multi layer graphene reinforced polyester hybrid nanocomposites has been investigated. The addition of nano-fillers significantly increased the flexural strength; tensile strength and impact strength in dry and wet conditions. After short term water exposure; the maximum microhardness; tensile; flexural and impact toughness values were observed at 0.1 wt% MLG. The microhardness increased up to 50.3%; tensile strength increased up to 40% and flexural strength increased up to 44%. Compared to dry samples; the fracture toughness and surface roughness of all types of produced nanocomposites were increased that may be attributed to plasticization effect. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the main failure mechanism is caused by the weakening of nano-filler-matrix interface induced by water absorption. It was further observed that synergistic effects were not effective at concentration of 0.1 wt% to produce considerable improvement in mechanical properties of produced hybrid nanocomposites.

Ecological and environmental damage caused by oil spillage has attracted great attention. Used cigarette filter (CF) has also caused negative environmental consequences. Converting CF to economical materials is a feasible way to address these problems. In this study, we demonstrate a simple method for production of a highly hydrophobic absorbent from CF. CF was modified by using different volume ratios of octadecyltrichlorosilane and methyltrimethoxysilane. When the volume ratio was 3:2, the modified CF had the high water contact angle of 155°. It could selectively and completely absorb silicone oil from an oil-water mixture and showed a good absorption capacity of 38.3 g/g. The absorbed oil was readily and rapidly recovered by simple mechanical squeezing, and it could be reused immediately without any additional treatments. The as-obtained superhydrophobic modified CF retained an absorption capacity of 80% for pump oil and 82% for silicone oil after 10 cycles. The modified CF showed good elasticity in the test of repeated use. The present study provides novel design of a functional material for development of hydrophobic absorbents from used CF via a facile method toward oil spillage cleanup as well as a new recycling method of CF to alleviate the environmental impact.

We investigate and discuss in detail the structure of the restricted singular value decomposition for a tensor triplet under t-product (T-RSVD). The algorithm is provided with a numerical example illustrating the main result. For applications, we consider color image watermarking processing with T-RSVD.

Several bio-actors are involved in the occurrence of leishmaniasis, which is made too complex for prevention and control options. Currently, all forms of leishmaniasis are being treated with chemical drugs, which have limitations and adverse effects on patients. Searching the bioactive molecules from plant sources allows the development of a novel drug. The essential oil and solvent extract of the roots of E. kebericho showed antileishmanial activity. But looking for biological activities of the isolated active ingredient from tubers of E. kebericho was scant. Thus, the isolation of the leishmanicidal compound from the roots of E. kebericho through a bioassay-guided technique was an aim of this work. Dehydrocostus lactone showed doubled potent than the standard drug miltefosine on leishmanicidal activities against L. major and L. tropica. Besides, the broad-spectrum biological activities of dehydrocostus lactone could be a potential drug candidate for co-infected patients caused by an association of leishmania and another pathogen.

This work explores the significance of toothbrushing in maintaining optimal oral health, delving into its benefits, proper techniques, and types of toothbrushes. The primary cause of caries, periodontal diseases, and halitosis is oral biofilm development. One of the most fundamental practices in maintaining oral health is toothbrushing. Studies have confirmed that mechanical procedures for controlling plaque and toothbrushing, in particular, significantly decrease plaque accumulation. The significance of teeth brushing in preventing dental caries has been well-acknowledged for a considerable period. Dentists recommend brushing twice daily for at least two min to ensure thorough cleaning. Unfortunately, precise guidelines from dental associations are often missing. Authors mention that two min of brushing are insufficient for significant plaque removal; plaque removal increases with augmented brushing time, with maximum removal at 180 s. Multiple studies have documented that engaging in the practice of brushing one’s teeth twice a day has a preventive impact. Various toothbrush designs, including both manual and electric options, have been created to improve the elimination of dental biofilm and reduce the accumulation and persistence of bacteria. In conclusion, toothbrushing is a simple yet incredibly important practice for maintaining oral health. The benefits extend beyond just a bright smile, encompassing caries, gum disease, halitosis prevention, and the preservation of tooth enamel. Adhering to proper toothbrushing techniques, selecting the right toothbrush, and understanding the connection between oral health and overall well-being can lead to a healthier life. To foster favorable toothbrushing behaviors among the population, dental practitioners and public health experts must know the factors that influence toothbrushing habits.

Fish and fish products are very appreciated in the human diet because of high quality proteins and other important nutrients, such as minerals and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Maintaining freshness, quality and safety is essential in the fish supply chain, starting from on board vessels where the product must be carefully checked and protected from any source of contamination. Safe fishing and handling of fish are very important to reduce the risk of foodborne diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms such as Salmonella spp., Vibrio spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum type E, viruses, and parasites. The inspection of raw material, use of good quality ice and water, high standards of personnel hygiene and cleanliness of equipment and fa-cilities as well as proper storage temperature are the most effective measures to ensure safety of fish and fish products for consumers. This review describes the good hygiene practice to be ap-plied on ships to preserve both fish products and public health.

In this paper, some mixed type bounds on the spectral radius $\rho(A\circ B)$ for the Hadamard product of two nonnegative matrices ($A$ and $B$) and the minimum eigenvalue $\tau(C\star D)$ of the Fan product of two $M$-matrices ($C$ and $D$) are researched. These bounds complement some corresponding results on the simple type bounds. In addition, a new lower bound on the minimum eigenvalue of the Fan product of several $M$-matrices is also presented: $$ \tau(A_{1}\star A_{2}\cdots\star A_{m})\geq \min_{1\leq i\leq n}\{\prod^{m}_{k=1}A_{k}(i,i)-\prod^{m}_{k=1}[A_{k}(i,i)^{P_{k}}-\tau(A_{k}^{(P_{k})})]^\frac{1}{P_{k}}\}, $$ where $A_{1},\ldots, A_{k}$ are $n\times n$ $M$-matrices and $P_{1},\ldots, P_{k}>0$ satisfy $\sum^{m}_{k=1}\frac{1}{P_{k}}\geq 1$. Some special cases of the above result and numerical examples show that this new bound improves some existing results.

Tea (Camellia sinenesis) is a health beneficial beverage and is also a source for extracting bioactive components such as theanine, tea polyphenols (TPP) and tea polysaccharides (TPS). TPS is a group of hetero-polysaccharides bounded with proteins. There were tests showing that TPS had various bioactivities, such as antioxidant, antitumors, antihyperglycemia, anti-inflammation and improving immunity. However, inconsistent results concerning chemical composition and bioactivity of TPS were published in recent years. The advances in chemical composition and bioactivities of TPS were reviewed in the present paper. The inconsistent and controversial results regarding composition and bioactivities of TPS were also discussed.

(1) Background: Although diagnostic criteria for massive hemorrhage with organ dysfunction such as disseminated intravascular coagulation associated with delivery have been empirically established based on clinical findings, strict logic has yet to be used to establish numerical criteria. (2) Methods: A dataset of 107 deliveries with ≥2,000 g of blood loss, among 13,368 deliveries from nine national perinatal centers in Japan between 2020 and 2023 was obtained. Twenty-three patients had fibrinogen levels <170 mg/dl, which is the initiation of coagulation system failure per our previous reports. Three of these patients had hematuria. We used six machine learning methods to identify the borderline criteria dividing the fibrinogen/fibrin/fibrinogen degradation product (FDP) planes, using 15 coagulation fibrinolytic factors. (3) Results: The boundaries of hematuria development on a two-dimensional plane of fibrinogen and FDP were obtained. If the FDP–fibrinogen/3–60 (mg/dl) value is positive, this indicates hematuria; otherwise, the case is non-hematuria, as demonstrated by the support vector machine method that seemed the most appropriate. (4) Conclusions: The borderline criterion dividing the fibrinogen/FDP plane for patients with hematuria that could be considered organ dysfunction in massive hemorrhage during delivery was obtained using artificial intelligence, and this method seemed to be useful.

The present study focuses on the development and optimization of a highly efficient unique hybrid technique — membrane-assisted gas absorption (MAGA) in designing the separation unit, which provides the improvement in mass-transfer of a target component during the natural gas processing in terms of sweetening stage. A novel design of membrane-assisted gas absorption cell is used to enhance the ratio between absorbent amount and membrane surface available for permeation. The performance tests were implemented on example of two gas mixtures separation: one is model ternary gas mixture and the second is quasi real natural gas, which includes number of hydrocarbons, nitrogen, acid impurities and xenon. For both cases, the MAGA unit demonstrated high acid gases removal efficiency, and high recovery of hydrocarbons. The ultimate efficiency of studied system was up to 96 and 61 % of removed acid gases with hydrocarbons losses up to 1 % at highest productivity. In this way, the residual sum of acid gases content may be lowered to 1 vol.% using the heat-free hybrid membrane-assisted gas absorption unit maintaining suitable recovery rate of methane, ethane, propane and n-butane. Nevertheless, the overall efficiency of the process may be enhanced using the specific absorption agents with aqueous amino alcohol solutions.

Bioelectric effect is known as combinatorial biofilm treatment with low dose of antibiotics with small electricity. When external electric field or current are applied, biofilms can be affected by the electrostatic force, non-uniform distribution of essential electrolytes, induction of low activity of enzyme, and increase of permeability of biofilms. In this work, we have focused on the reduction of applied electric power consumption that could avoid water electrolysis which was one of major challenges for biomedical applications. We have developed a new type of electrical signal that enhances the efficacy of biofilm removal. The results show combination of alternating and direct current remove biofilm effectively without causing electrolysis. We further developed an oral healthcare device as a bioelectric toothbrush and tested in dental clinic. The results demonstrated 75% reduction of gingivitis. In addition, we have tested a mimicked air conditioner biofilms that are root causes of aerobic hygiene infection. The result demonstrates 81.8% increased biofilm removal. In conclusion, a new bioelectric technology has been developed and demonstrated the biofilm removal efficacy without the electrolysis.

