In this work, we designed a MEMS device which allows simultaneous direct measurement of mechanical properties during deformation under external stress and characterization of the evolution of microstructure of nanomaterials within a transmission electron microscope. This MEMS device makes it easy to establish the correlation between microstructure and mechanical properties of nanomaterials. The device uses piezoresistive sensors to qualitatively measure the force and displacement of nanomaterials, e.g., in wire and thin plate forms. The device has a theoretical displacement resolution of 0.19 nm and a force resolution of 2.1 μN. The device has a theoretical displacement range limit of 2.74 μm and a load range limit of 27.75 mN.

This paper presents the design and measurement of an IEEE 802.11ad standard compatible RF transceiver for 60GHz wireless communication system. In addition to the traditional half-duplex (HD) mode, this work supports full-duplex (FD) operation to deliver better channel utilization and faster response time for the system. The isolation between the transmitter and receiver from the architecture design to system integration for FD operation has been fully considered. A digital self-interference cancellation (DSIC) is implemented in MATLAB to verify the FD performance. The super-heterodyne architecture with an intermediate frequency (IF) of 12GHz is designed to suppress the image frequencies without using extra filters. A flexible phase-locked loop (PLL) synthesizer provides a local oscillator (LO) frequency with a 2kHz resolution. Other than the time division duplex (TDD) mode used in the conventional 60GHz system, a wide bandwidth baseband digital variable gain amplifier (DVGA) with a 3dB bandwidth of more than 4GHz also supports frequency division duplex (FDD) operation. The transceiver chip is fabricated in Tower Jazz 0.18µm SiGe BiCMOS process. With on-board antenna, the transceiver covers all four channels in 802.11ad standard with MCS-12 (7.04Gbps under 1.76GSym/s and 16-QAM) under 1.5m. In the proposed system design, the RF frontend based self-interference (SI) suppression from the local transmitter to receiver LNA is around 54dB. To achieve a practical FD application, the SI is further suppressed with the help of digital SI compensation. The measured power consumption for transmitter and receiver configuration is 194mW and 231mW, respectively, in HD mode and 398mW for FDD or FD operation mode.

Effects of oxygen content on microstructure and creep property of FGH96 superalloy were investigated. When oxygen content increased from 135ppm to 341ppm, prior particle boundary (PPB) rose from degree 2 to degree 3, and the size of γ′ phase on PPB enlarged from 1.07μm to 1.27μm, and MC carbide size grew from 77.4nm to 104.0nm. Meanwhile, the steady creep rate accelerated form 4.34×10-3 h-1 to 1.87×10-2 h-1, and the creep rupture life shortened from 176h to 94h, and the creep rupture mode transferred from intergranular and transgranular mixed fracture to along PPB fracture. During creep, the micro-twins formation and gliding will be restrained by ∑3 boundaries. FGH96 superalloy with higher oxygen content contains less ∑3 boundaries and its micro-twins cross slipped instead of single direction slip in lower oxygen content superalloy. Consequently, specimen with higher oxygen content creeped faster and raptured earlier.

A complex square matrix $A$ is said to be Hermitian if $A= A^{\ast}$, the conjugate transpose of $A$. The topic of the present note is concerned with the characterization of Hermitian matrix. In this note, the we show that each of the two triple matrix product equalities $AA^{\ast}A = A^{\ast}AA^{\ast}$ and $A^3 = AA^{\ast}A$ implies that $A$ is Hermitian by means of decompositions and determinants of matrices, which are named the two-sided removal and cancellation laws associated with Hermitian matrix, respectively. We also present several general removal and cancellation laws as the extensions of the preceding two facts about Hermitian matrix.

Mangroves offer vital ecological advantages including air and water filtration, coastal and estuarine habitat provision, sediment stabilization, and wave energy absorption. Their intricate root systems play a key role in safeguarding shorelines from tsunamis and erosive storms by dissipating wave energy. Moreover, mangroves shield against boat wakes and wind-waves, bolstering shoreline defense. Wave dissipation is a function of forest width, tree diameter, and forest density. Restoration efforts of juvenile mangroves in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon (IRL) aim to reduce wave energy in areas vulnerable to erosion. Physical model testing of wave dissipation through mangroves is limited due to the complexity in representing the mangrove structure, where prop roots are non-uniform in both diameter and location. Previous studies have quantified wave dissipating effects through use of scaled and parameterized mangrove structures. This study measures the dissipation effects of live mangroves in a wave flume, forced by conditions representative of the IRL. These measurements are used to validate a parameterized dowel model. Error between wave attenuation factors for the live mangrove and dowel system was on average 2.5%. Validation of the modularized dowel system allowed for further parameterized testing to understand forest structure effects, such as sediment stabilization and wave attenuation.

This study investigates the relationship between housing prices and vacancy rates in Hong Kong, offering insights distinct from previous cross-sectional analyses. Addressing limitations in data availability and methodological approaches, the study examines annual data spanning multiple housing size categories to uncover nuanced dynamics in the housing market. Two major contributions emerge: firstly, the analysis reveals the price elasticity of vacancy, elucidating how housing prices respond to changes in vacancy rates over time. Secondly, by considering housing vacancy changes as outcomes of the interactions between supply and demand, the study challenges the conventional independence assumption between these variables. The results support the hypothesis that housing vacancies exert a negative impact on housing prices, holding other factors constant. These findings have significant implications for policymakers, urban planners, and real estate investors, providing valuable insights for crafting targeted interventions and informing investment decisions.

This paper discusses the bioethics of intellectual property (IP) and intellectual property rights (IPR) applicable to biotechnology-based IP. It outlines some of the laws that are related to IPR in Zimbabwe and globally. The paper additionally highlights gaps, opportunities and concerns with the laws. Finally, the paper highlights some initiatives already underway in Zimbabwe targeted at promoting entrepreneurship, commercialization and industrialization while proposing strategies that can be used to further promote the generation and granting of biotechnology-related IP and IPR in Zimbabwe.

Colleges and universities play a crucial role in fostering innovation, making it essential to explore effective strategies for promoting innovation at the institutional policy level. This paper focuses on the establishment of intellectual property (IP) model cities as a starting point and conducts an empirical analysis using innovation data from 234 cities and 942 colleges and universities between 2007 and 2017. By constructing a multi-temporal double-difference model, this study reveals that the establishment of IP model cities effectively fosters innovation in colleges and universities. Further analysis demonstrates that this promotion effect is particularly significant in the western region, key cities, key colleges and universities, as well as in the fields of invention and utility model patents. These conclusions withstand a series of robustness tests, confirming their validity. In terms of the underlying mechanisms, it is found that the national IP pilot city policy has a substantial impact on university innovation by promoting research and development (R&D) investment and strengthening innovation cooperation. The insights provided by this study offer valuable policy recommendations for leveraging the innovation potential of the IP model city policy, thereby driving economic transformation, upgrading, and fostering innovation development in China.

This paper examines certain implications from the literature on Tiebout’s model of local gov-ernment service provision, particularly Hamilton’s extension of the model to include local control of land use and property taxation. Our empirical analysis focuses on the use of fiscal zoning to lower property tax rates, a topic that has not been addressed in the extensive Tiebout literature. Using data for over 100 municipalities in the Miami, Florida, metropolitan area, we specify property tax rates as a function of fiscal zoning measures, other municipal characteristics, and tax mimicking. We conclude that single-family zoning is by far the most important variable ex-plaining municipal property tax rates.

The present work investigates primarily the morphology evolution of the body-centered-cubic (BCC)/B2 phases in AlxNiCoFeCr high-entropy alloys (HEAs) with increasing Al content, which has been neglected so far. There exist two types of microscopic morphologies of BCC and B2 phases in this HEA series: one is the weave-like morphology induced by the spinodal decomposition, and the other is the microstructure of a spherical disordered BCC precipitation on the ordered B2 matrix that appears in HEAs with a much higher Al content. The shape of coherent precipitates is found to be closely related to the lattice misfit between BCC and B2 phases, which is sensitive to Al. The mechanical properties, including the compressive yielding strength and microhardness of the AlxNiCoFeCr HEAs, are also discussed in light of the concept of the valence electron concentration (VEC).

In On Revolution, Hannah Arendt makes the case that a constitution must account for the need of the human person to participate in the building of society, both as a primordial and continual action of founding. This paper draws on Arendt's insight on the relationship between privacy and the notion of property, both of which the constitution must protect, as it is dependent on those notions. Property in its fullest sense is the means by which a person interacts with others and establishes a society. Particularly important for this notion of engagement are the concepts of shame and the love of goodness. The actor emerges from the private sphere to interact with others on the strength of the secrecy and confidentiality of her intimate, private relationships. Property is therefore essential to human flourishing and happiness. Following this, the activity of constructing the public forum on the basis of the private is an important feature of Arendt's constitutionalism. Human action showers third-party esteem on the actor's family and friends, binding them to the constitutional structure and strengthening familial relationships and social cohesion.

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

In this paper, we study the weighted reproducing kernels. We introduce a generalization of weighted reproducing property and extend it to relative reproducing property on Banach spaces. This generalization will develop the parallel computing and it can be used as a base of parallel learning for machines especially in the case that there are non-homogenous weighted hypothesis. This methods formulate learning and estimation problems in a relative reproducing kernel Banach space (RRKBS) of functions defined on the data domain, expanded in terms of a kernel.

Bi1-xSbx crystal is one of the best n-type thermoelectric materials below 200 K, but its weak mechanical strength hinders practical applications for deep refrigeration. Herein, we adopted the mechanical enhancement method of hot extrusion to investigate the comprehensive mechanical and thermoelectric properties of Bi0.905Sb0.095. It revealed that reducing the grain size of the matrix and increasing the extrusion ratio can improve the gain size uniformity and mechanical properties. While the thermoelectric performance depends on the texture, grain size, and local composition. The extruded sample prepared by ingot with the high extrusion ratio of 9:1 generated a high texture degree of (001) plane and small grain sizes between ~4-40 mm, which resulted in the high bending strength of Bi1-xSbx ~130 Mpa and a high-power factor of ~ 68 μW·cm-1·K-2@173 K, as well as the relative high figure of merit of 0.25@173K. This work highlights the importance of the uniform distribution of the grain size and the compositions for Bi1-xSbx, as well as the required universal key parameter for the hot-extrusion method.

The cuttlebone-like structure is a complex porous bionic structure with asymmetric sinusoidal S-shaped wall structure connecting laminar septa, and studies have shown that the cuttlebone-like structure has light weight, high strength and excellent energy absorption capability. It has become an important research to investigate the mechanical mechanism of cuttlebone-like structure and to design a bionic structure beyond nature structure based on it. In order to investigate the mechanical properties of the static compression and shearing processes of the cuttlebone-like structure, this paper establishes theoretical formulas and analyzes the influence of dimensionless parameters such as height-to-thickness ratio $\lambda$, period-to-thickness ratio $\xi$ and amplitude to period ratio $\eta$ on the compression and shearing processes with the help of ABAQUS finite element software.The parameter sensitivity analysis method was used to compare the important influence degree of each dimensionless parameter on the mechanical properties of the structure and to determine the relative optimal parameters of the structural mechanical properties under compression and shearing. Based on the relatively optimal parameter of the cuttlebone-like structure, the cross-sectional geometry of the structure is improved to build a new cuttlebone-like structure.The experimental results showed that the new cuttlebone-like structure with revised cross-section improved the mechanical properties of the cuttlebone-like structure.The study results are of theoretical guidance to enhance the mechanical properties and geometric design of cuttlebone-like structures.

The CuCrSn alloy is promising as high-strength and high-conductivity Cu alloy due to its relative low smelting requirement, while thus far reports on the CuCrSn alloy is still quite lacked. In this study, the microstructure and properties of Cu-0.20Cr-0.25Sn (wt%) specimens prepared under different rolling and aging combinations were comprehensively characterized, in order to reveal the effects of cold rolling and aging on the CuCrSn alloy. The results show that increasing the aging temperature from 400 ºC to 450 ºC can obviously accelerates the precipitation, and the cold rolling before aging significantly increases the initial microhardness and promotes the precipitation. Whereas, the deformation hardening will be eliminated during the aging process, making the microhardness even decrease monotonically when the aging temperature and the rolling ratio before aging are high. Performing the cold rolling after the aging can maximize the effects of precipitation strengthening and deformation strengthening, and its adverse impact on the conductivity is not serious. A tensile strength of 506.5 MPa and a conductivity of 70.33% IACS were obtained with such a treatment, only the elongation decreases. Different strength-conductivity combinations of the CuCrSn alloy can be achieved through appropriate combinations of the aging and post aging cold rolling conditions.

