This study aimed to evaluate potential posttreatment changes in ADC values within the tissue surrounding the enhancing lesion, particularly in areas not exhibiting MRI characteristics of in-volvement. Additionally, the objective was to investigate the correlation between ADC values, treatment response, and survival outcomes in individuals diagnosed with gliomas. This retrospective study included a total of 49 patients that underwent either stereotactic biopsy or maximal surgical resection. Histologically confirmed as Grade III or IV gliomas, all cases adhered to the 2016 and 2021 WHO classifications, with subsequent radio-chemotherapy administered post-surgery. Patients were divided into two groups: short and long survival group. Baseline and follow-up MRI scans were obtained on a 1.5T MRI scanner. Two ROI circles were positioned near the enhancing area, one ROI in the NAWM ipsilateral to the neoplasm and another symmetrically in the contralateral hemisphere on ADC maps. At follow-up there was a significant difference in both ipsilateral and contralateral NAWM be-tween the two groups, -0.0857 (p=0.004) and -0.0607 (p=0.037), respectively. There was a weak negative correlation between survival and ADC values in ipsilateral and contralateral NAWM at the baseline with the correlation coefficient -0.328 (p=0.02) and -0.302 (p=0.04), respectively. The correlation was stronger at the follow-up. The findings indicate that ADC values in normal appearing white matter (NAWM) may function as a prognostic biomarker in patients with diffuse gliomas.

An interesting anomaly of the diffusion process with an apparently negative diffusion coefficient defined through the mean-square displacement in a one-dimensional quantum molecular chain model is shown. Nevertheless, the system satisfies the H-theorem, so that the second law of thermodynamics is satisfied. The reason why the “diffusion constant” becomes negative is due to the effect of the phase mixing process, which is a characteristic result of the one-dimensionality of the system. We illustrate the situation where this negative “diffusion constant” appears.

In the end of April nearly 100 cases of children aged between 6 month and 9 years with Kawasaki like disease were reported (mostly in Europe) probably linked to COVID-19. With the increasing awareness of this condition the number of cases reported is increasing worldwide. We aim to sum up the known data about this new entity based on published data (in a case report, a series of 8 cases and in newspapers and society statement) and using our knowledge of classical Kawasaki disease. It seems to be a post infectious disease with an onset between 2-4 weeks after the infection, probably in genetically predisposed children aged between 6 month to 17 years. A very rough estimation of incidence based on current data from Bergamo, Italy, and New York State and a lot assumption is between 0.016% (95% CI:0.013-0.02%) - 0.31% (95% CI: 0.2-0.47%) of infected children. Clinical signs overlaps with Kawasaki disease in some children, but another feature is prominent gastrointestinal manifestations. For the 9 detailed patients most had incomplete presentation for Kawasaki disease (with a mean 1.7 (+/-1.2) criteria per patient for the 5 non fever criterion) and only one had a classical form. In some cases, presentation is closer to toxic shock syndrome or isolated myocarditis. Persistent fever seems to be constant and biological exploration are consistent with inflammation (elevated CRP, ferritin and D-Dimers). Management is described as supportive and children seem to improve rapidly, but can require cardiac or respiratory support. In date of 11 may 2020 there is 4 deaths confirmed linked to these new entities (1 in UK and 3 in New York). Paediatricians and general practitioners need to be aware of these possible evolution following COVID-19 infection. However it seems to be rare and children are probably still spared from most morbidities and mortality linked to COVID-19 infection .There are need of published detailed cohorts to better delineate these entities.

Background: Only few pediatric reports exist regarding the prevalence, cause and evolution of liver and renal injury in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence and the risk factors of hepatic and renal failure at admission and during hospitalization, especially during refeeding in a cohort of hospitalized adolescents with AN.Methods: In a retrospective cohort study of adolescents with AN in a single hospital of Marseille from 2013 to 2019, we compared four groups on admission: elevated aminotransferases (AT)/normal AT and renal injury/no renal injury to analyze the differences between them (demographic factors, anthropometric factors, disease duration, initial prescribed calories, speed of refeeding, aminotransferase level, glomerular filtration rate). We observed the evolution of AT and renal injury for these four groups during refeeding (by the increase of kilocalories). Results: A total of 29 subjects with AN met eligibility criteria (age: 14.2 years, female (86.2%), BMI at admission (Z-score= -2.8 standard deviation (SD)) with elevated AT (20.7 %) and renal injury (13.8 %) on admission. Lower Z-score BMI (-4.05 vs -2 SD, p = 0.013), lower expected weight for height (69% vs 76%, p = 0.034) and longer disease duration (2.1 vs 0.9 years, p =0,032) were significantly associated with elevated liver enzymes at admission. Lower Z-score BMI (-3.35 vs -2.5 SD, p = 0.002), lower expected weight for height at admission (69% vs 74,5%, p = 0.002) and loss of weight before admission (0.66 vs à 0.20 kg per day, p = 0.002) were associated with renal injury at admission. Time nadir BMI (13.5 vs 6.5 days, p = 0.034) and duration of hospitalization (55 vs 41 days, p = 0.036) were longer in elevated enzymes on admission group. During refeeding, liver enzymes (95% confidence interval (CI), odds ratio (OR) aspartate aminotransferase: -0.07 [-0.11; -0.03] and OR alanine aminotransferase: -0.16 [-0.27; -0.06]) and renal injury (95% CI, OR creatinine: -0.013 [-0.017; -0.008]) have normalized with the increase of calories, with significant association.Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that degree of malnutrition is associated with liver and renal injury on admission. Theses failures disappeared with refeeding. In the future, prospective multicentric studies could examine evolution of renal and hepatic failure undergoing refeeding in large pediatric cohort of AN.

The diffusion coefficients of ions are measured in a microchip filled with a cationic charged 3D hydrogel in order to study the effect of cationic charged 3D hydrogel on the diffusivity of ions. In this study, poly-diallyl-dimethyl-ammoniumchloride (poly-DADMAC) is used to produce a 3D hydrogel. Four different fluorophores are used in the 3D hydrogel rhodamine 6G, rhodamine-BSA, fluorescein isothio-cyanate (FITC) and FITC-BSA. The rhodamine 6G and rhodamine-BSA are positively charged (cations), while fluorescein isothio-cyanate (FITC) and FITC-BSA are negatively charged (anions). Two widely used techniques which are short time diffusivity measurement technique and long time diffusivity measurement techniques are used to measure the diffusion coefficients. For the short time measurement, Fluorescence recovery after photo-bleaching (FRAP) is used by a 3D confocal microscope. For the long time measurement, fluorescence images are taken for 11 days to observe a pure diffusivity without any convective movement. As a result, the diffusivity of the cations was found to be lower than that of the anions in the cationic charged hydrogel.

Immersion in salt-lake solution was adopted to periodically test the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient. The regression analysis was also completed. Also investigated was the time-dependent law of concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient with time. The influence of chloride-ion concentration in solution, water-to-cement ratio, and corrosion time on the largeness and accumulation rate of the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient was also analyzed. Test results show that the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient gradually decreased with increasing time and increased with increasing chloride-ion concentration in a salt lake . Taking into account the influence of factors such as water–binder ratio, chloride-ion concentration, and time-varying characteristics, a multi-factor calculation model for the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient was established. Combining the prediction results and the measured data reported in this paper, the effectiveness and applicability of the established concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient calculation model were compared and verified, and the durability design and service life of a concrete structure under cool chlorine were compared. The results of analysis provide important boundary conditions.

The diffusion coefficient--a measure of dissipation, and the entropy--a measure of fluctuation are found to be intimately correlated in many physical systems. Unlike the fluctuation dissipation theorem in linear response theory, the correlation is often strongly non-linear. To understand this complex dependence, we consider the classical Brownian diffusion in this work. Under certain rational assumption, i.e. in the bi-component fluid mixture, the mass of the Brownian particle $M$ is far greater than that of the bath molecule $m$, we can adopt the weakly couple limit. Only considering the first-order approximation of the mass ratio $m/M$, we obtain a linear motion equation in the reference frame of the observer as a Brownian particle. Based on this equivalent equation, we get the Hamiltonian at equilibrium. Finally, using canonical ensemble method, we define a new entropy that is similar to the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy. Further, we present an analytic expression of the relationship between the diffusion coefficient $D$ and the entropy $S$ in the thermal equilibrium, that is to say, $D =\frac{\hbar}{eM} \exp{[S/(k_Bd)]}$, where $d$ is the dimension of the space, $k_B$ the Boltzmann constant, $\hbar $ the reduced Planck constant and $e$ the Euler number. This kind of scaling relation has been well-known and well-tested since the similar one for single component is firstly derived by Rosenfeld with the expansion of volume ratio.

Nutrient management of lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.) depends on several yield-limiting features. Machine learning models can process such yield-impacting variables to predict berry yield. We investigated the effects of local variables on yields and nutrient management of lowbush blueberry. We collected 1504 observations from N-P-K fertilizer trials conducted in Quebec, Canada. Meteorological indices at various phenological stages showed the greatest impact on yield. High mean temperature at flower bud opening and after fruit maturation, and total precipitation at flowering showed positive effects. Low mean temperature and low total precipitation before bud opening, at flowering, and by fruit maturity, as well as number of freezing days (< -5ºC) before flower bud opening, showed negative effects. Soil fertility variables, leaf nutrient compositions and N-P-K fertilization showed smaller effects. Gaussian processes predicted berry yields from historical weather data, soil analysis, fertilizer dosage, and leaf nutrients with a root-mean-square-error of 1447 kg ha-1 on the testing data set. An in-house Markov chain algorithm optimized yields modelled with Gaussian processes from leaf nutrient composition, soil test value, and fertilizer dosage conditioned to specified historical weather features. We propose to use conditioned machine learning models to manage nutrients of lowbush blueberry at local scale.

The economics and safety of reactors can be affected by the diffusion of fission products into graphite. Xenon (Xe) fission products diffusing into the graphite is the most critical neutron absorber and poison that can slow down or stop the chain reaction. The transport parameters for inhibiting the xenon diffusion in graphite are therefore the utmost scientific problem. Self-sintered nanopore-isotropic (~ 40nm) graphite (SSNG) derived from green pitch coke can decrease Xe diffusion into the graphite. In this study, a method for measurement of diffusion coefficients of fission products diffusion in graphite by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) was reported. The SSNG substrates were implanted with Xe at a dose of 4.8×1015 ions/cm2 and energy of 7 MeV. The RT-implanted samples were annealed in a vacuum at 650°C for 9 h. The implanted and annealed samples were characterized by RBS. The diffusion coefficient D(Xe,650°C) is 6.49×10-20 m2/s. The results indicate the excellent ability to inhibit Xe diffusion of the SSNG and present significance in designing and evaluating the safety of nuclear reactors.

This paper presents a two-stage ADC based on pseudo-differential operational transconductance amplifier (OTA), which is designed for the readout circuit of X-ray linear array sensor. This hybrid ADC employs an incremental sigma-delta ADC and a cyclic ADC, achieving a good trade-off between accuracy and conversion speed. The two stages share the same hardware to reduce power consumption and die area. A common-mood feedback module is used to suppress the influence of charge injection, and the effectiveness is demonstrated by detailed theoretical analysis. A test chip of 14-bit ADC is fabricated in 0.35μm CMOS technology. The measured root mean square (RMS) value of DNL is 0.254 LSB, and the maximum value of INL is -0.776/+1.56 LSB. The measured effective number of bits (ENOB) is 13.43 bits.

The effects of the climate crisis are affecting ecosystems at different scales and magnitudes. This paper focuses on a massive Mediterranean mussel die-off observed along the middle Italian Adriatic coast in the summer of 2022. We considered the possible environmental causes of this phenomenon and carried out a climatic analysis of the last decade. We performed field surveys in different locations along a 16 Km coastal stretch (from Martinsicuro (TE) on the South, to Grottammare (AP) on the North). The study area includes two marine Sites of Community Importance under the European Natura 2000 network. The mussels die-off has interested practically all the natural mussel-beds colonizing the study area. Mussels are sessile filter-feeding organisms inhabiting the intertidal zone, therefore, are highly exposed to variations in environmental conditions such as temperature and nutrient load. We discuss the possible causes of this die-off, proposing that high temperature and the scarce availability of food acted simultaneously as stress factors, generating local unsustainable living conditions for this species.

Negative temperature coefficient (NTC) materials are usually based on ceramic semiconductors and electrons are involved in their transport mechanism. A new type of NTC material, adequate for alternating current (AC) applications, is represented by zeolites. Indeed, zeolites are single-charge carrier ionic conductors with a temperature-dependent electrical conductivity. In particular, electrical transport in zeolites is due to the monovalent charge-balancing cations, like K⁺, capable of hopping between negatively charged sites in the aluminosilicate framework. Owing to the highly non-linear electrical behavior of the traditional electronic NTC materials, the possibility to have alternative types of materials, showing linearity in the electrical behavior, is very desirable. Among different zeolites, the natural clinoptilolite has been selected for investigating the NTC behavior since it is characterized by high zeolite content, convenient Si/Al atomic ratio, good mechanical strength, due to its compact microstructure, and low toxicity. Clinoptilolite has shown a rapid and quite reversible impedance change under heating, characterized by a linear dependence on temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) has been used to identify the natural zeolite, to establish all types of crystalline phases present in the mineral, and to investigate the thermal stability of these phases up to 150°C. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis has been used for the chemical characterization of the natural clinoptilolite sample, providing important information on the cationic content and framework composition. In addition, since electrical transport takes place in the zeolite free-volume, a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis of the mineral has been also performed.

