In two laboratory trials natural products, including freshly-picked leaves from spearmint, rosemary, and tansy plants; a water extract from soybean plants; peels from a common cucumber; and 1% peppermint oil in hexane were placed in a moist harborage preferred by Argentine ants, Linepithema humile, and the number of ants entering the harborage after two and four hours was counted. None of the recommended home remedies (tansy, cucumber, or soybean extract) deterred ants from an attractive, moist harborage in either trial even when the quantity of these treatments was increased 4- to 10-fold. Freshly picked leaves from rosemary and spearmint plants deterred ants from harboring, and the 1% peppermint oil was the most deterrent of all treatments.

In recent years, the AHRS has become an important research area. In order to improve the orientation measurement accuracy of AHRS, this paper first expounds the algorithm principle of the AHRS. Then, aiming at the problem of poor stability of the traditional gradient descent method under high dynamics or large magnetic field interference, a gain-scheduled anti-interference AHRS orientation algorithm is designed. By using the switching architecture designed with this algorithm for gain scheduling, it can ensure stable performance while being subjected to apparent acceleration and ferromagnetic interference. Finally, experimental verification is conducted, and the experimental results show that: in the presence of interference, the roll angle error is 0.0350°, the pitch angle error is 0.0277°, and the yaw angle error is 0.9611°, thereby verifying the strong anti-interference performance of the gain-scheduled AHRS orientation algorithm proposed in this paper.

During the last 100 years the planet has increased its temperature rapidly, this climate change could bring catastrophic effects for organisms and natural systems. One of the most affected groups is the ectotherms, due to their direct dependence on the environmental temperature. In recent years several studies analyse the effects of temperature and the thermal tolerance on several species of ectotherms. However, there are species whose thermal tolerances are still unknown. Such is the case of critically endangered species the Montseny Brook Newt (Calotriton arnoldi), endemic from the Montseny massif in Spain and whose thermal biology is unknown. Its critical situation makes essential to know its tolerance to cooling, warming and thermopreferendum in water environment where the newt lives. Three experimental procedures were conducted from the western and eastern subpopulations of C. arnoldi considering four classes separately (males, females, juveniles and larvae). The results obtained showed that the CTmax of the species exceeded 31°C, with a significant difference between the two populations. We found that the species tolerates well low temperatures (<1°C), because of the genera Calotriton is adapted to lives in cold waters with temperatures below 15º. Although the thermopreference of the species was expected to trend to cold temperatures, some individuals chose relatively high temperatures, obtaining a range of 11.7°C to 21.6°C. The results presented in this study are an advance in the knowledge of the thermal physiology of this species and support the importance of the temperature of the torrent on its survival. Knowing their thermal limits and their preferred temperature range will help to propose management measures that promote the conservation of streams and its riparian forest cover to mitigate the temperature increase due to climate change.

Most of the research of mental fatigue evaluation mainly concentrated on some indexes that require sophisticate and large instruments which make the detection of mental fatigue cumbersome, time-consuming, and difficult to apply on a large scale. A quick and sensitive mental fatigue detection index is necessary so that mental workers can be alerted in time and take corresponding countermeasures. But to date, no studies have compared the sensitivity of common objective evaluation indexes. To solve these problems this study recruited 56 human subjects. These subjects were evaluated using six fatigue indexes: the Stanford sleepiness scale, digital span, digital decoding, short-term memory, critical flicker fusion frequency (CFF), and speed perception deviation. The results of fatigue tests before and after mental fatigue were compared, and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the speed perception deviation. The result indicated the significance of this index. Considering individual differences, the relative fatigue index (RFI) was proposed to compare the sensitivity of the indexes. The results showed that when the self-rated fatigue grade changed from non-fatigue to mild fatigue, the ranges of RFI values for digital span, digital decoding, short-term memory and CFF were 0.175–0.258, 0.194–0.316, 0.068–0.139, and 0.055–0.075, respectively. Correspondingly, when the self-rated fatigue grade changed from non-fatigue to severe fatigue, the ranges of RFI values for the above indexes were 0.175–0.258, 0.194–0.316, 0.068–0.139, and 0.055–0.075, respectively. These results suggest that the sensitivity of the digital decoding, digital span, short-term memory, and CFF decreased sequentially when the self-evaluated fatigue grade changed from no fatigue to mild or severe fatigue. The RFI individuality of the speed perception deviation is highly variable and is not suitable as an evaluation index. In mental fatigue testing, digital decoding testing can provide faster, more convenient, and more accurate results.

The XChem facility at Diamond Light Source offers fragment screening by X-ray crystallography as a general access user program. The main advantage of X-ray crystallography as a primary fragment screen is that it yields directly the location and pose of the fragment hits, whether within pockets of interest or merely on surface sites: this is the key information for structure-based design and for enabling synthesis of follow-up molecules. Extensive streamlining of the screening experiment at XChem has engendered a very active user programme that is generating large amounts of data: in 2017, 36 academic and industry groups generated 35,000 datasets of uniquely soaked crystals. It has also generated a large number of learnings concerning the main remaining bottleneck, namely obtaining a suitable crystal system that will support a successful fragment screen. Here we discuss the practicalities of generating screen-ready crystals that have useful electron density maps, and how to ensure they will be successfully reproduced and usable at a facility outside the home lab.

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

There is a fast-growing interest in the use of selective laser melting (SLM) for metal/alloy additive manufacturing. Our current knowledge of SLM printed 316 stainless steel (SS316) is limited and sometimes appears sporadic, presumably due to the complex interdependent effects of a large number of process variables of the SLM processing. This is reflected from the discrepant findings in the crystallographic textures and microstructures in this investigation with those reported in the literatures, which also vary itself. The as-printed material is macroscopically asymmetric in both the structures and crystallographic textures. The <101> and <111> crystallographic directions align parallel with the SLM scanning direction (SD) and build direction (BD), respectively. Like-wise, some characteristic low angle boundary features are reported crystallographic, while this investigation unequivocally proves them non-crystallographic since they always maintain an identical alignment with the SLM laser scanning direction irrespective of the matrix material’s crystal orientation. There is also 500±200 nm columnar or cellular features, depending on the cross-section, generally found all over the sample. These columnar or cellular features are formed with walls made of dense packing of dislocations entangled with Mn, Si and O enriched amorphous inclusions. They remain stable after the ASM solution treatments at 1050 °C temperatures, and therefore, are capable of hindering boundary migration events of recrystallization and grain growth. Thus, the nanoscale structures can be retained at high temperatures. Large 2-4 µm inclusions form during the solution treatment, within which the chemical and phase distribution are heterogeneous.

In this study a method for predicting the preferred pleasantness induced by different forest environments, represented by virtual photographs, was proposed and evaluated using a novel Anti-Environmental Forest Experience Scale psychometric test. The evaluation questionnaire contained twenty-one items divided into four different subscales. The factor structure was assessed in two separate samples collected online (sample 1: N = 254, sample 2: N = 280). The internal validity of the four subscales was confirmed using an exploratory factor analysis. Discriminant validity was tested and confirmed using the Amoebic Self Scale (Spatial-Symbolic domain). Concurrent validity was confirmed using the Connectedness to Nature Scale. Predictive validity was based on assessment of pleasantness induced by nine different photographs (control – urban landscapes, forest landscapes, dense forest landscapes), with subscales differently correlated with the level of pleasantness assessed for each photograph. This evaluation instrument is appropriate for predicting preferred pleasantness induced by different forest environments.

Involving local people in natural area management is very important to address the complexity of environmental management issues for sustainable use of local resources. Participatory methods require the contribution of local stakeholders in decision making. Mapping the environmental views of local communities allows for detecting aspects that could facilitate management efforts. This research – in the frame of the Skyros LIFE project and the PAMNATURA project - measures local acceptability of the conservation actions proposed by the LIFE project in Skyros Island (Greece) in relation with recording local people’s environmental orientation using the 15-item revised New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale. The research was carried out by means of questionnaires. The LIFE project proposed actions were grouped into three categories according to their theme, i.e. promoting (a) Nature protection, (b) Agro-pastoralism and (c) Ecotourism. The sample seems to largely agree with the LIFE project proposals, while the results showed high scores for most of the NEP scale items, implying pro-environmental beliefs, though there appears disagreement or neutrality regarding a few items. Local acceptability of the proposed actions was found to correlate to local people’s environmental concern measured through the NEP scale. Drawing on the results, implementation of actions related directly or indirectly to economic activities, preservation of traditional activities, as well as environmental education, interactive informing and consultation could enhance local participation. Skyros island seems to offer an appropriate social background for applying participatory and adaptive management and implementing conservation programs.

Bipolar plates significantly contribute in the development of the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells technology due to their ability to produce high electrical conductivity based on type of materials used. Mismatching of inappropriate materials and manufacture may lead to the inferior performance of PEM fuel cells. Hence, material development was determined crucial to balance the overall performance of PEM fuels including the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of the materials. Studies on conductive polymer composites (CPCs) offered filler orientation as an alternative method to enhance the overall performance of bipolar plate. Filler orientations permit an excellent conductivity network formation while controlling the filler alignment based on required applications. This paper reviewed various studies of filler orientations including materials used and methods of manufacture of CPC materials for the effective development of bipolar plate.

This study characterizes the microstructure and its associated crystallographic features of bulk maraging steels fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) combined with a powder bed technique. The fabricated sample exhibited characteristic melt pools in which the regions had locally melted and rapidly solidified. A major part of these melt pools corresponded with the ferrite (alpha) matrix, which exhibited a lath martensite structure with a high density of dislocations. A number of fine retained austenite (gamma) with a <001> orientation along the build direction was often localized around the melt pool boundaries. The orientation relationship of these fine gamma grains with respect to the adjacent alpha grains in the martensite structure was (111) gamma // (011) alpha and [-101] gamma // [-1-11] apha (Kurdjumov–Sachs orientation relationship). Using the obtained results, we inferred the microstructure development of maraging steels during the SLM process. The results depict that new and diverse high-strength materials can be used to develop industrial molds and dies.

In the present work we revise and extend the Characteristic Crystallographic Element (CCE) norm, an algorithm used to simultaneously detect radial and orientational similarity of computer-generated structures with respect to specific reference crystals and local symmetries. Based on the identification of point group symmetry elements, the CCE descriptor is able to gauge local structure with high precision and finely distinguish between competing morphologies. As test cases we use computer-generated monomeric and polymer systems of spherical particles interacting with the hard-sphere and square-well attractive potentials. We demonstrate that the CCE norm is able to detect and differentiate, between others, among: hexagonal close packed (HCP), face centered cubic (FCC), hexagonal (HEX) and body centered cubic (BCC) crystals as well as non-crystallographic fivefold (FIV) local symmetry in bulk 3-D systems; triangular (TRI), square (SQU) and honeycomb (HON) crystals, as well as pentagonal (PEN) local symmetry in thin films of one-layer thickness (2-D systems). The descriptor is general and can be applied to identify the symmetry elements of any point group for arbitrary atomic or particulate system in two or three dimensions, in the bulk or under confinement.