Fractional differential systems have received much attention in recent decades likely due to its powerful ability in modeling memory processes, which are mostly observed in real world. Fractional models have been widely investigated and applied in many fields such as physics, biochemistry, electrical engineering, continuum and statistical mechanics. It is shown by many researchers that fractional derivatives can provide more accurate models than integer order derivatives do. Obviously, bang-bang property is of a significant importance in optimal control theory. In this paper a Bang-Bang property and time-optimal control problem for time-Fractional Differential System (FDS) is under consideration. First we formulate our problem and we prove the existence theorem. We state and prove the bang-bang theorem. Finally we give the optimality conditions that characterized the optimal control. Some illustrate applications are given to clarify our results.

The manufacturing parameters influence the properties of thermo-mechanically processed met-als such as Mg alloys. This paper presents how the mechanical properties, the microstructure and the degradation rate of extruded Mn-containing Mg-Gd-alloys can be modified. Gd as repre-sented REE-element is particularly interesting due to the influence on the texture development in Mg and therefore studied as a base alloy system. The contents of Gd were investigated be-tween 2 to 9 wt.% with Mn-addition of 0.5 and 1.0 wt.%. The grain sizes and the corresponding textures were modified by the extrusion parameters and the alloy content. It was shown that modification by Mn can decrease the grain size, but increase the degree of recrystallization and decrease the degradation rate in the biological medium compared to the binary Mg-Gd system from previous studies. The results suggest that the binary Mg-Gd system can be produced more efficiently by adding Mn and that the resulting properties are more robust.

In the present paper, based on the ideas of Algerian physicist M.E. Hassani, the generalized Hassani spatio-temporal transformations in real Hilbert space are introduced. The original transformations, introduced by M.E. Hassani, are the particular cases of the transformations, introduced in this paper. It is proven that the classes of generalized Hassani transforms do not form a group of operators in the general case. Further, using these generalized Hassani transformations as well as the theory of changeable sets and universal kinematics, the mathematically strict models of Hassani kinematics are constructed and the performance of the relativity principle in these models is discussed.

We describe our investigations of the surface physicochemical and biological properties of polylactic acid modified by silver, argon and carbon ion implantation to doses of 1 × 10¹⁴, 1 × 10¹⁵ and 1 × 10¹⁶ ion/cm² at energies of 20 keV (for C and Ar) and 40 keV (for Ag). X-ray analysis shows enhancement of coherent scattering regions and lattice constant increase after ion implantation. Secondary electron mass-spectrometry indicates that Ag concentration in the subsurface layer is less than 80%, but at a depth of 500 nm does not exceed 1–2%. The silver forms metal particles in the subsurface layer rather than making additional chemical bonds with polymer atoms. Atomic force microscopy reveals that the higher the irradiation dose the larger the surface roughness of the samples. Ag-irradiated samples implanted to a dose of 1 × 10¹⁶ ions/cm² have the highest roughness, 190 nm. Our investigation of the cytotoxicity of two individual donor macrophages shows that Ag-implanted polylactic acid has no negative impact on immune system cells and could be a promising material for biomedical application.

Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) are promising materials in several fields related to electronics, offering long carrier-diffusion lengths, high absorption coefficients, tunable band gaps, and long spin lifetimes. Recently, chiral perovskites have attracted a huge interest thanks to the possibility of further widening the applications of HOIPs. Chiral materials, being intrinsically non-centrosymmetric, display several attractive physico-chemical properties, including circular dichroism, circularly polarized photoluminescence, nonlinear optics, ferroelectricity, and spin-related effects. Recent studies have shown that chirality can be transferred from the chiral organic ligands into the inorganic perovskite framework, resulting in materials combining the advantages of both chirality and perovskite superior optoelectronic characteristics. Thus, chiral HOIPs have emerged as promising materials for chiroptoelectronic, spintronic, and ferroelectric applications. Here, we report a summary of the latest advances in the field of chiral HOIPs, with a specific focus on lead-free materials and on the first attempts to understand the correlation between the crystal structure features and the chirality-induced functional properties

The relationship between the street environment and the health, education, mobility, and criminal behaviors of its citizens has long been investigated by economists, sociologists and urban planners. Home buyers were found to pay a premium for better street appearance. Prior studies considering streetscapes mainly focus on objective measures such as the number of nearby trees, the tree canopy area, or the view index of physical features such as greenery, sky or building. However, subjective perceptions may have complex or subtle relationships to physical features, individual physical features or simply summing them up do not capture people’s comprehensive perception. In contrast, this study proposed a new approach for the urban-scale application to quantify both subjectively and objectively measured streetscape scores for six important perception qualities, namely Greenness, Walkability, Safety, Imageability, Enclosure, and Complexity. Built on prior quantitative studies in urban design quality and emerging applications in deep learning and open source street view imagery for urban perceptions, we integrated existing frameworks to (1) effectively collect and evaluate both subjectively and objectively- measured perceptions; (2) investigate the coherence and divergence in ML-predicted subjective scores and formula-derived objective scores; and (3) compare their effects in affecting house prices taking Shanghai as a case study using a large-scale dataset on home transactions. The results implied: first, the percentage increase in sales price attributable to street scores is significant for both subjective and objective measurements. In general subjective scores explained more variance over structural attributes and objective scores in hedonic price model. Particularly, objective Greenness, subjective Safety and Imageability scores positively affected house prices. Second, for Greenness and Imageability scores, the subjective and objective measures exhibited opposite signs in affecting house prices, which implied that there might be mechanisms related to the psychological, social-demographical characteristics of street users that have not been fully incorporated by objective measures that taking view indices or recombination of them. In addition, certain objective measure might outperform subjective counterpart when the connotation of the perception is self-evident and not complicated, for example the Greenness. For those concepts were not familiar to the average person, subjective framework exhibits better performance. This is the first study comprehensively expanding hedonic price method with both subjectively and objectively measured streetscape qualities. It suggested that city authorities could levy a street environment tax to compensate the public budget invested in street environment where developers secured benefits from a price premium. This study enriches our understanding of the economic values of the subjective and objective measures street qualities. It sheds light on promising future study areas where the coherence and divergence of the two measurements should be further stressed.

Mulberry (Morus) cultivated worldwide in diverse agro-ecological conditions recognized as the fodder of silkworms (Bombyx mori). In India, ranging from high altitude Himalayan region to coastal region, the farmers generally cultivate these four species of mulberry (Morus alba, M. indica, M. serrata, and M. laevigata). Mulberry fruit is used in traditional medicine for several years in China and also consumed as food material in different countries of Asia and Africa. Mulberry fruit, along with high nutritious value, contains many bioactive phytochemicals that are30 of health benefits and can fight against many diseases. Many researchers attracted to this property of mulberry fruit, and they isolated bioactive polysaccharides, anthocyanins, flavonols, flavonols, phenolic acids, alkaloids, and melatonins. These compounds have antioxidant property and due to this, either in synergistically or in the pure form, these components have direct or indirect curative activity on diabetes, inflammation, tumor, hepatic diseases, immunomodulation, hyperlipidemia, neural damage, and chronic diseases. This tremendous bioactivity of mulberry fruit extract may open up a new dimension in the food and medicine industry. The present review provides recent findings of the phytochemical foundation and their bioactivities, which may encourage many researchers to explore the molecular mechanism of the biological activities which can be used for human welfare.

Microporous organic polymers (MOPs) are promising materials for gas sorption because of the intrinsic and permanent porosity, designable framework and low density. The introduction of nitrogen-rich building block in MOPs will greatly enhance the gas sorption capacity. Here, we report the synthesis of MOPs from the 2,4,6-tris(4-ethynylphenyl)-1,3,5-triazine unit and aromatic azides linkers via click polymerization reaction. FTIR and solid state 13C CP-MAS NMR confirm the formation of the polymers. CMOP-1 and CMOP-2 exhibit microporous networks with BET surface area of 431 and 406 m2 g-1 and narrow pore size distribution under 1.2 nm. Gas sorption isotherms including CO2 and H2 were measured. CMOP-1 stores superior CO2 level of 8.2 wt% (1.88 mmol g-1) at 273 K/1.0 bar and H2 uptake up to 0.6 wt% at 77 K/1.0 bar, while CMOP-2 with smaller surface area shows lower CO2 adsorption capacity of 7.3 wt% (1.66 mmol g-1) and H2 uptake (0.5 wt%). In addition, I2 vapor adsorption was tested at 353 K. CMOP-1 shows higher gravimetric load of 160 wt%. Despite of the moderate surface area, the CMOPs display excellent sorption ability for CO2 and I2 due to the nitrogen-rich content in the polymers.

Advances in technology and information systems have had a major impact on people's lives and activities. Smartphone use plays an important role in many areas, including housing governance. One of the problems faced by housing administrators is administrative management, which is still manual. To overcome this, it is proposed to use a web-based application. A literature study was conducted to support the development of this application. Data collection through interviews and observations was carried out to obtain system requirements. The Agile Scrum method is used in making applications. These applications have non-functional requirements such as security, availability, performance, usability, and compatibility. Implementation using PHP and MySQL. Testing is done to ensure the application functions properly. This application allows administrators to manage citizen data, payment of contributions, billing, and print financial reports. Residents can upload proof of transfer and print proof of payment. It is hoped that this application will facilitate housing administration, improve the quality of life in the community, and create a better housing environment.

Composite materials are widely used in the dental field in clinics as biomaterials. For example, it has been used as a biomaterial to repair caries and restore masticatory function, and as a cement to adhere the restoration to the tooth substrate. In order to demonstrate its function, dental biomaterials are measured their mechanical strength. From such basic research, we explained the potential of dental biomaterials, especially flexural strength and modulus of elasticity. Mechanical properties of dental biomaterials similar to those of the tooth, thermal stimulation, and aesthetic elements in the oral cavity. In this part, we will introduce the commercialized products of composites suitable for the characteristics and tooth quality, and provide the reader with the characteristics from the flexural characteristics of the composite materials used in clinical dentistry. In clinical performance, it might be advisable to delay polishing when composite biomaterials are used for luting materials, filling materials and core build-up materials since improved the flexural strength and the flexural modulus of elasticity were displayed after 1-day storage. And it is thought that flexural strength or characteristics is a significant important mechanical property of oral biomaterials.

The use of flexible sensors has tripled over the last decade due to the increased demand in various fields including health monitoring, food packaging, electronic skins and soft robotics. Flexible sensors have the ability to be bent and stretched during use and can still maintain their electrical and mechanical properties. This gives them an advantage over rigid sensors that lose their sensitivity when subject to bending. Advancements in 3D printing have enabled the development of tailored flexible sensors. Various additive manufacturing methods are being used to develop these sensors including inkjet printing, aerosol jet printing, fused deposition modelling, direct ink writing, selective laser melting and others. Hydrogels have gained much attention in the literature due to their self-healing and shape transforming. Self-healing enables the sensor to recover from damages such as cracks and cuts incurred during use and this enables the sensor to have a longer operating life and stability. Various polymers are used as substrates on which the sensing conductive material is placed. Polymers including polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyvinyl acetate (PVA), and Kapton are extensively used in flexible sensors. The most widely used nanomaterials in flexible sensors are carbon and silver, however, other nanomaterials such as iron, copper, manganese dioxide and gold are also used to provide controlled levels of conductivity or other functional properties.

Lift-offs of the sensor could significantly affect the measurement signal and reconstruction of material properties when using the electromagnetic (inductive) eddy current sensor. Previously, various methods (including novel sensor designs, and features like zero-crossing frequency, lift-off point of intercept) have been used for eliminating the measurement error caused by the lift-off distance effect of the sensor. However, these approaches can only be applied for a small range of lift-off variations. In this paper, a linear relationship has been found between the sensor lift-off and ratio of dual-frequency eddy current signals, particularly under the high working dual frequencies. Based on this linear relationship, the lift-off variation can be reconstructed firstly with a small error of 2.5 % when its actual value is up to 10 mm (10.1 % for 20 mm). The reconstructed lift-off is used to further get the property of the material under a low single frequency. Experiments on different ferrous metals have been carried out for the testing of the reconstruction scheme. Since the inductance is more sensitive to the material property (and less sensitive to the lift-off) under low frequencies, the reconstruction error of the material property is much smaller than that of the lift-off, with 1.4 % under 12 mm (and 4.5 % under 20 mm).

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations present a sophisticated nano-scale computational approach that can play a critical role in material design for next generation batteries. One critical piece of information needed for MD simulations is the non-bonded potential parameters, which can be obtained through quantum mechanics (QM) calculations or experimental methods. However, experimental data is not available for exploratory and novel materials to derive the potential parameters. Also, the QM approach needs significant computational power and is too time consuming for large systems. On the other hand, current Artificial Intelligence techniques are faster, but they cannot be generalized across molecules and properties. As a result, there is a significant barrier to discovering and exploring new materials. Overcoming this barrier, in this work, we propose a Machine Learning (ML) based technique that can learn inter-atomic potential parameters for various particle-particle interactions employing QM calculations. This ML model can be used as an alternative for QM calculations for predicting non-bonded interactions in a computationally efficient manner. Using these parameters as input to MD simulations, we can predict a diverse range of properties, enabling researchers to design new and novel materials suitable for various applications in the absence of experimental data. We employ our ML-based technique to learn the Buckingham potential, a non-bonded interatomic potential. Subsequently, we utilize these predicted values to compute the densities of four distinct molecules, achieving an accuracy exceeding 93%. This serves as a strong demonstration of the efficacy of our proposed approach.