The recent approval of 177Lu PSMA-617 (Pluvicto®) by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the culmination of decades of work in advancing the field of targeted radionuclide therapy for metastatic prostate cancer. 177Lu PSMA-617, along with the bone specific radiotherapeutic agent, 223RaCl2, are now commonly used in routine clinical care as a tertiary line of therapy for men with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer and for osseus metastatic disease respectively. While these radiopharmaceuticals are changing how metastatic prostate cancer is classified and treated, there is relatively little guidance to the practitioner and patient as to how best utilize these therapies, especially in conjunction with other more well-established regimens including hormonal, immunologic, and chemotherapeutic agents. This review article will go into detail about the mechanism and effectiveness of these radiopharmaceuticals and less well known classes of targeted radionuclide radiopharmaceuticals including alpha emitting prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) -, gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR) -, and somatostatin targeted radionuclide therapeutics. Additionally, a thorough discussion of the clinical approach of these agents is included and required futures studies.

Over the last two decades, a considerable amount of equipment has been acquired (spreaders, seeders, sprayers, among others) to respond to the challenges of Precision Agriculture (PA) concept. Most of this equipment has been purchased at a high cost. However, many of them, despite still being functional and equipped with sensors, actuators, and electronic processing units capable of adjusting to variations in speed, have become obsolete in terms of communication, and incompatible with new monitoring and control systems based on the “Isobus” protocol. This work aims to present a solution for updating the control system (“Ferticontrol”) of a “Vicon RS-EDW” spreader with variable rate application (VRA), making it compatible with the “InCommand” system from “Ag Leader”. The solution includes low-cost “Arduino” and “Raspberry Pi” microcontrollers and open-source software. The development shows that it is possible to implement a solution that is accessible to farmers in general. It also provides a niche business opportunity for young researchers to set up small technology-based enterprises associated with universities and research centers. These partnerships guarantee permanent innovation and represent a decisive step towards modern, technological, competitive, and sustainable agriculture.

The switch from intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring (isCGM) to real-time (rt) CGM could improve glycemic management in suboptimal controlled type 1 diabetes patients, but long-term study is lacking. We evaluated retrospectively the ambulatory glucose profile (AGP) in such patients after switching from Free Style libre 1 (FSL1) to Dexcom G4 (DG4) over 1 year. Patients (n=21, 43±15 years, BMI 25±5, HbA1c 8.1±1.0%) had severe hypoglycemia and/or HbA1c≥8%. AGP metrics (time-in-range (TIR) 70-180 mg/dL, time-below-range (TBR)<70 mg/dL or <54 mg/dL, glucose coefficient of variation (%CV), time-above-range (TAR) >180 mg/dL or >250 mg/dL, glucose management indicator (GMI), average glucose) were collected the last 3 months of FSL1 use (M0) and of DG4 for 3, 6 (M6) and 12 (M12) months of use. Values were means ± standard deviation or medians [Q1;Q3]. At M12 versus M0, the higher TIR (50±17 vs. 45±16, P=0.036), and lower TBR<70 mg/dL (2.5 [1.6;5.5] vs. 7.0 [4.5;12.5], P=0.0007), TBR<54 mg/dL (0.7 [0.4;0.8] vs. 2.3 [0.8;7.0], P=0.007) and %CV (39±5 vs. 45±8, P=0.0009), evidenced a long-term effectiveness of the switch. Compared to M6, TBR<70mg/dL decreased, %CV remained stable, while the improvement on hyperglycemia exposure decreased (higher GMI, TAR and average glucose). This switch was a relevant therapeutic option, though a loss of benefit on hyperglycemia stressed the need for optimized management of threshold alarms. Nevertheless, few patients attained the recommended values for AGP metrics, and the reasons why some patients are “responders” vs “non-responders” warrant to be investigated.

In solid cancer surgery, oxidative stress (OS) is of particular interest because both the malignancy itself and the surgical intervention are major contributors to the modulation of OS levels. This study aimed to investigate the effects of solid cancer surgery on OS levels. Because solid cancer is often accompanied by intense cell death, the study specifically focused on the pathway leading to uric acid formation, (i.e. adenosine deaminase (ADA) and xanthine oxidase (XO). Ische-mia-modified albumin (IMA), a recognized marker of oxidative stress, and plasma redox poten-tial (RP) were also measured. Thirty-six patients undergoing major solid cancer surgery (median age 68 years (58-76), 23 men and 13 women) and thirty controls (62 years (51-80)) were included. During the surgical procedure, serum ADA levels did not change significantly (10.4 International Units (IU) (6.9 – 13.7) vs. 8 IU (6 – 12); p = 0.47). In contrast, XO (IU), IMA (Arbitrary Units(AU)) and redox potential (mV) decreased significantly (22.5 IU (11 – 63) vs. 8.4 IU (5 – 27); p = 0.0041, 89 AU (69 – 105) vs. 74 AU (66 – 80); p = 0.01 and 98 mV (78 – 118) vs. 79 mV (65 – 101); p = 0.033). The correlation between XO and IMA or redox potential was positive (Spearman’s r = 0.32 ; p = 0.007, and r = 0.58; p < 0.001, respectively). XO was negatively correlated with ADA (r = -0.26; p = 0.03). Redox potential was positively correlated with IMA (r = 0.26; p = 0.04) and nega-tively correlated with ADA (r = -0.25 ;p = 0.04). We found that a major source of OS in solid cancer could be the result of an increase in xanthine oxidase activity and that the global effect of solid cancer surgery is a significant decrease in OS levels. We also found that ADA and XO were inversely correlate, suggesting the existence of a negative retrocontrol between the production of free radicals and the production of their sub-strate. Finally, our study highlights the potential value of XO inhibitors as adjuvant therapy in solid tumor surgery.

Context. During the COVID-19 pandemic, patient care was mainly organised around the hospital. Pre-hospital care has, to our knowledge, never been evaluated. Objective: To evaluate the impact of pre-hospital pathways on hospitalisation during the last part of the pandemic. Design. This was a monocentric retrospective analysis of prospectively collected medical records. Data from patients admitted to our institute between 1 February and 7 March 2022 were analysed. Main Outcome Measure(s): The primary outcomes were defined as the number of hospitalisations, resuscitations, and deaths at the time of interview and in the subsequent 30 days. The main explanatory variables were times from onset of symptoms to care, age, gender, News2 score, comorbidities, and pre-hospital pathways and their duration. Results: Three pre-hospital pathways have been identified: a pathway in which the patient consults a general practitioner for a test (PHP1); a pathway in which the patient consulted for care (PHP2); and no pre-hospital pathway and direct admission to hospital (PHP3). Factors independently associated with outcome (hospitalisation) were being male (OR 95% CI; 2.21 [1.01–4.84], p=0,04), News2 score (OR 95% CI; 2.04 [1.65–2.51], p<0.001), obesity (OR 95% CI; 3.45 [1.48–8.09], p=0.005), D-dimers > 0.5 µg/ml (OR 95% CI; 3.45 [1.47–8.12], p=0.005), prolonged time from symptoms to hospital care (PHP duration) (OR 95% CI; 1.07 [1.01–1.14], p=0.03). All things being equal, patients with a “PHP2” pre-hospital pathway had a higher probability of hospitalisation compared to those with a “PHP3” pre-hospital pathway (OR 95% CI; 4.31 [1.48–12.55], p=0.007). Conclusions. Along with recognised risk factors such as gender, News 2 score, and obesity, the patient’s pre-hospital pathway is an important risk factor associated with hospitalisation.

Background: Sensor usage in the classical scientific process has allowed new experimentation in medicine. We report on the design process of a MEMS sensor being used for muscle trauma evaluation in diagnosing acute compartment syndrome (ACS), a medical ailment costing society billions of dollars per year. Objectives: Modeling the disease with scientific process allows a more complete under-standing of the disease. The goal was to formulate a hypothesis that could be tested to aid in making the diagnosis of ACS accurately. Methods: Scientific process was observed throughout the disease modelling process. Background information was improved and clarified, new pre-clinical models were de-signed and verified, a hypothesis built on pressure measurement with MEMS sensors was carried out, and the testing of the model as verified against previous clinical data was accomplished. Results: Scientific process resulted in hypothesis generation around the relationship of intracompartmental pressure measurement and the disease process and therapy. This resulted in new understanding of ACS, accurate modelling, and sensor design resulting in a MEMS device that has an extremely high sensitivity and specificity (over 99%) in treating and diagnosing the disease. Conclusion: MEMS sensor technology defines the new gold standard of implanting a sensor in a muscle compartment that allows accurate diagnosis of ACS with continuous trends in pressure.

The capacitor-mismatch among diverse defects caused by the manufacturing process variations significantly affects the linearity of capacitor-array used to implement the capacitive digital-to-analog converter (CDAC) in the successive-approximation-register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Accordingly, the linearity of the SAR ADC is limited by that of capacitor-array, resulting in serious yield loss. This paper proposes an efficient foreground self-calibration technique to enhance the linearity of the SAR ADCs by mitigating the capacitor-mismatch based on the split ADC architecture along with variable capacitors. In this work, two ADC channels (i.e., ADC1 and ADC2) for the split ADC architecture include their capacitive DACs (CDACs) whose binary-weighted capacitor-arrays consist of variable capacitors. A charge-sharing SAR ADC is used for each ADC channel. In the normal operation mode, their digital outputs are averaged to be the final ADC output, as in a conventional split ADC. In the calibration mode, every single binary-weighted capacitor for the two ADCs is sequentially calibrated by making parallel or/and antiparallel connection among two or thee capacitors from the two channels. For instance, because the capacitors of the CDACs ideally exhibit the binary-weighted relation as Cn=2×Cn−1, variable capacitor Cn of ADC1 can be updated to be closest to the sum of Cn−1 of ADC1 and Cn−1 of ADC2 for the calibration. For the process, the two capacitor-arrays of the two ADCs can be reconfigured to be connected to each other, so that Cn of ADC1 can be connected with two of Cn−1 of ADC1 and ADC2 in antiparallel. The two voltages at the top and the bottom plates of the CDAC are compared by a comparator of ADC1, and the comparison results are used to update Cn. This process is iterated, until Cn is in agreement with the sum of two of Cn−1. Finally, all the capacitors can be calibrated in this way to have the binary-weighted relation. The simulation results based on the proposed work with a split SAR ADC model verified that the proposed technique can be practically used, by showing that the total-harmonic-distortion and the signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio were enhanced by 21.8-dB and 6.4-dB, respectively.

Despite the continued growth of the sport, particularly among recreational athletes, very little is known about how triathletes prepare for an event. The aim of this study was to identify the training characteristics of recreational-level triathletes and assess how their preparation for a triathlon influences their health and fatigue. During the 6 weeks prior to an Olympic distance triathlon, and the 2 weeks after the event, ten (5 males, 5 females) recreational athletes completed a daily training log to provide information on every training session. In addition, participants answered the Daily Analysis of Life Demands Questionnaire (DALDA), the Training Distress Scale (TDS), and the Alberta Swim Health Questionnaire weekly. Training loads were calculated using session-based rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) and training impulse (TRIMP). Every week of training was compared to week 1 to determine how athletes’ training and health changed throughout the study. In the 6 weeks leading up to the event, training loads, total minutes trained, and time spent in each training zone did not differ significantly. Significant reductions in training duration (Z=2.39, p=0.017, ES = 0.90), training strain (Z=2.59, p=0.009, 0.98), and number of sessions (Z=2.49, p=0.012, ES = 0.94) were seen on week 6. Training intensity distribution favored a threshold approach with athletes spending 56% of their training time at zone 1, 40% at zone 2, and 4% at zone 3. No significant changes were seen in the DALDA or TDS questionnaires. The results show that while the training intensity distribution of recreational-level triathletes does not follow a polarized model, these athletes were able to maintain their health while preparing for an Olympic distance triathlon.

Little is known about how recreational triathletes prepare for an Olympic distance event. The aim of this study was to identify the training characteristics of recreational-level triathletes within the competition period and assess how their preparation for a triathlon influences their health and their levels of fatigue. During the 6 weeks prior to an Olympic distance triathlon, and the 2 weeks after, 9 recreational athletes (5 males, 4 females) completed a daily training log. Participants answered the Daily Analysis of Life Demands Questionnaire (DALDA), the Training Distress Scale (TDS), and the Alberta Swim Fatigue and Health Questionnaire weekly. The Recovery-Stress Questionnaire (REST-Q) was completed at the beginning of the study, on the day before the competition, and at the end of week 8. Training loads were calculated using session-based rating of perceived exertion (sRPE). The data from every week of training was compared to week 1 to determine how athletes’ training and health changed throughout the study. No changes in training loads, duration, or training intensity distribution were seen in the weeks leading up to the competition. Training duration was significantly reduced in week 6 (p=0.041, d = 1.58, 95% CI = 6.9, 421.9), while the number of sessions was reduced in week 6 (Z=2.32, p=0.02, ES = 0.88) and week 7 (Z = 2.31, p=0.02, ES = 0.87). Training was characterized by large weekly variations in training loads and a high training intensity. No significant changes were seen in the DALDA, TDS, or REST-Q questionnaire scores throughout the 8 weeks. Despite large spikes in training load and a high overall training intensity, these recreational-level triathletes were able to maintain their health in the 6 weeks of training prior an Olympic distance triathlon.