There has been a steady rise in the recognition of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) as a pressing public health issue due to several advocacy campaigns against its high cost. However, not much of such recognition has been given to it outside the non-profit sector in Nigeria. This is paradoxical considering that most menstruators in Nigeria cannot afford MHM whose cost is considered high even in developed countries. We estimated that the average lifetime cost of MHM in Nigeria is US$1,122.3 per menstruator and US$113.58 billion for the entire menstruating population. Although this cost is relatively lower than in other countries, Nigeria’s low-income level explains why there is a high prevalence of period poverty among menstruators in Nigeria. This commentary highlights the intersected impacts of the cost of MHM and period poverty on the average Nigerian menstruator, his/her family, the economy, the environment and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To alleviate the discussed negative effects, we suggested, as a key recommendation, the national shift from the use of disposable MHM products to that of reusable ones.

Despite the success of recent efforts to increase access to improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) globally, approximately one-third of schools around the world still lack adequate WASH services. A lack of WASH in schools can lead to the spread of preventable disease and increase school absences, especially among women. Inadequate financing and budgeting has been named as a key barrier for integrating successful and sustainable WASH programs into school settings. For this reason, the purpose of this review is to describe the current knowledge around the costs of WASH components as well as financing models that could be applied to WASH in schools. Results show a lack of information around WASH costing, particularly around software elements as well as there is a lack of data overall for WASH in school settings as compared to community WASH. This review also identifies several key considerations when designing WASH budgets or selecting financing mechanisms. Findings may be used to advise future WASH in school programs.

Introduction Menstrual hygiene is a critical issue encountered by women and girls of the reproductive age, which negatively affects their health and empowerment. It is still deemed a taboo in several parts of the world and girls hesitate to discuss menstruation with their family members, friends, or schoolteachers, which creates hurdles when they attain their menarche. Girls residing in rural areas encounter more problems, since they lack proper resources, and knowledge to manage their menstruation in school as well as at home. Methods The descriptive cross-sectional design was used to assess the study questions. The consecutive sampling techniques was applied to recruit 300 female participants from remote area of Gilgit, Pakistan, who were 13- to 22-year-old. A pre-tested questionnaire was utilized to collect the data, and to analyze the data the SPSS version 21.0 was used. Results The study found that more than half of the participants had poor level of knowledge, practices, and negative attitude towards menstrual hygiene. This could be because of many cultural and social taboos attached to menstrual hygiene. Conclusions The study concluded that the study participants were not knowledgeable about menstrual hygiene. They had poor practices and attitude regarding menstrual hygiene. Hence, it is recommended that frequent sessions should be conducted by health care workers to enhance the knowledge of parents, teachers, and young girls, to increase the positive attitude and practices regarding menstrual hygiene. Keywords menstruation, knowledge, attitude, practices, Adolescents

For a long time, a company's Product Development Process (PDP) was seen as supporting the operations department, although PDP decisions and mistakes have a considerable impact on market performance. This is critical even in agriculture where bad habits and practices in the PDP can lead rural producers to great losses. Therefore, this research investigated the effect on the market performance of rural products (banana) in the southern region of Brazil, based on two analyses: (i) how sustainability practices support the PDP phases and (ii) how the phases of the Product Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) mediate sustainability practices and PDP phases. This study presents a quantitative analysis using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and hierarchical ordinary least squares (OLS) regression of data obtained from a survey of 110 rural producers who directly participate in the banana production and planning process in southern Brazil. Our results shows that sustainability practices support the PDP, and we confirm that the product development and post-development phase has an effect on market performance. In addition, we identified that in the pre-development phase of the PDP, dealing with rural products (bananas), the maturity stage of the LCA mediates sustainability. In the PDP development phase, we concluded that rural families that develop economic and environmental practices with their products in the market growth phase may have reduced results. As for the post-development phase of the PDP, we conclude that when companies invest in environmental and social practices, there is a complete mediation of the effect, where these practices lose strength if the product is in the introduction and maturity phases in the market. As originality, our study contributed to demonstrate value on the product life cycle for the product development process in agriculture using sustainability practices through a systemic approach, filling the gap in the literature due to the lack of research on these areas seen in an integrated way.

In this paper we introduce the hypo-q-norms on a Cartesian product of inner product spaces. A representation of these norms in terms of inner products, the equivalence with the q-norms on a Cartesian product and some reverse inequalities obtained via the scalar Shisha-Mond, Birnacki et al., Grüss type inequalities, Boas-Bellman and Bombieri type inequalities are also given.

(1) Background: Grapes and their associated by-products (as grape pomace, GP) stand out for their polyphenol content, which makes them a source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant capacity. The aim of this research was to determine if the inclusion of 50 g/kg of GP in the diet of hens could enrich egg with antioxidants and to study its effect on internal and external egg quality parameters. (2) Methods: A trial was conducted with two genetic lines of hens, which were fed either a control diet or a diet containing 50 g/kg of GP. Performance, internal and external egg quality, and egg yolk content of vitamins E and A, and gallic acid were determined; (3) Results: In eggs laid by hens fed GP diet, Haugh units and yolk colour score were enhanced, and eggshell became thinner, but without affecting the breaking strength. No dietary effect was observed on vitamin contents in yolk. Higher gallic acid content was observed in yolk of eggs laid by hens fed the GP diet, suggesting that some dietary phenolic compounds could be transferred to the eggs. Hen genetics influenced egg weight, albumen Haugh units, shell thickness and α- and γ-tocopherol concentration in yolks; (4) Conclusions: Dietary inclusion of GP improved the internal quality of eggs, enriching yolks with a phenolic compound, but reduced shell thickness.

Providing safely-managed sanitation/hygiene requires key competencies for education, training, service delivery, enterprise development and management, product and infrastructure design and development, construction and installation, governance, financing, research, etc. These strategic sanitation capacities will have to be built from higher education’s academic and professional programmes structured and designed to produce skilled and knowledgeable professionals and practitioners. This study aims to investigate the quality of the sanitation/hygiene management content of Environmental Health programmes; the adequacy of the existing central curricula; and the perception of environmental health sanitation/hygiene-trained professionals to determine the next phase for building knowledge and capacity of sanitation professionals in Nigeria through higher education institutions. A multilevel mixed method concurrent study was used for sampling and data collection with a multilevel perception analysis to examine the perceptions of students, lecturers and graduate alumni as well as employers/supervisors and clients/service-users of sanitation/hygiene related graduates. The main findings of this paper show limited understanding of the concepts of contemporary issues of sanitation/hygiene management; the central/national teaching and curricula were found to be seriously out of date; and clients/service-users were dissatisfied with the skills and knowledge levels of the graduates. The study concludes by recommending a national sanitation management higher education pathway to guide the provision of integrated sanitation/hygiene management education at higher education institutions (HEIs), to build effective, efficient, competent, and sufficient workforce for the country.

The Brazilian economy, the rural in particular, was until the end of the 19th century based on slave labour. In this research, it was intended to obtain, through a review of historical descriptive studies, a detailed picture of the occupational hygiene conditions related to the slaves’ work and their interactions with climatic and environmental conditions. The search was done in the following databases: Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, Criminal Justice, Ebsco, Business Source Supplement, as well as original historical documents. Descriptive studies, without the restriction of language, were selected that involved the rural work of slaves in colonial and imperial Brazil. Working environmental conditions have been evaluated: environmental and occupational hygiene conditions to which the captive workers were exposed, as well as their accommodation and clothing. The analysed studies registered the existence of accommodation and similar dresses all over Brazil, regardless of the region's climate. In addition to these accommodation conditions, slaves were still exposed in a similar way to physical, chemical and biological agents throughout the country. Finally, it was also possible to identify a clear similarity with the occupational exposure conditions of the modern slaves in the 21^st century.

The study assessed the trapping efficacy of locally-modified 1) Gravid Aedes Trap(GAT) lined with insecticide-treated net (ITN) as a killing agent, 2) Autocidal Gravid Ovitrap(AGO) with sticky board in the semi-field system (SFS) and field setting. Fully-balanced Latin square experiments were conducted to compare GAT lined with ITN vs AGO, both with either yeast or grass infusion. Biogents-Sentinel (BGS) with BG-Lure and no CO2 was used as standard trap for Aedes mosquitoes. In the SFS, GAT outperformed AGO in collecting both nulliparous (65% vs 49%,OR=2.22,[95%CI:1.89-2.60],p

This study addresses the urgent need for sustainable protein sources in aquaculture due to the depletion of marine resources and rising costs. Animal protein sources, particularly poultry by-product meal (PBM) and insect exuviae meal, are investigated as viable alternatives to fishmeal (FM). Research confirms the successful replacement of FM with a combination of PBM and insect exuviae meal (up to 50%) in the diet of European seabass without compromising growth, feed conversion, gut health and liver fat content. In particular, growth performance was robust with both PBM formulations, with the 25% PBM diet showing better results. Histological examinations showed good gut and liver health, contradicting the concerns of previous studies. The study emphasizes the importance of holistic analyzes that go beyond growth parameters and include histomorphological investigations. The results show that PBM in combination with insect/exuviae meal is well tolerated by seabass, which is consistent with literature reports of mitigating negative effects on gut health. A detailed analysis of the microbiota revealed a decrease in the Firmicutes/Proteobacteria ratio due to an increase in potentially pathogenic bacteria. However, the formulation containing insect exuviae partially counteracted this effect by preserving the beneficial Lactobacillus and promoting the synthesis of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), particularly butyrate. Chitin-rich components from insect exuviae were associated with improved gut health, which was supported by increased production of SCFA, which are known for their anti-inflammatory properties. The study concludes that a combination of PBM and insect/exuviae meal can replace up to 50% of FM in the diet of seabass, supporting sustainable aquaculture practices. Despite some changes in the microbiota, the negative effects are mitigated by the addition of insect exuviae, highlighting their potential as a prebiotic to increase fish productivity and contribute to a circular economy in aquaculture.