Halide perovskite materials gain enormous attention for their semiconducting properties, higher power conversion efficiency and potential applications in a wide range field of studies along with their two key limitations: stability and toxicity. In spite of great progress made on the halide perovskites and many promising research developments, overcoming these limitations is not realized yet. Therefore, coordination engineering of new framework for obtaining alternative new halide perovskite materials and fundamental understanding of the coordination chemistry and electronic interactions forming the structure of these newly engineered halide perovskite materials might be one way in order to overcome the issues related to both stability and toxicity. In this review, the current development of halide perovskite families, both lead halide perovskites and lead free halide perovskites followed by coordination engineering of the new frameworks to engineer new halide perovskite materials will be reviewed comprehensively. Moreover, all the concerns of the fundamental ideas of coordination chemistry and electronic interactions that are keys in forming the halide perovskite structures are discussed in detail and form the main aim of this review. Interestingly, we also discuss recent potential energy applications beyond photovoltaic and this review has completed with an essential and open question: ‘what could happen in the future of halide perovskites?’ in order to excite commercial enterprises and research institutions again as well as to get motivating new predictions on the future continuity of this field.

Entangled metallic wire material (EMWM) can be utilized as a novel elastic element in vibration isolation devices for mechanical actuators. This paper presents a vibration experiment aimed at investigating the degradation behavior of mechanical performance in EMWM under cyclic compressive environment. An electric vibration testing system, coupled with an isolation structure, is employed to apply compressive loads to the EMWM specimens. Through visual observations and quasi-static compression tests, the variations in geometric morphology and mechanical properties are studied, considering different relative densities and stress amplitudes. The results incidate a significant reduction in the compressed dimension of the specimens as the number of cycles increases, without any wire fractures or wear. Moreover, the mechanical properties exhibit an increasing secant modulus and a decreasing loss factor. These variations ultimately lead to a gradual deviation of the vibration characteristics of the isolation structure from its design state. To predict the mechanical property degradation of EMWM, prediction models are proposed, incorporating dimension, modulus and damping by fitting the obtained results. This research provides valuable experimental data and presents an effective method to determine the operational lifetime of vibration isolators utilizing EMWM.

Scattering of elastic waves in heterogeneous media has become one of the most important problems in the field of wave propagation due to its broad applications in seismology, natural resource exploration, ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation and biomedical ultrasound. Nevertheless, it is one of the most challenging problems because of the complicated medium inhomogeneity and the complexity of the elastodynamic equations. A widely accepted model for the propagation and scattering of elastic waves, which properly incorporates the multiple scattering phenomenon and the statistical information of the inhomogeneities is still missing. In this work, the author developed a multiple scattering model for heterogeneous elastic continua with strong property fluctuation and obtained the exact solution to the dispersion equation under the first-order smoothing approximation. The model establishes an accurate quantitative relation between the microstructural properties and the coherent wave propagation parameters and can be used for characterization or inversion of microstructures. Starting from the elastodynamic differential equations, a system of integral equation for the Green functions of the heterogeneous medium was developed by using Green’s functions of a homogeneous reference medium. After properly eliminating the singularity of the Green tensor and introducing a new set of renormalized field variables, the original integral equation is reformulated into a system of renormalized integral equations. Dyson’s equation and its first-order smoothing approximation, describing the ensemble averaged response of the heterogeneous system, are then derived with the aid of Feynman’s diagram technique. The dispersion equations for the longitudinal and transverse coherent waves are then obtained by applying Fourier transform to the Dyson equation. The exact solution to the dispersion equations are obtained numerically. To validate the new model, the results for weak-property-fluctuation materials are compared to the predictions given by an improved weak-fluctuation multiple scattering theory. It is shown that the new model is capable of giving a more robust and accurate prediction of the dispersion behavior of weak-property-fluctuation materials. Numerical results further show that the new model is still able to provide accurate results for strong-property-fluctuation materials while the weak-fluctuation model is completely failed. As applications of the new model, dispersion and attenuation curves for coherent waves in the Earth’s lithosphere, the porous and two-phase alloys, and human cortical bone are calculated. Detailed analysis shows the model can capture the major dispersion and attenuation characteristics, such as the longitudinal and transverse wave Q-factors and their ratios, existence of two propagation modes, anomalous negative dispersion, nonlinear attenuation-frequency relation, and even the disappearance of coherent waves. Additionally, it helps gain new insights into a series of longstanding problems, such as the dominant mechanism of seismic attenuation and the existence of the Mohorovičić discontinuity. This work provides a general and accurate theoretical framework for quantitative characterization of microstructures in a broad spectrum of heterogeneous materials and it is anticipated to have vital applications in seismology, ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation and biomedical ultrasound.

The paper deals with one new property of the linear time-optimal control problems with real eigenvalues of the system, no matter of the number of eigenvalue multiplicity. This property unveils a prospective of synthesizing the time-optimal control without the need of describing the switching hyper-surfaces. The already chrestomathy example of the time-optimal control of a double integrator is resolved by the new technique and compared with the classical synthesis.

The purpose of this paper is to prove strong convergent theorems for Browder's type iterations and Halpern's type iterations of a family of nonexpansive mappings in a complete geodesic space with curvature bounded above by a positive number. Moudafi's viscosity type methods are also discussed without the nice projection property.

A series of Eu³⁺ doped CaSiO₃/SiO₂ nano-phosphor powder of controlled grain size, crystalline structure, and chemical composition were synthesized using the microemulsion technique. XRD profiles of samples sintered over 600 of suggested phase shift from amorphous powder grain to more ordered polycrystalline powder of triclinic type wollastonite, CaSiO₃, with preferred crystal phase orientation of (112) and tetragonal type cristobalites of SiO₂. The grain size, crystallinity, and chemical composition of the host matrix, activator and sensitizer strongly affected both the absorption and emission bands of these samples. The amplitude of both the orange and red emission bands significantly increased with sintering temperature. The emission band is red-shifted with decreasing grain sizes. These bands displayed good sensitivity to ionic concentration of the Si⁴⁺, Ca²⁺, and Eu³⁺. With increasing Ca²⁺ ion concentration both the intensity of the red photoluminescence (PL) band increased and a concentration quenching observed. Increase in Si⁴⁺ ion concentration led to quenching in PL intensity of both the orange and red bands whereas the amplitude of the blue-band slightly increased. With increasing Eu³⁺ ion concentration the red-band initially increased whereas it started decreasing at higher sample concentration. In the presence of Ca²⁺ ion as a sensitizer, the sample showed a remarkable PL property—including—about 100% photon conversion efficiency and a two-fold increase in excitation and emission photons.

In recent years, cemented tailings/paste backfill (CPB) become more and more important to maintain mine structure and keep mining stope to be stable in deep underground mining. Deep mining process often accompanied by blasting, rock burst and other high-speed dynamic loading. So it’s important to make research on dynamic behavior and characteristics of CPB. In this paper, a series of dynamic loading tests on CPB specimens by SHPB were taken to study the characteristic of stress-strain, dynamic strength, deformation and failure of CPB. The experimental results revealed that some CPB specimens have 1~2 lower stress peaks after reaching the peak stress before getting completely failed. The greater the cement-sand ratio was, the more obvious of strain reaction was. This property mainly showed like follows. The greater the cement-sand ratio was, the greater the dynamic compressive strength was under similar velocity impact; the dynamic compressive strength and the average strain rate were quadratic equation relationship, and the greater the cement-sand ratio was, the higher increase rate of dynamic compressive strength caused by strain rate. The dynamic compressive strength enhancement factor increased with the increase of the strain rate, and is larger than that of rock samples. The failure forms of CPB specimens under low-speed impact were almost the same as them under static uniaxial and triaxle compression. The CPB specimens were crushed broken under the critical strain rate, similar to the failure mode of low strength concrete. The experimental research results will improve our understanding the dynamic mechanical property of CPB and help to guide the strength design of deep mining backfill.

Electric arc furnace oxidizing slag (EAF) has a high density of 3.0~3.7 t/m3 and therefore has a high bulk density when mixed with concrete. Extensive research has been conducted on the use of concrete with high unit volume weight as heavyweight concrete for radiation shielding concrete. In this study, to examine the possibility of developing a radiation shielding concrete, the physical properties of normal concrete, magnetite concrete, EAF concrete, and EAF concrete with added iron powder, were compared. Also, their radiation shielding performance was assessed through shielding tests against X-rays and γ-rays. While the unit volume weight of EAF concrete (3.21 t/m3) appeared lower than that of magnetite concrete (3.5 t/m3), the compressive strength of EAF concrete was greater than those of magnetite and normal concretes. The radiation shielding ratio of magnetite concrete was observed to be 93.9% from the X-ray shielding test, followed by 91.2% of EAF concrete, and 73.7% of normal concrete, indicating a linear relationship with unit volume weight. From the γ-ray shielding test, the performance of EAF and magnetite concretes appeared to be similar. Based on the excellent physical properties and radiation shielding performance of EAF concrete, its potential applicability as radiation shielding concrete was confirmed.

We prove a version of Ekeland Variational Principle (EkVP) in a weighted graph $G$ and its equivalence to Caristi fixed point theorem and to Takahashi minimization principle. The usual completeness and topological notions are replaced with some weaker versions expressed in terms of the graph $G$. The main tool used in the proof is the OSC property for sequences in a graph. Converse results, meaning the completeness of graphs for which one of these principles holds is also considered.

One new La (III) based coordination polymer , namely, [La(1,4-bdc)(H2O)].(H2O) (1) (tpa = terephthalic acid) has been synthesized through the solvothermal synthesis using terephthalic acid. Structural analysis reveals that compound 1 has a 3-D network with a cube topology. The solid state photolumienescence study shows that compound 1 has a strong emission peak at 680 nm upon excitation at 220 nm . The emission peak is characteristic of the red light emission in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The exploration of alternative antimalarial therapeutics is a requisite for the emergence of resistance against Artemisinin. Considering the required cost and time length of classical small molecule drug discovery process, phytochemical screening of traditionally used medicinal plant which are repertoire of active compounds with antimalarial activity has become popular. To investigate the antimalarial property of traditionally used medicinal plants, a number of Erythrina spp have been reviewed systematically where less studied E. fusca has been selected for further analysis. Phytochemical investigation yielded five compounds namely; Phaseolin, Phytol, β-amyrin, Lupeol, and Stigmasterol. In-vitro antimalarial drug sensitivity HRP-II ELISA was carried out against chloroquine (CQ) sensitive 3D7 and CQ-resistant Dd2 strains. Extracts showed significant antimalarial activity against 3D7 and Dd2 strains (IC₅₀ 4.94 – 22 µg/mL) and these compounds have been reported here for the first time. Molecular docking analysis showed high binding energy (−9.0 ± 0.32 kcal/mole) indicating high degree of interaction between Phaseolin and 14 clinically important Plasmodium falciparum proteins at the active site. Stable interaction was also observed between ligand and protein from molecular dynamics simulation analysis with high free energy (−75.156 ± 11.459) that substantiates the potential of Phaseolin as an antimalarial drug candidate.

Traditional phase change composites usually suffer poor mechanical property and easy collapsing in the phase changing process. Herein, a highly flexible phase change composite is fabricated using thermoplastic elastomer as the basic gel and the expanded graphite/paraffin as the filler. This new phase change composite shows a tensile strength of 2.1 MPa and a breaking elongation of 220%. It has a melting enthalpy of 145.4 J•g^-1 and a thermal conductivity of 2.2 W•m^-1•K^-1 with 70% of expanded graphite/paraffin. The thermoplastic elastomer based phase change composite exhibits great reversible property after 200 heating/cooling cycles. This flexible phase change composite demonstrates good photo-thermal energy charging/discharging property and shows great potential to be applied in the solar thermal energy systems.

The study proposes laser shock peening without a coating of high strength ultrafine bainitic steel to mitigating the fatigue failures for automotive and structural engineering applications. Laser pulse density of 2500 pulses/cm2 (75% overlapping) was optimised based on the induced residual stresses for employing the wide range of characterisations. The roughness and topographic results showed that surface roughening was controlled by tuning the laser pulse density. The High-Resolution X-ray Diffraction analysis confirmed the lattice misorientation resulting peak shift and the trend towards martensite phase transformations. The electron microscopic micro/nanostructure analyses revealed the grain refinement features such as nano-twins, micro shear bands and shear cells. The work hardening depth and nanomechanical properties were significantly enhanced. A fully reversed (R= -1) high-cycle fatigue tests extended the lifespan by an average of fifteen times than the untreated. Also, it has potential to repair the structural components effectively.