Background Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) combined with azithromycin (AZM) has been widely administered to patients with COVID-19 despite scientific controversies. In particular the potential to prolong cardiac repolarisation by using this combination has been discussed. Materials and methods We report a pragmatic and simple safety approach which we implemented in the first patients treated for COVID-19 in our center early 2020. Treatment contraindications were the presence of severe structural or electrical heart disease, baseline corrected QT interval (QTc) >500 ms, hypokalaemia, or other drugs prolonging QTc that could not be interrupted. Electrocardiogram and QTc was evaluated at admission and re-evaluated after 48 hours of the initial prescription. Results Among 424 consecutive adults (mean age 46.3 ± 16.1 years; 216 women). Patients were followed in conventional wards (21.5%) or in a day-care unit (78.5%). A total of 11 patients (2.6%) had contraindications to HCQ-AZ combination. In the remaining 413 treated patients, there were no arrhythmic events in any patient during the 10-day treatment regimen. QTc was slightly but statistically significantly prolonged by 3.75 ± 25.4 ms after two days (p=0.003). Ten patients (2.4%) developed QTc prolongation >60 ms, and none had QTc >500 ms. Conclusions This report do not aim to contribute to knowledge of the efficacy of treating COVID-19 with HCQ-AZ. However, a simple initial assessment of patient medical history, ECG and kalaemia identifies contraindicated patients and enables the safe treatment by HCQ-AZ of COVID-19 patients. QT-prolonging anti-infective drugs can be used safely in acute life-threatening infections, provided that a strict protocol and close collaboration between infectious disease specialists and rhythmologists are followed.

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), each sensor node can estimate the global parameter from the local data in distributed manner. This paper proposed a robust diffusion estimation algorithm based on minimum error entropy criterion with self-adjusting step-size, which are referred to as diffusion MEE-SAS (DMEE-SAS) algorithm. The DMEE-SAS algorithm has fast speed of convergence and is robust against non-Gaussian noise in the measurements. The detailed performance analysis of the DMEE-SAS algorithm is performed. By combining the DMEE-SAS with diffusion minimum error entropy (DMEE) algorithms, an Improving DMEE-SAS algorithm is proposed, in non-stationary environment where tracking is very important. The Improving DMEE-SAS algorithm can avoid insensitivity of the DMEE-SAS algorithm due to the small effective step-size near the optimal estimator, and obtain a fast convergence speed. Numerical simulations are given to verify the effectiveness and advantages of these proposed algorithms.

Early in the middle of the 1800s. Up until about 1900, the automotive land speed record 1 was held by an electrical vehicle. Unfortunately, internal combustion engine vehicles did not do 2 well in the market due to their high cost, limited speed, and short range in the 20th century, which 3 resulted in a global fall in their use as private motor vehicles. Since there are no fuel emissions into 4 the environment, there are important uses for electrical vehicles, Electric cars, or EVs, have a closed 5 circuit, cheap operating costs, no maintenance requirements, and excellent performance. The goal 6 of this project is to assess the current state of electric vehicles and the issues surrounding the global 7 advancement of electric vehicle technology. Because of the changing climate.8

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

Aim: Child-to-parent offenders (CPOs) are commonly specialist offenders and with high rates of recidivism. Thus, a field study was designed to estimate the prevalence in the reference measures of recidivism i.e., dangerousness, risk factors and psychopathy, and compare CPOs with non-child-to-parent juvenile offenders. Method: 136 juvenile offenders (76.5% boys), 76 CPOs and 60 non-CPOs juvenile offenders, aged from 14 to 18 years old, were measured in dangerousness, risk of factors and psychopathic traits. Results: The results showed in CPOs a more than common prevalence (&gt; .50), 75.0%, 95% CI [.653, .847], of dangerousness (caseness); a significant prevalence (&gt; .05) of diagnostic of psychopathy, 25.0%, 95% CI [.150, .350]; and a common prevalence (= .50), 55.3%, 95% CI [.441, .665] of classification as high and very high risk by risk factors. Comparatively, no significant differences were observed between CPOs and non-CPOS juvenile offenders in mental health problems (dangerousness), meanwhile that CPOs exhibited significant more interpersonal and affective psychopathic traits and significant more risk in family circumstances, and personality and behaviour risk factors. Conclusions: The implications for prevention and intervention programs with CPOs are discussed

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

A field experiment was conducted for determination of crop coefficient (KC) and water stress coefficient (Ks) for wheat crop under different salinity levels, during 2015-16. Complete randomized block design of five treatments were considered, i.e., 0.51 dS/m (fresh water) as a control treatment and other four saline water treatments (4, 6, 8 and 10 dS/m), for S1, S2, S3 and S4 with three replications. The results revealed that the water consumed by plants during the different crop growth stages follows the order of FW>S1>S2>S3>S4 salinity levels. According to the obtained results, the calculated values of crop coefficients significantly differed from those suggested by FAO No.56 for the crops. The Ks values clearly differ from one stage to another because the salt stress causes both osmotic stress, due to a decrease in the soil water potential, and ionic stress which the average values of water stress coefficient (Ks) follows this order; FW(1.0)=S1(1.0)>S2(1.0)>S3(0.93)>S4(0.82). Overall, it was found the differences are attributed primarily to specific cultivar, the changes in local climatic conditions and seasonal differences in crop growth patterns. Thus, further studies are essential to determine the crop coefficient values under different variables, to make the best management practice (BMP) in agriculture.

Parental phubbing behavior is a significant factor in predicting adolescent smartphone dependence, but prior research has predominantly focused on a unidirectional perspective from the child's viewpoint, overlooking potential perceptual differences between parents and their children regarding parental phubbing. Therefore, are there differences in the perceptions of parental phubbing between parents and their children? Based on the "Discrepancy-Maladaptive" hypothesis, the presence of perceptual discrepancies in family factors can lead to adverse developmental outcomes in children. Does the parent-child perceptual discrepancy in parental phubbing influence adolescent smartphone dependence? And what role does parent-child relationship play in this context? This study selected 728 families from a middle school in Wuhan, and surveys were administered to both children and parents. The findings reveal: (1) There exist significant parent-child perceptual discrepancies in parental phubbing. (2) Parent-child perceptual discrepancies in parental phubbing significantly positively predict adolescent smartphone dependence and negatively predict parent-child relationships, while parent-child relationships significantly negatively predict adolescent smartphone dependence. (3) The parent-child relationship plays a mediating role between parent-child perceptual differences in parental phubbing behavior and adolescent smartphone dependence.

Panax ginseng C.A.Mey. is an adaptogenic plant traditionally used to enhance mental and physical capacities in cases of weakness, exhaustion, tiredness, loss of concentration, and during recovery. According to ancient records, Red Ginseng root preparations enhance longevity with long-term intake. Recent pharmacokinetic studies of ginsenosides in humans and our in vitro study in neuronal cells suggest that ginsenosides are effective when their level in blood is shallow - at concentrations from 10-6 to 10-18 M. In the present study, we compared the effects of Red Ginseng root preparation HRG80TM(HRG) at concentrations from 0.01 to 10,000 ng/ml with effects of White Ginseng (WG) and purified ginsenosides Rb1, Rg3, Rg5 and Rk1 on gene expression of isolated hippocampal neurons. The aim of this study was to predict the effects of differently expressed genes on cellular and physiological functions in organismal disorders and diseases. Gene expression profiling was performed by transcriptome-wide mRNA microarray analyses in murine HT22 cells after treatment with ginseng preparations. Ingenuity pathway downstream/upstream analysis (IPA) was performed with datasets of significantly up-or downregulated genes, and expected effects on cellular function and disease were identified by IPA software. Ginsenosides Rb1, Rg3, Rg5, and Rk1 have substantially various effects on gene expression profiles (signatures) and are different from signatures of HRG and WG. Furthermore, the signature of HRG is changed significantly with dilution from 10000 to 0.01 ng/ml. Network pharmacological analyses of gene expression profiles showed that HRG exhibits predictable positive effects in neuroinflammation, senescence, apoptosis, and immune response, suggesting beneficial soft-acting effects in cancer, gastrointestinal, and endocrine systems diseases and disorders in a wide range of low concentrations in blood.

Enteroviruses (EVs) are viruses of the family Picornaviridae that cause mild to severe infections in humans and in several animal species, including nonhuman primates (NHPs). We conducted a survey and characterization of enteroviruses circulating between humans and great apes in the Congo. Fecal samples (N=24) of gorillas and chimpanzees living close to or distant from humans in three Congolese parks were collected, as well as from healthy humans (N=38) living around and within these parks. Enterovirus were detected in 29.4% gorilla and 13.15% human feces, including wild and human-habituated gorillas, local humans and eco-guards. Two identical strains were isolated from two humans come from two remote regions. Their genomes were similar and all genes showed their close similarity to Coxsackieviruses except for 3C, 3D and 5’UTR region where they were most similar to poliovirus 1 and 2, suggesting recombination. Recombination events were found between these strains, poliovirus 1 and 2 and EV-C99. The same EV- C species detected in both humans and apes in different regions suggest a clonal distribution of the virus in Congo.

Additive manufacturing processes offer various options to fabricate metal parts, which show numerous ecological and technological advantages compared to formative and subtractive manufacturing methods. Due to quick availability and high accuracy, they are particularly suitable to produce complex prototypes. Metal fused deposition modeling is a relatively new material extrusion additive manufacturing technique based on the widely used fused filament deposition process. This study focuses on the Inconel 625 metal filament from Markforged Inc., it consists of a mixture of metal powder and a binder system, the latter being removed during washing and sintering. In this article, the mechanical properties of printed and sintered Inconel were investigated using tensile testing specimens with three different infill patterns, solid, triangular, and gyroid, printed in flatwise and upright direction. In addition, investigations into the dimensional accuracy of the printed specimens and the sintering shrinkage were carried out. The results showed that neither the dimensional accuracy nor the sintering shrinkage was significantly influenced by the printing orientation. In the context of lightweight engineering, the structures proofed beneficial especially within the elastic region. Generally, triangular infill patterns resulted in higher stiffness, while gyroids led to more ductile specimens. A mass-related evaluation of tensile testing elucidates that with aid of the infill structures weight savings of 40 % resulted in mechanical performance decreased by only 20 % on average.

Hyperspectral imaging, a rapidly evolving technique, furnishes exhaustive information on Earth's surface reflectance over an extensive spectrum of wavelengths. We have developed a more precise method for analyzing spectral data by meticulously selecting plant leaf pixels and employing a relative reference approach. This enhanced technique correlates camera pixel values with light intensity, bypassing the need for complex equations and thereby providing clearer insights into vegetation vitality. The findings of this study not only enhance the precision of hyperspectral imaging but also bolster our capability for ecological monitoring and understanding environmental health. A novel algorithm based on the red-edge slope was established to classify images, exploiting the spectral reflectance data gleaned from the hyperspectral Liquid Crystal Tunable Filter (LCTF) camera. Compared with conventional SVM and K-means algorithms, our novel algorithm demonstrated commendable performance, achieving an overall accuracy of 90% with a Kappa Coefficient of 0.86. This comparison highlights the novel algorithm's relative strength and potential for large-scale satellite and drone imagery analysis applications. The advancements facilitated by this research are instrumental in ecological assessments, conservation efforts, and resource management strategies, signaling a leap forward in the era of environmental monitoring and analysis.

Numerous in vitro studies on isolated cells have been conducted to uncover the molecular mechanisms of action of Panax ginseng Meyer root extracts and purified ginsenosides. However, the concentrations of ginsenosides and the extracts used in these studies were much higher than detected in pharmacokinetic studies in humans and animals orally administered with ginseng preparations at therapeutic doses. Our study aimed to assess: (a) the effects of ginsenoside Rg5, the major "rare" ginsenoside of Red Ginseng, on gene expression in the murine neuronal cell line HT22 in a wide range of concentrations, from 10-4 to 10-18 M, and (b) the effects of differentially expressed genes on cellular and physiological functions in organismal disorders and diseases. Gene expression profiling was performed by transcriptome-wide mRNA microarray analyses in HT22 cells after treatment with ginsenoside Rg5. Ginsenoside Rg5 exhibits soft-acting effects on gene expression of neuronal cells in a wide range of physiological concentrations and strong reversal impact at high (toxic) concentration: significant up- or downregulation of expression of about 300 genes at concentrations from 10-6 M to 10-18 M, and dramatically increased both the number of differentially expressed target genes (up to 1670) and the extent of their expression (fold changes compared to unexposed cells) at a toxic concentration of 10-4 M. Network pharmacology analyses of genes expression profiles using Ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) software showed that at low physiological concentrations, ginsenoside Rg5 has the potential to activate the biosynthesis of cholesterol and to exhibit predictable effects in senescence, neuroinflammation, apoptosis, and immune response, suggesting soft-acting, beneficial effects on organismal death, movement disorders, and cancer.