The present work shows a novel physical-mathematical model to estimate the average corrosion resistance index from the crystallographic texture in API 5L steels. The crystallographic texture of the studied steels was measured by means of the X-ray diffraction technique. The model, based on the symmetric spherical surface harmonics for a BCC structure, is capable of describing the anisotropy surface of anodic dissolution resistance of the crystal and establishing a straightforward relationship between crystallographic texture, surface roughness, and metal corrosion behavior. The predictions of the average corrosion resistance index made from the crystallographic texture were in good agreement with those obtained from potentiodynamic polarization curves for the investigated steels. This agreement validates the capacity of this model and opens the possibility of applying it as a novel criterion for the material selection and design stages in order to combat metal corrosion problems.

This paper reports a rational design of temperature-responsive nanofiber meshes with shape-memory effect. The meshes were fabricated by electrospinning a poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)-based polyurethane with different contents of soft and hard segments. The effects of PCL diol/hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI)/1,4-butanediol (BD) molar ratio in terms of the contents of soft and hard segments on the shape-memory properties were investigated. Although the mechanical property improved with increasing hard segment ratio, optimal shape-memory properties were obtained with a PCL/HDI/BD molar ratio of 1:4:3. At a microscopic level, the original nanofibrous structure was easily deformed into a temporary shape, and recovered its original structure when the sample was reheated. A higher recovery rate (>89%) was achieved even when the mesh was deformed up to 400%. Finally, the nanofiber meshes were used to control the alignment of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). The hMSCs aligned well along the fiber orientation. The proposed nanofibrous meshes with the shape-memory effect have the potential to serve as in vitro platforms for the investigation of cell functions as well as implantable scaffolds for wound-healing applications.

A model for parasitic motility has been proposed in which parasite filamentous actin (F-actin) is attached to surface adhesins by a large component of the glideosome, known as the glideosome-associated connector protein (GAC). This large 286 kDa protein interacts at the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane with the phosphatidic acid-enriched inner leaflet and cytosolic tails of surface adhesins to connect them to the parasite actomyosin system. GAC is observed initially to the conoid at the apical pole and re-localised with the glideosome to the basal pole in gliding parasite. GAC presumably functions in force transmission to surface adhesins in the plasma membrane and not in force generation. Proper connection between F-actin and the adhesins is as important for motility and invasion as motor operation itself. This notion highlights the need for new structural information on GAC interactions, which has eluded the field since its discovery. We have obtained crystals that diffracted to 2.6-2.9 Å for full-length GAC from Toxoplasma gondii in native and selenomethionine-labelled forms. These crystals belong to space group P212121, cell dimensions are roughly a=119 Å, b=123Å, c=221Å, α=90, β=90, γ=90 with 1 molecule per asymmetric unit, suggesting a more compact conformation than previously proposed.

Cells take decisions on their responses depending on the stimuli received by the surrounding extracellular environment, that provides the essential cues at the micro and the nano-lengthscales required for adhesion, orientation, proliferation and differentiation. In this study, discontinuous microcones on silicon (Si) and continuous microgrooves on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates were fabricated via ultrashort-pulsed laser irradiation at various fluences, resulting in microstructures with different roughness and geometrical characteristics. The topographical models attained were specifically developed to imitate the guidance and alignment of Schwann cells for oriented axonal regrowth, towards nerve regeneration. At the same time, positive replicas of the silicon microstructures formed were successfully reproduced, via soft lithography, on the biodegradable polymer poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA). The anisotropic continuous (PET) and discontinuous (PLGA replicas) microstructured polymeric substrates were assessed in terms of their influence on the Schwann cells responses. It is shown that the developed micropatterned substrates enable control over the cellular adhesion, proliferation and orientation and are thus useful to engineer cell alignment in vitro. This property could be potentially useful in the fields of neural tissue engineering and for dynamic microenvironment systems that simulate in vivo conditions.

COVID-19 may not be a ‘youth disease’ but nevertheless impacts the life of young people dramatically, loneliness and negative mood being an unexpected additional pandemic. Many young people rely on social media for their feeling of connectedness with others. However, social media are suggested to have many negative effects on people’s anxiety. Instead of self-disclosing to others, design may develop alternatives to employ social robots for self-disclosure. In a follow-up on Duan et al. (2021), we report on a lab experiment of self-disclosing negative emotions to a social-media group as compared to writing a conventional diary journal or to talk to an AI-driven social robot after negative mood induction (i.e. viewing shocking earthquake footage). Participants benefitted the most from talking to a robot rather than from writing a journal page or sharing their feelings on social media. Self-disclosure on social media or writing a journal page did not differ significantly. In the design of interventions for mental well-being, human helpers thus far took center stage. Based on our results, we propose design alternatives for an empathic smart-home, featuring social robots and chatbots for alleviating stress and anxiety: a social-media interference chatbot, smart watch plus speaker, and a mirror for self-reflection.

A FIB/STEM interfacial study was performed on a TBC/Ti₂AlC MAX phase system, oxidized in an aggressive burner rig test (Mach 0.3 at 1300°C for 500 h). The 7YSZ TBC, a-Al₂O₃ TGO, and MAXthal 211 Ti₂AlC base were variously characterized by TEM/STEM, EDS, SADP, and HRTEM. The YSZ was a mix of ‘clean’ featureless and ‘faulted’ high contrast grains. The latter exhibited ferro-elastic domains of high Y content tetragonal t'' variants. No martensite was observed. The TGO was essentially a duplex a-Al₂O₃ structure of inner columnar plus outer equiaxed grains. It maintained a perfectly intact, clean interface with the Ti₂AlC substrate. The Ti₂AlC substrate exhibited no interfacial Al-depletion zone, but rather numerous faults along the basal plane of the hexagonal structure. These are believed to offer a means of depleting Al by forming crystallographic, low-Al planar defects, proposed as Ti_2.5AlC_1.5. These characterizations support and augment prior optical, SEM, and XRD findings that demonstrated remarkable durability for the YSZ/Ti₂AlC MAX phase system in aggressive burner tests.

In this work, nylon 6/ P(N-phenylmaleimide-alt-styrene) blends were prepared by melt blending, and the mechanical, heat-resistant, crystallographic and dynamical mechanical properties of nylon 6/ P(N-phenylmaleimide-alt-styrene) blends with different contents were investigated and analyzed. The results showed that the mechanical properties decreased with increasing PNS, while the heat deflection temperature (HDT), relative crystallinity (Xn), and storage modulus (G’) increased with increasing PNS. The results of differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) proved the PNS played the positive role of nucleating PA6. And the results of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) proved the PNS could improve the rigidity of PA6/PNS blends. From the SEM, these PNS domains were between 0.2 and 4 μm in diameter. The experimental results indicated that the addition of PNS improved the rigidity of PA6/PNS blends, and then improved the heat-resistant property.

Background: This study aimed to assess the dementia literacy (DL) level of community-dwelling adults in the four cities (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Macau and Zhuhai) of the Greater Bay Area of China and to determine the preferred mass media for receiving dementia information. Methods: A multi-city cross-sectional study with 788 community-dwelling adults completed the survey. Dementia literacy was indirectly measured by two validated scales, 30-item Alzhiemer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) and 20-item Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS). When the ADKS total score was <15 and DAS total score was <70, it was considered as ‘inadequate dementia literacy’. Participants were also asked to indicate whether they would like to receive dementia information via digital media or traditional media. Chi-square tests and logistic regressions were undertaken. Results: About one-third of the participants had inadequate dementia literacy. Those with young age or secondary education preferred to get dementia information from social media. But people living in public housing would like to get information from government or hospital websites. Middle-aged participants inclined to learn dementia from television or radio. Conclusion: It is worthy to conduct territory-wide public education in dementia and develop strategies according to their preferences in the types of mass media.

Eight samples of limestones and marbles were studied by neutron diffraction to collect 2 Quantitative Texture (i.e., Crystallographic Preferred Orientations or CPO) of calcite deforming at 3 different depths in the crust. We studied the different Texture patterns developed in shear zones at 4 different depth and their influence on seismic anisotropies. Samples were collected in the French and 5 Italian Alps, Apennines, and Paleozoic Sardinian basement. They are characterized by isotropic to 6 highly anisotropic (e.g., mylonite shear zone) fabrics. Mylonite limestones occur as shear zone horizons 7 within the Cenozoic Southern Domain in Alpine thrust-and-fold belts (Italy), the Briançonnais domain 8 of the Western Alps (Italy-France border), the Sardinian Paleozoic back-thrusts or in the Austroalpine 9 intermediate units. The analyzed marbles were collected in the Carrara Marble, in the Austroalpine Units 10 in the Central (Mortirolo) and Western Alps (Valpelline). The temperature and depth of development of fabrics vary from < 100◦C, to 800◦C and depth from <10 km to about 30 km, corresponding from upper 12 to lower crust conditions. Quantitative Texture Analysis shows different types of patterns for calcite: 13 random to strongly textured. Textured types may be further separated in orthorhombic and monoclinic 14 (Types A and B), based on the angle defined with the mesoscopic fabrics. Seismic anisotropies were 15 calculated by homogenizing the single crystal elastic tensor, using the Orientation Distribution Function 16 calculated by the Quantitative Texture Analysis. The resulting P- and S-waves anisotropies show a wide 17 variability due to the textural types, temperature and pressure conditions, and dip of the shear planes.

Geometric Akaike Information Criteria (G-AICs) for generalized noise-level dependent crystallographic symmetry classifications of two-dimensional (2D) images that are more or less periodic in either two or one dimensions as well as Akaike weights for multi-model inferences and predictions are reviewed. Such novel classifications do not refer to a single crystallographic symmetry class exclusively in a qualitative and definitive way. Instead, they are quantitative, spread over a range of crystallographic symmetry classes, and provide opportunities for inferences from all classes (within the range) simultaneously. The novel classifications are based on information theory and depend only on information that has been extracted from the images themselves by means of maximal likelihood approaches so that these classifications are objective. This is in stark contrast to the common practice whereby arbitrarily set thresholds or null hypothesis tests are employed to force crystallographic symmetry classifications into apparently definitive/exclusive states, while the geometric feature extraction results on which they depend are never definitive in the presence of generalized noise, i.e. in all real world applications. Thus, there is unnecessary subjectivity in the currently practiced ways of making crystallographic symmetry classifications, which can be overcome by the approach outlined in this review.

Some of the barriers preventing Virtual Reality (VR) from being widely adopted are the cost and unfamiliarity of VR systems. Here we propose that in many cases the specialized controllers shipped with most VR head-mounted displays can be replaced by a regular smartphone, cutting the cost of the system, and allowing users to interact in VR using a device they are already familiar with. To achieve this, we developed SmartVR Pointer, an approach that uses smartphones as a replacement for the specialized controllers for two essential operations in VR: selection and navigation by teleporting. In SmartVR Pointer a camera mounted on the head-mounted display (HMD) is tilted downwards so that it points to where the user will naturally be holding their phone in front of them. SmartVR Pointer supports three selection modalities: tracker-based,gaze-based, and combined/hybrid. In the tracker-based SmartVR pointer selection we use image-based tracking to track a QR code displayed on the phone screen and them map the phone’s position to a pointer shown within the field of view of the camera in the Virtual Environment. In the gaze-based selection modality the user places the pointer using their gaze and taps on the phone for selection. The combined technique is a hybrid between head-gaze-based interaction in VR and smartphone-based Augmented Reality. It allows the user to control a VR pointer that behaves like a mouse pointer by moving their smartphone to select objects within the virtual environment, and to interact with the selected objects using the smartphone’s touch screen. The touchscreen is used for selection and dragging. SmartVR Pointer is simple and requires no calibration and no complex hardware assembly or disassembly. We demonstrate successful interactive applications of SmartVR Pointer in a VR environment with a demo where the user navigates in the virtual environment using teleportation points on the floor and then solves a Tetris-style key-and-lock challenge.