In this study, we had investigated the use of high-pressure homogenization (HPH) as a novel pretreatment method for the extraction of sodium alginate (SA) from Laminaria japonica. Our results demonstrated that under optimal condition of 100 MPa HPH pressure, 4 cycles, pH 6.0, and 0.5% ethylene diaminetetra acetic acid tetrasodium salt (EDTA) concentration (w/v) for 3.0 hours, the extraction yield of HPH reached 34%, which was higher than that achieved by previous methods such as complex enzyme hydrolysis (CE), ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE), and complex enzyme-ultrasonic combined method (CE-UC). To further characterize the extracted SA, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using SEM, FTIR, MRS, NMR, XRD, TGA, and T-AOC assay. Our findings revealed the following: 1) HPH treatment significantly disrupted the structure of L. japonica cells and reduced their crystallinity to 76.27%, the lowest among all pretreatment samples; 2) the extracted SA had a greater tendency to form elastic gels; and 3) the antioxidant activity of HPH-extracted SA reached 0.02942 mgVceq∙mg-1, which was the highest among all tested methods. Based on these results, we concluded that HPH extraction not only increased the yield of SA but also enhanced its antioxidant activity.

Tough and antimicrobial dual-crosslinked poly((trimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate chloride)-phytic acid hydrogel (pTMAEMA-PA) has been synthesized by adding chemical crosslinker and docking physical crosslinker of multivalent phytic acid into a cationic polyelectrolyte network. By increasing the loading concentration of PA, the tough hydrogel exhibits compressive stress of >1 MPa, along with high elasticity and fatigue-resistant properties. The enhanced mechanical properties of pTMAEMA-PA were stem from multivalent ion effect of PA via the formation of ion bridges within polyelectrolytes. In addition, a comparative study for a series of pTMAEMA-counterion complexes was conducted to elaborate the relationship between swelling ratio and mechanical strength. The study also revealed secondary factors, such as ion valency, ion specificity and hydrogen bond formation, holding crucial roles in tuning mechanical properties of the polyelectrolyte hydrogel. Furthermore, in bacteria attachment and disk diffusion tests, pTMAEMA-PA exhibits superior fouling resistance and antibacterial capability. The results reflect the fact that PA enables chelating strongly with divalent metal ions, hence, disrupting the outer membrane of bacteria, as well as dysfunction of organelles, DNA and protein. Overall, the work demonstrated a novel strategy for preparation of tough polyelectrolyte with antibacterial capability via docking PA to open up the potential use of PA in medical application.

This paper investigates the evolution of microstructures and precipitations of an ultra-low iron alloy 625 subjected to long term aging treatment by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction(XRD). Use ASTM G28A acid Fe3(SO4)2 erosion to represent intergranular corrosion weightlessness and corrosive morphology. The result shows that alloy at 750C by aging treatment for 40h, precipitated γ'' phase in the grain boundary. In high density area of γ'' phase, occurs γ'' phase to δ phase degeneration transformation by aging treatment for 200h and the needle-like δ phase becomes more with time prolonged. And γ'' phase degenerated to δ phase completely until treated for 1000h. The sample which has aging treatment tends to have intergranular corrosion and mainly because alloy element spreading leads to dilution area and grain boundary precipitated phase, plus interlaced δ phase’s dissolving, which makes sample grain particle fall off and this results in apparent weightlessness. The weightlessness rate(WLR) is related with precipitated volume score. With aging sensitization time change, can be described by Johnson-Mehl-Avrami equation, i.e.: $WLR=44.32\left[1-\text{exp}\left(-\frac{t}{10.99}\right)\right]+44.62\left[1-\text{exp}\left(-\frac{t}{327.8}\right)\right]+1.267\left(mm/a\right)$

Heritage conservation area designation is often resisted by communities due to concerns with overly strict regulations for property alterations and negative impacts on property values. This paper addresses these concerns by examining Freemans Bay and Onehunga – two Special Character Areas (SCAs) in Auckland, New Zealand. A property value analysis was used to assess the impact of SCA designation on property values and an online questionnaire survey gathered information on homeowners’ experiences and levels of satisfaction with living in an SCA. The results indicate that designated SCA properties have higher average values than non-designated properties and homeowners are overwhelmingly satisfied with living in a SCA. The main benefits are a sense of community and having certainty around the look and feel of their neighbourhood into the future. The main issue identified by respondents is the requirement for Resource Consent. The majority of people who had gone through the process found it to be a negative experience because of the high cost in terms of time and money. A historic urban landscape approach to the development of management plans and design guidelines is recommended to improve the implementation of the Special Character Areas in Auckland and beyond.

An amorphous silicon carbide (SiC) membrane with H2 permeance of 1.2E-7 mol･m^-2･s^-1･Pa^-1 and excellent H₂/CO₂ selectivity of 2600 at 673 K was successfully synthesized on a Ni-gamma-alumina-coated alpha-alumina porous support by counter diffusion chemical vapor deposition (CDCVD) using silacycrobutane (SCB) at 788 K. The dominant permeation mechanism for He and H₂ in the temperature range 323-673 K was activated diffusion. The SiC active layer was formed in Ni-gamma-Al₂O₃ intermediate layer. The thermal expansion coefficients mismatch between SiC active layer and Ni-gamma-Al₂O₃-coated alpha-Al₂O₃ porous support was eased by the low decomposition temperature of SiC source and membrane structure.

The topography and chemical composition modification of the titanium (Ti) implants play a decisive role in improving biocompatibility and bioactivity, accelerating osseointegration, and, thus, determining clinical success. In spite of the development of surface modification strategies, bacterial contamination is a common cause of failure. The use of systemic antibiotic therapy does not guarantee action at the contaminated site. In this work, we proposed a surface treatment for Ti implant that aim to improve its osseointegration and reduce bacterial colonization in surgery site due to local release of antibiotic. The Ti disks were hydrothermally treated with 3M NaOH solution to form a nanostructured layer of titanate on the Ti surface. Metronidazole was impregnated on these nanostructured surfaces to allow its local release. The samples were coated with poly(vinyl alcohol) - PVA films with different thickness to evaluate a possible control of drug release. Gamma irradiation was used to crosslink the polymer chains leading to a hydrogel layer formation and to sterilize the samples. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, FTIR, contact angle measurements, “in vitro” bioactivity, and drug release analysis. The alkaline hydrothermal treatment successfully produced intertwined, web-like nanostructures on the Ti surface, providing wettability and bioactivity to Ti samples (Ti+TTNT samples). Metronidazole was successfully loaded and released from Ti+TTNT samples coated or not with PVA. Although the polymeric film acted as a physical barrier to drug delivery, all groups reached the minimum inhibitory concentration for anaerobic bacteria. Thus, the surface modification method presented is a potential approach to improve the osseointegration of the Ti implant and to associate local drug delivery to dental implants, preventing early infections and bone failure.

With the aim to investigate the effect of parameter and quenching process on the joint of hot stamping steel by laser welding, the BR1500HS boron steel was welded by filling-wire laser welding with ER70-G welding wire under different parameters. The welded specimens were heated to 900℃ and held for 5min before water quenching. The universal material test machine, Optical micro-scope, Vickers hardness tester, scanning electron microscope and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) were used to characterize. The results showed that the macroscopic morphology of fusion zone (FZ) becomes from funnelform to hyperbolic curve shape when heat input increases and from hyperbolic curve shape to funnelform when wire-feed speed increases. The strength after quenching is more than 1557Mpa at heat input of 1040J/cm, wire feeding speed of 1.6m/min~1.8m/min and welding speed of 1.5m/min. EBSD test showed that the FZ and fine grain zone (FGZ) have more retained austenite (RA) than coarse grain zone (CGZ) before quenching and RA in FZ and heat affect zone (HAZ) decreased and distributed uniformed after quenching. The grain diameter in FZ distribute unevenly, with the maximum grain diameter larger than 40μm before quenching. After quenching, the grain diameter of FZ, HAZ and BM is more even and coarse grains in the FZ was refined. Before quenching, the microhardness of FZ and HAZ is of 450HV~500HV at different heat input and wire-feed speed and all region of joint keeps at 450HV~550HV after quenching. Most dimple and little river pattern in the joint fracture mor-phology before quenching indicates a well plasticity and most cleavage facet is observed after quenching due to the joint combine with martensite.

Recent years witnessed progressive broadening of the practical use of 3D-printed aluminium alloy parts, in particular for specific aerospace applications where weight saving is of great importance. Selective laser melting (SLM) is an intrinsically multi-parametric fabrication technology that offers multiple means of controlling mechanical properties (elastic moduli, yield strength, ductility) through the control over grains size, shape, and orientation. Ultimately, this approach implies that structural elements can be purposefully fabricated to reinforce specific zones and directions where higher mechanical loads are anticipated by design. Targeted control over mechanical properties is achieved through the tuning of 3D-printing parameters and may even obviate the need of heat treatment or mechanical post-processing. Systematic studies of grain structure for different printing orientation with the help of EBSD techniques in combination with mechanical testing at different dimensional levels are the necessary first steps to implement this agenda. Samples of 3D-printable Al-Mg-Si RS-333 alloy were fabricated in 3 orientations with respect to the principal build direction and the fast laser beam scanning direction. Sample structure and proper-ties were investigated using a number of techniques, including EBSD, in situ SEM tensile testing, roughness measurements and nanoindentation. The as-printed samples we found to display strong variation in Young’s modulus values from nanoindentation (from 43 to 66 GPa) and tensile tests (from 54 to 75 GPa), yield stress and ultimate tensile strength (100…195 and 130…220 MPa) in different printing orientations, and almost constant hardness of about 0.8 GPa. A further preliminary study was conducted of the effect of surface finishing on the mechanical performance. Surface polishing appears to reduce Young’s modulus and yield strength, but improves ductility, whereas the influence of sand blasting is more controversial. The experimental results are dis-cussed in connection with the grain morphology and orientation.

The excited-state lifetimes of the anticoagulant drug warfarin (W) in water and in the absence and presence of methyl-β-cyclodextrins (Me-β-CD) were recorded using time-resolved fluorescence measurements. Selective excitation of the open and cyclic protonated isomers of W were acquired with laser emitting diodes (LED) producing 320 and 280 nm excitation pulses, respectively. Formation of the inclusion complex was checked by UV–visible absorption spectroscopy, and the values of binding constants (2.9 × 10³ M^–1 and 4.2 × 10² M^–1 for protonated and deprotonated forms, respectively) were extracted from the spectrophotometric data. Both absorption and time-resolved fluorescence results established that the interior of the macromolecular host binds preferentially the open protonated form, red shifts the maximum of its absorption of light at ~305 nm, extends its excited-state lifetime, and decreases its emission quantum yield (ФF). Collectively, sequestration of the open guest molecules decreases markedly their radiative rate constants (kr), likely due to formation of hydrogen-bonded complexes in both the ground and excited states. Due to lack of interactions, no change was observed in the excited-state lifetime of the cyclic form in the presence of Me-β-CD. The host also increases the excited-state lifetime and ФF of the drug deprotonated form (W¯). These later findings could be attributed to the increased rigidity inside the cavity of Me-β-CD. The pKa values extracted from the variations of the UV–visible absorption spectra of W versus the pH of aqueous solution showed that the open isomer is more acidic in both ground and excited states. The positive shifts in pKa values induced by three derivatives of cyclodextrins: HE-β-CD, Ac-β-CD, and Me-β-CD supported the preferential binding of these hosts to open isomers over cyclic.

This paper proposes a lightweight joint with bamboo culm cross connection, which is constructed by screwing one side of the screw into the other side of the wooden plug, its simple construction makes it easy to manufacture and cost-effective. This form connects adjacent bamboo culms to form corner joints, and bolt connects adjacent bamboo culm frames to form edge joints, to explore the mechanical properties of the combination joints formed by corner joints and edge joints, by combining experiments and numerical simulations, the method discovered and explained the relationship and mechanism between the number and position of bolts and the stiffness of edge joints. A calculation model for frame-unit bamboo culm members considering semi-stiffness of joints is proposed, and the conversion equations between linear stiffness of corner and edge joint and their rotational stiffnesses are derived. By establishing the series and parallel relationship between the corner and edge joints in the assembled members, a generalized relational equation between the total stiffness of the assembled joint and the stiffness of the corner and edge joints is derived. A numerical simulation method for frame-unit bamboo culm members with semi-rigid joints is proposed, which can obtain the stiffness calculation formula of edge joints and the average rotational stiffness value of semi-rigid corner joints. A finite element analysis method based on semi-rigid joints is proposed for frame-unit bamboo culm members, and the internal force sketches and calculation methods for bamboo culms and joints are presented, which can be used for the internal force analysis and design of frame-unit bamboo culm lattice structures.