Product Development Process is widely known among industry and automobile companies. With the advance of technology and the need to improve product efficiency, many companies have been applying Lean Thinking principles. Their benefits lead those companies to implement their concepts and tools, like Value Stream Design in Indirect Areas, Obeya, Just-in-time (JIT) which is based on the production control system developed and implemented by Toyota. This article describes the case study of the implementation of Lean Product & Process Development (LPPD) on the current Product Development Process (PDP) in an automotive company. The PDP was created by the organization and adapted from Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP). The main findings were a Value Stream Design model of an improved PDP as a useful and successfully contribution for the company. These improvements reduced the product development lead time from 700 days to 369 days. The process efficiency increased from 68% to 85%. The communication and transparency between the cross-functional team (CFT) was improved and show promise for achieving a successful launch of new products.

Natural products (NPs) are a rich source of structurally novel molecules, and the chemical space they encompass is far from being fully explored. Over history, NPs have represented a significant source of bioactive molecules and have served as a source of inspiration for developing many drugs on the market. On the other hand, computer-aided drug design (CADD) has contributed to drug discovery research, mitigating costs and time. In this sense, compound databases represent a fundamental element for the CADD. This work reviews the progress toward developing compound databases of natural origin, particularly databases developed in Latin America, and their practical applications in the drug discovery area. We also survey the computational methods, emphasizing chemoinformatic approaches to profile natural product databases.

This paper is devoted to the study of reproducing kernels on 2-inner product Hilbert spaces. We focus on a new structure to produce reproducing kernel Hilbert and Banach spaces. According to multi-variable computing, this structures can be useful in electrocardiographs, machine learning and economy

Abstract: Background: The practice of menstrual hygiene(MH) is a public health issue and depends on various factors. Taboos and incorrect MH practices can lead to health hazards. This study aimed at assessing the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of MH among the female students and faculty of Medical and Health Sciences University. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire survey between February and June 2023 using consecutive sampling. Univariate analysis and comparisons were done with a significant p-value <.05. Results: A total of 253 women participated in the study. The knowledge and practices of MH were good. There were significantly more irregular and painful periods in younger females (p=.005,.0001). 89% of women used disposable pads and least used menstrual cups. Younger women were unaware of menstrual cloth. The attitude towards menses varied, with younger females feeling annoyed (p=.002), and older females embarrassed (p=.0001) at menarche. About 1/3rd of participants perceived menstrual blood as unhygienic. Younger women were more open about talking about menses (p=.005). Conclusion: There was good knowledge and practices of MH among participants. There were differences in menstrual history and attitude among older and younger women. The attitude and beliefs vary among the participants, due to sociocultural factors and age differences.

A wide variety of bacteria, fungi and plants can produce bioactive secondary metabolites, which are often referred to as natural products. With the rapid development of DNA sequencing technology and bioinformatics, a large number of putative biosynthetic gene clusters have been reported. However, only a few natural products can be detected when isolated species are grown under conventional laboratory conditions, as most biosynthetic gene clusters are not expressed or are expressed at extremely low levels at these conditions. With the rapid development of synthetic biology, advanced genome mining and modification strategies have been reported, and they provide new opportunities for discovery of natural products. This review discusses advances in recent years that can accelerate the design, build, test, and learn (DBTL) cycle of natural product discovery, and prospects trends and key challenges for future research directions.

Ocean surface heat fluxes play a significant role in the genesis and evolution of various marine-based atmospheric phenomena, from the synoptic scale down to the microscale. While in-situ measurements from buoys and flux towers will continue to be the standard in regards to surface heat flux estimates, they commonly have significant gaps in temporal and spatial coverage. Previous and current satellite missions have filled these gaps; though they may not observe the fluxes directly, they can measure the variables needed (wind speed, temperature, and humidity) to estimate latent and sensible heat fluxes. However, current remote sensing instruments have their own limitations, such as infrequent coverage, signals attenuated by precipitation, or both. The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission overcomes these limitations over the tropical and subtropical oceans by providing improved coverage in nearly all weather conditions. While CYGNSS (Level 2) primarily estimates surface winds, when coupled with observations or estimates of temperature and humidity from reanalysis data, it can provide estimates of latent and sensible heat fluxes along its orbit. This paper describes the development of the Surface Heat Flux Product for the CYGNSS mission, its current results, and expected improvements and changes in future releases.

We discuss further details on the concepts of “drug-likeness”, “lead-likeness”, and “natural product-likeness”. The discussion will first focus on natural products as drugs, then a discussion of previous studies in which the complexities of the scaffolds and chemical space of naturally occurring compounds have been compared with synthetic, semi-synthetic compounds and FDA-approved drugs. This is followed by guiding principles for designing “drug-like” natural product libraries for lead compound discovery purposes. We end up by presenting a tool for measuring “natural product-likeness” of compounds and a brief presentation of machine learning approaches and a binary quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) for classifying drugs from non-drugs and natural compounds from non-natural ones, respectively.

: Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate Phenylketonuria (PKU) patients’ oral health habits and the efficiency of tailored recommendations for PKU patients in Latvia on the correct management of oral hygiene. The-free amino acid formula can negatively impact PKU patient’s oral health as it contains a high amount of complex carbohydrates. Materials and methods: In this study with a one-month interval pre and post implementation of oral hygiene recommendations, two questionnaires regarding oral hygiene habits and knowledge were prepared and provided by trained medical personnel to be filled in for all diagnosed PKU patients in Latvia who were not lost to follow-up. Results: Based on the questionnaires among the PKU patients under 18 years of age, 27% cleaned their teeth once a day. However, 6% of patients did not engage in regular teeth brushing at all. Among PKU patients over and 18 years of age, 26% brushed their teeth only once a day. Additionally, a mere 39% of PKU patients ≥18 years of age and 17% &lt; 18 years of age incorporated flossing into their oral hygiene routine. In total, 45% of PKU patients ≥18 years of age and 44% &lt; 18 years of age visited a dentist once a year, but 40% ≥18 years of age and 39% &lt;18 years of age visited a dentist less often than once per year. After reading the recommendations, a remarkable number of PKU patients &lt; 18 years of age had improved their daily oral hygiene routine, including toothbrushing (25%) and flossing (23%). Conclusion: Given the unique dietary requirements and the implementation of these daily at-home oral health practices, motivation and regular reminders should result in better oral health of PKU patients and cooperation with clinicians.

Background Gingivitis can develop without mechanical cleaning within three weeks. The first clinical sign is bleeding on positive probing. The accumulation of dental biofilm generates an inflammatory gingival response. In the past decade, attention has focused mainly on the interproximal areas and the use of customsized interproximal toothbrushes.The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of individualized oral hygiene education and its role in dental prevention among patients with dental problems. Methods Before treatment, patients were clinically and radiologically examined, full mouth plaque score (FMPS), full mouth bleeding score (FMBS), and bleeding on brushing (BOB) were recorded, and matrix-metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) was measured by using a chair-side MMP-8 measuring system. Patients in group A had gingivitis, but no periodontal damage and patients in group B had periodontal damage. Patients in both groups A and B were identified in to four subgroups based on their toothbrushing habits and the oral health education they received. The three months after initial examination, each patient was examined three more times (2, 4 and 12 weeks later). Results It was concluded that subjects in groups A1 and B1 showed significant reduction in BOB, MMP-8, FMBS and FMPS levels after two weeks. Solo Prophylaxis (A1and B1) remained as a well-constructed protocol with hte complete resolution of interdental inflammation after two weeks. Other subgroups achieved significant reductions only after 12 weeks. Conclusions BOB and MMP-8 are valuable complements in preventive dentistry, and are able to detect potential pathological processes in interproximal spaces. The clinical relevance of BOB, in addition to FMBS, FMPS and gingival inflammation can be demonstrated to patients, which may increase compliance.

mRNA-lipid nanoparticle (LNP) medicinal products can be considered a platform technology because the development process is similar for different diseases and conditions, with similar noncoding mRNA sequences and lipid nanoparticles and essentially unchanged manufacturing and analytical methods utilised often for different products. It is critical not to lose the momentum built using the platform approach during the development, regulatory approval and rollout of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. This Review proposes a set of modifications to existing regulatory requirements for mRNA products, based on a platform perspective for quality, manufacturing, preclinical and clinical data. For the first time, we address development and potential regulatory requirements when the mRNA sequences and LNP composition vary in different products as well. In addition, we propose considerations for self-amplifying mRNA, individualised oncology mRNA products and mRNA therapeutics. Providing a predictable development pathway for academic and commercial groups, so they can know in detail what product characterisation and data are required to develop a dossier for regulatory submission, has many potential benefits. These include reduced development and regulatory costs; faster consumer/patient access and more agile development of products in the face of pandemics; and for rare diseases where alternatives may not exist or to increase survival and the quality of life in cancer patients. Therefore, achieving consensus around platform approaches is both urgent and important. This approach with mRNA can be a template for similar platform frameworks for other therapeutics and vaccines to enable more efficient development and regulatory review.