Conjugated polymers (CPs) offer potentials for sustainable semiconductor devices due to their low cost, and inherent molecular self-assembly. Enhanced crystallinity and molecular orientation in thin films of solution-processable CPs have significantly improved organic electronic device per-formance. In this work, three methods namely spin-coating, dip-coating, and unidirectional float-ing-film transfer method (UFTM) were utilized with their parametric optimization for fabricating RR-P3HT films. These films were then utilized for their characterization via optical and micro-structural analysis to elucidate dominant roles of molecular orientation, and crystallinity in con-trolling charge transport in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). OFETs fabricated by RR-P3HT thin films using spin-coating and dip-coating displayed field-effect mobility (μ) of 8.0 × 10-4 cm2V-1s-1 and 1.3 × 10-3 cm2V-1s-1, respectively. This two-time enhancement in (µ for dip-coated films was attributed to its enhanced crystallinity. Interestingly, UFTM films based OFETs demon-strated μ of 7.0 × 10-2 cm2V-1s-1, >100 times increment as compared to its spin-coated counterpart This superior device performance is attributed to synergistic influence of higher crystallinity and molecular orientation. Since the crystallinity of dip-coated and UFTM-thin films are similar ~50 times improved µ of UFTM thin films suggest a dominant role of molecular orientation as com-pared to crystallinity in controlling the charge transport.

A systematic study has been conducted on barbiturate complexes of all five alkali metals Li–Cs prepared from the metal carbonates or hydroxide in aqueous solution without other potential ligands present, varying the stoichiometric ratio of metal ion to barbituric acid (BAH). Eight polymeric compounds (two each for Na, K, and Rb and one each for Li and Cs) have been characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. All contain some combination of barbiturate anion BA− (necessarily in a 1:1 ratio with the metal cation M+), barbituric acid, and water. All organic species and water molecules are coordinated to the metal centres via oxygen atoms as either terminal or bridging ligands. Coordination numbers range from 4 (for the Li complex) to 8 (for the Cs complex). Extensive hydrogen bonding plays a significant role in all the crystal structures, almost all of which include pairs of N–H…O hydrogen bonds linking BA− and/or BAH components into ribbons extending in one dimension. Factors influencing the structure adopted by each compound include cation size and reaction stoichiometry as well as hydrogen bonding.

Two solvated rhenium(IV) complexes with formula [ReCl4(bpym)]·MeCN (1) and [ReCl4(bpym)]·CH3COOH·H2O (2) [bpym = 2,2'-bipyrimidine] have been prepared and characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT–IR), scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM–EDX), single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SQUID magnetometer. 1 and 2 crystallize in the monoclinic system with space groups P21/n and P21/c, respectively. In both compounds, the Re(IV) ion is six-coordinate and bound to four chloride ions and two nitrogen atoms of a 2,2’-bipyrimidine molecule forming a distorted octahedral geometry around the metal ion. In the crystal packing of 1 and 2, intermolecular halogen⋯halogen and π⋯halogen type interactions are present. Hydrogen bonds take place only in the crystal structure of 2. Both compounds exhibit an akin crystal framework based on halogen bonds. Variable-temperature dc magnetic susceptibility measurements performed on microcrystalline samples of 1 and 2 show a similar magnetic behavior for both compounds, with antiferromagnetic exchange between the Re(IV) ions connected mainly through intermolecular Re-Cl···Cl-Re interactions.

In this paper, an icosahedral non – body centered model to simulate the periodic structure of homogeneous particulate composites, by predicting the particle arrangement, is presented. This model has yielded three different variations which correspond at three different deterministic particle configurations. In addition, the concept of boundary interphase between matrix and inclusions was taken into account. Thus, the influence of particle vicinity was examined in parallel with the interphase concept on the thermomechanical properties of the overall material. Next, by the use of this model the authors derived a closed – form expression to estimate the thermal conductivity of this type of composites. To test the validity of the model, the theoretical values arising from the proposed formula were compared with other theoretical predictions obtained from several accurate formulae found in the literature and an adequate accordance was observed.

The main objective of this paper is to assess pro-environmental behavior, climate change perception, anxiety, hope and despair in different political orientations. Specific aims included to validate all the instruments; to assess whether the factor structure of the scales were valid across political orientations; to evaluate their reliability; to assess differences concerning age, gender and political orientation; to know the variables that explain pro-environment behavior; and to evaluate the moderating role of climate change perception, despair and hope in the relationship between climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behavior. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFAs), multi-group CFAs (to measurement invariance), multiple linear regressions and moderations were performed. Results showed that pro-environment behavior and climate change hope achieved the four levels of invariance across different political orientations; climate change anxiety achieved the three first levels of invariance; climate change perception and climate change despair achieved configural invariance. Climate change anxiety personal experience, climate change perception total, reality and consequences present higher values in left political orientation that in right or center. Climate change anxiety variables contribute most to explaining pro-environmental behaviors. Hope, despair and climate change perception consequences moderate de relationship between climate change anxiety and pro-environment behavior. These results open up new avenues of investigation, namely, to understand why high levels of anxiety lead to more pro-environment al behaviors.

A testable theoretical model is presented, proposing which brain parts and mechanisms are responsible for the nature and the nurture components of all human sexual orientations. The model integrates observations from humans and a wide range of animals. If validated, the model would provide a proximate explanation of the biological substrates of all sexual orientations. The basic assumptions of the model are: (1) Children learn automatically and subconsciously in non-sexual conditioning experiences cues for recognizing sexual mates. That skill emerges at puberty. (2) Adults in the child’s surroundings act as innocuous, unaware role-models that provide the learned cues for recognizing mates. (3) Voices of men and women serve as the innate, primary unconditioned stimuli (US) in that learning process. (4) The hypothalamus is the main area that elicits the signals of the unconditioned responses (UR). Those signals trigger the learning of the associated conditioned stimuli (CS) broadcasted by the role-models. (5) The amygdala, base nuclei of the Stria Terminalis (bnST) and hypothalamus play in humans similar roles to those they play in the other species. (6) The human medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) plays the roles played by the olfactory bulbs in rodents. (7) Detectors of innate primary US and activators of the unconditioned sexual responses (UR) are located in the MGN, Amygdala, bnST and Hypothalamus Axis (MASHA). The learned conditioned stimuli (CS) are recorded in the MASHA and in cortical areas. (8) The innate US-UR connections vary across three groups of children. In the first group, only men’s voices trigger the UR. In the second group, only women’s voices trigger the UR, and in a third group each voice can trigger the UR. That determines the learned cues. The first group will be attracted at puberty only to men, the second only to women, and the third group to both.

Direct georeferencing of airborne pushbroom scanner data usually suffers from the limited precision of navigation sensors onboard of the aircraft. The bundle adjustment of images and orientation parameters, used to perform geocorrection of frame images during the post-processing phase, cannot be used for pushbroom cameras without difficulties: it relies on matching corresponding points between scan lines, which is not feasible in the absence of sufficient overlap and texture information. We address this georeferencing problem by equipping our aircraft with both a frame camera and a pushbroom scanner: the frame images and the navigation parameters measured by a couple GPS/Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) are input to a bundle adjustment algorithm; the output orientation parameters are used to project the scan lines on a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and on an orthophoto generated during the bundle adjustement step; using the image feature matching algorithm Speeded Up Robust Features (SURF), corresponding points between the image formed by the projected scan lines and the orthophoto are matched, and through a least-squares method, the boresight between the two cameras is estimated and included in the calculation of the projection; finally, using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) on the gradient image, the projection is deformed into a final image that fits the geometry of the orthophoto. We apply this algorithm to five test acquisitions over Lake Geneva region (Switzerland) and Lake Baikal region (Russia). The results are quantified in terms of Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between matching points of the RGB orthophoto and the pushbroom projection. From a first projection where the Interior Orientation Parameters (IOP) are known with limited precision and the RMSE goes up to 41 pixels, our geocorrection estimates IOP, boresight and Exterior Orientation Parameters (EOP) and produces a new projection which RMSE with the reference orthophoto is around two pixels.

This article proposes a new photovoltaic (PV) solar tracker design based on the advantage that installation latitude offers according to efficiency in function of orientation (EFO) of PVs. First, is described a methodology to let incorporate a low-precision, low-cost and high-availability solar tracking mechanism and control system. The design methodology considers the installation location (latitude and azimuth) as a starting point for establishing an adequate angular range of EFO, simultaneity the aspects of available technology and the knowledge accords to developer. Finally, the design technique is experimentally validated by the implementation of a solar tracker at latitude of 28° longitude of 109° and evaluates the efficiency on a specific day. According to result the feasibility of this type of solar tracker for latitudes close to or greater than 30° is highlighted, given that this tracking system costs 30% less than traditional commercial systems as slew drive with its incorporation of lower-resolution azimuth tracking mechanisms. It also increases collection efficiency by 26%, just as continuous or time-based dual-axis solar trackers do, without the more complex controls and mechanisms of these designs.

Document deskewing is a fundamental problem in document image processing. While existing methods have limitations, such as Hough Line Transformation that can deskew images upside down, and Deep Learning models that require huge amounts of human labour and computational resources and still fail to deskew while taking care of orientation, OCR-based methods also struggle to read text when it is tilted. In this paper, we propose a novel, simple, cost-effective deep learning method for fixing the skew and orientation of documents. Our approach reduces the search space for the machine learning model to predict whether an image is upside down or not, avoiding the huge search space of predicting an angle between 0 and 360. We finetuned a MobileNetV2 model, which was pre-trained on imagenet, using only 200 images and achieve good results. This method is useful for automation-based tasks, such as data extraction using OCR technology, and can greatly reduce manual labour.

The present work sets out the evaluation of composite laminates through optimization objective functions. Genetic Algorithms (GA), as well as Simulated Annealing (SA), were performed in order to determine the optimal ply orientations of a fiber-reinforced polymer laminate for three given load cases: 1) in-plane loads, 2) combined moments, and 3) in-plane loads and combined moments. It searches the optimal orientation layup, which fulfills at the same time both the maximum strain criterion and the Tsai-Wu failure criterion. Construction of an objective function based on the strains and the stresses involves a minimization process to deformations and a maximization of the safety factor. For the first load case, the initial solution is [±45/0/90/±45]s, and the best solution is [(45/135)2/452]s. For the second load case, [-45/45/45/-45/0/90]s is the initial layup sequence, then the best solution obtained is [(45/-45)2/452]s, where plies at 0° and 90º are not necessary even when axial loads are applied. For the third study case, the original layup sequence is [0/45/-45/45/0/90]s; meanwhile, the best solution calculated is [21/24/145/140/45/49]s. An interesting observation is that each pair of layers has a 5º gap. The simulations show that the qualitative results from the GA are better than the SA, but with a significantly higher computational cost. These kinds of computational tools are expected to be used as a reference guide for an optimal fiber configuration with respect to the common orientations used when composite laminates are designed for a structural application.