In this paper, a new method by combining cold drawing and martensitic transformation was proposed to produce ultrahigh-strength steel wire, and the effect of austenitizing heating rate on microstructure and mechanical properties was studied. Compared with Muffle furnace heating, salt bath heating has a much higher austenitizing heating rate, which is beneficial to obtain ultrafine-grained martensite for steel wire with a larger section. By salt bath hardening and low-temperature tempering, an ultrahigh strong (strength of 2.48 GPa) and tough (elongation of 6.0%) steel wire was produced. Moreover, to explore whether is it possible to replace long-time low-temperature tempering with short-time tempering at elevated temperatures to improve the tempering efficiency, the effect of tempering time on the evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties of the steel wires tempered at 350 °C was systematically studied. The results demonstrate that tempering at 350 °C for 30 s can endow the steel wire with comparable mechanical properties to that of the one tempered at 250 °C for 2 h. With tempering time prolonging, the strength decreases gradually with the precipitated phase transition from χ-Fe5C2 carbide into θ-Fe3C carbide and coarsening, which plays a major role in the strength decrease.

Nanocomposites of cyanate ester resin (CER) filled with three different reactive amino-functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) were synthesized and characterized. The addition of a small quantity (0.1 wt.%) of amino-POSS chemically grafted to the CER network led to increasing thermal stability of CER matrix. A significant increase of the glass transition temperature, Tg (DSC data), and the temperature of α relaxation, Tα (DMTA data), by 45-55 оС of CER matrix with loading of nanofillers was evidenced. CER/POSS films exhibited a higher storage modulus than that of neat CER in the temperature range investigated. It was evidenced that CER/aminopropylisobutyl (APIB)-POSS, CER/N-phenylaminopropyl (NPAP)-POSS, and CER/aminoethyl aminopropylisobutyl (AEAPIB)-POSS nanocomposites induced a more homogenous α relaxation phenomenon with higher Tα values and an enhanced nanocomposite elastic behavior. Furthermore, CER/amino-POSS nanocomposites possessed higher specific surface area, gas permeability (CO2, He), and diffusion coefficients (CO2) values than those for neat CER, due to increasing free volume of the nanocomposites studied that is very important for their gas transport properties. Permeability grew respectively by about 2 (He) and 3.5-4 times (СО2), and diffusion coefficient of CO2 increased approximately twice for CER/amino-POSS nanocomposites in comparison with the neat CER network. The efficiency of amino-functionalized POSS in improving the thermal and transport properties of the CER/amino-POSS nanocomposites increased in a raw of reactive POSS containing one primary (APIB-POSS) < eight secondary (NPAP-POSS) < one secondary and one primary (AEAPIB-POSS) amino groups. APIB-POSS had the least strongly pronounced effect, since it could form covalent bonds with the CER network only by reaction of one –NH2 group, while AEAPIB-POSS displayed the most highly marked effect, since it could easily be incorporated into the CER network via reaction of –NH2 and –NH– groups with –O–C≡N groups from CER.

The transferability of structure-property relationships for laser-pretreated metal adhesive joints to laser-pretreated metal – carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) bonds is investigated. Single-lap shear tests were performed on hybrid AW 6082-T6 – CFRP specimens pretreated with the same pulsed laser surface parameter sets on the metal surface as previously tested AW 6082-T6 – E320 metal adhesive joints. The fracture surfaces were characterized to determine the type of failure and elucidate differences and commonalities in the link between surface structures and single-lap shear strengths. Digital image analyses of the hybrid specimens fractured surfaces were used to quantify remaining CFRP fragments on the metallic joint side. The results indicate that high surface enlargements and the presence of undercut structures leads to single-lap shear strengths exceeding 40 MPa and 35 MPa for unaged and aged hybrid specimens respectively. While for the metal-polymer joints the trend from high strength to weakly bonded specimens was largely continuous with the degree of surface structuring, hybrid metal – CFRP joints exhibit a drastic drop in joint performance after aging if the laser-generated surface structures are less pronounced with low surface enlargements and crater depths. Surface features and hydrothermal aging determine whether the specimens fail cohesively or adhesively.

In this paper, initially a mathematical model is formulated for transient frequency of power system considering time delays which occur while transmitting the control signals in open communication infrastructure. Time delay negligence in a power system leads to improper measurement of frequency variation in power system. The study of impact of time delays on the stability of power system is performed by estimating the decay rate of frequency wave form using Kalman Filter (KF). In power system, there is a possibility of multiple time delays. This paper also focusses on developing Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) Algorithm with multiple model space using Kalman Filter (KF) as state estimator tool. The multiple time delays in power system is considered as multiple model space. The result shows that KF provides better estimate of correct model for a particular input-set. The qualitative properties of Riccati difference equation (RDE) in terms of state error covariance of IMMKF are also analyzed and presented.

The swift progress in low-dimensional nanocarbons, specifically in the realm of the authentic one-dimensional carbon chain featuring sp¹ hybridization, has unveiled exciting prospects for integrating them into cutting-edge technologies across diverse industries. To fully harness their potential, precise control over the growth process is necessary to obtain desired nanostructure and functionality. However, optimizing properties through traditional approaches has been challenging due to complex interactions. To address this, we implement a focused data-driven strategy for nanocarbon inverse design by leveraging a state-of-the-art data-driven nanocarbon genome approach (NCGA). By uncovering relationships between growth parameters and resultant traits, this serves as an expedient catalyst in engineering nanostructures with tailored attributes. We introduce an extensive array of technological approaches aimed at precisely controlling the growth process. These methods encompass stimulating and precisely adjusting synergistic effects, coordinating atomic vibrations at a collective level through the implementation of multilayer nano-interfaces, harnessing the potential of active screen plasma surface engineering, utilizing nano-patterning and allotropic phase transformations, incorporating heteroatom doping, and effectively directing self-assembly. These aim to unlock nanomaterials' latent potential and reveal novel neural pathways within the data-driven NCGA, enhancing its predictive capabilities. Specifically, triggering self-organization during growth can potentially unlock previously unexplored neural pathways. The data-driven NCGA offers a paradigm shift, accelerating discovery and design of nanocarbons with optimized, application-specific properties.

In order to maintain the best conditions of the building from the first day of opening, explorations of office buildings in the world investigated the approaches of optimizing the building operation and property facilities, whereas building managers often have trouble prioritizing improvements toward their sustainable objectives. The challenge is due to numerous equipment types in the building, which has various durability in years and represents users’ different feelings of importance and satisfaction. When faced with multiple improvement projects, building managers are often unable to determine the order of implementation.Hence, this research applies the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) using TAIPEI 101 Tower as a case study to explore the key factors affecting tenants’ willingness to lease office buildings by distributing questionnaires to real estate experts. By filtering out key indicators related to property facilities that users care about, this study used Importance and Satisfaction Analysis (IS Analysis) to identify items that need urgent improvement. The research revealed that air conditioning is the top priority for improvement through empirical evaluation and weight ranking. This study hopes to establish an evaluation model for facility improvements to help clarify the prioritization and defeat limited resources to projects effectively, which is helpful for sustainable property management.

In this investigation magnetic γ-Al2O3 ceramic nanocomposite particles bearing epoxide functionality are prepared following a multistep process. The ultimate nanocomposite particles are named as γ-Al2O3/Fe3O4/SiO2/poly(glycidyl methacrylate (PGMA). The surface property is evaluated by carrying out the adsorption study of Remazol navy (RN), a model reactive azo dye, on both γ-Al2O3/Fe3O4/SiO2 and γ-Al2O3/Fe3O4/SiO2/PGMA nanocomposite particles. The adsorption is carried out at the point of zero charge (PZC) to neutralize the effect of particle surface charge. The adsorption rate is very fast, reached equilibrium (qe) value within five min. Due to mesoporous structure of silica layer γ-Al2O3/Fe3O4/SiO2 nanocomposite particles possessed relatively higher specific surface area and magnitude of adsorption is dependent on the total specific surface area. The introduction of epoxide functionality favored high adsorption capacity in mass per unit surface area. The adsorption process strictly followed Langmuir model. Thermodynamic equilibrium parameters implied that irrespective of surface functionality the adsorption process is spontaneous and exothermic. Pseudo-second-order rate kinetic model is more appropriate to explain the adsorption kinetics.

In this study, we evaluated the cold drawing workability of two kinds of modified 9Cr-2W steel containing different contents of boron and nitrogen, depending on the temperature and time of normalizing and tempering treatments. Using ring compression tests at room temperature, the effect of intermediate heat treatment condition on workability was investigated. It was found that the prior austenite grain size can be changed by the austenite transformation, and the grain size increases with increasing temperature during normalizing heat treatment. Alloy B and Alloy N showed different patterns after normalizing heat treatment. Alloy N had higher stress than Alloy B, and the reduction in alloy N increased, while the reduction in alloy B decreased. Alloy B showed a larger number of initially formed cracks and a larger average crack length than Alloy N. Crack length and number increased proportionally in Alloy B as the stress increased. Alloy B had lower crack resistance than Alloy N due to boron segregation.

Ralstonia solanacearum is the pathogen responsible for Ralstonia solanacearum, which is soil-borne, infests plant conduits to cause disease.They are not easy to control and are harmful.Therefore the development of a controlled-release agent responsive to the pathogen's soil temperature and moisture conditions could aid in its control. Corn kernel powder is used as a carrier for Tetramycin biopesticide, with various compounds tested for bonding.They were then made by extrusion moulding.Temperature and wetness responsive components, including Pentaerythritol Tetrastearate, Pentaerythritol Tetraoleate, Polyethylene Glycol Stearate, and Polyethylene Glycol Monooleate,are compounded and coated onto Tetramycin cores to form an intermediate shell layer. Finally, Ethyl cellulose(EC)and Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose(HPMC) are dissolved and sprayed onto the outermost layer to complete the pellet's shell layer.After the evaluation of texture performance test,DSC analysis,TG test,temperature and humidity response performance test, as well as pellet cross-section SEM observation, field effectiveness test, etc., the preferred formulations were screened.The results showed that the preferred Core formulation:Corn kernel powder:Tetramycin aqueous:Xanthan gum mass ratio=13.5:23:2; Intermediate Shell layer:PETS: PETO: PEG400MO mass ratio=10:30:10; and Outer Shell layer: Ethyl cellulose (EC):Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) mass ratio=5:1.Under soil conditions of high incidence of Ralstonia solanacearum, i.e., sustained warmth (30-35℃) and high humidity (30% moisture content), the formulated pills showed a release rate of 95.18% to 96.24% over a period of 35 days. Moreover, they showed a stepwise cyclic release process under alternating warm and humid-dry and cold conditions.In field tests on tobacco, a relative preventive efficacy of 54.74% was achieved 106 days post-transplanting. Soil bacterial community structure analysis revealed a significant decrease (2.28-2.84 times) in the abundance of Solanaceae Raelia under Tetramycin pellet treatment compared to the control. Additionally, fungal community structure showed highter consistency initially across various soil depths, with diversity differences between soil layers reestablished later (106 days), while the predominant categories of bacteria and fungi remained unchanged.In this study, we successfully developed a nucleoshell-type slow-controlled release pill embedded with Tetramycin. This pill effectively responded to temperature and humidity changes, resulting in high efficacy in disease prevention.This development holds significant promise for effectively improving drug utilization and easing application challenges, offering broad prospects for Ralstonia solanacearum prevention and control in agriculture.

It has been well known that the exponential distribution is the only continuous distribution that has the memoryless property. Here, we observe that, if the exponential distribution dominates an economy as a probability distribution of income acquisition, then the memoryless property imposes equal opportunities on agents in this economy to acquire earnings. Based on this observation, we propose to identify the emergence of an exponential income distribution as a potential necessary condition for guaranteeing the equality of opportunity. Together with other conditions (such as social and economic mobility), it would promote equal opportunities for income acquisition among citizens. Empirically, we employ the latest data available from four representative market-economy countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and China) to demonstrate that the exponential distribution is a stylized feature of the income structure of the low- and middle-income class, which occupies the great majority of populations. By contrast, the top income classes in these countries obey the Pareto distribution. To validate the relationship between exponential distribution and equal opportunity, we empirically show how the income structure of the low- and middle-income class in China (from 1978 to 2015) evolved towards an exponential distribution after the market-oriented economic reformation.