Institutional sustainability is a dynamic and multifaceted concept that relies on the contributions of various institutions, including the legal and the scientific system. On the other side, consumers boycotts are an expression of political consumerism by which consumers can use their market power to attain sustainability objectives. This article explores institutional trust on the legal system and trust on scientists as potential drivers for consumers’ boycotts. Using data retrieved from the European Social Survey covering twenty-five countries, the study employs binary logistic regression to assess the importance of institutional trust and other potential drivers of product boycotts in Europe. Results confirm that boycotting behaviour is affected by institutional trust, as well as other individual variables including gender, age and life-cycle effects, education, interest in politics and level of satisfaction with the political system, generalized trust, personal well-being, and consumers’ use and perceptions of information and communication technologies. The results of this study enrich the literature on consumer boycotts and have implications for policymakers involved in sustainability initiatives.

The current paper has examined the effect of both export product diversification and poverty on non-resource tax revenue in developing countries. The analysis has used an unbalanced panel dataset of 111 countries over the period 1980-2014. Based on the Blundell and Bond two-step system Generalized Methods of Moments technique, the empirical analysis has shown interesting findings. Export product concentration and poverty influence negatively non-resource tax revenue over the full sample, but this effect varies across countries in the sample. Furthermore, the effect of export product diversification on non-resource tax revenue performance depends on the level of poverty. It appears that export product diversification influences positively non-resource tax revenue performance in countries that experience lower poverty rates. From a policy perspective, these findings show that policies in favour of diversifying export product baskets and reducing poverty would contribute to enhancing non-resource tax revenue performance in developing countries.

The accuracy of sales prediction models based on the big data of online word-of-mouth (eWOM) is still not satisfied. We argue that eWOM contains heat and sentiments of different product dimensions, which can improve the accuracy of these models. In this paper, we propose a dynamic topic analysis (DTA) framework in order to extract heat and sentiments of product dimensions from the big data of eWOM. Finally, we propose an autoregressive-heat-sentiment (ARHS) model, which integrates heat and sentiments of dimensions into the baseline predictive model. The empirical study in movie industry confirms that heat and sentiments of dimensions can improve the accuracy of sales prediction model. ARHS model is better for movie box-office revenue prediction than other models.

The main goal of the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission over land surfaces is the production of global maps of soil moisture (SM) and vegetation optical depth (τ) based on multi-angular brightness temperature (TB) measurements at L-band. The operational SMOS Level 2 and Level 3 soil moisture algorithms account for different surface effects, such as vegetation opacity and soil roughness at 4 km resolution, in order to produce global retrievals of SM and τ. In this study, we present an alternative SMOS product which was developed by INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) and CESBIO (Centre d’Etudes Spatiales de la BIOsphère). This SMOS-INRA-CESBIO (SMOS-IC) product provides daily SM and τ at the global scale and differs from the operational SMOS Level 3 (SMOSL3) product in the treatment of retrievals over heterogeneous pixels. Specifically, SMOS-IC is much simpler and does not account for corrections associated to the antenna pattern and the complex SMOS viewing angle geometry. It considers pixels as homogeneous to avoid uncertainties and errors linked to inconsistent auxiliary data sets which are used to characterize the pixel heterogeneity in the SMOS L3 algorithm. SMOS-IC also differs from the current SMOSL3 product (Version 300, V300) in the values of the effective vegetation scattering albedo (ω) and soil roughness parameters. An inter-comparison is presented in this study based on the use of ECMWF (European Center for Medium range Weather Forecasting) SM outputs and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) from MODIS (Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). A 6 year (2010-2015) inter-comparison of the SMOS products SMOS-IC and SMOSL3 SM (V300) with ECMWF SM yielded higher correlations and lower ubRMSD (unbiased root mean square difference) for SMOS-IC over most of the pixels. In terms of τ, SMOS-IC τ was found to be better correlated to MODIS NDVI in most regions of the globe, with the exception of the Amazonian basin and of the northern mid-latitudes.

Excretory-secretory products (ESPs) are the main research targets for investigating the hosts and helminths interaction. Parasitic worms can migrate to parasitic sites and avoid the host immune response by secreting this product. Angiostrongylus cantonensisis an important food-borne zoonotic parasite that causes severe neuropathological damage and symptoms, including eosinophilic meningitis or meningoencephalitis in humans. Benzaldehydes are organic compounds composed of a benzene ring and formyl substituents. This compound has anti-inflammatory and antioxidation properties. Previous studies showed that 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde (3-HBA) and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (4-HBA) can reduce apoptosis in A. cantonensis ESPs treated astrocytes. These results on the protective effect underlying benzaldehyde have primarily focused on cell survival. The study was designed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) and oxidative stress in astrocytes in A. cantonensis ESPs treated astrocytes and to evaluate the therapeutic consequent of 3-HBA and 4-HBA. First, we initially established the RNA-seq dataset in each group, including Normal, ESPs, ESPs+3-HBA, and ESPs+4-HBA. We also found that benzaldehyde (3-HBA and 4-HBA) can stimulate astrocytes to express ER stress-related molecules after ESP treatment. The level of oxidative stress could also be decreased in astrocytes by elevating antioxidant activity and reducing ROS generation. These results suggested that benzaldehyde may be a potential therapeutic compound for human angiostrongyliasis to support brain cell survival by inducing the expression levels of ER stress- and oxidative stress-related pathway.

The study aimed to estimate the prevalence and correlates of oral hygiene (OH) and hand hygiene (HH) behaviour among school adolescents in three Caribbean countries. In all, 7,476 school adolescents (median age 14 years), from Dominican Republic, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago responded the cross-sectional “Global School-based Student Health Survey” (GSHS) in 2016-2017. The prevalence poor OH (tooth brushing <2 times/day) was 16.9%, poor HH (not always before meals) was 68.2%, poor HH (not always after toilet) was 28.4% and poor HH (not always with soap) was 52.7%. In adjusted logistic regression analysis, current cannabis use, inadequate fruit and vegetable intake, poor mental health and low parental support increased the odds for poor OH. Rarely or sometimes experiencing hunger, trouble from alcohol use, inadequate fruit and vegetable intake, poor mental health, and low parental support were associated with poor HH (before meals, and/or after toilet, and/or with soap). The survey showed poor OH and HH behaviour practices. Several sociodemographic factors, health risk behaviours, poor mental health and low parental support were found associated with poor OH and/or HH behaviour that can assist with tailoring OH and HH health promotion.

In this article, we prove an orthogonal decomposition theorem for real inner product gyrogroups, which unify some well-known gyrogroups in the literature: Einstein, M\"{o}bius, Proper Velocity, and Chen's gyrogroups. This leads to the study of left (right) coset partition of a real inner product gyrogroup induced from a subgyrogroup that is a finite-dimensional subspace. As a result, we obtain gyroprojectors onto the subgyrogroup and its orthogonal complement. We construct also quotient spaces and prove an associated isomorphism theorem. The left (right) cosets are characterized using gyrolines (cogyrolines) together with automorphisms of the subgyrogroup. With the algebraic structure of the decompositions, we study fiber bundles and sections inherited by the gyroprojectors. Finally, the general theory is exemplified for the aforementioned gyrogroups.

The fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, has led to an increased transition towards automation and reliance on data-driven innovations and strategies. Companies in the manufacturing sector are heavily integrating Industry 4.0 technologies, including cloud compu-ting, cyber-physical systems (CPS), big data analytics, horizontal and vertical system integration, the internet of things (IoT), and additive manufacturing (3d printing). The interconnected systems and processes have significantly increased operational efficiency, enhanced organizational capacity to monitor and control functions, reduced costs, and improved product quality. One significant way that companies have achieved these benefits is by integrating diverse sensor technologies within these innovations, allowing critical data collection on products, equipment performance, and maintenance. The sensors connect systems and machines, allowing them to communicate and track operations for enhanced operations. While numerous research has been conducted to show the role of sensors in industry 4.0, limited studies show how these innovations can leverage product design to maximize benefits and opportunities. Given the rapidly changing market conditions, Industry 4.0 requires new products and business models to ensure companies adjust to the current and future changes. These requirements call for the evolutions in product design processes to accommodate design features and principles applicable in the current dynamic business environment. This research paper employs a systematic bibliometric literature review (LRSB) methodology to explore and synthesize data on how Industry 4.0 and sensors can leverage product design. The results show that various product design features create opportunities to be leveraged to guarantee the success of Industry 4.0 and sensor technologies. However, the research also identifies numerous challenges that undermine the ongoing transition towards intelligent factories and products.

This qualitative research explores the dynamics of collaborative marketing and supply chain strategies for enhanced product lifecycle management. Through in-depth interviews with industry stakeholders, key themes, challenges, and implications of collaboration emerge. Trust, communication, technology, strategic alignment, and sustainability are identified as critical factors driving successful collaboration. The study highlights the transformative potential of collaboration in driving innovation, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Despite challenges such as aligning objectives and ensuring data security, collaborative strategies offer significant opportunities for value creation and differentiation. The findings underscore the importance of building trust, leveraging technology, and integrating sustainability considerations in collaborative efforts. Strategic alignment and cultural fit among partners are essential for overcoming differences and achieving common goals. The implications of the research extend to practitioners seeking to enhance collaboration in their organizations and researchers exploring collaborative practices in different industries and contexts. Future research could further explore the impact of collaboration on stakeholder perspectives and outcomes. By addressing challenges and leveraging opportunities, organizations can maximize the benefits of collaborative marketing and supply chain strategies to drive sustainable growth and competitive advantage in today's dynamic business landscape.