The effects of build orientation and heat treatment on the crack growth behavior of 316L stainless steel (SS) fabricated via a selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing process were investigated. Significant growth of available research results of additively manufactured metallic parts still needs to be improved. The most important issue connected with properties after additive manufacturing is properties high anisotropy, especially from the fatigue point of view. The research included crack growth behavior of additively manufactured 316L in comparison to conventionally made reference material. Both groups of samples were obtained using precipitation heat treatment. Different build orientation in additively manufactured samples and rolling direction in reference samples were taken into account as well. Precipitation heat treatment of additively manufactured parts allowed to reach similar microstructure and tensile properties to elements conventionally made. The heat treatment positively affected fatigue properties. Additionally, precipitation heat treatment of additively manufactured elements significantly affected the reduction of fatigue cracking velocity and changed the fatigue cracking mechanism.

As a combination of both concepts of innovation and environmental development, green innovation is of great significance to the sustainable development of the country and industry. Previous literatures have found the separate roles of green entrepreneurial orientation and inter-organizational learning in understanding green innovation issues. However, few studies have done a comprehensive analysis of integrating three streams of research: green entrepreneurial orientation, green innovation and supply chain learning capability. Based on the resource-based view and dynamic capability theory, we examine the direct of green entrepreneurial orientation on green innovation as well as indirect effect through the mediation of supply chain learning capability. Meanwhile, an empirical data set of 228 manufacturing companies in China (Shaanxi, Guangdong, Hebei, Jiangsu, and Shandong) was used to test our hypotheses. Findings from our empirical study suggest that supply chain learning capability partially mediates the positive relationships between green entrepreneurial orientation and its two consequences—green incremental innovation and green radical innovation. In addition, this research implies that when enterprise has a strong green entrepreneurial orientation, the enterprise should make an effort to enhance the level of supply chain learning capability so as to fully develop their green innovation.

Background. Depression and anxiety and its association with sexual orientation in Latvia is un-derstudied. Outcomes. Kinsey scale, primary outcomes for mental health disturbances were defined as per-son`s subjective feeling of depression and anxiety. Materials and Methods. Participants aged 18-30 year old (n=503) was asked to do a self-administered anonymous web-based survey regarding social and family status, sexual iden-tification and behaviour, violence experience and mental health information. To describe person`s sexual orientation Kinsey scale was used. Prevalence of depression and anxiety, univariate and multivariate regression analysis was performed to measure relations between investigated fac-tors. Results. A total of 503 participants (i.e., 365 females, 133 males, 5 others) were included in the study. Mean (SD) age of participants was 23.0 (3.7) years. Mean (SD) value on the Kinsey scale was 1.4 (1.8) and median (IQR) value was 1.0 (0-2.0) where 1 is defined as ‘mostly heterosexual, only slightly homosexual’ person and 2 is ‘mostly heterosexual, but more than slightly homosexual’. Prevalence of persons reported violence experience was 20.3%, anxiety 56.3% and depression 37.6%. Logistic regression analysis showed that experience of violence was associated with higher odds of developing anxiety and depression (OR: 2.6 [95% CI: 1.7-4.0] and 2.4 [95% CI: 1.5-3.9], respectively). Being in relationship was associated with higher odds of developing anxiety (OR: 2.8[95% CI: 1.3-6.3]). Male sex and income 1001-2000 euros a month were associated with lower odds of developing anxiety (OR: 0.4 [95% CI: 0.2-0.5] and aOR: 0.3 [95% CI: 0.1-0.8], respectively). Sexual orientation showed no significant value in association with anxiety and depression (OR: 1.1 [95% CI: 1.0-1.2] and OR: 1.1 [95% CI: 1.02-1.2], respectively). Conclusions. In our study, the significant factors for developing depression and anxiety were experiencing violence, being female, being in a relationship, and having no income, while sexual orientation showed no significance in relation to depression and anxiety.

Food insecurity remains a critical challenge in developing countries like Ethiopia. Majority of its population derive their livelihood from agriculture characterized by mixed farming systems. Smallholder farmers the principal actors of agriculture are also facing a rapidly increasing population and urbanization had been unable to be self-sufficient in food. This paper examines the role of commercialization on food security and its determinants in rural settings. We used cross-sectional data from 295 households randomly selected in northwest Ethiopia. Results from bivariate Tobit regression revealed both crop and livestock commercialization improves household food security but in quite different ways. The income from crop sales was instrumental in allowing households to buy additional foods while livestock sales foster crop diversity for own consumption by allowing them to purchase nonfood items. Thus, agriculture-food security nexus may not require the production systems to be subsistent. Improving commercialization with better access to off-farm employment and institutional services (credit and market infrastructure), and enhanced awareness of the extension towards promoting commercialization and diversified food consumption seem to be more promising. The research paper concludes commercialization is vital not just for economic growth and food security, but also for the smallholder agriculture in providing additional nutrition.

Glass fibers slowly dissolve and age when exposed to water molecules. Such a phenomenon also occurs when glass fibers are inside fiber-reinforced composites protected by the matrix. This en-vironmental aging results in the deterioration of the mechanical properties of the composite. In structural applications, GFRPs are continuously exposed to water environments for decades (typically design lifetime is around 25 years or even more). During their lifetime, these materials are affected by various temperatures, pH acidity levels, mechanical loads, and the synergy of these factors. The rate of the degradation process depends on the nature of glass, sizing, fiber orientation, and environmental factors such as acidity, temperature, and mechanical stress. In this work, degradation of typical industrial grade R-glass fibers, when inside an epoxy fiber-reinforced composite, is studied experimentally and computationally. A Dissolving Cylinder Zero-Order Kinetic (DCZOK) model was applied and could describe the long-term dissolution of glass composites, considering the influence of fiber orientation (hoop vs transverse), pH (1.7, 4.0, 5.7, 7.0, and 10.0), and temperature (20, 40, 60, and 80 °C). The limitations of the DCZOK model and effects of sizing protection, accumulation of degradation products inside the composite, and water availability were discussed. Experimentally dissolution was measured using ICP-MS. Like for the fibers, for GFRPs also, the temperature showed an Arrhenius-type influence on the ki-netics, increasing the rate of dissolution exponentially with increasing temperature. Similar to fibers, GFRPs showed a hyperbolic dependence on pH. The model was able to capture all of these effects, and the limitations were addressed.

In recent years, excessive heat in the urban texture has become the main problem in the humid and calm wind city of Babolsar with high density, especially in high-rise areas. Therefore, in order to create comfort in this region, it is necessary to establish and continue the wind circulation in space with an environmentally compatible and optimal configuration. The study applies combination of literature, field measurement, experimental validation of CFD simulation output, and comparative analysis. After field measurement and validation of FLOW-3D simulation software (V11.2.2), the relationship between these parameters (height, the width of passages, enclosure between buildings, and buildings' orientation) will be studied which affects the wind’s velocity and direction. The factors of the buildings' orientation and enclosure based on the passages' width have opposite reactions in the direction of the prevailing wind especially from perpendicular side. In this study, two effective factors are on wind velocity: 1- The orientation of the buildings towards the wind flow by creating permeability 2- Reducing the enclosure by increasing the width of the passage's perpendicular to the wind flow (w '= 3w, E' = 0.33E). According to the theoretical and practical study, first, the creation of permeability in the body of the block and the separation of buildings instead of aggregation has been studied, and then reducing the confinement of streets perpendicular to the wind flow has been discussed as effective solutions to improve the wind velocity and circulation between the urban environment.

Polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete (PFRC) has become an attractive alternative to steel for the reinforcement of concrete elements mainly due to its chemical stability and the residual strengths that can be reached with lower weights. The use of polyolefin fibres can meet the requirements in the standards, although the main constitutive relations are based on the experience with steel fibres. Therefore, the structural contributions of the fibres should be assessed by inverse analysis. In this study, the fibre dosage has been fixed at 6kg/m³ and both self-compacting concrete and conventional concrete have been used to compare the influence of the positioning of the fibres. An idealized homogeneous distribution of the fibres with such fibres crossing from side to side of the specimen has been added to self-compacting concrete. The experimental results of three-point bending tests on notched specimens have been reproduced by using the cohesive crack approach. Hence, the constitutive relations were found. The significance of this research relies on the verification of the formulations found to build the constitutive relations. Moreover, with these results it is possible to establish the higher threshold of the performance of PFRC and the difficulties of limiting the first unloading branch typical of fracture tests of PFRC.

In this work, a method for measuring tow angles in carbon fiber components, based on the use of a polarized camera, is analyzed from a metrological point of view. Carbon fibers alter the direction of the reflected light electrical field, so that in each point of the surface of a composite piece the angle of polarization of reflected light matches the fiber orientation. A statistical analysis of the angle of linear polarization (AoLP) in each pixel of each examined area allows to evaluate the average winding angle. An evaluation of the measurement uncertainty of the method on a cylinder obtained by a filament winding process is carried out, and the result appears adequate for the study of the distribution of angles along the surface of the piece, in order to optimize the process.

Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) express complex behavioral patterns (aggressiveness) to exhibit defensive mechanisms for their survival. Their phenotypic expression of aggressive behavior is influenced by internal and external stimuli. Knowledge of this behavior is recently important though beekeepers are still faced with the challenges of selecting aggressive and less-aggressive bred lines. Field evaluation of aggressiveness among bred lines of honey bees is required to overcome the challenges. Chemical cues (alarm pheromone and isopentyl acetate mixed with paraffin oil), physical and visual stimuli (dark leather suede, colony marbling and suede jiggling) were used to evaluate aggressiveness and orientation among five bred lines of honeybee colonies. Our results showed that both chemical assays recruited bees but the time of recruitment was significantly lower for alarm pheromone. Honeybees’ response to both assays culminated to stings which differed among bred lines for alarm pheromone and paraffin when colonies were marbled. Honeybee aggression varied among bred lines and was higher in more aggressive bred lines compared to less-aggressive bred lines. Our findings suggest that it is crucial to repeatedly evaluate orientation aggressiveness at the colony level and among bred lines when selecting breeding colonies.