Low temperature dielectric property of charge/orbital ordered manganite, Pr1-xCaxMnO3 for 0.40≤x≤0.50 is investigated systematically as a function of Ca-content, x. The Ca-content dependence of dielectric permittivity and dissipation factor exhibit distinct maxima around x=0.45. The overall dielectric response of charge ordered Pr1-xCaxMnO3 is dominated by polarization induced by polaron hopping and exhibits thermally activated relaxation behaviour. The dielectric relaxation behaviour over the investigated temperature range is analysed with the help of small polaron hopping model and as well as variable range hopping model. The estimated polaron parameters also display non-monotonic variation with x and exhibit broad minima between x=0.425-0.45. The observed results suggest that a modulation of checker board type charge ordering pattern in Pr1-xCaxMnO3 is possibly taking place in the Ca-content range of investigation 0.40≤x≤0.50.

We evaluated hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB) for use in radio frequency (RF) applications in which liquid crystals (LCs) are used in layered structures that have various cell gap conditions. HTAB is a surfactant that can self-align vertically on the surface of indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates, and can induce homeotropic alignment of the LCs. For implementing RF devices with HTAB and LCs, we should consider limitations caused by the design conditions which are different from conventional liquid crystal displays such as cell gap. We quantified the concentration of HTAB ([HTAB]) that is necessary to form and maintain a sufficiently dense vertical alignment of 5CB (4-Cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl). The required [HTAB] for full-homeotropic alignment was proportional to the cell gap until it was too large to support the transfer of the surface alignment to the LC, due to the weak anchoring nature of HTAB. We also showed the phase-change characteristic of the LC mixture depended on [HTAB] for the design of RF devices driven by light or heat. This work may help to guide the development of new approaches to designing efficient RF devices that use LCs.

(1) Background: Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders often experience psychological distress, which can affect the quality of childcare they provide. It is crucial to screen for psychiatric symptoms among these parents. The Core Symptom Index (CSI) is a widely used tool for assessing general symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms, with demonstrated validity and reliability across various populations. However, there is limited research on the validity and reliability of the CSI in the general Chinese population. This study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the CSI among parents of children with autism spectrum disorders using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). (2) Methods: A total of 794 Chinese parents raising children with autism participated in this study. All completed the CSI, along with the social inhibition subscale of the Interpersonal Problems Inventory and the Couple Satisfaction Index. Factorial validity was assessed using CFA to determine how well the bifactor three-factor model fits the data. Various structural models were compared using model fit indices. Convergent and discriminant validity were examined by exploring correlations with the social inhibition subscale and the Couple Satisfaction Index. Invariance testing of the CSI was conducted across multiple groups based on gender, age, and education using CFA. The reliability of the CSI was evaluated using McDonald’s omega coefficients. (3) Results: The bifactor model emerged as the best-fitting model for the data, suggesting that the total score of the CSI adequately represents overall psychiatric symptoms. The CSI exhibited significant correlations with the social inhibition subscale (r = 0.41, p < 0.01) and smaller correlation coefficients with the Couple Satisfaction Index (r = -0.16, p < 0.05), indicating both convergent and discriminant validity. Invariant tests supported scalar invariance levels based on gender and age but only partial invariance for education. The Chinese version of the CSI demonstrated high consistency, with McDonald's omega coefficients ranging between 0.86 and 0.95. (4) Conclusions: The bifactor model of the Chinese version of the CSI is validated, making it a suitable tool for measuring depression, anxiety, and somatization symptoms among parents of children with autism spectrum disorders. Further research on other Chinese populations is encouraged.

Despite the scientific and technological development, libraries of Jordanian universities suffer from an obvious lack of digital information resources, because for many reasons, the most important of these is the non-application of intellectual property legislation (IPL) related to these resources. This study investigated the reality of the application of intellectual property legislation related to digital information resources at the libraries of public universities in Jordan. The population study consisted of all employees of departments of digital information resources. The study sample was (74) employees. Texts of regulations for the intended libraries and the Jordanian copyright law No. (22) for the year (1992) were reviewed and analyzed. In addition, a questionnaire was developed regarding the actual application of intellectual property legislation relating to digital resources at the university libraries in Jordan. Results revealed that the application of IP legislation relating to digital resources at the libraries of public universities in Jordan was moderate and that the supervising to the libraries of universities from the National Library regarding the protection of intellectual property rights of digital resources was moderate. The study recommended the application of intellectual property legislation related to digital resources in the intended libraries, this could be achieved through including intellectual property legislation in the regulations of public services in the intended libraries, to provide for the terms of protecting IP rights for digital resources, improving the legislation, developing of the Jordanian copyright law to be compatible with digital information resources, providing the necessary support for these libraries, and emphasizing the role of the National Library.

This research aims to find out whether the synthetic 1, 2, 4-triazine and its derivatives have antifungal effects and can protect humans from infection with Candida albicans. Molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation are widely used in modern drug design to target a We are interested in using molecular docking and molecular dynamics modelling to investigate the interaction between the derivatives of 1, 2, 4-triazine and the resulting lanosterol 14 - demethylase (CYP51) of Candida albicans The inhibition of Candida albicans CYP51 is the main goal of our research. The 1, 2, 4-triazine and its derivatives have been docked to the CYP51 enzyme, which is involved in Candida albicans Multidrug Drug Resistance (MDR). Autodock tools were used to identifying the binding affinities of molecules against the target proteins. Compared to conventional fluconazole, the molecular docking results indicated that each drug has a high binding affinity for CYP51 proteins and forms unbound interactions and hydrogen bonds with their active residues and surrounding allosteric residues. The docking contacts were made using a 10 ns MD simulation with nine molecules. RMSD, RMSF, hydrogen bonds, and the Rg all confirm these conclusions. In addition, these compounds were expected to have a favorable pharmacological profile and low toxicity. The compounds are being offered as scaffolds for the development of new antifungal drugs and as candidates for future in vitro testing.

The paper focuses on the application of a multilevel, integrative and territorial approach to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. It points out the problems of the sectoral approach and discusses international recommendations that can be integrated into the planning methodology. The case study is the area of Djerdap National Park, which has an already established international and national importance. The research suggests that the cultural heritage in the area, with the exception of the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual localities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The interna-tional and national importance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the inte-gration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

Glycosidic linkage analysis was conducted on the unfractionated polysaccharides in the alcohol-insoluble residues (AIRs) prepared from six red seaweeds (Gracilariopsis sp., Prionitis sp., Mastocarpus papillatus, Callophyllis sp., Mazzaella splendens, and Palmaria palmata) using GC-MS/FID analysis of partially methylated alditol acetates (PMAAs). The cell walls of P. palmata primarily contained mixed-linkage xylans and small amounts of sulfated galactans and cellulose. In contrast, the unfractionated polysaccharides of the other five species were rich in galactans displaying diverse 3,6-anhydro-galactose and galactose linkages with varied sulfation patterns. Different levels of cellulose were also observed. This glycosidic linkage method offers advantages for cellulose analysis over traditional monosaccharide analysis that is known for underrepresenting glucose in crystalline cellulose. Relative linkage compositions calculated from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements showed that anhydro sugar linkages generated more response in the latter detection method. This improved linkage workflow presents a useful tool for studying polysaccharide structural variations across red seaweed species. Furthermore, for the first time, relative linkage compositions from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements, along with normalized FID and total ion current (TIC) chromatograms without peak assignments, were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the technique's potential to differentiate various red seaweed species.

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

The profile of secondary metabolites occurring in apple cuticular layer is not only characteristic for particular apple cultivar, but also dynamically reflects various external factors in growing environment. In this study, the possibility to authenticate apple samples based on analysis of their cuticular layer extracts was investigated. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) was employed for obtaining metabolomic fingerprints. In total, 274 authentic apple samples, four cultivars harvested within the seasons 2020 to 2022 in the Czech Republic and Poland were analysed. The generated complex data processed by univariate and multivariate statistical methods enabled to build classification models for discrimination of apple cultivars as well as their geographical origin. The models showed very good performance in differentiation of Czech and Polish samples for three of four cultivars: ‘Gala’, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Idared’, moreover, the validity of the models was verified over harvest seasons. The diagnostic markers, besides metabolites of triterpene biosynthetic pathway, mainly represented wax esters. ‘Jonagold’, which is known to be susceptible to mutations, was the only cultivar for which the unambiguous classification of geographical origin was not possible.

Strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora is one of the main diseases of strawberry and significantly impacts the yield and quality of strawberry fruit. There are now no effective control techniques available except for fungicide sprays, which may directly impact consumers. Biological control is becoming an alternative method for the control of plant diseases to replace or decrease the application of traditional synthetic chemical fungicides. Trichoderma is widely used as a biological agent for controlling strawberry root rot. In order to provide resources for screening the highly effective biocontrol fungus for controlling strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora, the biocontrol mechanism,the control effects of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 against strawberry root rot and growth-promoting effects on strawberry seedlings were investigated by plate culture, microscopy observation and root drenching methods.The results showed that CMT10 had obvious competitive, antibiotic and hyperparasitism effects on Neopestalotiopsis clavispora CMGF3. The CMT10 could quickly occupy nutritional space, and the inhibition rates of CMT10 against CMGF3 in confrontation culture on 7 d was 65.49%. The inhibition rates of volatile metabolite and fermentation metabolite produced by CMT10 against CMGF3 were 79.67% and 69.84%, respectively. The mycelium of strain CMT10 can act as hyperparasites by making contacting, winding and penetrating hyphae of CMGF3. Pot experiment showed that the biocontrol efficacy of CMT10 on strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora was 63.00%. CMT10 had obvious promotion effect on strawberry growth, the plant height, root length, total fresh weight, root fresh weight, stem fresh weight and root dry weight, with the promotion rates were 20.09%, 22.39%, 87.11%, 101.58%, 79.82% and 72.33%, respectively. Overall, this study showed the ability of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 to control strawberry root rot and their potential to develop as novel biocontrol agents to replace chemical fungicides for eco-friendly, sustainable agriculture.

Apis mellifera, especially weak ones, are highly vulnerable to Carpoglyphus lactis mites, which can rapidly infest and consume stored pollen, leading to weakened colonies and potentially colony collapse. This study aimed to ascertain and investigate the prevalence of this mite in honeybee colonies across 9 provinces in the Republic of Korea (ROK). A total of 615 honeybee colonies were collected, from 66 apiaries during the spring and 58 apiaries during the summer of 2023. A 1,242 bp segment of the the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction method. The detection levels of C. lactis in the honeybees were compared between winter and summer. Based on the COI sequence analysis, the nucleotide sequence similarity of C. lactis mites isolated in the ROK with those from China (NC048990.1) was found to be 99.5%, and with those from the United Kingdom (KY922482.1) was 99.3%. This study is the first report of C. lactis in Korean apiaries. The findings in this study demonstrate a significantly higher detection rate in winter, which is 4.1 times greater than that in summer (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the results underscore the usefulness of molecular diagnostic techniques for detecting C. lactis mites.

COX II containing a dual core CuA active site is one of the three core subunits of mitochondrial Cco, which plays a significant role in the physiological process. In this report, the full-length cDNA of COXⅡ gene was cloned from Sitophilus zeamais, which had an ORF of 684 bp encoding 227 amino acids residues. The predicted COXⅡ protein had a molecular mass of 26.2 kDa with pI value of 6.37, and multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicated that Sitophilus zeamais COXⅡ had high sequence identity 78.51% with the COXⅡ of other insect species, especially similarity to sitophilus oryzae. This gene was subcloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a, and induced by IPTG in E.coli Transetta (DE3) expression system. Finally the COXⅡ with 6-His tag was purified using affinity chromatography with Ni²⁺-NTA agarose. WB showed the recombinant COXⅡ was about 44 kD, and the concentration of fusion protein was 50μg/mL. UV-spectrophotometer and infrared spectrometer analysis showed that recombinant COXⅡ could catalyze the oxidation of substrate Cytc, and influenced by AITC. It was found that AITC could form a hydrophobic region with COXⅡ protein via molecular docking, besides, a sulfur atom of AITC structure could form a length of 2.9 Å hydrogen bond with Leu-31. These results will provide valuable information for elucidating the role of COXⅡ in Sitophilus zeamais responses to AITC, meanwhile, it will helpful to carry out a point mutation in AITC binding sites for the future research.

The properties of the annual, semiannual and triennial oscillations (AO, SAO and TO) in the middle atmosphere have been investigated using the TIMED/SABER temperature data. The Lomb-Scargle and wavelet spectra were used to determine the dominant oscillations in the background temperature field. The AO is prominent at the mid-latitudes. The AO amplitudes present an asymmetry between the two Hemispheres, being larger in the mesosphere than in the stratosphere. The SAO dominates the tropical regions, with three amplitude maxima at altitudes of 45, 75, and 85 km. The SAOs in the upper mesosphere (75 km) are out of phase with those in the mesopause (85 km) in the tropical regions, which can generate an enhancement of 11 K at each equinox, contributing to the lower mesospheric inversion layer. The TO is significant in the tropical region, with amplitude being maximum at 35, 45 and 85 km. Result shows that there may be potential interaction by the TO with SAO at 85km at the equator. The relation between ENSO and TO has also been discussed. The ENSO signal may modulate the amplitude of the TO, mainly in the lower stratosphere. The real origin of the TO may lie in the wave-mean-flow interaction.