Regular regimes of oil and oil products pipelines are studied. The problem is to develop an algorithm of effective pipeline system control that ensures the fulfillment of specified boundary conditions at the system boundaries. The product is pumped in batches, the flow is characterized by a change in temperature and pressure flow parameters over time. The developed solution method uses the principle of decomposition in the sense that each computational iteration is im-plemented in 3 stages, in three nested loops. The inner cycle is connected with the material bal-ance relations, at the next cycle the flow equations are introduced and the fulfillment of the 2nd Kirchhoff's law is monitored. If the flow process is significantly affected by temperature, then an external cycle is also implemented, correcting the solution so that the energy conservation equa-tion is satisfied. In the calculation procedure, some computational difficulties may arise, which consist in choosing an appropriate optimization method. On a specific example, the possibility of using various library programs to solve the problem was checked. The developed method is suita-ble for the analysis of systems of arbitrary topology. Since the method is not time-consuming, it can be recommended for online control of oil and oil products supply systems. The paper opens a new direction in the theory of hydraulic circuits. It uses both traditional methods of continuum mechanics and stochastic models.

Governments all over the world are currently grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. While some countries were very hard hit, others were only mildly hit but all are still taking measures to mitigate the consequences. The virus emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and spread to most continents by the beginning of March 2020, which led to the World Health Organization declaring it as a pandemic on the 11^th of March 2020. Since it was a novel disease, there was limited information on the virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) belongs to the same family as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 1 (SARS-CoV-1) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Researchers all over the world started working simultaneously to understand the virus to provide the necessary treatment regime or vaccine in order to reduce the impact of the virus on its victims. Africa and other developing countries with limited resources and poor planning and management are expected to be among the worst hit in the long run. The implications of the COVID-19 on food, water, hygiene, sanitation, and the environment in Africa have been reviewed in this paper, as well as possible implications they may pose to the population, based on the existing common practices and their immediate impacts. This information can assist policymakers in Africa to adequately plan the management of the COVID-19 in order to lessen its impact on the population.

The non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in poultry production contribute to the spread of drug-resistant pathogens in both birds and humans. Antibiotics are known to enhance feed effi-ciency and promote growth and weight gain of poultry. New regulatory requirements and con-sumer preferences have led to a reduced use of antibiotics in poultry production and discover natural alternatives to the antibiotic growth promoters. This interest is not just focused on the di-rect removal or inhibition of the causative microorganisms but also the prevention diseases caused by enteric pathogens using a range of feed additives. A group of promising feed additives is short- and medium-chain fatty acids and their derivatives. MCFAs possess antibacterial, anticoccidial and antiviral effects. Also, it has been proven that these acids act synergistically if they are used together with organic acids, essential oils, or probiotics. These fatty acids also benefit intestinal health integrity and homeostasis in broilers. Other effects have also been documented, including increases in intestinal angiogenesis and gene expression of tight junctions. The aim of this review is to give an overview of SCFA, MCFA as alternatives of antibiotic growth promoters and by sum-marizing the current finding in the literature, to show their possible benefits on production, meat quality and gut health in poultry.

To remain competitive in the current market, an enterprise must differentiate itself based on higher value propositions. For this purpose, since improving the product or service performance can reach some limits, one potential solution is to move towards new combinations of products and services. This evolution, called servitization, leads to the generation of Product-Service Systems (PSS). Servitization requires not only a clear understanding of enterprise core business but also a clear vision on the prevailing trends and challenges of PSS development from both business and technological points of view. In addition, the evolution path should be aligned with the enterprise strategy. This paper first highlights the notion of symbiotic PSS where Product Systems and Service Systems, and their stakeholders, interoperate seamlessly based on a win-win approach. Then it proposes a PSS Conceptual Framework (PSS-CF) which can be applied in the early stages of servitization to increase the understating of PSS dimensions and to facilitate the prioritization of the servitization investments. The framework dimensions were discussed in several iterations, from both academic and industrial points of view, in the frame of a European research project. Moreover, the applicability of the framework was studied in four different industrial Use-Cases.

Servitization or productization, indicating evolution from product to service economy or vice-versa, can be considered as a successful strategy to gain competitiveness based on novel combination of products and services. To decrease the risks of servitization and to support the sustainable development of its main outcome, being Product Service System (PSS), it is required not only to have a clear and common understanding of the core business and processes but also to share the same definitions on (PSS) concepts as the main outcome of servitization. For this purpose, managers could be supported by abstract models with a limited number and high ratio of known concepts in the early stages of PSS development. Through an extensive literature review on this subject, followed by a structured conceptualization approach and discussions with domain experts, this paper proposes a Conceptual Model (PSS-CM). To validate the results, PSS-CM and its elements were discussed in several iterations, from both academic and industrial points of view, in the frame of a European research project. In the frame of this project, a case study was also performed to illustrate the instantiation of PSS-CM.

We present a new method of estimating fitness of countries and complexity of products by exploiting a non-linear non-homogeneous map applied to the publicly available information on the goods exported by a country. The non homogeneous terms guarantee both convergence and stability. After a suitable rescaling of the relevant quantities, the non homogeneous terms are eventually set to zero so that this new method is parameter free. This new map reproduces the findings of the method proposed by Tacchella et al. [1], and allows for an approximate analytic solution in case of actual binarized matrices based on the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) indicator. This solution is connected with a new quantity describing the neighborhood of nodes in bipartite graphs, representing in this work the relations between countries and exported products. Moreover, we define the new indicator of country net-efficiency quantifying how a country efficiently invests in capabilities able to generate innovative complex high quality products. Eventually, we demonstrate analytically the local convergence of the algorithm.

In this pilot study, 84 subjects with a history of poor oral hygiene were enrolled in an interventional, randomized, prospective, open-label controlled trial. The aim was to provide preliminary clinical data on the products, the recruitment monthly rate, and patient satisfaction to estimate resources for the main study, as well as descriptive data on oral microbiota rebalancing. The population was divided into five groups: 20 participants received delicate mint toothpaste, 12 mint toothpaste, 20 mint mouthwash, and 20 delicate mint toothpaste and mint mouthwash using a specifically custom-designed toothbrush. The 12 subjects in the control group continued to use their oral care products without changing their normal routine. The study duration was 28 days.All subjects tolerated the products well, and there were no adverse events. Recruitment capability and procedures allowed a realistic estimation for the future main trial. The products did not cause any changes in tooth color. The participants who completed the treatment consisting of delicate mint toothpaste, mint mouthwash, and the specifically custom-designed toothbrush showed the gingival sensitivity best results (p≤0.000). The products induced a statistically significant decrease in plaque in all treated groups (p≤0.000) and an improvement of gingival sensitivity (delicate mint toothpaste, p≤0.005; mint toothpaste, p≤0.015; and mint mouthwash, p≤0.015). All the products were effective in stabilizing the oral microbiota.The tested products showed an optimal safety profile. They also stabilized the biodiversity of the oral microbiota, making it less susceptible to microbial fluctuations than the control group.

Numerous goods and services are now offered through online platforms due to the recent growth of online transactions like e-commerce. Users have trouble locating the product that best suits them from the numerous products available in online shopping. Many studies in deep learning-based recommender systems (RSs) have focused on the intricate relationships between the attributes of users and items. Deep learning techniques have used consumer or item-related traits to improve the quality of personalized recommender systems in many areas, such as tourism, news, and e-commerce. Various companies, primarily e-commerce, utilize sentiment analysis to enhance product quality and effectively navigate today's business environment. Customer feedback regarding a product is gathered through sentiment analysis, which uses contextual data to split it into separate polarities. The explosive rise of the e-commerce industry has resulted in a large body of literature on e-commerce from different perspectives. Researchers have made an effort to categorize the recommended future possibilities for e-commerce study as the field has grown. There are several challenges in e-commerce, such as fake reviews, frequency of user reviews, advertisement click fraud, and code-mixing. In this review, we introduce an overview of the preliminary design for e-commerce. Second, the concept of deep learning, e-commerce, and sentiment analysis are discussed. Third, we represent different versions of the commercial dataset. Finally, we explain various difficulties facing RS and future research directions.

In this article we first write a brief review of supersymmetric quantum mechanics and then we discuss the equivalence of two co-existing formalisms viz. tensor product formalism and partner hamiltonian formalism for 1-D SUSY Harmonic oscillator. Finally, we present a Mathematica code with which one can calculate the eigenstates of any 1-D SUSY partner Hamiltonian along with two illustrated examples of 1-D SUSY HO and 1-D SUSY infinite potential box.

The prim objective of commenced article is to determine q-sumudu transforms of a product of unified family of q-polynomials with basic (or q-) analogue of fox’s H-function and q-analog of I-functions. Specialized cases of the leading outcome are further evaluated as q-sumudu transform of general class of q-polynomials and q-sumudu transforms of the basic analogues of Fox’s H-function and I-functions.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the surface texture and biofilm adhesion of veneered or CAD/CAM milled zirconia (partially stabilized with yttrium) after professional oral hygiene procedures. Samples (4x4 mm, thickness 2 mm; n = 72) were separated from zirconia blanks (3Y-TZP-LA). One group was veenired with ceramics and the other group of samples was CAD/CAM milled. Each group had 2 subgroups: polished and glazed. The samples were subjected to simulated strokes of professional brushing using abrasive paste and ultrasonic scaling. Parameters of surface micromorphology and receptivity to biofilm were calculated before and after simulating the given methods of professional maintenance of oral hygiene. The characteristics of zirconia surface were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Microbial bacterial/fungal species (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus sanguinis and Candida albicans) were used and cultured on the respective sterilized zirconia surfaces. The amount of biofilm formation on zirconia surface was quantified by colony forming unit (CFU) counts. Results: SEM analysis showed the greatest change in surface microtopography after the use of ultrasonic scaling, in glazed zirconia samples. Less formation of colonies on the surface CAD/CAM milled zirconia restorations was observed. Conclusion: Routine methods of professional maintenance of oral hygiene can damage the surface of glazed zirconia restorations.

Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungus that becomes pathogenic and problematic under certain biological conditions. C.albicans may cause painful and uncomfortable symptoms, as well as deaths in immunocompromised patients. Therefore, early detection of c.albicans is essential. However, conventional detection methods are costly, slow and inaccessible to women in remote or developing areas. To address these concerns, we have developed a wearable and discrete naked-eye detectable, colorimetric platform for c.albicans detection. With some modification, this platform is designed to be directly adhered to existing feminine hygiene pads. Our platform is rapid, inexpensive, user-friendly, disposable and only requires three steps: i) addition of vaginal fluid onto sample pads; ii) addition of gold nanoparticle gel and running buffer, and iii) naked eye detection. Our platform is underpinned by selective thiolated aptamer-based recognition of 1,3-β-D glucan molecules- a hallmark of c.albicans cell walls. In the absence of c.albicans, wearable sample pads turn bright pink. In the presence of c. albicans, the wearable pads turn dark blue due to significant nanoparticle target-induced aggregation. We demonstrate naked eye colorimetric detection of 4.4 ×106 c.albicans cells per ml. We believe that this proof-of-concept platform has the potential to have a significant impact on women’s health, globally.

Product innovation is a crucial factor in enterprise survival. Even though there are sources from strategic theory that guides the clear comprehension towards appreciating the nexus between these two variables (product innovation and enterprise survival), there are still many lacunas that should be addressed and filled. Consequently, the need for additional empirical corroboration or support is pertinent. This study aimed at verifying the nexus between product innovation and enterprise survival, and how they are affected by the existence of antecedent variables such as competitive intensity and competitive advantage. In the methodology, this study adopts the conduct of explanatory and cross-sectional investigations through the use of structural equation modelling (SEM) to a sample of selected food and beverages enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria. Regarding the food and beverage enterprises in Lagos, Nigeria, this study discovered that competitive intensity has huge positive implication on product innovation at (0.39; t = 5.69, p < 0.05). This gives numerical evidence that, in the face of more market competition, enterprises will be pressured to adopt the model of costs reduction on products which will enhance the reduction of product prices, and will have significant impact on profit. However, the findings reveal that there is no significance between competitive advantage and product innovation at (0.002; t = 0.203, p > 0.05), and there is no significance between product innovation and enterprise survival at (-0.035; t = -1.583, p > .05). As a result, the food and beverage enterprises should concentrate more on product innovation so that they will be able to stand the intensity of competition. The results emanated from the study is germane as it make significant contribution to literature and the body of knowledge and on strategic management by enlightening that competitive intensity is a necessary inducement for product innovation.

Background: Globally, infections are the third leading cause of neonatal mortality. Predominant risk factors for facility-born newborns are poor hygiene practices that span both the facility and home environments. Current improvement interventions focus on only one environment and tar-get limited caregivers, primarily birth attendants and mothers. To inform the design of a hand hygiene behaviour change intervention in rural Cambodia, a formative mixed-methods research study was conducted to investigate the context specific behaviours and determinants of hand-washing among healthcare workers, maternal and non-maternal caregivers along the early new-born care continuum. Methods: Direct observations of hygiene practices of all individuals providing care to 46 newborns across eight facilities and associated communities were completed and hand hygiene compliance assessed in analysis. Semi structured interactive interviews were subsequently conducted with 35 midwives and household members to explore the corresponding cognitive, emotional, and environmental factors influencing the observed key hand hygiene behaviours. Results: Hand hygiene opportunities during newborn care were frequent in both set-tings (n = 1319) and predominantly performed by mothers, fathers and non-parental caregivers. Compliance to hand hygiene protocol across all caregivers, including midwives, was inadequate (0%). Practices were influenced by the lack of accessible physical infrastructure, time, increased workload, low infection risk perception, nurture-related motives, norms and inadequate knowledge. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that an effective intervention in this context should be multi-modal to address the different key behaviour determinants and target a wide range of caregivers.

Background: Ongoing Primary and Secondary Education Development Program (PEDP & SEDP) has led to increase in enrollment of children in schools. This created a high demand for facilities such as classroom, chairs, laboratories, latrines and water supply. Water and latrines did not receive equal attention like others. National strategic plan for School Water Sanitation and Hygiene (SWASH) 2012-2017 was to address such challenges with objectives to improve SWASH by 2017. Hence this study aimed to evaluate the implementation of SWASH program in Ukerewe. Methodology: A cross sectional survey was done among 42 schools in the district with 40 schools being government owned. Systematic random sampling was used and data were collected using a structured interview which was pre-tested and amended prior to conducting fieldwork. UNICEF, WASH in Schools Monitoring Package observational check-list was used to assess sanitation facilities. Results: Findings from this study showed the latrine-hole to student ratio was 1:71 with only 31.3% of the latrines being in good clean condition and about half (59.5%) of the schools have no facilities for washing hands. For the schools with hand washing facilities only 21.4% have an effective hand washing practice (presence of soap and water). The most common source of water used was lake water (35.7%) with (42.9%) having water storage facilities. Conclusion: The study shows that most of the objectives of national strategic plan are yet to be implemented at Ukerewe. There is a need for minor repairs to complete new construction of SWASH facilities in Ukerewe.

Currently, software development is more associated with families of configurable software rather than the single implementation of a product. Due to the numerous possible combinations in a software product line, testing these families of software product lines (SPLs) is a difficult undertaking (SPL). Moreover, the presence of optional features makes the testing of SPLs impractical. Several features are presented in SPLs, but due to the environment's time and financial constraints, these features are rendered unfeasible. Testing subsets of configured products is thus one approach to solving this issue. In order to reduce testing effort and get better results, alternative methods of testing SPLs are required, such as the combinatorial interaction testing (CIT) technique. Unfortunately CIT method produces unscalable solutions for large size SPLs with excessive constraints. The CIT method costs more because of feature combinations. The optimization of the various conflicting testing objectives, such as reducing the cost and configuration number, have also been considered. In this article, we have proposed a search-based software engineering solution using multi-objective optimization algorithms (MOEAs). In particular, the research is applied to different types of MOEA methods; Indicator-Based Evolutionary Algorithm (IBEA), Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm based on Decomposition (MOEA/D), Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGAII), NSGAIII, and Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm 2 (SPEA2). The results of the algorithms are examined in the context of distinct objectives and two quality indicators. The results revealed how feature model attributes, implementation context and the number of objectives affect the performance of the algorithms.

Scator set, introduced by Fernández-Guasti and Zaldívar, is endowed with a very peculiar non-distributive product. In this paper we consider the scator space of dimension $1+2$ and the so called fundamental embedding which maps the subset of scators with non-zero scalar component into 4-dimensional space endowed with a natural distributive product. The original definition of the scator product is induced in a straightforward way. Moreove, we propose an extension of the scator product on the whole scator space, including scators with vanishing scalar component.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, hygiene behaviors such as keeping distance, avoid-ing masses, wearing face masks and adhering to hand hygiene recommendations became impera-tive. The current study aims to determine factors interrelating with hygiene behaviors. Methods: 4,049 individuals (1,305 male, 2,709 female, aged 18-80 years) were recruited from rehabilitation clinics or freely on the internet and surveyed via online questionnaire between May 2020 and August 2021. Socio-demographics, hygiene behaviors, emotions (fear), life-satisfaction, risk factors and disability as well as communication were assessed. Results: Prevalence for hygiene behaviors was: keeping the distance 84.9%, avoiding mass gatherings 84.6%, wearing face masks 96.5% and hand hygiene 80.7%. Hygiene behaviors were significantly related to fear with linear and quad-ratic associations. Conclusion: Individuals with disabilities, risk factors and psychological symp-toms are more compliant. Especially hand hygiene should be targeted to achieve higher compli-ance rates. A medium level of fear is more functional than too elevated fear. Behavioral interven-tions and targeted communication aiming at improving different behaviors in orchestration can help individuals to remain healthy and maintain a high life-satisfaction. Thereby, communication in the healthcare setting is imperative and all involved individuals should become more aware of this to ensure high hygiene standards and patient safety.

Pasteurized milks are still causing food borne illness. Milk contamination can occur at any stage from its way from cow to our tables. Usually milk is pure and sterile when produced in udder of a healthy cow. Like humans, cow are reservoirs of bacteria which are harmless to humans and some cows can harbour few bacteria that are harmful to humans even though they are not harmful to the cow. Milk can be contaminated during or after milking. Also, cow feeds can be contaminated with mycotoxins such as aflatoxins produced by the fungi, Aspergillus flavus. Four types of aflatoxins are known which are; aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2. Cows comsuming feeds contaminated with aflatoxin B1 leads to secretion in the milk of aflatoxin M1 and M2 causing aflatoxicosis. Microbial contamination of milk and dairy products is a universal problem and foodborne infections accounting for 20 million cases annually in the world have been identified as an important public health and economic problem in developed as well as developing nations. The main objective of this study was to determine milk microbial quality in Kicukiro district. The specific objectives are to identify bacteria pathogens in milk collected in Kicukiro district, to compare milk quality among sectors of Kicukiro district, to compare milk processed by industries and home-processed milk. The methodology employed in this research was cross-sectional and experimental as the study began with collection of raw data and went through laboratory analysis from July–August, 2018. The findings showed that 59.56% of the milk fell within Grade I – Grade III (< 200,000 ≤ 2,000,000 cfu/ml) and 40.42 % of the milk samples were not within the acceptable limit of total count quality as per COMESA and EAS, non-lactobacilli and fungi were present in most samples as examined through microscope and no Staphylococcus aureus was present in any sample as examined by catalase and coagulase tests.