Accurate specimen marking is crucial during breast cancer surgery to avoid misorientation, which can cause inadequate re-excision and tumor recurrence. We studied marking methods at various breast cancer centers to create a tool that prevents specimen misorientation. An online questionnaire surveyed marking procedures at major breast cancer centers in Hungary, and a tool was developed using a troubleshooting method. Twelve out of twenty units responded (60\%). Nine use an institutionally standardized marking system. Only half of the surgical teams had clear specimen mammography images. Pathologists were unsure of specimen orientation in 5–10\% of cases in over 75\% of departments. Ambiguous marking methods caused orientation errors in half the cases, while unclear marking directions caused the rest. Most pathologists (85\%) and surgeons (75\%) believed that coronal plane specimen mammography would help solve the problem. A plastic specimen plate was developed to anchor breast tissue to a coronal breast scheme seen in mammographic images, providing clear localization information throughout the surgery process. There is a lack of standardization in breast specimen orientation and marking in Hungary. An optimized orientation toolkit is being developed to ensure consistent interpretation of specimen mammograms by surgeons and pathologists.

Introduction Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) scans should be digitally oriented using a reference plane before being evaluated for patient growth and treatment outcome. Current orientation planes are usually dependent on the Porion points. Using more reliable landmarks than the Porion, we introduce the Acta plane and investigate its reliability as an alternative reference plane for cases in which the Porion point is inaccessible. Methods To test its reliability, a dental student and an orthodontist located sixteen skeletal and dental landmarks in sixteen CBCT scans, before and after reorientation. Also, four measurements were calculated based on these landmarks’ coordinates. The reorientation of these CBCT scans with the Acta plane was done by another dental student. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was calculated before and after orientation, intra- and inter-examiner. The data were tested for significance through the Shapiro Wilk test with a threshold set at 0.05. Through the ICC variation of the points’ coordinates, this article also evaluated the reliability of this plane with the t-paired and exact-sign tests. Results: The identification of landmarks was more reliable in the reoriented CBCT images than in the original images, with a significant increase of 0.012 in the median of the ICC. Linear and angular measures showed no significant differences between groups. Conclusion This plane is a reliable alternative for the orientation of CBCT images. The design of the Acta plane might allow the use of a smaller field of view and, consequently, a reduction in the radiation dose.

Lack of due attention to the orientation of streets and establishment of urban blocks without regard for climatic characteristics and conditions of the environment have an adverse effect on thermal comfort in open urban spaces. Construction of new settlements without taking into account climatic requirements undermines thermal comfort for pedestrians and other users, especially in cold regions. Considering the coldness of the region under study and the significance of the orientation of streets in absorbing radiation and providing heat to outdoor urban spaces, this study investigates the effect of the orientation of streets on microclimatic comfort in one of the residential towns of Hamadan City in Iran. For this purpose, microclimate simulation was performed using ENVI-met software. A residential block with four different orientations (the most common orientations of its surrounding buildings) were simulated in the coldest day of winter and the hottest day of summer. The results suggest that streets have different thermal behavior in different orientations. Orientation affects mean radiant temperature (Tmrt), the duration of exposure to direct sunlight, wind speed, and physiological equivalent temperature (PET), which are all important factors in thermal comfort. Based on these findings, north-south streets in Hamedan receive more radiant temperature during winter compared to other simulated orientations and provide more desirable thermal comfort. The average PET value on a winter day at a point on the north-south passage was 4.5-8 °C warmer than other orientations. In summer, streets with intercardinal orientations (i.e., northeast-southwest and northwest-southeast) provided the lowest PET (about 2 °C cooler than other orientations) and better thermal comfort

The sTetro is a stair cleaning robot which can climb the staircase with its shapeshifting capabilities. As this robot is intended to traverse multi-floor environment autonomously, hence its localization/positioning information is an essential component of the overall system. Usually, the indoor mobile robots rely on some external system for localization information, e.g., WiFi, UWB, vision, RFID signals, or indoor Global Positioning System (GPS). This requires the installation of additional hardware and/or modification of the working environment for precise positioning information of the mobile platform. As the dimensions of the staircase are known a priori, this knowledge can be used to localize the sTetro robot on the stairs. In this article, the geometry of the staircase has been exploited to localize the robot in 3D space with measurements from the onboard time-of-flight (ToF) range sensors only. The heading angle of the robot is also estimated with two ToF sensors installed in front of the sTetro robot. Results achieved by conducting experiments on real robot prove the efficacy of the proposed approach.

Direct measurement of strain within muscle is important for understanding muscle function in health and disease. Current technology (kinematics, dynamometry, electromyography) provides limited ability to measure strain within muscle. Regional fiber orientation and length are related with active/passive strain within muscle. Currently, ultrasound imaging provides the only non-invasive means of observing regional fiber orientation within muscle during dynamic tasks. Previous attempts to automatically estimate fiber orientation from ultrasound are not adequate, often requiring manual region selection, feature engineering, providing low-resolution estimations (one angle per muscle), and deep muscles are often not attempted. Here, we propose deconvolutional neural networks (DCNN) for estimating fiber orientation at the pixel-level. Dynamic ultrasound images sequences of the calf muscles were acquired (25 Hz) from 8 healthy volunteers (4 male, ages: 25–36, median 30). A combination of expert annotation and interpolation/extrapolation provided labels of regional fiber orientation for each image. We then trained DCNNs both with and without dropout using leave one out cross-validation. Our results demonstrated robust estimation of regional fiber orientation with approximately 3° error, which was an improvement on previous methods. The methods presented here provide new potential to study muscle in disease and health.

Dangyang Valley is the cradle of Chinese ceramic culture. The production technology of Dangyangyu twisted porcelain has been included in China's national intangible cultural heritage list and is representative of the ceramic production technologies in China. The production of twisted porcelain originated in the Tang Dynasty of China, and after a war in the late Tang Dynasty, its production technology was lost. The production technique of exquisite twisted porcelain contains the technology of twisted molding that is unique in the world. People are amazed by the unique ceramic art it presents. However, its production craft has not been well inherited and developed. In this paper, through the theoretical dimension of extension semantics, the artistic characteristics of Dangyangyu twisted porcelain were taken as the core to extract its cultural expression and quantify the relationship between modeling semantics and culture.Also, with potential cultural connotations tapped, extension semantics were obtained through in-depth analysis and evaluation. The manufacturing technique of twisted porcelain can promote the integration of design extension semantics with its production process, thus continuously updating and developing the production process with the times. This study has provided method support for the development and inheritance of twisted porcelain culture, thus presenting the important promotion significance.

Digitalization have force emerging markets (EMs) firms operating in resource-constrained environment to adopt market-driven strategies, particularly frugal innovation, to provide affordable, optimize processes and high-value solutions. However, understanding the mechanisms behind developing frugal innovation capability (FIC) at the firm level in diverse EMs remains limited. From the perspective of the Resource-based View, this study added to the existing body of knowledge by exploring how strategic orientation (entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO)) and organizational ambidexterity (OA) impact the development of FIC in EMs. The study utilized a cross-sectional survey in data collection with 386 valid respondents from Tanzanian manufacturing firms to empirically validate our theoretical predictions. The results show that both EO and MO have strong and positive association with OA and the development of FIC in EMs. In addition, OA partially mediate the relationship of both EO and MO with the development of FIC. Furthermore, our results indicate that MO exerts a more significant impact on the development of FIC than EO in EMs. Managers of manufacturing firms in EMs can use these findings to review their strategic decisions and their exploitative and exploratory approaches to enhance supply chains, develop cost-effective technologies, and produce affordable offerings that cater to the preferences of price-conscious consumers in the digitalization age.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have attracted a great interest in nanomedical research. MNPs exhibit many important properties, particularly, magnetic hyperthermia for selective killing of cancer cells is one of them. In hyperthermia treatment, MNPs act as nano-heaters when they are under the influence of an alternating magnetic field (AMF). In this work, micromagnetic simulations have been used to investigate the magnetization dynamics of a single-domain nanoparticle of magnetite in an external AMF. Special attention is paid to the circumstances dealing with a dynamic phase transition (DPT). Besides, we focus on the influence of the orientation of the magnetic easy-axis of the MNP on the dynamic magnetic properties. For amplitudes of the external AMF above certain critical value, the system is not able to follow the magnetic field and it is found in a dynamically ordered phase; whereas for larger amplitudes, the state corresponds to a dynamically disordered phase and the magnetization follows the external AMF. Our results suggest that the way how the order-disorder DPT takes place, and both the metastable lifetime as well as the specific loss power (SLP), are strongly dependent on the interplay between the orientation of the magnetic easy-axis and the amplitude of the external AMF.

This study aims to determine the Implication of innovation, proactivity, risk-taking, artistic orientation, and financial literacy on creative economy businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was conducted on 120 creative economy businessmen in Bandar Lampung City, which is a miniature of Indonesia with multiethnic cultures. The results showed innovation is not significant, but proactive attitude, artistic orientation, and financial literacy have a significant implication on the performance of creative economic businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A proper transmission of the orientation between surface and underground workings, by means of vertical shafts, is an important challenge in the mining industry, especially when the mine exceeds 200 meters deep. In fact, this study is developed in a mine located to 700 meters deep. Likewise, this paper assesses the accuracy of this operation, in a case study, using the two shafts plumbing and gyroscope methods in order to compare and analyse the planimetric displacement of the base line due to different source of errors in each one. Upsides and downsides of both methods are analysed in the paper. Some disadvantages in each method have been reduced thanks to the technological progress, especially in the two shaft plumbing method. The different sources of error that affect the measures are thoroughly analysed in the study with the aim to compensate them and achieve the required precision for an underground infrastructure. Mine ventilation has been found as one of the most important sources of error in the plumbing method due to intake and return airflow. In this direction, the paper unfolds some measures to reduce the ventilation influence and details a compensation method to reduce ventilation errors.

Green and low-carbon development has become an important embodiment of China's path to becoming a strong agricultural country. How to enable agricultural enterprises to better adopt green technologies and conduct production and operation with the concept of sustainable development has become a key link. This article utilizes a structural equation model (SEM) to analyze the role paths and mediating effects of organizational learning ability and policy orientation in agricultural enterprises' market orientation and willingness to adopt green technologies[ The definition of green technology in this paper refers to Guo Kesha, Tian Xiaoxiao. Green technology and green transformation of industrial development mode [J]. Tianjin Social Sciences, 2024 (02) :99-107, including green manufacturing (production) technology and green service technology.]. The results show that market orientation, organizational learning ability, and policy effectiveness have significant direct positive impacts on the willingness to adopt; market orientation has a significant positive impact on agricultural enterprises' organizational learning ability, organizational learning ability has a significant positive impact on policy orientation, and market orientation has a significant positive impact on policy effectiveness; the results of mediation analysis also indicate that learning ability has a significant mediating effect between market orientation and willingness to adopt, and policy effectiveness has a significant mediating effect between market orientation and willingness to adopt. Through difference analysis, it is believed that the mediating effects of the three paths are equally important, and organizational learning ability and policy effectiveness play a partial mediating role in agricultural enterprises' willingness to adopt green technologies. Based on this, policy suggestions are proposed to improve enterprises' own organizational learning ability, increase the promotion of policies related to green technologies, improve relevant policies for the application of green technologies, and increase research and development efforts for green technologies.