This paper is focused on typical rural settlements in the Stara Planina Mountain area in Serbia. They are distinguished by their authenticity, identity and character, and they have still not been destroyed by inappropriate development as is the case in some other mountain areas in Serbia, where the effects of urbanization, globalization and homogenization are obvious. Consequently, there is a need to prevent these effects in mountain areas where there is a threat of disbalance between development and the inherited natural and cultural values. The paper starts from several important concepts that relate contemporary approaches to cultural heritage preservation, place morphology and planning future development. The concept definitions from recent documents from related fields are used. These concepts are then applied to the area of Stara Planina Mountain and its rural settlements. The necessity for an integrative approach to planning this area with significant natural and anthropogenic potential is pointed out, including its integration into international programs of sustainable development.

The research reported on this paper was aimed at improving the overall efficiency of a PDO certified artisanal cheese production process. Being a PDO certified foodstuff by the EU, it is considered to have properties and qualities determined by the geographical environment in which is made, with its production taking place in a specific and determined geographical location, in this case the Serra da Estrela region. In that sense, the authors conducted a mapping according to a systemic perspective of the processes involved in the context of manufacturing and distribution of certified Serra da Estrela cheese. Numerous methods were used throughout the process, such as a systemic design analysis, and techniques derived from ethnographic methods, which led to the collection of data in the field and consequently provided the immersion of the researcher in genuine work situations. Critical points were identified and emphasized in the systemic map with the purpose of encouraging initiatives to address and overcome the gaps and inefficiencies detected. The systemic design analysis triggered the development of design work. Observations following an ethnographic approach identified ergonomic risks in cheese making during the process of cutting excess chips, fostering the emergence of musculoskeletal disorders at the wrist. A tool that fits best to the task at hand was developed. A prototype of the new tool enabled collecting feedback from use in the work context, in order to inform product development. The domains of agricultural production and microbiology, considering the specific microorganisms developed trough the ripening process of the cheese, turned out to be aspects of high importance for the issue under focus, contributing to a broader understanding of the ripening process and its risks, simultaneously improving the efficiency and success of cheese production. If it were not for the systemic analysis, which served as a link between the boundaries of distinct domains such as the risk of microorganism contamination, ergonomics, energy efficiency, legislation and regulation policies, transportation challenges and economic viability, approached throughout the research. Simultaneously creating bridges between them, the various problems might not have been detected in the first place, as they are usually addressed in specialized disciplines, predetermined by the restrictions of each specific area of knowledge. As a consequence of the development of this research, which was based on an analysis that sought to establish possible connections between various disciplines and tried to constantly maintain a holistic perspective, making new connections and observing the issues from a new angle, apart from the already established methodologies. All this allowed to lay out the seeds for the development of a plan to tackle the critical points identified by the systemic analysis reported in this paper.

Promoting green development has become an important way to optimize the ecological and economic structure and promote sustainable development. The Yangtze River Economic Belt is an important economic corridor in China, and it remains to be examined whether the implementation of environmental regulations has enhanced the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of cities. This paper calculates the green total factor productivity of 107 cities within the Yangtze River Economic Belt by using the super-efficient SBM model and the GML index with Chinese city panel data from 2007-2019 and measures the intensity of environmental regulations through textual analysis. The bidirectional fixed-effects model constructed in this paper suggests an inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and GTFP, which is confirmed by a series of robustness tests. Green technology innovation and advanced industrial structure play a mechanism role in this. In regions with lower levels of green technology and industrial structure, the inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and green total factor productivity is more significant. In addition, the phenomenon of GTFP rising and then falling because of environmental regulation is more obvious in cities in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and outside the urban agglomerations. Therefore, when formulating environmental regulation policies, it is necessary to balance the relationship between economic development and environmental protection and harmonize the environment and economic development of the entire Yangtze River Basin.

The wetlands in northeastern Bangladesh are home to some of the most prolific and valuable ecosystems on the planet, offering a wide range of benefits to both the local and wider communities. A limited number of research on this topic have been carried out in various wetlands in coastal hilsa, but none have been located in the northeastern region of Bangladesh. Thus, the goal of this study was to better understand the most commercially relevant species (anadromous hilsa) in northeastern Bangladesh as well as to assess the wetland ecosystem services more thoroughly with the contribution of their fish genetic resources. In addition to laboratory studies, fieldwork was done in the fishing settlements along the Surma River, Hakaluki Haor, and Tanguar Haor. The study classified 77 fish species into 21 subcategories of ecosystem services, of which 56% were not threatened, 17% were vulnerable, and 10% were highly endangered. The species Hilsa was found to be the most economically significant, accounting for 1% of the GDP overall. The study determined if the hilsa stock of the examined wetlands maintains a single or several subpopulations in comparison to other parts of the country when they migrate from saline water to northeastern Bangladesh (freshwater). But when compared to other groups, the FST score was between 0.000 to 0.017, indicating that the populations are identical and that there is genetic material sharing between them. Additionally, these statistics imply that the Sylhet haor and adjacent river systems contain a single stock of Hilsa fish. Nevertheless, a number of stresses and risks, including overexploitation, illicit and destructive fishing, siltation, and natural disasters like flash floods, have been linked to changes in the supply of hilsa and other ecosystem services. This study also emphasizes the necessity of policy attention and research to address the concerns.

In this paper, we introduce a specialized, fully automated experimental arrangement designed for assessing the effectiveness of augmented and virtual reality technologies in healthcare setting and explore its design principles focusing on depth sensor characterization. The main goal of this project is to establish a robust benchtop platform for the quantitative evaluation of extended reality technologies in a controlled environment, emphasizing the practical assessment of augmented reality head-mounted devices. We outline a design concept and considerations for an experimental configuration aimed at creating a realistic testing environment. This apparatus comprises an observation platform mounted on a three-degree-of-freedom motorized system and a test phantom stage. Focusing on real-case scenarios, we utilized a range of sensors, including readily available range-sensing cameras and commercial augmented reality headsets, such as the Intel RealSense L515 LiDAR camera, mounted on the motion control system. The setup enabled automated data collection and facilitates controlled assessments and validation of various facets of augmented reality technologies, including object, hand, and head tracking, as well as static and dynamic image registration. This paper describes the system architecture, the process of automated data collection, and presents several evaluation studies conducted with this setup, providing insights into the quality and temporal noise associated with static or moving objects or observers in augmented reality applications.

To conduct high-precision and high-resolution numerical simulation of complex flow structures in turbomachinery, a high-order finite volume weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for the large eddy simulation (LES) is improved and embedded into the three-dimensional viscous unsteady CFD solver NUAA-Turbo. Firstly, the spectral characteristics and unsteady convergence of the improved WENO scheme are studied. Compared with the classical WENO scheme, the improved WENO scheme has better dissipation and dispersion characteristics and faster convergence speed. Then, the coefficient CW of the Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity (WALE) model is calibrated by decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence (DHIT) test case. Finally, the scheme is applied to conduct high-precision LES calculations of turbulent boundary layer flow, supersonic compression corner flow, and low-pressure turbine cascade separation flow. The numerical simulation results show that this WENO scheme has excellent shock wave capture ability and turbulence resolution and can capture more flow field details with less mesh size, greatly reducing the computational cost and laying a foundation for large-scale engineering application of LES.

To secure logic circuits against the illegal copying the insertion of the so-called key bit inputs using XOR/XNOR gates has been proposed in . The inserted gates modify (lock) the behavior of the original circuit and only the correct choice of the secret key bits guarantees the equivalent behaviour of the locked circuit to the original circuit. To break this kind of security, i.e. to find the secret key bits, there was a SAT solver based attack proposed in . The aim of this work is to experimentally verify this attack on several locked circuits with various number of primary inputs and outputs and with various number of gates. Except for the random placement of the key gates we evaluate also the positioning with chaining elimination. The obtained and presented results show that we were able to unlock 10 of 11 circuits within few minutes on a common PC.

Intermetallic compounds are increasingly being expected to utilize in tribological environments, but to date the works are hindered by insufficient ductility at low and medium temperature. This paper presents a novel multiphase intermetallic alloy with the chemical composition of Mo-40Ni-13Si (at.%). Microstructure characterization reveals that a certain amount of ductile Mo phases formed during the solidification process of ternary Mo-Ni-Si alloy melt, which is undoubtedly beneficial to the ductility improvement of intermetallic alloy. Tribological properties of the designed alloy, including wear resistance, friction coefficient and metallic tribological compatibility, were evaluated under dry sliding wear test conditions at room temperature. Results suggested that the multiphase alloy possesses an excellent property for room-temperature wear applications, which is attributed to the unique microstructural features and thereby good combination in hardness and ductility. The corresponding wear mechanism is also reported by observing the worn surface, subsurface and wear debris of alloy, which to be found is soft abrasive wear.

With the integrated development of the Internet, wireless sensor technology, cloud computing, and mobile Internet, there has been a lot of attention given to research about and applications of the Internet of Things. A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is one of the important information technologies in the Internet of Things; it integrates multi-technology to detect and gather information in a network environment by mutual cooperation, using a variety of methods to process and analyze data, implement awareness, and perform tests. This paper mainly researches the localization algorithm of sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network. Firstly, a multi-granularity region partition is proposed to divide the location region. In the range-based method, the RSSI (Received Signal Strength indicator, RSSI) is used to estimate distance. The optimal RSSI value is computed by the Gaussian fitting method. Furthermore, a Voronoi diagram is characterized by the use of dividing region. Rach anchor node is regarded as the center of each region; the whole position region is divided into several regions and the sub-region of neighboring nodes is combined into triangles while the unknown node is locked in the ultimate area. Secondly, the multi-granularity regional division and Lagrange multiplier method are used to calculate the final coordinates. Because nodes are influenced by many factors in the practical application, two kinds of positioning methods are designed: the unknown node is in the positioning unit or not. When the unknown node is on the side of the positioning unit, we use the method of vector similarity. Moreover, we use the centroid algorithm to calculate the ultimate coordinates of unknown node. When the unknown node is not on the side of the positioning unit, we establish a Lagrange equation containing the constraint condition to calculate the first coordinates. Furthermore, we use the Taylor expansion formula to correct the coordinates of the unknown node. In addition, this localization method has been validated by establishing the real environment.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a record of brain activity. Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology formed by the EEG signal has become one of the hotspots at present. How to extract the feature signal of EEG is the most basic research of BCI technology. In this paper, A new method of recognizing fatigue, conscious, concentrated state of human brain is proposed by the combination of discrete wavelet transform and the neural network based on EEG signal. First of all, the law signal is preprocessed by the wavelet denoising method because the law EEG signal contains a large number of high frequency noise, which is decomposed into multi-layer high frequency signal and low frequency signal. thus, δ wave, θ wave, α wave, β wave are obtained by the wavelet transform. And then, frequency band energy of the different wave is regards as the feature signal of EEG. In the experiment, the feature signal is classified by radial basic function (RBF) and annealed chaotic competitive learning network (ACCLN). RBF and ACCLN networks are trained with 500 sets of sample data and are tested by 100 sets of samples in different mental states. The experimental results show that the average accuracy of RBF network under three conditions are 88.75%, 88.25%, 88.5%, respectively, and the correct rate of ACCLN network is 97%, 98%, 98%, respectively.

Early discharge after childbirth has led to a rise in neonatal readmission, becoming a major concern in recent decades. Our research aimed to identify the risk factors and incidence of neonatal readmission, as well as explore preventive measures. Our study at the Clinical Hospital of Pediatrics in Ploiești, Romania included 108 neonates admitted during the neonatal period. This accounted for 2.06% of all admissions (5226). The most prevalent cases were malnutrition (25%), fever (20.3%) and bronchiolitis (17.5%). Diarrhea and infectious gastroenteritis were also observed (14.8%), along with acute rhinoconjunctivitis (9.2%) and late onset sepsis (3.7%). No deaths were recorded. The most significant characteristics identified were number of children (p<0.001) and age at maternity discharge (p<0.001). By following the prevention rules, malnutrition, feeding errors, and infections can be avoided. This includes practicing proper hand hygiene for both mothers and medical staff, as well as educating and demonstrating to mothers the benefits of breastfeeding. In addition, all newborns discharged from the maternity ward should benefit from follow-up at 7-10 days of life. Our results confirm the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary team and endorse promoting breastfeeding. Implementing quality control measures and regularly evaluating the surveillance program will help improve its effectiveness.