Albedo is a key variable in the response of glaciers to climate. In Iceland, large albedo variations in the ice caps may be caused by the deposition of volcanic ash (tephra). Sparse in situ field measurements are insufficient to characterize the spatial variation of albedo over the ice caps. Here we evaluate the latest MCD43 MODIS albedo product (collection 6) to monitor albedo over the Icelandic ice caps using albedo from ten automatic weather stations in Vatnajökull and Langjökull as ground truth. We examine the influence of the albedo variability within MODIS pixels by comparing the results with a collection of Landsat scenes. The results indicate a good ability of the MODIS product to characterize the seasonal and interannual albedo changes with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.47 to 0.90 (median 0.84) and a small bias ranging from -0.07 to 0.09. The root-mean square errors (RMSE) ranging from 0.08 and 0.21, is larger than that from previous studies, but we did not discard the retrievals flagged as bad quality to maximize the amount of observations given the frequent cloud obstruction in Iceland. We find a positive but non-significant relationship between the RMSE and the subpixel variability as indicated by the standard deviation of the Landsat albedo within the MODIS pixel (R=0.48). The summer albedo maps and time series computed from the MODIS product show that the albedo decreased significantly after the Eyjafjallajökull and Grímsvötn eruptions in 2010 and 2011 in all the main ice caps (except the northernmost Drangajökull), with albedo reduction up to 0.6 over large regions of the accumulation areas. Following this validation, these data will be assimilated in an energy and mass balance model of to better understand the relative influence of the volcanic and climate forcing to the ongoing mass losses of Icelandic ice caps.

There have been relatively few researches that determine the role of bricolage in mediating the empirical relationship between strategic flexibility and product innovation. However, most of the research has studied strategic flexibility to engage the absorptive capacity and facilitate product innovation. The Bricolage approach emphasizes utilizing existing resources in product innovation and explores the mechanisms behind bricolage. A resource-based approach to product innovation involves combining resources in the development process in a concrete manner. This is a groundbreaking study since it is the first to examine empirically how absorptive capacity affects product innovation through bricolage and the serial mediation of strategic flexibility. As a consequence of presenting our results, we concluded that absorptive capacity positively and significantly influences product innovation through the serial mediation of strategic flexibility and bricolage. For strategic flexibility to play a role in supporting product innovation, bricolage is one of the mechanisms that can be utilized. This study contributes to the literature on strategic flexibility by examining the effect of strategic flexibility on bricolage and product innovation from the standpoint that absorptive capacity enhances the strategic flexibility of high-tech SMEs in China. Furthermore, this research offers new insights into the relationship between absorptive capacity and product innovation. In addition, it also provides insight into the economic opportunities that may result from product innovation in transition economies such as China.

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) is an ancient medicinal plant producing pharmaceutically important benzylisoquinoline alkaloids. In the present work we focused on the study of enzyme lipoxygenase (LOX, EC 1.13.11.12) from opium poppy cultures. LOX is involved in lipid peroxidation and lipoxygenase oxidation products of polyunsaturated fatty acids have a significant role in regulation of growth, development and plant defence responses to biotic or abiotic stress. The purpose of this study was to isolate and characterize LOX enzyme from opium poppy callus cultures. LOX was purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation followed by hydrophobic chromatography using Phenyl-Sepharose CL-4B and hydroxyapatite chromatography using HA Ultrogel sorbent. SDS-PAGE analysis and immunoblotting revealed that LOX from opium poppy cultures was a single monomeric protein showing the relative molecular weight of 83 kDa. To investigate the positional specificity of the LOX reaction, purified LOX was incubated with linoleic acid and the products were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography. LOX converted linoleic acid primarily to 13-hydroperoxy-(9Z,11E)-octadecadienoic acids (78%) and to a lesser extent to 9-hydroperoxy-(10E,12Z)-octadecadienoic acids (22%). Characterization of LOX from opium poppy cultures provided valuable information in understanding of LOX involvement in regulation of signalling pathways leading to biosynthesis of secondary metabolites with significant biological activity.

Whilst large-scale changes in population behaviour are required to reduce the transmission of the SARS-COV-2 virus, the emergency context is not conducive to the sort of careful communications planning that would normally be required to meet such a task. Rapid strategic communications planning in a pandemic by governments is, however, possible and necessary. Steps include setting up a dedicated communications task force, mobilising partners and resources, developing a creative brief and theory of change and overseeing the creation, testing, roll out and revision of content. In this short guide we argue that a minimum of strategic planning can be undertaken rapidly, and that good use can be made of simple principles of behaviour change, even during pandemics. Our aim here is to provide a blueprint that governments and their partners, especially in low-income settings, can follow to design, coordinate and resource national communications efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic immediately and for the longer term.

Active participation of students is paramount not only for their learning experiences but also for their academic performance. Therefore, various methods have been developed and proven to help students achieve active learning. However, several shortcomings in these methods have been indicated as increasing students’ sense of burden and discomfort, eventually preventing them from benefiting sufficiently. This study aimed to determine the efficiency of a low-load web-based review quiz built by the researchers on Google Forms to enhance students’ reviewing habits and active class participation. Participants in this study were 53 first-year dental hygiene students in a 10-class microbiology course. After each class, all students were given the web-based quiz to prepare for a paper-based review test, which assessed the learning of the content covered in the previous classes. We analyzed the correlations between frequency of participation in the web-based quiz and the average scores of the weekly review tests or the final examination scores. Consequently, voluntary participation in the web-based quiz positively correlated with both short-term and long-term students’ learning outcomes. Through this web-based quiz during the first year of the dental hygiene program, students can develop the “self-learning attitude” needed to pass the national examination.

Background: Patients’ effective hand hygiene helps to reduce healthcare-associated infections, prevents the spread of nosocomial infections and communicable diseases, such as COVID-19. This study aimed to describe effective hand hygiene decisions based on the Health Action Process Ap-proach (HAPA) and whether this pattern is invariant for mental health. Methods: Data were collected cross-sectionally from patients who had previously been admitted to a hospital (N=279; study 1) and longitudinally from psychosomatic rehabilitation patients (N=1,073; study 2). The fit of the HAPA framework and changes in hand hygiene decisions regarding com-pliance, as well as social-cognitive variables of the HAPA, and mental health status were examined. Results: The trimmed HAPA framework fitted the data well (χ2=27.1, df=12, p<.01, CMIN/df=2.26, CFI=.97, RMSEA=.08). According to multi-group structural equation modeling, the HAPA model with hand hygiene behavior were found to be invariant with regard to mental health. Conclusion: The trimmed HAPA framework revealed to be a generic framework in explaining so-cial-cognitive processes relating to hand hygiene decisions. Helping individuals to perform hand hygiene recommendation requires intention formation and bridging the intention-behavior gap. This can be done by promoting planning and self-efficacy. All processes appear generic to partic-ipants with and without mental health challenges.

This study explores the implementation of an interdisciplinary curriculum in product and media design education and its impact on knowledge innovation and competency development. The curriculum is based on scaffolding theory, incorporating design proposals, workshops, digital design, marketing tests, and marketing activities guided by teachers and mentors from a branded ceramic workshop. The research findings demonstrate that the interdisciplinary curriculum facilitates knowledge innovation and fosters the development of students' professional skills, creativity, and problem-solving skills. The study also highlights the importance of stable scaffolding, including artefact, peer, and teacher support, which significantly contributes to cultivating transformational competencies, as outlined in the 2030 OECD Learning Compass. Additionally, the collaboration with Shanshing Four Seasons Celadon Studio on a patented ceramic product, "Funny Monkey," is a tangible example of the journey towards a triple-helix knowledge economy. This research underscores the importance of interdisciplinary curricula in promoting knowledge innovation and integrating transformational competencies in education. Scaffolding theory provides practical guidance for student learning and teaching strategies, presenting a sustainable roadmap for developing interdisciplinary curricula and offering a concrete and transferable pedagogical prototype for educational innovation.