Initiatives to safeguard athletes from interpersonal violence (IV) are rapidly growing. In Belgium, the knowledge on the magnitude of IV in sport is based on one retrospective prevalence study from 2016 (n=2.043 adults), who participated in organized sport before 18 years. Data on victimization rates in current youth sport populations are lacking. This study aimed to investigate the magnitude of IV in a sample of 769 athletes (13-21 years old), using the Violence Towards Athletes Questionnaire (VTAQ). All types of IV are prevalent in this sample, ranging from 27% (sexual violence) to 79% (psychological violence and neglect). Boys reported significantly more physical violence, while girls reported significantly more sexual violence. IV perpetrated by peer athletes was reported to the same degree as IV perpetrated by a coach (70%), while IV perpetrated by a parent in the context of sport was somewhat less common, but still prevalent (48%). These findings, including factors associated with elevated exposure rates, can serve as a baseline measurement to monitor and evaluate current and future safeguarding interventions in Belgian sport.

The fractional advection-dispersion equation FADE plays an important role, especially in explaining the process of solute-transport in natural porous media with different degrees of heterogeneity. However, studies of the flow and transport of contaminants in the underground environment are based on the knowledge of many functional parameters of the subsoil. The delay factor caused by nonlinear absorption is one of these parameters inheriting significant ambiguities in its estimation in heterogeneous media. In the study, a fractional advection-dispersion FADE model was developed by the implicit Euler method, based on a Grunwald and Caputo-Liousville approximation to explicitly evaluate and simulate the transport mechanism of contaminants in media with unsaturated porous materials subjected to a nonlinear sorption model. Better solute mass retention was observed for fractional advection-dispersion FADE model. Moreover, the absorption parameter of the retardation coefficient has a better impact on the motion of the solute in a saturated porous medium. In other words, it has a significant effect on the dispersion of pollutants in aquifers. This study highlights the need to characterize the aquifer to predict solute transport in porous media.

Background. A previous study demonstrated the performance of the Salivette® (SARSTEDT, Numbrecht, Germany) as a homogeneous saliva collection system to diagnose COVID-19 by RT-qPCR, notably for symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. However, for convalescent patients, the corroboration of molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 in paired nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) and saliva samples was unsatisfactory. Objectives. The aim of the present work was to assess the concordance level of SARS-CoV-2 detection between paired sampling of NPSs and saliva collected with Salivette® at two time points, with ten days of interval. Results. A total of 319 paired samples from 145 outpatients (OP) and 51 healthcare workers (HW) were collected. Due to significant waiting rate at hospital, most of the patients ate and/or drank in waiting their turn. Consequently, a mouth washing was systematically proposed prior saliva collection. None of the HW were diagnosed SARS-CoV-2 positive using NPS or saliva specimens at both time points (n=95) by RT-qPCR. The virus was detected in 56.3% (n=126/224) of the NPS samples from OP, but solely 26.8% (n=60/224) of the paired saliva specimens. The detection of the internal cellular control, the human RNase P, in more than 98% of the saliva samples, underlined that the low sensitivity of saliva specimens (45.2%) for SARS-CoV-2 detection was not attributed to an improper saliva sample storing or RNA extraction. Conclusions. Then, the mouth washing decreased viral load of buccal cavity conducting to impairment of SARS-CoV-2 detection. Viral loads in saliva neo-produced appeared insufficient for molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2. At the time that saliva tests could be a rapid, simple and noninvasive strategy to assess on large scale schooled children in France, the determination of the performance of saliva collection become imperative to standardize procedures.

Clustering coefficient measures are key complex network analysis tools. We examine local and global clustering coefficient measures with respect to the lexicographic graph product. As a preliminary condition, we analyze the $K_3$ subgraph structure focused on vertex inclusion with respect to the product graph. From this structure, we determine both the clustering coefficient for the product graph vertices and the average clustering coefficient for the product graph.

Background and Objectives: Non-cognitive skills (NCS) are vital components of a socially and financially successful life. They are developed through childhood education, family and school environments, and social settings. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between NCS and the parent–child relationship, mental health, and lifestyle at school and at home for adolescents. Materials and Methods: An internet-based survey was conducted with 1,566 mothers and their children (aged 14) in Japan. Survey items for the children included background (i.e., sociodemographic items, school achievements, and lifestyle), NCS (i.e., grit and self-control scales), and mental health, while their mothers provided social, financial, and educational information, and information on parent–child relationships, including descriptions of the fathers and the father–child relationship. Results: Parent–child relationships were mostly good (i.e., 90.9% for mothers and 75.6% for fathers), with bad relationships being less common (1.6% for mothers and 6.7% for fathers). Adolescent lifestyle parameters and mental health were significantly associated with grit and self-control. Adolescents with good parent–child relationships had significantly higher NCS scores regardless of the gender of the parent. Higher NCS scores were significantly associated with better parent–child relationships, more favorable lifestyles, and better mental health among adolescents. Conclusions: These findings imply that good parent–child relationships may aid in the development of adolescents’ NCS, thereby facilitating positive lifestyles at school and home.

In this paper, the feasibility and potential assessment (PA) of wind power in six different areas MehalMeda, Eneware, DebreBerhan, AlemKetema, GundoMekel, and Majet are investigated. The data is collected from the National Metrological Agency (NMA) in Addis Ababa and from the districts of the case study areas and analyzed using MATLAB and HOMER software. Using the data collected at 10 meter height, wind direction using a wind rose, the wind frequency distribution, and wind turbine characteristics have been analyzed. Moreover, to obtain a more realistic wind potential study, the wind speed at a 10 meter height is extrapolated to a height of 50 meter in order to determine wind speed, wind power density, and wind energy density. The average wind speed of the zone at 10m and 50m heights are 1.58 m/s and 1.99 m/s, 3.06 m/s and 3.85 m/s, 4.75 m/s and 5.98 m/s, 2.29 m/s and 2.88 m/s, 1.01 m/s and 1.27 m/s and 4.07 and 5.12m/s at Alemketema, Debreberhan, Eneware, Gundemeskel, Majete and Mehalmeda respectively. The extrapolated result shows that the maximum wind speed and power densities at a height of 50 meter for Eneware, MehalMeda and Debre Berhan are 10.4 m/s, 689 W/m2, 8.9m/s, 429 W/m2 and 6.3m/s, 152.2 W/m2 respectively. The energy densities at a height of 50 meter for AlemKetema, DebreBerhan, Eneware, GundoMekel, Majete, and MehalMeda are 181.06 kWh/m2*yr , 1332.83 kWh/ m2*yr, 6078.91 kWh/ m2*yr, 857.76 kWh/ m2*yr, 58.78 kWh/ m2*yr, and 3939.42 kWh/ m2*yr respectively. As per the international standard for wind power and wind speed classification, considering the extrapolated height, Eneware, MehalMeda, and DebreBerhan have feasible wind potential for both small-scale and large-scale wind farm implementation, whereas Majete, AlemKetema, and GundoMeskel of the North Shewa Zone in the Amhara region have poor wind potential.

In present study, the effect of Inonotus Obliquus extracts used in traditional medicine was investigated on the expression of matrix metalloproteinases-1 (MMP-1) in the normal human dermal fibroblasts. As shown our results, extracts of Inonotus Obliquus decreased MMP1 expression in oxidative stress-exposed normal human dermal fibroblasts. Additionally, Inonotus Obliquus extracts decreased AP-1 transcriptional activity and phospho-JNK in oxidative stress exposed normal human dermal fibroblasts. The results suggest that Inonotus Obliquus extracts decreased MMP1 expression using decreasing AP-1 transcriptional activity and phospho-JNK. Therefore, Inonotus Obliquus extracts has potential to reduce formation of wrinkle and to use as a cosmetic ingredient.

Medical research has suggested that the anterior-posterior (AP)-diameter of the inferior vena cava (IVC) and its associated temporal variation as imaged by bedside ultrasound is useful in guiding fluid resuscitation of the critically-ill patients. This paper develops semi-automatic active ellipse and rectangle algorithms for measurement and tracking of the AP-diameter. The proposed algorithms are compared with an expert manual measurement and the previous work based on active circle model. It is shown that regardless of the shape of the IVC, the rectangle model always outperforms the two other models and performs very close to manual measurement.

Button batteries pose a significant threat to young children and are found in many household items and children’s toys. Along with product manufacturers and retailers, parents and caregivers have a role in button battery ingestion prevention through vigilance regarding items containing button batteries in the home, and knowledge of button battery ingestion symptoms. There is limited information available about parent and caregiver perspectives towards button battery safety. Identifying the areas where increased education is required is important for informing safety campaigns and delivering targeted education. This study aimed to examine parent and caregiver elemental perspectives on button battery safety. One hundred and seventy-four parents and caregivers of children aged 0 to 5 completed a cross-sectional online survey. Distribution occurred via social media. The survey contained multiple-choice questions pertaining to button battery perspectives, and one open-ended question. Respondents recognized the dangers of button battery ingestion, yet only 37% reported being familiar with button battery ingestion symptoms. While 68% knew of household items containing button batteries, only 21% were aware of product recall information sources. Approximately 64% understood immediate post-ingestion steps and 17% found current safety labels unsatisfactory. In an open-ended question, parents and caregivers provided comments about button battery safety that revealed five broad themes; supervision and education; safe storage of button batteries in the home; ensuring children cannot access button batteries; disposing of button batteries safely; and avoiding purchasing items containing button batteries. This study provides a foundation for ongoing investigation of parent and caregiver perspectives on button battery home safety.

In the early 2000s, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) emerged as a performant and relevant tool for identifying micro-organisms. Since then, it has become practically essential for identifying bacteria in microbiological diagnostic laboratories. In the last decade, it was successfully applied for arthropod identification allowing to distinguish vectors from non-vectors of infectious diseases. However, identification failures are not rare, hampering it widely use. Failure is generally attributed either to the absence of respective counter species MS spectra in the database, or to the insufficient quality of query MS spectra (i.e. lower intensity and diversity of MS peaks detected). To avoid matching errors due to non-compliant spectra, the development of a strategy for detecting and excluding outlier MS profiles became compulsory. To this end, we created MSProfileR, an R package leading to a bioinformatics tool through a simple installation, integrating the control quality system of MS spectra and an analysis pipeline including peak detection and MS spectra comparisons. MSProfileR can also add metadata concerning the sample that the spectra are derived from. MSProfileR has been developed in the R environment and offers a user-friendly web interface using the R Shiny framework. It is available on Microsoft Windows as a web browser application by simply navigation using the link of the package on the Github. MSProfileR is therefore accessible to non-computer specialists and is freely available to the scientific community. We evaluated MSProfileR using two datasets including exclusively MS spectra from arthropods. In addition to coherent sample classification, outlier MS spectra were detected in each dataset confirming the value of MSProfileR.

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

A two-year experiment was conducted with a local maize hybrid under full irrigation (F), deficit irrigation (D) and rainfed conditions (R) to estimate maize evapotranspiration in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Three approaches (Allen & Pereira (A&P), SIMDualKc (SD), and Vegetation Index (VI)) were used to estimate the actual crop coefficient (Kc act), actual basal crop coefficient (Kcb act), and actual crop evapotranspiration (ETc act) were applied with the dual crop coefficient method and remote sensing (RS) data. While Kcb act from all approaches matched FAO56 tabulated values, SD showed differences, in comparison to A&P, of up to 0.24 in D and R conditions, especially in initial and mid-season stages. VI demonstrated very good performance in all treatments. In F, the obtained Kc act for all approaches during the initial and end stages were higher than the tabulated values, ranging from 0.71-0.87 for Kc ini act and from 0.80-1.06 for Kc end act, while the mid-season period showed very good agreement with the literature. Maize crop evapotranspiration range is 769-813 mm, 480-752 mm, and 332-618 mm for F, D and R, respectively. The results confirmed the suitability of both approaches (SD and VI) to estimate maize crop evapotranspiration under F, with the VI approach demonstrating an advantage in calculating Kcb act, Kc act, and ETc act values under water stress conditions. The 67.6% increase in grain yields with irrigation emphasizes the need to transition from rainfed to irrigation-dependent agriculture, even for drought-resistant crops like maize.

Directed energy deposition (DED) parameters were determined for near-β alloy Ti-55511 by employing statistical design of experiments (DOE) methods. Parameters resulting in fully dense freeform deposits were identified using two sequential DOEs. Single laser tracks were printed with several laser power, traverse rate, and powder feed rate settings in an initial DOE to identify promising build parameters. Capture efficiency and effective deposition rate were used to characterize and rank the single track deposits. The best parameters were then used to print solid cube with various X-Y and Z-overlaps (different hatch spacing, HS, and layer thickness, ZS) in a second DOE. Suitable deposition parameters were selected based on cube density and microstructure and were used to fabricate larger tensile samples for mechanical testing. Multiple parameter sets were found to provide dense Ti-55511 deposits with acceptable mechanical properties and parametric models showed statistical significance.