Wearable technology has been proposed as a potential tool to change the way of human life, such as the smart bracelet and the Google Glass. In the wearable technology, the inertial sensor has great significance in tracking the object movements. The paper focused on detecting the movements of user’s finger based on the inertial sensor to give the control signals. Firstly, the attitude matrix, which represented the transformation relation of carrier coordinate system and the navigation coordinate system, was obtained. Secondly, the attitude matrix was expressed based on the quaternions. Thirdly, the finger gesture was processed by the attitude matrix to get the attitude angle. Finally, the robot was controlled by attitude angle to make the moving action. The experimental results showed the detection of the finger movement is effective.

Two interesting compounds such as quaternary ammonium lignin(QAL) and 2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (P507) were synthesized as ionic liquids(QP-ILs) for the extraction of metal ions. The extraction behavior of Co(II) and Ni(II) from chloride solution was compared between QP-ILs and P507. The results showed that the extraction rates of Co(II) and Ni(II) in the two solutions varied with the extraction conditions, but QP-ILs has stronger extractability for cobalt than P507, while Ni is on the contrary. Under the same conditions, the Co/Ni separation performance(βCo/Ni) in QP-ILs is superior to that in p507. At pH4.0, 55℃, concentration of 20%, extraction time of 10 minutes, the βCo/Ni of QP-ILs reached to 2703, while that of P507 was only 164. In conclusion, QP-ILs was more efficient than P507 for separating Co from mixed solutions.

Brain aging causes a wide variety of changes at molecular and cellular levels, leading to the decline of cognitive functions and increased vulnerability to neurodegenerative disorders. The research aimed at understanding the aging of the brain has made much progress in recent decades. Technological innovations such as single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq), proteomic analyses, and spatial transcriptomic analyses have facilitated the research on the dynamic changes occurring within neurons, glia, and other cells along with their impacts on intercellular communication during aging. In this review, we introduce recent trends of how neurons and glia change during aging and discuss the impact of the brain microenvironment such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

In this paper, we study the semilinear pseudo-parabolic equations $\displaystyle u_{t} - \triangle_{\mathbb{B}}u - \triangle_{\mathbb{B}}u_{t} = \left|u\right|^{p-1}u$ on a manifold with conical singularity, where $\triangle _{\mathbb{B}}$ is Fuchsian type Laplace operator investigated with totally characteristic degeneracy on the boundary $x_{1} = 0$. Firstly, we discuss the invariant sets and the vacuum isolating behavior of solutions with the help of a family of potential wells. Then, we derive a threshold result of existence and nonexistence of global weak solution: for the low initial energy $J(u_{0})<d$, the solution is global in time with $I(u_{0}) >0$ or $\displaystyle\Vert \nabla_{\mathbb{B}}u_{0}\Vert_{L_{2}^{\frac{n}{2}}(\mathbb{B})} = 0$ and blows up in finite time with $I(u_{0}) < 0$; for the critical initial energy $J(u_{0}) = d$, the solution is global in time with $I(u_{0}) \geq0$ and blows up in finite time with $I(u_{0}) < 0$. The decay estimate of the energy functional for the global solution and the estimates of the lifespan of local solution are also given.

Multimodal remote sensing data classification can enhance the model’s ability to distinguish land features through multimodal data fusion. In this context, how to help models understand the relationship between multimodal data and target tasks is the focus of researchers. Inspired by human feedback learning mechanisms, causal reasoning mechanisms, and knowledge induction mechanisms, this paper integrates causal learning, reinforcement learning, and meta learning into a unified remote sensing data classification framework and proposed the causal meta-reinforcement learning (CMRL). First, based on feedback learning mechanisms, we have overcome the limitations of traditional implicit optimization of fusion features and customized a reinforcement learning environment for multimodal remote sensing data classification tasks. Through feedback interactive learning between agents and the environment, we help them understand the complex relationships between multimodal data and labels, thereby achieving full mining of multimodal complementary information. Second, based on the causal inference mechanism we designed causal distribution prediction action, classification reward, and causal intervention reward, capturing pure causal factors in multimodal data and cutting off false statistical associations between non-causal factors and class labels. Finally, based on the knowledge induction mechanism, we designed a bi-layer optimization mechanism based on meta-learning. By constructing a meta training task and meta validation task simulation model in the generalization scenario of unseen data, we helped the model induce cross-task shared knowledge, thereby improving its generalization ability for unseen multimodal data. The experimental results on multiple sets of multimodal datasets show that the proposed method achieved state-of-the-art performance in multimodal remote sensing data classification tasks.

Moso bamboo is famous for fast growing and biomass accumulation, as well as high annual output for timber and bamboo shoots. These high outputs require high nutrient inputs to maintain and improve stand productivity. Soil nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are important micronutrients for plant growth and productivity. Due to high variability of soils, analysing spatial patterns of soil N, P and K stocks is necessary for scientific nutrient management in Moso bamboo forests. In this study, soils were sampled from 138 locations across Yong’an City and ordinary kriging was applied for spatial interpolation of soil N, P and K stocks. Soil N stock showed a strong spatial dependence while soil N and P stocks presented a moderate spatial dependence, indicating soil N was mainly controlled by intrinsic factors while soil N and P stocks were controlled by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Different spatial patterns were observed for soil N, P and K stocks across the whole study area, indicating that fertilizations with different ratios of N:P:K should be applied for different sites to maintain and improve stand productivity. The total soil N, P and K stocks within 0-60 cm were 0.624, 0.020 and 0.583 Tg, respectively.

With the increasing concern of environment, the energy-efficiency scheduling of manufacturing industry is becoming urgent and popular. In turning processes, both spindle speed and processing time can affect the final energy consumption and thus the spindle speed and scheduling scheme need to be optimized simultaneously. Since the turning workshop can be regarded as the flexible flow shop, this paper formulates a mixed integer linear programming model for energy-efficient scheduling of flexible flow shop. Accordingly, a new decoding method is developed by considering of the optimization of spindle speed and scheduling scheme simultaneously, and an estimation of distribution algorithm adopting the new decoding method is proposed to solve large-size problems. The parameters of this algorithm are determined by statistical technique with a simplified practical case. In order to validate the proposed method, a case from practical factories is studied, in which the makespan can be shortened by 25.22%, and the consumed energy can be saved by 5.48%. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical model and algorithm.

Lignocellulosic biomass, an abundant and renewable resource, serves as a crucial raw material for the production of biofuels, biochemicals, and various value-added products. This paper aims to develop and optimize a mild alkaline treatment of sawdust assisted by ultrasound, along with enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated material. The sonochemical pretreatment with alkali emerged as the optimal approach to enhance the susceptibility of cellulose to subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis, thereby increasing the yield of reducing sugars. A comparative study was performed using various ultrasonic applicators (horn and bath) and conventional assisted alkaline pretreatment. The ultrasonic assisted pretreatment revealed a higher delignification as 68% (horn) and 57% (bath) comparing with conventional pretreatment. Processes were optimized using a statistical analysis based on a 23 factorial design. The ratio between sawdust and alkanine solution (RSL = 0.5–1.5 g/100 mL), US amplitude (A = 20–60%), and working temperature (t = 30–50 °C) were selected as process factors. The optimal operating conditions to maximize the reducing sugar yield (138.15 mg GE /gsubstrate) were found as following: solid/liquid ratio RSL,opt = 1.25 g/100 mL, US amplitude Aopt = 60%, and and pretreatment temperature topt = 50 °C. The overall outcomes clearly confirmed the intensification of delignification by ultrasound assisted alkaline pretreatment

At 12:28 UTC (8:28 PM, local time) on 15 January 2023, a shallow, moderate earthquake with a magnitude (Mw) of 4.7 and a depth of one (1) kilometer shook the northern part of Leyte Island in the central part of the Philippines. The ground shaking was felt at PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale (PEIS) VI, (very strong) equivalent to Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) VI in areas along the strike of the Leyte segment of the Philippine Fault. Even though this earthquake is classified as moderate in size, significant geologic, structural, and socio-economic impacts were documented. Most of the earthquake impacts that include surface rupture, liquefaction, and mass movements are limited near the epicentral area. The earthquake produced an 8-km-long surface rupture, the first documented rupture generated by a magnitude &lt;6 along the Philippine Fault, and is unusual in other surface rupturing earthquakes worldwide. It injured 18 persons and damaged 434 residential buildings and 26 public infrastructures which amounts to about 500 thousand US dollars. Structural damages were caused by surface rupture and/or poor engineering construction practices. Analysis of the seismic waveform and recorded peak ground acceleration (PGA) suggests that the subsurface geology influenced the ground motion amplification in an area near the epicenter. Based on the hypocenter, focal mechanism solution, aftershock distribution, and actual field observation, the causative fault for this event is the northern end of the Philippine Fault – Leyte segment. Moderate in size, this earthquake emphasizes the need and importance of documenting moderate-sized earthquakes as a tool and guide for medium and long-term earthquake risk assessment and resiliency.

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

A simple design of an ultrathin six-band polarization-insensitive terahertz perfect metamaterial absorber (PMMA) composed of a metal cross-cave-patch resonator (CCPR) placed over a ground plane was proposed and investigated numerically. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the average absorption peaks are up to 95% at six resonance frequencies with high quality-factors (>65). In addition, the absorption properties can be kept stability for both normal incident transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) waves. The physical mechanism behind the observed high level absorption is illustrated by the electric and power loss density distributions. The different absorption mainly originates from the higher order multipolar and multipolar plasmon resonance of the structure, which are sharp different to the most previous studies of the PMMAs. Furthermore, the resonance absorption of the PMMA can be tunable by varying the geometric parameters of the unit cell.

A simple design of an ultrathin six-band polarization-insensitive terahertz perfect metamaterial absorber (PMMA) composed of a metal cross-cave-patch resonator (CCPR) placed over a ground plane was proposed and investigated numerically. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the average absorption peaks are up to 95% at six resonance frequencies with high quality-factors (>65). In addition, the absorption properties can be kept stability for both normal incident transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) waves. The physical mechanism behind the observed high level absorption is illustrated by the electric and power loss density distributions. The different absorption mainly originates from the higher order multipolar and multipolar plasmon resonance of the structure, which are sharp different to the most previous studies of the PMMAs. Furthermore, the resonance absorption of the PMMA can be tunable by varying the geometric parameters of the unit cell.

The assortment of low-cost 3D printers for “in-practice” use, e.g., for clear aligner therapies, is ever increasing. To address concerns about the accuracy of orthodontic models produced on such printers when cost efficient modes of 3D printing are employed, this study examined the effect of print model body type and print angulation on accuracy. Six printing-configuration groups were included: 2 model types (solid or hollow shell) combined with 3 print angles (0°, 70°, or 90°) with 10 models/group; all models were printed with 100-µm layer thickness using a digital light processing-based 3-dimensional printer. Eleven selected structures and distances were measured on the printed models with a digital microscope and compared to the same measures on a digitized master model. The clinically-acceptability range was set at ±0.25 mm difference from the master model for single tooth measurements (intra-tooth) and ±0.5 mm for cross-arch measurements (inter-tooth). For individual measurements across all models, 98% fell within clinical acceptability. For mean measurements within each model group, only canine height for the shell-0° model had a mean difference (0.26 mm ± 0.03) outside the clinically acceptable range for intra-tooth measurements. Standard deviations for all intra-tooth measurements were within 0.07 mm. While none of the mean inter-tooth measurements exceeded the acceptability range, the standard deviations were larger (0.04 to 0.30 mm). Accuracy of orthodontic models for clear aligner therapies was not impacted beyond the clinically acceptable range when altering model body type and print angulation to improve efficiency of 3D printing. These findings suggest greater flexibility of the practitioner to alter print settings to address time and cost efficiency in various clinical scenarios and still maintain clinically acceptable model accuracy.

Background: Alfalfa, the most economically important forage legume worldwide, features modest genetic progress due to long selection cycles and large extent of non-additive genetic variance associated with its autotetraploid genome. Methods: To improve the efficiency of genomic selection in alfalfa, we explored the effects of genome parametrization (as autotetraploid and diploid dosage, plus allele ratios) and SNP marker subsetting (all available SNPs; only genic regions; only non-genic regions) on genomic regressions, together with various levels of filtering on reading depth and missing rates. We used Genotyping by Sequencing-generated data and focused on traits of different genetic complexity, i.e., dry biomass yield in moisture-favorable (FE) and drought stress (SE) environments, leaf size, and onset of flowering, assessed on 143 genotyped plants from a genetically-broad European reference population and their phenotyped half-sib progenies. Results: On average, allele ratio improved the predictive ability compared with other genome parametrizations (+7.9% vs. tetraploid dosage, +12.6% vs. diploid dosage), SNP subsetting offered an advantage compared with any tested subsettings (+3.7% vs. genic regions, +7.6% vs. non-genic regions). However, when focusing on specific traits, different combinations of genome parametrization and subsetting reached better performances. We also released Legpipe2, a SNP calling pipeline tailored for reduced representation (GBS, RAD) medium-sized genotyping experiments.