Abstract: For decades, researchers have suggested the existence of a bilingual cognitive advantage, especially in tasks involving executive functions such as inhibition, shifting, and updating. Recently, an increasing number of studies have questioned whether bilingualism results in change in executive functions, highlighting conflicting data published in the literature. The present study compared the performance of third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade bilingual and monolingual children on attentional and cognitive tasks. Participants were 61 monolingual and 74 bilingual children (M = 114.6 months; SD = 8.48 months) who were tested on two versions of the Attention Network Task (ANT), with and without social stimuli, as well as tests investigating working memory, short-term memory, narrative memory, and receptive vocabulary. Data on families’ socioeconomic status and children’s reasoning abilities were also collected. The results showed that bilingualism and socioeconomic status affected attentional networks in tasks involving social stimuli. In tasks involving non-social stimuli, socioeconomic status only affected the alerting and executive conflict networks. Consistent with the literature, a positive relationship emerged between socioeconomic status and executive control in the context of social stimuli, and a negative relationship emerged between socioeconomic status and the alerting network in the context of non-social stimuli. Interestingly, neither socioeconomic status nor social attentional networks correlated with working memory. Therefore, although more investigations are required, the results suggest that differences in social contexts mainly affect attentional functions.

Artificial Intelligence innovations, such as chatbots and specialized education suggestion tools, provide potential interactive and on-demand pedagogical engagement between non-Christians and Christians with Christianity. However, there is little empirical research on the readiness, acceptance, and adoption of A.I.'s involvement in religious education in a secular state, such as Vietnam. This research addresses the literature gap by providing an entrepreneurial analysis and customer perspectives on the ideas of A.I.'s involvement in religious education. Specifically, the study explores whether the Vietnamese across different ages and religious orientations accept and have enough skills to adopt A.I.'s religious education innovation. The interview sample is 32 participants, selected based on their religious orientation (Christians & Non-Christians) and age (Generation X, Generation Y & Generation Z). Most respondents are open to A.I. application in religious education except for the Church's personnel. However, only gen Z generations are fully prepared to adopt this innovation. Theoretically, the research customizes the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model into religious innovation context. Practically, this research acts as market research on the demand for A.I.'s religious innovation in Vietnam, an insight for future religious tech entrepreneurs.

This study aims to test empirical research on the effect of financial resource ability, research and development (R &amp; D) on innovation orientation and competitive position. This study also examines the critical mediating role of innovation orientation and competitive position to achieving new products performance (NPP). This study used a quantitative research approach by comparing data from service industry and manufacture industry in Indonesia included in Indonesian-State-Ownership companies. The analysis unit in this study used middle managers and top managers who responsible for managing divisions within the Indonesian-State-Ownership companies. The number of respondents studied in this study was 287 sample. The purposive sampling technique was used in taking the research sample. This study indicated that financial resources abilities, research and development (R &amp; D) abilities positive effect on innovation orientation and competitive position. This study also testing the importance role of innovation orientation and a competitive position to enhancing new products performance (NPP).

The adsorption of proteins on polymer is widely used in biosensors. Here, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was used to study the immobilization of angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2) with six initial orientations proposed on polystyrene (PS) at the ambient conditions of pH (4.5, 6, 7, 8, 9.5) and NaCl (0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25 M). ACE2 immobilization under favorable ambient conditions was characterized by minimum distance (short), settlement time (fast), interaction energy (substantial) and protein configuration (stable). ACE2 orientations proposed in 0.15M NaCl were respectively preferable to (90, 0, 0), (0, 0, 0) and (0, 270, 0), (180, 0, 0) and (0, 90, 0), (90, 0, 0) at pH 4.5, 6, 7, 9.5. ACE2 immobilization was further evaluated at pH 7 by optimizing NaCl concentration. Its proposed orientations of (i) (0, 270, 0), (ii) (0, 0, 0) and (90, 0, 0), and (iii) (0, 90, 0) and (90, 0, 0) were preferable in 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 M NaCl, respectively. The great significance of cubic-orientation settlement mode provides tangible improvement for the microfabrication of biochips for rapid diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus II (SARS-CoV-2).

Based on the institutional theory and resource-based theory and the "institution-strategy-performance" research paradigm, this research explores the mechanism of institutional support on the innovation performance of new ventures, focusing on the mediating role of entrepreneurs and the moderating role of innovative resource acquisition. An empirical analysis based on 278 survey samples shows that: ① (formal/informal) institutional support positively affects the innovation performance of new ventures; ② entrepreneurial orientation plays an intermediary role between institutional support and innovation performance of new ventures; ③ innovation resource acquisition not only positively regulates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation performance of new ventures, but also enhances the mediation of entrepreneurial orientation between institutional support and innovation performance. The conclusion shows that institutional support plays an important role in the innovation practice of new ventures, and can provide guidance for the innovation management practices of new ventures.

In recent decades, widespread damage to structures due to destructive earthquakes has encouraged researchers to use seismic control systems. One of the most important structures is bridges, which should maintain their service after severe earthquakes. One of the ways to control the bridge is to isolation the deck from the substructure, which results in high displacements at different points in the bridge and the residual displacements within the separator itself, thus requiring repair and replacement of these systems after severe earthquakes. Therefore, the use of new seismic separation systems on bridges has always been important. The purpose of this project is to utilize a new memory-shaped seismic separator system to investigate the seismic performance of v-shaped column bridges , in which case the effect of earthquake orientation and its effects on responses the earthquake will also be assessed. Due to the ever-increasing advances in various intelligent materials, such as shape memory alloys, and their unique capacities, such as back-centering, and high fatigue and corrosion resistance, in this study, these materials have been used as a complementary component along with lead core separators. The shape memory alloy has been used as 4 vertical rods that connect two separating parts to each other and in this research the diameter and location of these rods will be calculated using optimization algorithm in Matlab software.

The amino acid composition of the active site in an enzyme is influential on its substrate selectivity. For CYP2E1, the role of PHE residues in the formation of effective orientations for its activity toward aromatic substrates remains unclear. In this study, molecular docking and molecular dynamics analysis were performed toward the interactions between PHEs in the active site of human CYP2E1 and various aromatic compounds as confirmed CYP2E1 substrates. The results indicated that the orientation of 1-methylpyrene (1-MP) in the active site was highly modulated by the PHEs, PHE478 contributing to the binding free energy most significantly. Furthermore, by building a random forest model the relationship between each of 19 molecular descriptors of PCB congeners (from molecular docking, quantum mechanics, and physicochemical properties) and established human CYP2E1-dependent mutagenicity of a series of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which have been proven to be human carcinogens and endocrinal disrupters, was investigated. The presence of PHEs did not appear to significantly modify the electronic or structural feature of each bound ligand (PCB), instead, the flexibility of the molecular conformation of PHEs contributed substantially to the effective binding energy and orientation. It is supposed that PHE residues adjust their own conformation to permit a suitable space for the ligand binding and form an orientation favorable for a biochemical reaction. This study has provided some insights into the role of PHEs in guiding the interactive adaptation of the active site of human CYP2E1 for the binding and metabolism of aromatic substrates.

This report describes the collection of a large dataset (6930 measurement) on dimensional error in the fused deposition modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing process for full-density parts. Three different print orientations were studied, as well as seven raster angles (0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, and 90°) for the rectilinear infill pattern. All measurements were replicated ten times on ten different samples to ensure a comprehensive dataset. Eleven polymer materials were considered: acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polylactic acid (PLA), high-temperature PLA, wood-composite PLA, carbon-fiber-composite PLA, copper-composite PLA, aluminum-composite PLA, high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), polyethylene terephthalate glycol-enhanced (PETG), polycarbonate, and synthetic polyamide (nylon). The samples were ASTM-standard impact testing samples, since this geometry allows the measurement of error on three different scales; the nominal dimensions were 3.25mm thick, 63.5mm long, and 12.7mm wide. This dataset is intended to give engineers and product designers a benchmark for judging the accuracy and repeatability of the FDM process for use in manufacturing of end-user products.

This study investigates the impact of experienced contact on prejudiced attitudes toward individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), examining beliefs in a just world (BJW) and social dominance orientation (SDO) as potential serial mediators. Data were collected from 224 university students (M = 23.02, SD = 2.48). Path analysis modeling assessed the structural relationships between the study variables. The findings revealed that experienced contact was negatively and significantly associated with BJW and SDO. Additionally, BJW and SDO fully mediated the relationship between experienced contact and overt prejudice. These findings underscore the influence of individual differences on attitudes toward individuals with ID, establishing a crucial foundation for future research and the development of interventions aimed at reducing prejudice and discrimination.

Structure-based design and synthesis of two biphenyl-N-acyl-β-D-glucopyranosylamine derivatives as well as their assessment as inhibitors of human liver glycogen phosphorylase (hlGPa, a pharmaceutical target for type 2 diabetes) is presented. X-ray crystallography revealed the importance of structural water molecules and that the inhibitory efficacy correlates with the degree of disturbance caused by the inhibitor binding to a loop crucial for the catalytic mechanism. The in silico derived models of the binding mode generated during the design process corresponded very well with the crystallographic data.

Electromagnetic sensors have been used for inspecting small surface defects of metals. Based on the eddy-current thin-skin regime, a revised algorithm is proposed for a triple-coil drive-pickup eddy-current sensor scanning over long surface crack slots (10 mm) with different rotary angles. The method is validated by the voltage measurement of the designed EC sensor scanning over a benchmark (ferromagnetic) steel with surface defects of different depths and rotary angles. With an additional sensing coil for the designed EC sensor, the defect angle (or orientation) can be measured without spatially and coaxially rotating the excitation coil. By referring to the voltage change (due to the defect) diagram (voltage sum versus voltage different) of two sensing pairs, the rotary angle of the surface crack is retrieved with a maximum residual deviation of 3.5 %.

The Ras family of proteins is tethered to the inner leaflet of the cell membranes which play an essential role in signal transduction pathways that promote cellular proliferation, survival, growth, and differentiation. KRas-4B, the most mutated Ras isoform in different cancers, has been under extensive study for more than two decades. Here we have focused our interest on the influence of cholesterol on the orientations that KRas-4B adopts with respect to the plane of the anionic model membranes. How cholesterol in the bilayer might modulate preferences for specific orientation states is far from clear. Herein, after analyzing data from in total 4000 ns-long MD simulations for four KRas-4B systems, properties such as the area per lipid and thickness of the membrane as well as selected radial distribution functions, penetration of different moieties of KRas-4B, and internal conformational fluctuations of flexible moieties in KRas-4B have been calculated. It has been shown that high cholesterol content in the PM favors OS1, exposing the effector-binding loop for signal transduction in the cell from the atomic level. We confirm that high cholesterol in the PM helps KRas-4B mutant stay in its constitutively active state, which suggests that high cholesterol intake can increase mortality and may promote cancer progression for cancer patients. We propose that during the treatment of KRas-4B-related cancers, reducing the cholesterol level in the PM and sustaining cancer progression by controlling the plasma cholesterol intake might be taken into account in anti-cancer therapies.

This study draws on both the theory of resource-based view and the theory of stakeholders to investigate the effects of Green Human Resource Management (Green HRM) practices on Sustainability and Employee Health Orientation (EHO) through the mediating effect of Environmental Performance (EP). Based on a cross-sectional survey questionnaire, the data were collected from 318 service and manufacturing firms across India. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to determine the link among constructs. The findings of the empirical evidence reveal that Green HRM practices have positive and significant effects on EP, Sustainability and EHO. Also, the findings demonstrate that EP partially mediates the link between Green HRM practices and Sustainability. Similarly, the findings establish that EP partially mediates the link between Green HRM practices and EHO. Finally, the potential implications of this research and future research for practitioners and scholars are addressed.