Obesity and hyperglycemia can trigger various diseases, including diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular ailments. Health-promoting fermented milk products can be useful in tackling these issues. One such product is the fermented milk developed using Lactobacillus casei AP, a probiotic strain from Indonesia that has not been tested in humans thus far. Our objective was to examine the effects of L. casei AP-fermented milk products on lipid profiles, blood glucose levels and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) levels in obese adults. A total of 29 obese subjects were given L. casei AP-fermented milk products, and their fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglyceride levels were measured using diagnostic system kits. MCP-1 levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. It was determined that the administration of L. casei AP-fermented milk products significantly reduced total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride levels (p < 0.05); however, it did not increase HDL (p > 0.05), MCP-1 or fasting blood glucose levels (p ≥ 0.05). In conclusion, in obese Indonesian adults, L. casei AP-fermented milk might reduce total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride levels but may not affect HDL, MCP-1 or fasting blood glucose levels.

This algorithm is designed to perform Discrete Fourier Transforms (DFT) to convert temporal data into spectral data. This algorithm obtains the Fourier Transforms by studying the Coefficient of Determination of a series of artificial sinusoidal functions with the temporal data, and normalizing the variance data into a high-resolution spectral representation of the time-domain data with a finite sampling rate. What is especially beneficial about this DFT algorithm is that it can produce spectral data at any user-defined resolution.

Air pollution poses a significant risk to public health and ecosystems. The use of sophisticated models to simulate the transformation and dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere is a recognized method to assess air pollution levels and its sources and inform policy decisions for effective mitigation strategies in urban and industrial environments. The reliability of models depends, in part, on the sensitivity to the variance of input parameters, which can introduce uncertainty into the model's predictions. This uncertainty is especially challenging when the input parameters exhibit inherent variability. In this study, we analyse the uncertainty of an integrated emission/dispersion model by evaluating the relationship between input parameters and model outcomes. We uncover new aspects of this relationship while clarifying some previously known dependencies. Wind speed was found to have the most significant effect on calculated concentrations, with small differences leading to substantial concentration variations. The time of day, which reflects prevailing vertical turbulence conditions, was also found to have a notable impact on concentrations, whereas ambient temperature can also significantly influence model’s results. Based on these findings, we offer specific recommendations for regulators and scientists involved in environmental impact assessment to improve the accuracy and reliability of air pollution modelling.

Bowlby’s (1969/1982) attachment theory has been employed as a broad and integrative framework to explore human wellness across a range of disciplines. Attachment theory has even been labelled one of the last surviving “grand theories” not to have been completely dismissed, replaced, or extensively reworked (e.g., Carr, 2012; Mercer, 2011). However, despite the ubiquitous nature of some of the theory’s fundamental tenets, there are always possibilities for new conceptual development, extension, and revision. In this paper, we critically explore the idea of “context-specific” attachment within parent-child relationships. We briefly outline critical assumptions and key areas of attachment and articulate potential rationale, conceptualisation, and relevance of contextual attachment.

Background: The commonly known assumption that combinations of several herbs in one formulation can have better efficacy due to additive or synergistic effects has not been systematically studied despite some evidence supporting the synergy concept. Study aim: The study aimed to reveal the molecular interactions in situ of host cells in response to the intervention of BHP and justify the benefits of implementing BHP in clinical practice. Results: This overview provides the results of recent clinical and network pharmacology studies of botanical herbal preparations (BHP) of Rhodiola with other plants, including Ashwagandha, Green Tea, Eleutherococcus, Schisandra, Eleutherococcus, Leuzea, Caffeine, Cordyceps, Gingko, Black Cohosh, saffron, and L-carnosine. Conclusions: The most important finding from network pharmacology studies of BHP was the evidence supporting the synergistic interaction of BHP ingredients, revealing unexpected new pharmacological activities unique and specific to the new BHP. Some studies show the superior efficacy of BHP compared with mono-drugs. At the same time, some a priori-designed combinations can fail, presumably due to antagonistic interactions and crosstalk between molecular targets within molecular networks involved in the cellular and overall response of organisms on the intervention. Network pharmacology studies help predict the results of studies to discover new indications and unpredicted adverse events.

The 2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP) is the most important volatile in determining the aroma of fragrant rice, however, the transcriptional regulation mechanism of 2-AP biosynthesis in fragrant rice is still unclear. In this study, the Osp5cs1 knockout mutant lines and OsP5CS1 over-expression lines were constructed by genetic transformation of indica rice cultivar i.e., ‘Zhonghua11’, which was knocked out OsBADH2 to produce fragrance in aromatic rice. The OsP5CS1 gene was also identified as a key gene in the 2-AP biosynthesis pathway of aromatic rice. The OsP5CS1 promoter was used as bait, and the transcription factor OsbZIP60-like was screened by yeast one-hybrid assays. The transcription factor OsbZIP60-like specifically bound to the OsP5CS1 gene. The dual luciferase reporting system found that OsbZIP60-like transcription factor promoted the transcriptional activation of OsP5CS1. Compared with the wild type, the OsP5CS1 gene expression was significantly down-regulated in Osbzip60-like mutant, and resulted in substantial reduction in 2-AP biosynthesis. Moreover, the OsP5CS1 gene expression was significantly up-regulated in OsbZIP60-like over-expressed plants, and the 2-AP concentrations were also increased whereas the Osbzip60-like mutants were found to be sensitive to Zn deficiency. Overall, the OsbZIP60-like transcription factor promoted the 2-AP accumulation. This study provides a theoretical basis for the transcriptional regulation mechanism of 2-AP biosynthesis and explores the function of OsbZIP transcription factor in fragrant rice.

The influence of small-scale processes at the ocean-atmosphere boundary layer such as spray and foam on the surface waves prediction is studied. Estimates of the effect of including the exact number of specific fragmentation "parachute" type in the spray on the resulting drag coefficient is shown. For the estimates, the numerical simulations within WAVEWATCH III wave model are performed. The parameterizations of wind input were tested within WAVEWATCH III wave model: default ST4 and ST6 parameterizations and the ST1 and ST6 parameterizations used together with the implemented drag coefficient parameterization. The proposed parameterization takes into account the presence of foam and spay. The obtained results are compared with the NDBC buoys data. The importance of small-scale processes for waves at hurricane winds prediction and the prospects for their inclusion in modern numerical wave models is shown.

In the sphere of urban renewal in historic districts, preserving and innovatively reinterpreting traditional architectural styles remains a primary research focus. However, the modernization and adaptive reuse of traditional buildings often necessitate changes in their functionality. To cater to the demands of tourism in historic districts, many traditional residential buildings require conversion to commercial use, resulting in a mismatch between their external form and internal function. This study explores an automated approach to transform traditional residences into commercially viable designs, offering an efficient and scalable solution for the modernization of historic architecture. We developed a methodology based on diffusion models, focusing on a dataset of nighttime shopfront facades. By training a Low-Rank adaptation (LoRA) model and integrating the ControlNet model, we enhanced the accuracy and stability of generated images. The methodology’s performance was validated through qualitative and quantitative assessments, optimizing batch size, repetition, and learning rate configurations. These evaluations confirmed the method’s effectiveness. Our findings significantly advance the modern commercial style transformation of historical architectural facades, providing a novel solution that maintains aesthetic and functional integrity, thereby fostering breakthroughs in traditional de-sign thinking and exploring new possibilities for the preservation and commercial adaptation of historical buildings.

Although numerous citrus varieties have recently been developed to enhance their quality, information on their quality characteristics is limited. We assessed the quality characteristics of Yellowball, a novel citrus variety, by evaluating its appearance, storability, sensory properties, functionality, and metabolite profiles and comparing these characteristics with those of its parent varieties: Haruka and Kiyomi. The metabolite profiles between the citrus varieties differed significantly, resulting in distinct physicochemical and functional qualities. The storability of Yellowball was significantly increased compared with that of its parent varieties owing to its strong antifungal activity and unique peel morphology, including the stoma and albedo layers. While we did not investigate the volatile compounds, overall functional activities, and detailed characteristics of each metabolite, our data provide valuable insights into the relationship between citrus metabolites, peel morphology, physicochemical properties, and storability and demonstrate the potential of Yellowball as a promising variety in the citrus industry.

The generation and maintenance of membrane potential is a fundamental part of Membrane Pump Theory. One of the key points of this hypothesis is based on a natural or facilitated molecular diffusion through several types of ion channels and pumps like the Na/K ATPase. Chemistry, physics and especially electrochemistry, however, bring strong contradictions to this theoretical assumption. By respecting the principles of chemistry and electrostatics, it becomes obvious that this theoretical hypothesis cannot work. The ionic diffusion that would be at the origin of this potential cannot take place. Indeed, the topology and the forces involved definitively exclude the current model, which must absolutely be revised according to the current state of our knowledge and allow an advance in the understanding of the phenomena and open new research perspectives.

The influence of linear and nonlinear modes of ADC driver on the operational amplifier (Op-Amp), which has different values of maximum output voltage slew rate, on the effective number of bits of ADC is considered. It is shown that the effective number of bits of ADC when op-amps on bipolar transistors with input signal amplitudes exceeding 50-100 mV is determined by the nonlinear modes of its input differential stage.

For the past few decades, researchers have been intrigued with glassy polymers, which have applications ranging from gas separations to corrosion protection to drug delivery systems. The techniques employed to examine the sorption and diffusion of small molecules in glassy polymers are the subject of this review. Diffusion models in glassy polymers are regulated by Fickian and non-Fickian diffusion, with non-Fickian diffusion being more prevalent. The characteristics of glassy polymers are determined by sorption isotherms, and different models have been proposed in the literature to explain sorption in glassy polymers during the last few years. This review also includes the applications of glassy polymer. Despite having so many applications, current researchers still have difficulty in implementing coating challenges due to issues like as physical ageing, which is briefly discussed in the review.

The triangulation process represents a violation of the boundary between parental and child relational subsystems which, in turn, affects family dynamics and relationships. The paper, with distinct reference to marital conflict and divorced couples, describes the main causes of the triangulation process and its impact on children (and adolescents) as significant third participants within the parental conflict. Besides, it fo-cuses on long-term consequences associated with triangulation process to parental conflict exposure, that can adversely affect the well-being of children during their life-cycle, and even into adulthood. A data-search was carried out for articles to be included in the review and articles were retrieved from different electronic databases (first: Scopus and Web of Science, then: PsychINFO, Google Scholar, EBSCO and ScienceDirect,). After having initially considered 152 articles, 58 studies were selected for this research. A qualitative analysis was conducted on selected studies, focusing on: (1) different types of triangulation commonly used in intergenerational family relationships; (2) an updated summary of the research around the impact of triangulation on the well-being of children and the parent-child conflict; and (3) the main characteristics of successful intervention of preventative and psychotherapeutic treatments. In conclusion, the results, examining the long-term effects of the triangulation process, highlight the developmental paths of children that are more exposed and at risk, and focuses on the importance of preventing the intergenerational transmission of marital conflict, as a way to reduce mental health costs and to improve the well-being of children and families who are all involved in these conflicting and destructive dynamics.

With reference to Planck scale Hubble parameter, super luminal expansion speeds, super luminal rotation speeds, Mach’s principle and Holographic principle, we review the current cosmological observations with eight simple assumptions. By understanding Yuri N. Obukhov and V.A. Korotky proposed cosmic rotational effects of polarization of radiation due to massive bodies, to some extent cosmic rotation can be deep-rooted in an observational approach and the ratio of current angular velocity and Hubble parameter can be estimated. It is possible to show that, at H₀ =70 km/sec/Mpc, current cosmic temperature, age, radius, mass, mass density are 2.721 K, 4.41x10¹⁷ sec, 90 billion light years, 1.14654x10⁵⁴ kg, 0.0482 times the current critical density respectively. Clearly speaking, current universe seems to constitute 267 Hubble spheres. Important point to be noted is that, current rotational kinetic energy is 0.6667 times the current critical energy. Based on the estimated current mass density and current rotational kinetic energy, current cosmic dark matter density can be shown to be 0.2851 times the current critical density. These numerical coincidences cast serious doubt on the on the real existence of currently believed ‘dark energy’. Initial and current expansion speeds are 3x10⁸ m/sec and 3.56x10⁹ m/sec respectively. With increasing cosmic age and increasing cosmic expansion speed, current universe is expanding with a speed of 11.885c. By knowing the time to time future cosmic temperatures, future Hubble parameters and corresponding future cosmic expansion speeds can be estimated and thus future expansion speed can be understood. Starting from ‘speed of light’, our model assumes a continuous increase in expansion speed and attains a current radius of 90 billion light years (without inflationary concepts) and casts a serious doubt on the actuality of currently believed ‘inflation’.