Hsp70.1 has dual functions as chaperone protein and lysosomal stabilizer. Previously, we reported that calpain-mediated cleavage of carbonylated Hsp70.1 causes ischemic neuronal death by inducing lysosomal rupture. Recently, we found that the consecutive injections of vegetable oil-peroxidation product ‘hydroxynonenal’ induces hepatocyte death via the similar cascade. As Hsp70.1 is related also to fatty acid β-oxidation in the liver, its deficiency is known to cause accumulation of fat. Genetic deletion of betaine-homocysteine S-methyltransferase (BHMT) was reported to perturb choline metabolism, inducing decrease of phosphatidylcholine with the resultant hepatic steatosis. Here, focusing on disorders of Hsp70.1 and BHMT, we studied the mechanism of hepatocyte degeneration and steatosis, using monkeys after the consecutive injections of synthetic hydroxynonenal. As these monkeys showed a significant impairment of liver functions, the liver tissues without and with hydroxynonenal injections were compared by proteomics, immunoblotting, immunohisto-chemical and electron microscopic analyses. Western blotting showed upregulation of neither Hsp70.1 nor BHMT, but an increased cleavage of both proteins. Proteomics showed downregulation of Hsp70.1, while 2-fold increments of carbonylated BHMT. Hsp70.1 carbonylation was negligible, showing a marked contrast to ischemic neurons which were associated with ~10-fold increments. The control liver histologically showed lipid droplets in Ito cells, but lipid depositions within hepatocytes were very little. In contrast, after hydroxynonenal injections, widespread fatty degeneration and focal coagulation necrosis were observed with accumulation of numerous tiny lipid droplets within and around the degenerating/dying hepatocytes. Electron microscopy showed lysosomal membrane permeabilization/rupture, remarkable dissolution of mitochondria and rough ER membrane, and proliferation of abnormal peroxisomes. It is probable that disruptions of rough ER caused impaired synthesis of Hsp70.1 and BHMT proteins, while impairments of mitochondria and peroxisomes presumably contributed to the sustained generation of reactive oxygen species. Since both Hsp70.1 and BHMT are vulnerable to the long-standing oxidative stressor, hydroxynonenal-induced disorders facilitated degeneration and steatosis of hepatocytes, respectively.

The aims of this study were to assess oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices among orthodontic patients between the ages of 15 and 17 years old compared to adolescents without orthodontic treatment. This cross-sectional study included 392 adolescents drawn from various French teaching hospitals. A closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect data. Adolescents undergoing orthodontic treatment had a higher knowledge of oral health than adolescents without orthodontic treatment. The majority of adolescents for both groups (69%) claimed to brush their teeth twice a day. Regarding complimentary dental material, 81.9% of adolescents without orthodontic treatment never used an interdental brush and 78.8% never used dental floss. For those undergoing orthodontic treatment, 48.5% never used interdental brush. Only 4% of adolescents without and 3% of adolescents with orthodontic treatment never consumed fizzy drinks, 4.9% and 3% never consumed sweets, 4% and 8.4% never ate fast-food. Adolescents without treatment consumed more sodas (p=0.04) and more fast food (p=0.03). Adolescents had insufficient knowledge of oral health. Health education programmes should be implemented to improve adolescents' knowledge and individual oral prophylaxis with interdental brushes.

Although the universal health coverage (UHC) is pursued by many countries, not all countries with UHC include dental care as their benefits. Japan, with its long-held tradition of UHC, has covered dental care as essential benefit and majority of dental care services are provided to all patients with minimal copayment. Being under the UHC, the scope of services as well as prices are regulated by the uniform fee schedule and dentists submit claims according to the uniform format and fee schedule. The author analyzes the publicly available dental health insurance claims data as well as a sampling survey on dental hygiene and illustrates how Japan’s dental care is responding to the challenges of the population ageing.

Due to the recent trend of unmanned economy, retail stores have gradually reduced their service and cashier manpower. The retail product recognition becomes one of key issues for unmanned shopping. Although the success of deep neural networks has made object recognition feasible in a variety of applications, it still struggles to perform well on a large number of classes of retail products. In this paper, we propose an improved ensemble learning-based approach for retail product recognition. In the proposed approach, the object classification network is first improved through feature extraction and block attention. An ensemble model is then built by integrating multiple network models and using loss selection as model weights. In the experiments, the feasibility of our ensemble learning-based approach has been evaluated through many production items. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach compared with previous retail product recognition methods.

Plant-derived diterpene synthases (PdiTPSs) play a critical role in the formation of structurally and functionally diverse diterpenoids. However, the specificity or promiscuity of PdiTPSs remains unclear. In order to gain more understanding of this, the sequences of 199 functionally characterized PdiTPSs and their corresponding 3D structures were collected and manually corrected. Then, the correlations among sequences, domains, structures and their corresponding products were comprehensively analyzed. However, those features alone was insufficient for ef-fective product-specific classification of PdiTPSs as these methods could not establish a clear mapping between the enzymes and products. Nevertheless, local structural analysis can identify residues that have been experimentally proven to influence product outcomes through mutagenesis, and these residues exhibit conservation in spatial positioning and physicochemical properties. And aromatic residues surrounding the substrate exhibited selectivity towards its chemical structure. Specifically, tryptophan (W) was preferentially located around the linear substrate geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP), while phenylalanine (F) and tyrosine (Y) were preferentially located around the initial cyclized diterpene intermediate. This analysis revealed the functional space of residues surrounding the substrate of PdiTPSs, most of which have not been experimentally explored. These findings provide guidance for screening specific residues for mutation studies to change the catalytic products of PdiTPSs.

In this paper, we introduce the notion of pointwise hemi-slant submanifolds of nearly Kaehler manifolds. Further, we study their warped products and prove the necessary and sufficient condition that a pointwise hemi-slant submanifold to be a warped product manifold. Also, we prove that every pointwise hemi-slant warped product submanifold $M=M_\perp\times_fM_\theta$ which is mixed totally geodesic in an arbitrary nearly Kaehler manifold $\tilde M$ satisfies $\|h\|^2\geq\frac{2p}{9}\cos^2\theta\|\nabla(\ln f)\|^2,$ where $\|h\|$ is the length of the second fundamental form of $M$ and $2p=\dim M_\theta$; while $\nabla(\ln f)$ is the gradient of $\ln f$ along $M_\perp$. The equality case of this inequality is also given.

Inflationary model provides a conceptual explanation of the horizon problem, the flatness problem and may also suppress the over abundant magnetic monopoles predicted by Grand Unified Theories. Although various inflationary models have been proposed since 1981, difficulties like fine tuning is not only unsolved but also becomes severer in confrontation with data of Planck Satellite. This paper proposes an alternative model of inflation: the spontaneous symmetry breaking phase transition at early universe is only responsible for the production of magnetic monopoles expected by Grand Unified Theories; it is the subsequent energy release of monopole annihilation that drives the inflation. As a result, the early universe underwent a free expansion with a heat source originating in the annihilation, which expects a smooth, plateau-like potential consistent with the observational data. Beside interpreting a number of long standing inflationary problems, the new scenario predicts a significant increase of entropy during the inflation, and tends to produce large scale structures exceed scale of 300 million light-years correlated with a CMB smoothen and flatten by a simple dynamical mechanism.

Computer systems are involved in many critical human applications today, so that a small error can lead to serious and dangerous problems. These errors can be from an error in the incorrect design of the user interface to an error in the program code. The success of a software product depends on several factors. Given that different organizations and institutions use software products, the need to have a quality and desirable Software according to the goals and needs of the organization makes measuring the quality of software products. an important issue for most organizations and institutions, To be sure of having the right software. It is necessary to use a standard quality model to examine the features and sub-features for a detailed and principled study in the quality discussion. In this study, the quality of Word software was measured by Adaptive Neural Fuzzy Inference System. In recent years, powerful systems called fuzzy inference systems on The basis of adaptive neural network (ANFIS) has been used in various sciences. Using the power of neural network training and the linguistic advantage of fuzzy systems, these types of systems have been able to realize the advantages of the two in terms of analyzing very powerful complex processes. Considering the importance of software quality and to have a good and usable software in terms of quality and measuring the quality of software during the study. It was applied at different levels to make the result of measuring the quality of Word software more accurate and closer to reality. In this research, the quality of the software product is measured based on the adaptive neural-fuzzy inference system in ISO standard. According to the results obtained in this study, it is understood that quality is a continuous and hierarchical concept and the quality of each part of the software at any stage of production can lead to high quality products.

A concise proof of the Riemann Hypothesis is presented by clarifying the Hadamard product expansion over the zeta zeros, demonstrating that the Riemann Hypothesis is true.

Recent technological advancements such as IoT and Big Data have granted industries extensive access to data, opening up new opportunities for integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) across various applications to enhance production processes. We can cite two critical areas where AI can play a key role in industry such as product quality control and predictive maintenance. This paper presents a survey of AI applications in the domain of Industry 4.0, with a specific focus on product quality control and predictive maintenance. Experiments were conducted using two datasets, incorporating different machine learning and deep learning models from the literature. Furthermore, this paper provides an overview of the AI solution development approach for product quality control and predictive maintenance. This approach includes several key steps, such as data collection, data analysis, model development, model explanation, and model deployment.

The application of chitosan and alginate coatings for Ready-to-Eat (RTE) baked fish product were studied. An experimental design was used to investigate the effect of coating polysaccharide concentration and glycerol addition on the safety (microbial growth), and quality (water loss and lipid oxidation) of RTE seafood product under optimal, and abused storage conditions. The results showed that a chitosan coating with 1% (w/v) chitosan in 1% (v/v) acetic acid, and 15% (w/w chitosan) glycerol, or 1% (w/v) alginate coating with no glycerol, and no crosslinking showed the best performance in controlling the tested safety and quality parameters. Desirability method was used to identify the shelf life of chitosan, alginate and double coated RTE products. Whereby, chitosan coated samples showed the best performance with a third fold shelf life extension compared to uncoated products.

The paper proposes a game theory model of price oligopoly with a heterogeneous product, where total demand depends linearly on the minimum market price. This model develops the Bertrand oligopoly for the case of imperfect price elasticity of demand. The most interesting result is an asymmetric Nash equilibrium with different prices and sales in the situation of symmetric oligopolists. The asymmetry is explained by the fact that a decrease in the minimum market price leads not only to a reallocation of consumers among firms, but also to an increase in total demand. Modifications of a two-stage game with a leader and followers and the price discrimination model are also considered. Microeconomic substantiation of the model is given on the basis of the spatial differentiation approach.