A composite is a material formed from the combination of two or more constituent materials through a non-homogeneous mixture. This research aims to determine the effect of volume fraction and fiber orientation angle of the hybrid polyester-ulin wood powder (Eusideroxylon zwageri)-wire mesh composite on bending strength. The bending test was conducted using ASTM D-790 standard with a three-point bending test method. The composite was made using the hand lay-up method with various compositions of particles and polyester. The results showed that the composition with less ulin wood powder and finer mesh size with a 45° wire mesh angle orientation had the highest bending strength and high deformation capability. The addition of wire mesh did not significantly increase the bending strength but could reduce the effect of decreased deformation capability.

Aluminium alloys are used for fabrication of fuel clad of research grade nuclear reactors as well as of several types of core components of high flux research reactors. In order to carry out design and safety analysis of these components, their mechanical and fracture properties are required by the designer. In this work, experiments have been conducted on tensile specimens machined from an aluminium alloy block to evaluate the material stress-strain curve. For evaluation of fracture properties, experiments have been conducted on disc shaped compact tension specimens in order to determine the fracture toughness of aluminium alloy. From crystal plasticity based finite element analysis and experimental data, a material damage parameter for prediction of crack initiation has been evaluated. The variation of the parameter for various values of initial a/W ratios of the disc-shaped CT specimens have been studied. It was observed that the damage parameter is independent of crack geometry and hence, it qualifies as transferable material property which can be used to predict crack initiation in a component of this material subjected to different kinds of loading conditions. In addition, the JR curves of the disc-shaped CT specimens have also been evaluated from experiments. The material damage parameter has also been used to study the crack initiation in single crystal fracture specimens with two different orientations. It was observed that the [111] orientation is more susceptible to crack initiation and propagation compared to the [100] orientation as the damage parameter is high in the ligament of the specimen ahead of the crack-tip for the same level of load. The results of the experiments and the material damage parameter shall be helpful for integrity analysis of fuel clad of research reactors as well as components of high flux research reactors.

This review systematically explored structural, functional, and metabolic features of the cisgender brain compared with the transgender brain before hormonal treatment and the heterosexual brain compared to the homosexual brain from the analysis of the neuroimaging literature up to 2018, and identified and discussed subsequent studies published up to March 2021. Our main aim was to help identifying neuroradiological brain features that have been related to human sexuality to contribute to the understanding of the biological elements involved in gender identity and sexual orientation. We analyze 39 studies on gender identity and 24 on sexual orientation. Our results suggest that some neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and neurometabolic features in transgender individuals resemble those of their experienced gender despite the majority resembling those from their natal sex. In homosexual individuals the majority resemble those of their same sex heterosexual population rather than their opposite sex heterosexual population. However, it is always difficult to interpret findings with non-invasive neuroimaging. Given the gross nature of these measures, it is possible that more differences too subtle to measure with available tools yet contributing to gender identity and sexual orientation could be found. Conflicting results contributed to the difficulty of identifying specific brain features which consistently differ between cisgender and transgender or between heterosexual and homosexual groups. The small number of studies, the small-to-moderate sample size of each study, and the heterogeneity of the investigations made it impossible to meta-analyze all the data extracted. Further studies are necessary to increase the understanding of the neurological substrates of human sexuality.

I demonstrate that the ionization energy (IE) and the electron affinity (EA) of organic molecular crystals can be predicted from first-principles. Here, I describe the induced electronic polarization and the electrostatic effects upon crystalline IE and EA. I also demonstrate that the electronic polarization mainly originates from the screened coulomb interaction inside the crystalline bulk phase, and that the electrostatic contribution to IE and EA crucially depends on the orientation of the molecule at the surface. The former is well described by the GW approximation, while the latter is reasonably estimated by the difference in frontier orbital energy between the gas phase and the surface at the level of a generalized gradient approximation to the density functional theory. The present methodology enables to demonstrate the impact of the electrostatic effect upon the energy level of the injected charge at a multi-monolayer surface of an organic semiconductor thin film.

This study introduces a multilayer perceptron (MLP) error compensation method for real-time camera orientation estimation, leveraging a single vanishing point and road lane lines within a steady-state framework. The research emphasizes cameras with a roll angle of 0°, predominant in autonomous vehicle contexts. The methodology estimates pitch and yaw angles using a single image and integrates two Kalman filter models with inputs from image points (u, v) and derived angles (pitch, yaw). Performance metrics, including AE, MINE, MAXE, SSE, and STDEV, were utilized, testing the system in both simulator and real-vehicle environments. The outcomes indicate that our method notably enhances the accuracy of camera orientation estimations, consistently outpacing competing techniques across varied scenarios. This method’s potency is evident in its adaptability and precision, holding promise for advanced vehicle systems and real-world applications.

Market-orientation is widely applied to understand the expected interaction of smallholder farmers with input and output markets. Commonly used interchangeably with market participation, it is fast becoming a key milestone for attaining smallholder commercialization. This study introduces the term into the disaster resilience, seed systems and livelihoods context. Using a mixed methods approach, 120 smallholder farmers in a drought-affected district of South Africa were sampled, and information collected for analysis. The result shows that most of the farmers rely on purchased seeds and fertilizers for crop production, and on average sold 62% of their farm produce. A market orientation index (MOI) of 55% was estimated, showing that the farmers were market oriented. The farm size, quantities of seeds and fertilizer purchased, value of crop produced, amount received from crop sales, distance to markets and access to credit were found significant in determining their market orientation. Policy interventions were made to improve access to irrigation, seed varieties and extension delivery in the area. The finding has implications for development efforts at rebuilding after a natural disaster, as well as sourcing food aid from local smallholder farmers by humanitarian actors.

The massive amount of human biological, imaging and clinical data produced by multiple and diverse sources, necessitates integrative modeling approaches able to summarize all this information into answers to specific clinical questions. In this paper, we present a hypermodeling scheme able to combine models of diverse cancer aspects regardless of their underlying method or scale. Describing tissue-scale cancer cell proliferation, biomechanical tumor growth, nutrient transport, genomic-scale aberrant cancer cell metabolism, and cell signaling pathways that regulate the cellular response to therapy, the hypermodel integrates mutation, miRNA expression, imaging, and clinical data. The constituting hypomodels as well as their orchestration and links are described. Two specific cancer types, Wilms tumor (nephroblastoma) and non-small cell lung cancer, are addressed as proof of concept study cases. Personalized simulations over the actual anatomy of a patient have been carried out. The hypermodel has also applied to predict tumor control after radiotherapy and the relationship between tumor proliferative activity and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Our innovative hypermodel holds promise as a digital twin based clinical decision support system and the core of future in silico trial platforms, although additional retrospective adaptation and validation is necessary.

In this paper, the nanoscale dissipative mechanisms of a Cu pad in a Ball Grid Array (BGA) packaging structure during isothermal ageing and uniaxial tension were investigated by the molecular dynamics (MD) method and experiments. From the result of the isothermal ageing test, a nonuniform consumption of Cu and large amount of Kirkendall voids were observed at the interface of Cu and Cu₃Sn. To study the effect of pressure and orientation on this phenomenon, MD simulations were conducted on four types of Cu-Cu₃Sn interface structures with different orientations of Cu. By comparing the diffusion coefficients of atoms in those cases, it was found that the tensile stress would inhibit the diffusion of atoms, whereas compressive stress would accelerate it, and this would be more significant under a larger magnitude of stress and temperature. Note that, in the model with the (101) surface Cu at the interface, both Cu and Cu₃Sn have a higher diffusion coefficient compared with the model with (001) surface Cu. Thus, the orientation of Cu will also contribute to the uniform consumption of the pad. Uniaxial tension simulation combined with DXA and CSP analyses on those models also shows the model with (001) surface Cu has a greater mechanical reliability in our simulations and related experiments.

Background: Previous study of sexual minorities has documented both instability in the sex of sex partners and incongruity among all three dimensions of sexual orientation (attraction, behavior and identification), but no attempt has been made to relate the two. How, if at all, does past change affect present incongruity? This study attempts, for the first time, to examine this question. Method: Using a representative probability sample of the British population (n = 15,162), the current dimensions of sexual orientation were compared across changes in sex partner type—opposite-sex only (O/Sex), same-sex only (S/Sex), or both opposite-sex and same-sex (B/Sex)— over three time periods—before 5 years ago (Time 1), 5 years to 1 year ago (Time 2), and the past year (Time 3)—for the nonheterosexual population. Differences and trends in population-weighted percentage frequencies stratified by sex were assessed by t-test or inspection of 95% confidence intervals. Results: Overall incongruity and instability were high: 74% of men and 85% of women did not report congruent lifetime sexual attraction, behavior and identification; of persons reporting any same-sex sex partners at Time 1, 82% reported a different partner type at Time 3. Most change (80% for women, 84% for men) involved a single partner type transition (transience) rather than multiple changes (fluidity) and movement toward increased heterosexual orientation (69%; 65% to O/Sex partners. From Time 1 to Time 3, 19% of persons with S/Sex partners moved to O/Sex partners; 0.1% of persons with O/Sex partners moved to S/Sex partners. Instability moderately reduced already high incongruity for the majority moving toward increased heterosexual orientation, but increased already low incongruity for the minority moving toward increased same-sex orientation. Among presently S/Sex partnered persons (comprising 12% of sexual minorities), incongruity was reported by 1.4% of persons with stable partnership history and 11% of persons with unstable partnership history (p=.0052). For all except presently S/Sex partnered persons (comprising 88% of sexual minorities), incongruity was reported by 97% of persons with stable partnership history and 86% of persons with unstable partnership history (p=.0000). Conclusion: For most sexual minority persons, partner type instability contributed to a modest reduction of high sexual minority orientation incongruity after moving toward increased heterosexual practice. Among current S/Sex partnered persons, however, instability strongly increased incongruity between identification and behavior or attraction. These results are consistent with minority stress theory but inconsistent with homosexual immutability, and counsel caution regarding legal restrictions on support for sexual minority persons moving toward increased heterosexual partnership.