Tissue programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) protein expression is predictive of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) benefit. However, tissue PD-L1 can be fraught with tissue acquisition and heterogeneity limitations. Plasma testing can overcome these limitations. However, the overall survival (OS) predictive benefit of plasma PD-L1 assays have not been well characterized. Patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and plasma cfRNA PD-L1 by PCR expression were identified and assessed for OS. 16 patients treated with front-line ICI-based regimens were assessed and represented a real-world patient population with over half with a performance status of 2 or greater. 10 contemporaneous patients at the same institution treated with chemotherapy alone were also identified and assessed. With a median follow-up of 33 months, median OS was 13 months with a 30% 3-year OS for the ICI treated patients compared to a median OS of 3 months and a 10% 3-year OS for those treated with chemotherapy alone. Comparative log-rank test p-value = 0.014 and a hazard ratio 0.376 (95%-CI 0.134-1.057). Plasma cfRNA PD-L1 was associated with a statistically significant survival benefit from ICI-based treatment compared to chemotherapy in the first line treatment of a real-world patient population of advanced NSCLC.

In our recent publications, based on strong and electroweak interactions, we have developed a completely new formula for estimating nuclear binding energy. With reference to currently believed Semi Empirical Mass Formula (SEMF), we call our formula as ‘Strong and Electroweak Mass Formula’ (SEWMF). Our formula constitutes 4 simple terms and only one energy coefficient of magnitude 10.1 MeV. First term is a volume term, second term seems to be a representation of free nucleons associated with electroweak interaction, third term is a radial term and fourth one is an asymmetry term about the mean stable mass number. In this paper, we make an attempt to understand and estimate the maximum binding energy associated with any mass number. It can be expressed as, for A > 4, $\left(BE\right)_A\cong \left[A-0.000935A^2-A^{1/3}-A^{-1/2}\right]$ MeV. We are working on refining the 4^th term with even-odd corrections, shell corrections and other microscopic corrections. Proceeding further, stable mass numbers and super heavy mass numbers can be understood with a relation of the form, $\left[\textrm{RoundOff}\left(\left(Z+2.9464\right)^{1.2}-1.7165\right)\right]\pm\left[0,1\right]\pm\left(2n\right)$ where $n \cong 0,1,2$. It needs a review with respect to even-odd proton numbers and other microscopic corrections.

Objectives: Prostate cancer is well known to express high levels of somatostatin receptors and preliminary data suggests that PET imaging with the somatostatin analog, 68Ga-DOTATATE, may allow for whole body staging of patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NePC). This study explores the utility of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET-CT to identify metastatic deposits in men with mCRPC and NePC and prognosticate disease progression. Methods: 68Ga-DOTATATE PET-CT was performed in 17 patients with mCRPC and of those 2/17 had NePC. Semiquantitative analysis with standardized uptake values (SUV) (e.g. SUVmax, SUVmean) was performed for each metastatic lesion and reference background tissues. 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake in metastatic deposits was further classified as: mild (less than liver), moderate (up to liver average), or marked (greater than liver). Serial prostate-specific antigen measurements and patient survival were followed up to 3 years after PET imaging to assess response to standard of care treatment. Results: All patients had at least one metastic lesion with identifiable 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake. Marked 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake was found in 7/17 patients, including both NePC patients, and all were non-responders to systemic therapy and died within the follow up period, with a mean time to death of 8.1 months. 3 patients had mild 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake, and all were responders to systemic therapy and were alive 36 months after 68Ga-DOTATATE imaging. Conclusions: 68Ga-DOTATATE is able to identify mCRPC and NePC metastatic deposits, and lesions with 68Ga-DOTATATE uptake > liver may portend poor outcomes in patients with mCRPC.

This document makes a comprehensive analysis of the inequality of the water market in Chile, measured by the Gini coefficient method. The situation of water rights in Chile is of particular interest because it is a completely privatized system, where rights are traded in the market and therefore water is presented as a commodity. This privatization of water in Chile occurred as part of the process of neoliberalization since the 1981 Water Code. The results of this study indicate that both the concentration and the inequality in the distribution of water rights is very high. It proposes a profound revision of applying a mercantile logic to a scarce basic resource for life such as water and exploring the importance of its role as a national good for public use.

Parent education programs, offered via family-school partnerships, offer an effective means for promoting the mental health and educational functioning of children and adolescents at a whole-of-school level. However, these programs often have low uptake. This study aimed to identify strategies for increasing the uptake of parent education programs within preschool and school settings. A three-round Delphi procedure was employed to obtain expert consensus on strategies that are important and feasible in educational settings. First, thirty experts rated statements identified from the literature and a stakeholder forum. Next, experts re-appraised statements, including new statements generated from the first round. Ninety statements were endorsed by ≥ 80% of the experts. Primary themes include strategies for program selection, strategies for increasing the accessibility of programs and the understanding of educational staff on parent engagement and child mental health, strategies for program development, promotion, and delivery, as well as strategies for increasing parent and community engagement. This study offers a set of consensus strategies for improving the uptake of parent education programs within family-school partnership.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe parent perceptions of the home exercise pro-gram (HEP) for their infant with congenital muscular torticollis (CMT), and how these perceptions evolved over a physical therapy (PT) plan of care. Twelve participants were recruited from a pediatric PT clinic, and nine completed interviews at three time points. Qualitative description and an iterative approach for thematic analysis of 27 interviews yielded three themes that corresponded to the research questions. The participants’ responses were categorized into three main themes: 1) parents’ perceptions of three key exercises within the HEP; 2) internal and external sources of stress; and 3) sources of empowerment and disempowerment. Regarding the HEP, parents articulated common sentiments for three frequently prescribed exercises for the management of CMT: 1) Tummy time was the fast favorite, 2) ipsilateral cervical rotation was perceived as stressful, and 3) contralateral cervical lateral flexion felt uncomfortable. Additionally, participants disclosed internal and external sources of stress (guilt, uncertainty, and the demands of returning to work) and sources of disempowerment (inconsistent messaging from providers, feeling overwhelmed) and empowerment (being able to see the bigger picture and clear communication and education about the diagnosis) with respect to managing their infant’s CMT. These themes provide insight into the evolution of parent perceptions over a PT plan of care for CMT. Participants’ insights suggest a need for consistent messaging regarding the diagnosis and evidence-based management of CMT, addressing parent stress, and modifying how exercises are taught. This study contributes updated research on parents’ experience with physical therapy and the HEP for their infant’s CMT.

Based on three assumptions of our 4G model of final unification, we have developed simple logics for estimating the unified atomic mass unit, atomic electrochemical equivalents, Faraday constant and Avogadro number. We appeal the science community to review the following points. 1) Unified atomic mass or energy unit can be considered as ‘average rest energy of nucleons minus average binding energy per nucleon of all atomic nuclides plus electron rest energy’. 2) Electrochemical equivalent of any atomic ion is nothing but the ratio of its mass to its charge. 3) Faraday charge is nothing but the ratio of elementary charge to unified atomic mass unit. 4) Faraday mass can be considered as the inverse of Faraday charge. 5) Avogadro number is nothing but the inverse of unified atomic mass unit. 6) Number of atoms per kg can be called as Kg-mole and number of atoms per gram can be called as gram-mole. Following our 4G model, starting form A=5 to 340, for isobars, ‘average binding energy per nucleon’ having maximum binding energy can be estimated with a simple relation of the form, BE/A=A^-1[1-(0.5+0.000935A²)-A^1/3]10.1MeV. It needs a review and fine tuning.

To reduce the redundant counting of TDC in high-speed applications and thus reduce power consumption, a TDC architecture is proposed to quantify the difference between two adjacent rows of pixel signals. This structure can remove the identical part between two rows of pixel signals by adjusting the start and stop signal of the TDC, which will reduce the number of flipping of D flip-flops in the TDC. In the 110nm CMOS process, simulation results show that this design achieves an effective number of bits (ENOB) of 4.72 bits and a Figure of Merit (FoM) of 104.7 fJ/step - 162.3 fJ/step with a power consumption ranging from 60 µW to 93 µW. Compared with traditional counting methods, the proposed TDC can reduce counting power consumption by 30%.

To understand the relationship between water permeability and the pore structure of cementitious materials, literature that studied both water permeability and the pore structure are reviewed, and their correlation is studied. Although the majority of this data is for cement paste, mortar, concrete, and cemented soil are also included. Based on this study, it is established the determination coefficient between water permeability and the total pore volume is very low; however, those between water permeability and the critical, threshold, and median pore diameters, respectively, are moderate. On the other hand, the threshold pore diameter, derived based on the percolation theory, exhibits a very high determination coefficient. The calculated water permeability, using the Katz and Thompson equation, agrees with the reported water permeability quantitatively to a certain level, but is overestimated.

Research on spatio-temporal geostatistical modelling remains a critical challenge in numerous scientific and engineering disciplines. This work introduces a novel extension of the dual kriging the spatio-temporal dual kriging (ST-DK) whose drift functions with fixed and adaptive coefficients are established. The approach appears to be effective in modelling complex spatio-temporal dynamics, particularly when relevant auxiliary variables exert substantial influence on the target variable. To illustrate its performance, we compare the ST-DK model with the classical spatio-temporal regression kriging (ST-RK) method for estimating temperature and air pressure data across Thailand in 2018. Our findings demonstrate that both ST-DK and ST-RK models, when utilizing adaptive coefficients, outperform their constant coefficient counterparts. Furthermore, the ST-DK method consistently exhibits superior performance compared to the ST-RK model.

In the last few years, researchers have paid increasing attention to singing voice evaluations.In their studies, they observed changes in the vibrations of the vocal folds during the transi-tion of registers. Additionally, they also found that these changes are less visible and audiblein the case of skilled singers. In order to confirm this theory we defined a new parameter,the Passaggio Peak Coefficient (PPC), obtained from an EGG signal to analyse pitch andopen quotient jump characteristics during the transition of vocal registers among 21 femaleand male choir members with different singing skills. The Kruskal-Wallis test proved thatit is possible to distinguish vocal skills, based on the ability to smoothen transitions amongfemale singers at a 5% significance level.

Postpartum depression (PPD) can interfere with the establishment of affective bonds between infant and mother, which is important for the cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development of the child. Rates of PPD have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, likely due to the added stress and limited support available to new parents. The present study examined whether parenting-related stress, perceived bonding impairments, quality of observed mother-infant interactions and salivary oxytocin levels differ between depressed and non-depressed mothers, along with differential impacts of COVID-19 on depressed mothers. Participants included 70 mothers (45 depressed, 25 controls) with infants aged 2-6 months. All data were collected remotely to ease participant burden during the pandemic. Depression was associated with experiences of heightened parenting-related stress and bonding difficulties. These differences were not observed during mother-infant interactions or in salivary oxytocin levels. Differences in COVID-related experiences were minimal, though depressed mothers rated slightly higher stress associated with returning to work and financial impacts of the pandemic. Findings highlight the importance of early intervention for PPD to mitigate long-term effects on mothers, children, and families. Additionally, they underscore the need for an early intervention to support the developing mother-infant dyad relationship during this crucial time.

The diffusion coefficient (D) is a key parameter characterizing gas transport in coal seams. Usually, the D is calculated from the desorption curve of particle coal, which cannot accurately reflect the diffusion characteristics under the stress constraint conditions of in-situ coal seams. In this paper, based on Fick's law of counter diffusion, different metamorphic deformed coals of medium and high coal rank are taken as the research object. The change laws of D under different confining pressure, gas pressure, and temperature conditions are tested and analyzed, and the influencing mechanisms on the D are discussed. The results show that the D of different metamorphic deformed coals decreases exponentially with the increase of confining pressure, and increases exponentially with the increase of gas pressure and temperature. There is a limit diffusion coefficient. The influence of confining pressure on the D is essentially determined by the change of effective stress, and the D has a negative effect of effective stress similar to permeability. The effect of gas pressure on the D involves two mechanisms, namely, mechanical and adsorption effects, which are jointly restricted by effective stress and coal particle shrinkage and expansion deformation. The effect of temperature on the D is mainly achieved by changing the root mean square speed and average free path of gas molecules. Under the same temperature and pressure conditions, the D increases first and then decreases with the increase of deformation degree, and the D of fragmented coal is the largest. Under similar deformation conditions, the D of high-rank anthracite is greater than that of medium-rank fat coal. It is considered that porosity is the key factor affecting the change of D in different metamorphic deformed coals.

Myocarditis has been recognized as a possible rare complication of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. It concerns between one and five vaccinated people per 100,000 in the general population, with increased incidence in adolescent and young adult men. Most often, cases of myocarditis have been reported in the days following the second dose of vaccine mainly in younger male patients. This rare complication of vaccination usually resolves within days or weeks. However, the pathophysiological events responsible for the increase in frequency of myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination remain unclear. Several recent reports have highlighted that free spike proteins circulating in the blood of patients at high levels appear to play a major role in myocarditis. Here, we review the most relevant data that partly lift the veil on the molecular mechanisms of the induction of myocarditis following mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination. We hypothesize that a mechanism of molecular mimicry of the viral spike triggers transient dysregulation of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, leading to increased soluble angiotensin II binding to the transmembrane receptor angiotensin II type I receptor, similar to what is observed during SARS-CoV-2 infection. We suggest to standardize management of suspected cases of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine-induced myocarditis, including angiotensin II and spike antigenemia monitoring.

SARS-CoV-2 caused a large outbreak since its emergence in December 2019. The COVID-19 diagnosis became a priority to isolate and treat infected individuals in order to break the contamination chain. Currently, the reference test for COVID-19 diagnosis is the molecular detection (RT-qPCR) of the virus from nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) samples. Although this sensitive and specific test remains the gold standard, it has several limitations, such as the invasive collection method, the relative high cost and the duration of the test. Moreover, the material shortage to perform tests due to the discrepancy between the high demand for tests and the production capacities puts additional constraints on RT-qPCR. Here, we propose a PCR-free method for diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 based on Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) profiling and machine learning (ML) models from salivary samples. Kinetic saliva samples were collected at enrollment and ten and thirty days later (D0, D10 and D30), to assess the classification performance of the ML models compared to the molecular tests performed on NPS specimens. Spectra were generated using an optimized protocol of saliva collection and successive quality control steps were developed to ensure the reliability of spectra. A total of 360 averaged spectra were included in the study. At D0, the comparison of MS spectra from SARS-CoV-2 positive patients (n=105) with healthy healthcare controls (n=51) revealed nine peaks that significantly distinguished the two groups. Among the five ML models tested, Support Vector Machine with Linear Kernel (SVM-LK) provided the best performance on the training dataset (accuracy = 85.2 %, sensitivity = 85.1 %, specificity = 85.3 %, F1-Score = 85.1 %). The application of the SVM-LK model on independent datasets confirmed it performances with 88.9% and 80.8% of correct classification for samples collected at D0 and D30, respectively. Conversely, at D10, the proportion of correct classification fallen to 64.3%. The analysis of saliva samples by MALDI-TOF MS and ML appears as an interesting supplementary tool for COVID-19 diagnosis, despite the mitigated results obtained for convalescent patients (D10).

Diffusion bonding is often used on pre-machined parts to generate internal cavities, e.g. for cooling injection molding tools close to the mold cavity. Only then, the workpieces are finished to their final dimensions. In the case of micro-process devices, however, it is essential to precisely control the deformation, as otherwise uncontrollable pressure losses will occur with channel cross-sections in the sub-millimeter range. Post-processing is not possible. The most important process parameters for diffusion bonding are temperature, dwell time and contact pressure, with the bonding temperature and contact pressure acting in opposite directions and showing a strong non-linear dependence on deformation. In addition, the deformation is influenced by a number of other factors such as the absolute size of the cross-section and the aspect ratio of the parts, the dimensions and distribution of the internal cross sections and the overall percentage of the cross-section to be bonded. In micro process engineering, small material cross-sections in the range of the materials microstructure can facilitate additional deformation mechanisms such as grain boundary sliding, which are not relevant at all for larger structures. For parts consisting of multiple layers, tolerances in thickness and roughness of multiple surfaces must be levelled, contributing to the percentaged deformation. This makes it difficult, especially in micro process engineering and in single or small series production, to determine suitable joining parameters in advance, which on the one hand do not cause unforeseen large deformations, but on the other hand reliably produce highly vacuum-tight components. Hence, a definition of a fixed percentaged deformation does not work for all kinds of components. This makes it difficult to specify parameters for surely obtain high-vacuum tight parts. For successful diffusion bonding, atoms must diffuse over the bonding planes, forming a monolithic part in which the original layers are no longer visible. Only then, mechanical properties identical to those of the base material, which has been subjected to identical heat treatment, can be achieved. In this paper, the impacts of different material cross section widths as well as of the aspect ratio on deformation were investigated. By accident, it was found that also accuracy of the temperature measurement may have a serious impact in terms of deformation.

It is shown by numerical modelling that anisotropic diffusion can compensate and even overcome diffusion broadening - the main limiting factor of devices working at atmospheric pressure. The thickness of ion clouds coming out of the ionisation chamber is reduced ~ 1000 times in the ADMA inlet increasing the resolution. This finding has a great potential that enables construction of a device with resolution close to that of currently available desktop ion separation devices – high pressure mass spectrometers, but with much lower cost of manufacture and with smaller dimensions. Comprehensive numerical modelling along with mathematical analysis of physical concepts enables reduction of the footprint and manufacturing costs. Modelling determined that the resolving power (RP) potential of the ADMA is greater than the RP of currently available on the market devices for the airport security market. The ADMA technology enables very fast detection of threats; at least 100 times faster than currently used in Ion Mobility Spectrometers (IMS). This potentially allows an increase in passenger throughput in airports.

A set of programs for the numerical simulation of the diffusion decomposition processes was developed by using simulation methods, kinetic and particle method. The complex has been validated on the model system Ni-Al by the growth of -phase separations. The results on the evolution of the distribution function and other characteristics of the ensemble, which in the zero volume fraction approximation are asymptotically in good agreement with the theory and the experiment, have been obtained. The peculiarity of the created program complex is the possibility of its adaptation to the description of the decomposition of multicomponent multiphase systems. Fig. 6, list of references - 19 titles.

This article is devoted to Feller's diffusion equation which arises naturally in probabilities and physics (e.g. wave turbulence theory). If discretized naively, this equation may represent serious numerical difficulties since the diffusion coefficient is practically unbounded and most of its solutions are weakly divergent at the origin. In order to overcome these difficulties we reformulate this equation using some ideas from the Lagrangian fluid mechanics. This allows us to obtain a numerical scheme with a rather generous stability condition. Finally, the algorithm admits an elegant implementation and the corresponding Matlab code is provided with this article under an open source license.

According to official sources, the numbers of children-to-parent violence (CPV) in the most advanced countries have been on an increasing trend for more than a decade, which generates great social concern. This phenomenon has also aroused enormous interest among researchers, who have identified risk and protective factors related to adolescent CPV in numerous studies. To contribute to a better explanation of CPV, the aim of the present study was to analyze the relationship between family communication problems and CPV, through psychosocial adjustment variables -psychological distress and positive attitude toward the transgression of social norms- in schooled adolescents. The sample consisted of 8115 adolescents enrolled in schools in the State of Nuevo León (Mexico) (51.5% boys, 49.5% girls), whose ages ranged from 11 to 16 years (M = 13.34, SD = 1.04). Structural equation modeling was performed using Structural Equation Modeling Software (EQS). The results showed that family communication problems have a direct and signif-icant relationship with CPV. It was also observed that there is an indirect relationship between both variables, through the relationships of psychological distress and positive attitude towards the transgression of social norms. The multigroup analysis performed showed gender differences in some of these relationships. Finally, the results and their implications in the field of family intervention are discussed.

The importance of irrigation in boosting agricultural production and productivity is widely understood. Proper planning and effective and efficient management and operation of irrigation system require crop and site-specific data. Since the last few years, Ethiopia has embarked on expansion of irrigated wheat. However, crop-specific data useful for irrigation planning and management for wheat crop is limited. The objective of this research was to determine water requirements and crop coefficients for wheat crops based on field measurements. The research was carried out at the Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center in central Ethiopia during the dry season (Bega) of 2021/22. The crop considered for the experiment was durum wheat of the Utuba variety. Two non-weighing lysimeter units were employed to measure the water balance components. The soil moisture was monitored using gravimetric method on daily basis conducted both before and after each irrigation event at various depth intervals. The crop required a total of 115 days to fully mature. The length of the growth of initial, development, mid, and late stages were about 20, 30, 42, and 23 days, respectively. Microsoft Excel was used for the data analysis and the CropWAT8.0 model to estimate the reference evapotranspiration. Crop evapotranspiration (ETc) was determined using the water balance equation, and crop coefficients were computed from ETc and reference evapotranspiration (ETo). The results indicate that the total seasonal water requirement of the crop was 392.75mm. The growth stage-based water requirement was 40.35 mm, 82.44 mm, 238.66 mm, and 31.3 mm during the initial, development, mid, and late growing stages, respectively. For the initial, development, mid, and late stages of wheat growth, the crop coefficient was calculated to be 0.51, 0.83, 1.29, and 0.52, respectively. It was found that a fourth-degree polynomial equation fits well and explains the relationship between day of growth stage and kc of the crop. Although a one-season measurement, the results generated here could be useful for crop-specific data in scarce areas.

The deterioration of soil-cement in corrosive environment leads to the reduction of strength and the increase of permeability. Effective methods of determining deteriorated layer permeability coefficient of soil-cement are currently lacking. A laboratory test method for permeability coefficient of deteriorated layer was proposed using the modified permeability coefficient testing apparatus. According to the proposed method, the permeability coefficient of deteriorated layer can be obtained after testing the permeability coefficient of the soil-cement specimen in curing room and the equivalent permeability coefficient and deterioration depth of the soil-cement specimen in corrosion environment. Taking the marine dredger fill of Jiaozhou Bay for example, the deteriorated layer permeability coefficients of soil-cements with different cement contents were tested. It turned out that the permeability of deteriorated layer increases with the increase of age. At the beginning of curing age, larger cement content leads to smaller permeability coefficient of the deteriorated layer of soil-cement. As the curing age increases, the deteriorated layer permeability coefficient of the soil-cement with larger cement content becomes larger. The evolution of the permeability coefficient of deteriorated layer with age can be formulated as the Logistic function. This study provides a support for anti-permeability designs of soil-cement structures in corrosive environment.

Let $\mathcal{\mathcal{S}}_{\cos}^{\ast}$ denote the class of normalized analytic functions $f$ in the open unit disk $\mathbb{D}$ satisfying the subordination $\dfrac{zf^{\prime}(z)}{f(z)}\prec\cos z$. In the second section of this article we find the sharp upper bounds for the initial coefficients $a_{3}$, $a_{4}$ and $a_{5}$ and the sharp upper bound for module of the Hankel determinant $|H_{2,3}(f)|$ for the functions from the class $\mathcal{S}_{\cos}^{\ast}$. The first result of the next section deals with the sharp upper bounds of the logarithmic coefficients $\gamma_{3}$ and $\gamma_{4}$ and we found in addition the sharp upper bound for $\left|H_{2,2}\left(F_{f}/2\right)\right|$. For obtaining these results we used the very useful and appropriate Lemma 2.4 of N.E. Cho et al. [Filomat 34(6) (2020), 2061--2072], and the technique for finding the maximum value of a three variable function on a closed cuboid. All the maximum found values were checked by using MAPLE\texttrademark{} computare software, and we also found the extremal functions in each cases. All of our present results are the best ones and give sharp versions of those recently published in [Hacet. J. Math. Stat. 52, 596--618, 2023].

Background: In France, no previous studies had addressed the acquisition of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria and colistin resistance genes by medical students when undertaking internships abroad. Methods: Nasopharyngeal, rectal, and vaginal swabs samples were collected from 382 French medical students before and after travel to investigate the acquisition of MDR bacteria. The bacterial diversity in the samples was assessed by culture on selective media. We also genetically characterised the isolates of MDR bacteria including Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriacae (CPE) using the real-time polymerase chain reaction method. The samples were collected from 293 students and were investigated for mcr colistin-resistance genes using RT-PCR directly on the samples, followed by conventional PCR and sequencing. Results: A proportion of 29.3% of the participants had acquired ESBL-E and 2.6% had acquired CPE. The most common species and ESBL-E encoding gene were Escherichia coli (98.4%) and bla_CTX-M-A (95.3%), respectively. A proportion of 6.8% of the participants had acquired mcr-1 genes, followed by mcr-3 (0.3%) and mcr-8 (0.3%). We found that taking part in humanitarian missions to orphanages, being in contact with children during travel, the primary destination of travel being Vietnam and north India, using antibiotics during travel, and studying in 2017 were associated with the acquisition of ESBL-E. When the primary destination of travel was Vietnam and the year of study was 2018, this was associated with acquisition of colistin resistance genes. Conclusion: Medical students are at a potential risk of acquiring ESBL-E, CPE and colistin resistance genes. A number of risk factors have been identified, which may be used to develop targeted preventive measures.

Most research on colostrum quality and colostrum management focuses on maternal IgG transfer to the newborn calf. However, in addition to being a source of antibodies, colostrum has other components that influence passive immune transfer, nutrition, gut maturation, and thermoregulation. In this review, the constituents in the bovine colostrum, as well as their variation, are explored and it is discussed the biological role of colostrum on the newborn calf. Protein is the nutrient in higher concentration and fat is the nutrient with the most variation. There is a pronounced amplitude in the total solids content of colostrum, but the average concentration does not vary much between studies (24.7%). Bovine colostrum major components can vary with several factors, such as the region, season, breed, dry period length, and nutritional aspects of the dam. Bioactive components, cells, and microbiome variability are less understood, besides IgG. Regardless, they play crucial distinct roles in the physiological development of the newborn. However, a multi-interactive effect between these components, cells, and microorganisms is more likely to occur. Recently researched components in colostrum like miRNA, nucleo(t)sides, the milk fat globule membrane, oligosaccharides, minor proteins, and the microbiome are examples of promising interest areas of study.

Research has provided substantial evidence on the role of parents’ well-being in the quality of parent-child relationship and children’s adjustment. Parents’ stress and parental couple conflict have been linked to children’s adverse developmental outcomes. However, little is known about the factors that affect parent’s wellbeing when coping with multiple with stressors such as those brought by the recent COVID-19 global pandemic. Our study intended to examine the predictors of parental well-being looking at the contextual factors of COVID-19 home confinement, i.e. the use of digital media and parents’ domestic workload, and family resilience. Also, age and number of children were controlled as potential variables impacting parents’ well-being. A three-step hierarchical regression analysis was applied. The results showed that family resilience was a very strong predictor of parents’ well-being after controlling for any other variable. Parental couple’s conflict over the use of technology predicted lower levels of family well-being, while notably parent child-conflict and domestic workload were not associated with parents’ well-being. Additionally, age of children did play a role: the higher the mean age of children in the family the better the parents’ well-being. The findings are discussed in the light of their implications for research and practice.

No research to date has explored the possibility of context-specific, within-relationship fluctuation in attachment security. In this present article, two cross-sectional studies were designed (1) to develop and validate context-specific attachment scales in Traditional-Chinese, and (2) to explore fluctuations in within-parent attachment security between the contexts of sport and academics, in relation to global attachment patterns and indicators of psychological wellbeing. Results indicated that youth can and do perceive within-parent attachment patterns differently depending upon context but that the relationship of such differences to context-specific outcomes is complex. Of particular interest was that the degree of within-parent attachment variability between contexts was clearly and negatively related to indices of psychological wellbeing. This suggests that contextual variation may be a meaningful and useful way to explore within-parent attachment fluctuation.

Longitudinal dispersion coefficient (LDC) plays an essential role in modeling the transport of pollution and sediment in the natural rivers. As a result of transportation processes, the concentration of pollution changes along the river. Different studies have been conducted to provide simple equations for estimating LDC. In this study, Support Vector Regression (SVR), Gaussian Process Regression (GPR), M5P and Random Forest (RF) examined to predict the LDC in the natural streams. The hydraulic and geometric features of different rivers gathered for developing the mentioned models for LDC estimation and various statistical criteria were utilized to scrutinize of the models. Furthermore, the Taylor chart was used to evaluate the models and achieved results showed that among machine learning models, M5P displayed the superior performance with CC of 0.823, SI of 0.812, NS of 0.577 and WI of 0.879. As well, S-D model with CC of 0.795 SI of 0.827, NS of 0.558 and WI of 0.890 had more precise results than other empirical models. The results indicates that the developed M5P model with simple formulations was superior to other machine learning models and empirical models and therefore, it can be used as a proper tool for estimating LDC in natural rivers.

The assessment outcomes of regional susceptibility to geological disasters can directly indicate the extent and intensity of risks within the study area, thus, providing targeted guidance for disaster management efforts. This study selects eight evaluation indicators, namely elevation, gradient, terrain relief, lithology of strata, normalized difference vegetation index, distance from the fault, distance from road, and distance from the river. The study focuses on Huize County in Yunnan Province as the research area, utilizing the certainty factor (CF) and random forest (RF) models for evaluating the susceptibility to geological disasters. The non-geological disaster points in the study area are determined using the deterministic coefficient prior model, and the deterministic coefficient values for each evaluation factor serve as the classification data for the random forest model. The optimal parameters for the random forest are selected through iterative calculations of bag error in PyCharm, while the weight of the evaluation factor is determined based on the ran-dom forest model with the optimal parameters. The results of geological disaster susceptibility zoning in Huize County are obtained by overlaying the weighted deterministic coefficients of each evaluation factor. The accuracy of the evaluation results is verified using zoning statistics and ROC curves with a test sample of 30% of the points. The results demonstrate the high accuracy of the model in evaluating the susceptibility to geological disasters in Huize County. Compared to the single deterministic coefficient model, this approach offers advantages in terms of reliability and accuracy. The evaluation results can serve as a scientific reference for related work in Huize County.

Objectives The most severe type of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is critical limb ischaemia (CLI). In CLI, calcification of the vessel wall plays an important role in symptoms, amputation rate and mortality. However, calcified arteries are also found in asymptomatic persons (non-PAD patients). We investigated whether the calcification pattern in CLI patients and non- PAD patients are different and could possibly explain the symptoms in CLI patients. Materials and Methods 130 CLI and 204 non-PAD patients underwent a CT of the lower extremities. This resulted in 118 CLI patients (mean age 72±12, 70.3% male) that were age-matched with 118 non-PAD patients (mean age 71±11, 51.7% male). The characteristics severity, annularity, thickness and continuity were assessed in the femoral and crural arteries and analysed by binary multiple logistic regression. Results Nearly all CLI patients have calcifications and these are equally frequent in the femoropopliteal (98.3%) and crural arteries (97.5%), while the non-PAD patients had in just 67% any calcifications with more calcifications in the femoropopliteal (70.3%) than in the crural arteries (55.9%, p<0.005). The crural arteries of the CLI patients had significantly more complete annular calcifications (OR 2.92, p=0.001.) while in the non-PAD patients dot-like calcifications dominated. In CLI patients, the femoropopliteal arteries had more severe, irregular / patchy and thick calcifications (OR 2.40, 3.27, 1.81, p≤0.05, respectively) while in non-PAD patients, thin continuous calcifications prevailed. Conclusions Compared with non-PAD patients CLI patients are more frequently and extensively calcified. Annular calcifications were found in the crural arteries of CLI patients while dot-like calcifications were mostly present in the non-PAD patients. These different patterns of calcifications in CLI point at different etiology and can have prognostic and eventually therapeutic consequences.

An algorithm for the treatment of images affected by both blurring and salt&pepper noise is proposed with a cost only proportional to the number of pixels. The methodology uses a discretization scheme for the Laplace operator multiplied by a suitable nonlinear term depending on the gradient. Even if this approach resembles a diffusion type algorithm, only one step of the procedure is applied, leading to significant time savings. The procedure is successfully tested on some standard black&white natural images.

Pulsed-field gradient (PFG) diffusion experiments can be used to measure anomalous diffusion in many polymer or biological systems. However, it is still complicated to analyze PFG anomalous diffusion, particularly the finite gradient pulse width (FGPW) effect. In practical applications, the FGPW effect may not be neglected such as in clinical diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Here, two significantly different methods are proposed to analyze PFG anomalous diffusion: the effective phase shift diffusion equation (EPSDE) method and an observing the signal intensity at the origin method. The EPSDE method describes the phase evolution in virtual phase space, while the method to observe the signal intensity at the origin describes the magnetization evolution in real space. However, these two approaches give the same general PFG signal attenuation including FGPW effect, which can be numerically evaluated by a direct integration method. The direct integration method is fast and without overflow. It is a convenient numerical evaluation method for Mittag-Leffler function type PFG signal attenuation. The methods here provide a clear view of spin evolution under field gradient, and their results will help the analysis of PFG anomalous diffusion.

Background and aim. The study aimed to assess the efficacy of the treatment of Kan Jang®, a fixed combination of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. F.) Wall. ex. Nees and Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim in patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19. Methods. One hundred forty patients received six capsules of Kan Jang® (n = 68, daily dose of andrographolides – 90 mg) or placebo (n=72) and supportive treatment (paracetamol) for 14 consecutive days in a randomized, quadruple-blinded, placebo-controlled, two-parallel-group design. The efficacy outcomes were the rate of cases turning to severe, the detection rate of SARS-CoV-2 virus over the time of treatment, the duration and the severity of symptoms (sore throat, runny nose, cough, headache, fatigue, loss of smell, taste, pain in muscles) in the acute phase of the disease. Other efficacy measures included improving cognitive and physical performance, quality of life, and the levels of inflammatory blood markers - IL-6, c-reactive protein, and D-dimer. Results. Kan Jang® significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the rate of cases turning to severe (5.36%) compared to placebo (17.86%) and decreased the detection rate of SARS-CoV-2 virus over the time of treatment. The statistical difference in the rates of patients with clinical deterioration in the Kan Jang treatment and placebo control groups was significant (p = 0.0176) both in 112 patients included per protocol (IPP) analysis and in 140 patients included per intention to treat (ITT) analysis (p = 0.0236); the absolute risk reduction of cases by Kan Jang treatment was 12.5%, and the number Needed to Treat by Kan Jang was 8. The patient's recovery time (Number of sick days at the home/clinic) was shorter in the Kan Jang group compared with the placebo group. The rate of resolution of inflammatory symptoms in the Kan Jang® group was significantly higher compared with the placebo group, and relief of the severity of cough, sore throat/pain, runny nose, and muscle soreness. Kan Jang® significantly decreased the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptoms scores compared to placebo in the sample size of 140 patients. However, the relief of fatigue and headache and the decrease of IL-6 in the blood was observed only in a subset of the 86 patients infected during the second three waves of the pandemic. Kan Jang® significantly increased physical activity and workout; however, it did not affect cognitive functions (attention and memory), Quality of life Score, inflammatory markers D-dimer, and c-reactive protein compared with the placebo group. Conclusions. Overall, the results of this study suggest that Kan Jang® is effective in treating mild and moderate COVID-19 irrespective of SARS-Cov-2 variants infection.

: Oscillation synchronization through diffusion-based communication of active materials can lead to emergence of diverse patterns and collective behaviors. A detailed general description of the formation process of synchronization or resynchronization dynamics is a challenging task. We employ a photosensitive Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction-diffusion model (within a gel media) to investigate the recovery process of oscillation synchronization between a pair of gel patches. The recovery time for oscillation resynchronization can be modulated by patch-distance, species of signaling molecules, intensity and duration of illumination. Analysis reveals that the “switch effect” of the gel-distance and the “promotion effect” from illumination on the oscillation resynchronization originate from the competition between processes of photo-promotion of oscillation, diffusion of signaling molecules (HBrO2 and Br-) and disproportionation of HBrO2. These results will benefit studies on bio-inspired active materials and soft motors.

The focus of this paper is on analyzing the role and the choice of parameters in sociophysics diffusion models, by leveraging the potentialities of sociophysics from a mathematical programming perspective. We first present a generalised version of Galam’s opinion diffusion model (see, e.g. , ). For a given selection of the coefficients in our model, this proposal yields the original Galam’s model. The generalised model suggests guidelines for possible alternative selection of its parameters that allow to foster diffusion. Examples of the parameters selection process as steered by numerical optimisation, taking into account various objectives, are provided.

Dynamics of human populations can be affected by various socio-economic factors through their influence on the natality and mortality rates, and on the migration intensity and directions. In this work we study an economic-demographic model which takes into account the dependence of the wealth production rate on the available resources. In the case of nonlocal consumption of resources the homogeneous in space wealth-population distribution is replaced by a periodic in space distribution for which the total wealth increases. For the global consumption of resources, if the wealth redistribution is small enough, then the homogeneous distribution is replaced by a heterogeneous one with a single wealth accumulation center. Thus, economic and demographic characteristics of nonlocal and global economies can be quite different in comparison with the local economy.

Master equations define the dynamics that govern the time evolution of various physical processes on lattices. In the continuum limit, master equations lead to Fokker-Planck partial differential equations that represent the dynamics of physical systems in continuous spaces. Over the last few decades, nonlinear Fokker-Planck equations have become very popular in condensed matter physics and in statistical physics. Numerical solutions of these equations require the use of discretization schemes. However, the discrete evolution equation obtained by the discretization of a Fokker-Planck partial differential equation depends on the specific discretization scheme. In general, the discretized form is different from the master equation that has generated the respective Fokker-Planck equation in the continuum limit. Therefore, the knowledge of the master equation associated with a given Fokker-Planck equation is extremely important for the correct numerical integration of the latter, since it provides a unique, physically motivated discretization scheme. This paper shows that the Kinetic Interaction Principle (KIP) that governs the particle kinetics of many body systems, introduced in [G. Kaniadakis, Physica A 296, 405 (2001)], univocally defines a very simple master equation that in the continuum limit yields the nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation in its most general form.

Almost all modern inorganic light-emitting diode (LED) designs are based on double heterojunctions (DHJs) whose structure and current injection principle have remained essentially unchanged for decades. Although highly efficient devices based on the DHJ design have been developed and commercialized for energy-efficient general lighting, the conventional DHJ design requires burying the active region (AR) inside a pn-junction. This has hindered the development of emitters utilizing nanostructured ARs located close to device surfaces such as nanowires or surface quantum wells. Modern DHJ III-N LEDs also exhibit resistive losses which arise from the DHJ device geometry. The recently introduced diffusion-driven charge transport (DDCT) emitter design offers a novel way to transport charge carriers to unconventionally placed ARs. In a DDCT device, the AR is located apart from the pn-junction and the charge carriers are injected into the AR by bipolar diffusion. This device design allows the integration of surface ARs to semiconductor LEDs and offers a promising method to reduce resistive losses in high power devices. In this work, we present a review of the recent progress in gallium nitride (GaN) based DDCT devices, and an outlook of potential DDCT has for opto- and microelectronics.

There are many problems based on solving non-autonomous differential equations of the form x¨(t)+ω2(t)x(t)=0, where x(t) represents the coordinate of a material point and ω is the angular frequency. The inverse problem involves finding the bounded coefficient ω. Continuity of the function ω(t) is not required. The trajectory x(t) is unknown, but the initial and final values of the phase variables are given. The variation principle of minimum time for the entire dynamic process allows for the determination of the optimal solution {x(t),ω(t)}. Thus, the inverse problem is an optimal control problem. No simplifying assumptions were made.