Background: Early diagnosis of postoperative complications is an urgent task, allowing timely prescribing of appropriate therapy and reducing the cost of patient treatment. Prognostic models based on various data could help in the early diagnosis of postoperative complications after cardiac surgery. Objectives: The purpose of the study was to determine whether an integrated approach based on clinical data along with metabolites and biomarkers had greater predictive value than the models built on less data. Methods: The study included patients (n=62) admitted for planned cardiac surgery (coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass), who were retrospectively divided into two groups depending on the presence (n=26) or absence (n=36) of postoperative complications of all types. Clinical and laboratory data on the first day after surgery were analyzed. Additionally, patients' blood samples were collected before and on the first day after surgery to determine biomarkers (interleukin-6, procalcitonin, NT-proBNP, high-sensitivity troponin T) and metabolites (8 aromatic and 2 dicarboxylic acids were detected using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). Results: Patients before surgery, compared with healthy donors, differed in the concentration of metabolites (p &lt; 0.05), and had concentrations of a number of biomarkers exceeding the corresponding reference values. Multivariate PLS-DA models, predicting the presence or absence of postoperative complications, were built using clinical data (ROC-AUC=0.71), concentrations of metabolites and biomarkers (ROC-AUC=0.60), and the entire data set (ROC-AUC=0.75). For comparison we built univariate models using the EuroScore2 (ROC-AUC=0.59) and SOFA (ROC-AUC=0.76) scales; concentrations of lactate (ROC-AUC=0.71), the dynamic changes of 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid (ROC-AUC=0.69), and the sum of three sepsis-associated metabolites (ROC-AUC=0.70). The proposed complex model using entire data set was comparable to the SOFA scale, which confirms the expediency of searching for new predictive models based on a variety of factors.

Milk serves as a crucial source of natural bioactive compounds essential for human nutrition and health. The gastrointestinal digestion of milk proteins releases various biologically active peptides that positively impact human health and enhance physiological performance. With the growing production of cheese, Greek yogurt, and other dairy products, the volume of unutilized acid whey is significantly increasing. Acid whey, containing almost all whey proteins and approximately one-quarter of casein, presents a valuable raw material for generating peptides with potential health benefits. These peptides exhibit properties such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive, antithrombotic, opioid, mineral-binding, and growth-stimulating activities, contributing to improved human immunity and the treatment of chronic diseases. Enzymatic hydrolysis of milk proteins has been developed as a method to produce these peptides, facilitating their use in food fortification. To incorporate whey into functional beverages, it undergoes fermentation by lactic acid bacteria with proteolytic activity. To specifically enrich these beverages with peptides exhibiting targeted bioactivities, it is essential to select lactic acid bacteria strains possessing the requisite protease profiles. Additionally, the sensory properties of the final product can be enhanced using starter cultures with diverse metabolic capabilities, even in the absence of added flavoring agents. Given the imperative to develop waste-free technologies and enhance the profitability of the dairy industry, there is a growing need to efficiently utilize and transform acid whey into a broad spectrum of valuable products and food additives. This approach is justified not only by the nutritional benefits of the bioactive components in whey but also by the commercial potential of safe and health-enhancing products.

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.

The impact of interaction SS with MJO on rainfall along Java Island to East Nusa Tenggara has been studied using daily rainfall observation data from 2140 weather observation stations, which are also equipped with GSMaP, OLR, and ERA5 data. There were 61 SS events found, 17 during active MJO and 44 in inactive MJO. Rainfall increases more in the western study area when the active MJO and more in the eastern study area when the inactive MJO is due to SS. SS reduces rainfall in the Jakarta region, regardless of the activity or inactivity of the MJO. SS causes extreme rainfall to only occur in a small part of certain areas, so it tends to significantly reduce the possibility of extreme rainfall. In the southern part of the IMC, SS predominates over MJO in supporting increased water vapor transport. Large-scale synoptic circulations like the monsoon, SS, and MJO can interact with local land-sea wind circulation to produce spatiotemporal variability in rainfall on Java Island. Rainfall mostly increases in the afternoon and decreases in the morning when SS occurs, whether there is MJO or not. Convective instability analysis indicates that SS increases precipitation, most likely by lowering CIN and raising VIMFC.

In order to shorten the detection time and improve the average precision on embedded devices, A lightweight and high accuracy model is proposed for passion fruit in complex environments (backlight, occlusion, overlap, sunny, cloudy, rainy). Firstly, replacing the backbone network of YOLOv5 with a lightweight GhostNet model reduces the number of parameters and computation while improving detection speed. Secondly, a new feature branch is added to the GhostNet network, and the feature fusion layer in the neck network is reconstructed to effectively combine the lower-level and higher-level features, which not only improves the accuracy of the model but also maintains its lightweight. Finally, the knowledge distillation methods are used to transfer the knowledge from the more capable teacher model to the less capable student model, which significantly improving the detection accuracy. The improved model is denoted as G-YOLO-NK. The average accuracy of the G-YOLO-NK network is 96.00%, which is 1.00% higher than the original YOLOv5s model. Furthermore, the improved model size is 7.14MB, reduced to half of the original model, and the real-time detection frame rate is 11.25 FPS on the Jetson Nano. Compared to the state-of-the-art model, the proposed model outperforms them in terms of average precision and detection performance. The present work provides an effective model for real-time detection of passion fruits in complex orchard scenes, which can provide valuable technical support for the development of orchard picking robots and greatly improve the intelligence level of orchards.

The Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) scanner is an easy and portable Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data acquisition device. Its main output is a 3D point cloud covering the scanned scene. Regarding the importance of accuracy in the survey domain, this paper aims to assess the accuracy of two SLAM scanners: the NavVis VLX and the BLK2GO Scanner. This assessment is conducted for both outdoor and indoor environments. In this context, two types of reference data are used: the Total Station (TS) and the static scanner Z+F Imager 5016. To carry out the assessment, four comparisons are tested: cloud to cloud, cloud to mesh, mesh to mesh, and edge detection board assessment. However, the results of the assessments confirm that the accuracy of indoor SLAM scanner measurements (5 mm) is greater than that of outdoor ones (between 10 mm and 60 mm). Moreover, the comparison of cloud to cloud provides the best accuracy regarding direct accuracy measurement without manipulations. Finally, based on the high accuracy, scanning speed, flexibility, and the accuracy differences between tested cases, it is confirmed that SLAM scanners are effective tools for data acquisition.

In recent years, electroencephalogram (EEG) emotion recognition has emerged as a research hotspot in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite advancements in EEG-based emotion recognition, room for enhancing performance persists due to EEG signal redundancy and limitations in feature extraction, leading to inefficient models and emotional information loss. To fully utilize EEG's emotional information and improve recognition accuracy while reducing computational costs, this paper proposes a Convolutional-Recurrent Hybrid Network with a dual-stream adaptive approach and an attention mechanism (CSA-SA-CRTNN). Firstly, the model utilizes a CSAM module to assign corresponding weights to EEG channels. Then, an adaptive dual-stream convolutional-recurrent network (SA-CRNN and MHSA-CRNN) is applied to extract local spatial-temporal features. After that, the extracted local features are concatenated and fed into a temporal convolutional network with a multi-head self-attention mechanism (MHSA-TCN) to capture global information. Finally, the extracted EEG information is used for emotion classification. We conducted binary and ternary classification experiments on the DEAP dataset, achieving 99.26% and 99.15% accuracy for arousal and valence in binary classification, and 97.69% and 98.05% in ternary classification, surpassing relevant algorithms. Additionally, the model's efficiency is significantly higher than other models, achieving better accuracy with lower resource consumption.

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.

Superior fiber quality is one of the most important objectives in cotton breeding. To detect the genetic basis underlying fiber quality, an F2 population containing 413 plants was constructed by crossing Jifeng 914 and Jifeng 173, both of which have superior fiber quality, with Jifeng 173 being better. Five fiber quality traits were investigated in the F2, F2:3, F2:4, and F2:5 populations. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping was conducted based on a high-density genetic map containing 11,488 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and spanning 4,202.12 cM in length. Transgressive segregation patterns and complex correlations in the five tested traits were observed. A total of 108 QTLs were found, including 27 for fiber length (FL), 16 for fiber strength (FS), 24 for micronaire (MC), 17 for fiber uniformity (FU), and 24 for fiber elongation rate (FE). Chromosome A7 contained 12 QTL, ranking the first. No QTL was found on chromosome D1 and D11. Each QTL contributed 1.98%–21.45% to the phenotypic variation (PV), including 13 major effect QTLs that contributed more than 10% toward PV. Two QTLs could be repeatedly detected in three populations, including qFL-D3-2 in F2, F2:4, and F2:5 with 9.18%–21.45% of PV, qFS-A11-1 in F2:3, F2:4 and F2:5 with 6.05%–10.41% of PV. Another seven stable QTLs could be detected in two populations, including four major effect QTLs: qFL-A12-3, qFS-D10-2, qMC-D6-2, and qMC-D8-1. Fourteen QTL-overlapping regions were found, which might explain the complex correlations among the five phenotypic traits. Four regions on chromosome A11, D3, D6, and D10 covered by both stable and major effect QTLs are promising for further fine mapping. The genomic regions of the two QTLs detected in three populations and the four major effect QTLs contain 810 genes. Gene functional analysis revealed that the annotated genes are mainly involved in protein binding and metabolic pathways. Fifteen candidate genes in the qFL-D3-2 region are highly expressed in fiber or ovules during fiber initiation, elongation, secondary cell wall thickening, or maturation stages. qRT-PCR revealed that Ghir_D03G005440.1 and Ghir_D03G011310.1 may play a role in promoting fiber initiation, Ghir_D03G006470.1 may be beneficial for promoting fiber elongation. This study provides more information for revealing the molecular genetic basis underlying cotton fiber quality.

Currently there are fewer depth models applied to pepper picking detection, while the existing generalized neural networks have problems such as large model parameters, long training time, and low model accuracy.In order to solve the above problems, this paper proposes a Yolo-chili target detection algorithm for chili pepper detection. First, the classical target detection algorithm yolov5 is used as a benchmark model, and an adaptive spatial feature pyramid structure combining the attention mechanism and the idea of multi-scale prediction is introduced to improve the model's detection effect on occluded peppers and small target peppers. Secondly, a three-channel attention mechanism module is introduced to improve the algorithm's long-distance recognition ability and reduce the interference of redundant testers. Finally, the quantized pruning method is used to reduce the model parameters and realize the lightweight processing of the model. Applying the method to the homemade chili pepper dataset, the AP value of chili pepper reaches 93.11%; the accuracy rate is 93.51% and the recall rate is 92.55%.The experimental results show that yolo-chili is able to achieve accurate and real-time pepper detection under complex orchards.

The temporary immersion system bioreactor named GreenTray®[2], [3]presents advantages over the existing ones. Firstly, there is no need to use forceps to move the shoots or plantlets in or out of the recipient, neither the use of scalpel to divide them. Secondly, the basis of the shoot can remain in the GreenTray® and can sprout again in several cycles of growth. These two characteristics reduce the costs in the process of micropropagation. Besides, shoots or plantlets development is enhanced by the aeration of the recipient, thus enriching with CO2 the recipient atmosphere. The chapter describes and provides images and values of interest in (1) the micropropagation process of some commercial Prunus or Pyrus rootstocks; (2) the plantlet growth under autotrophic conditions; and (2) the inoculation of plants with pathogens that reproduce in vitro the symptoms observed in vivo, using the GreenTray® bioreactor.

The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the clinical outcomes of treating isolated surgical neck fractures of the humerus using either the intramedullary nail or the MIROS (Minimally Invasive Reduction and Osteosynthesis System®) system. The study included 42 patients who underwent surgical treatment at the Polyclinic from January 2014 to June 2020. The results indicated that both treatments were effective; however, the MIROS system exhibited a higher complication rate. Intramedullary nailing was more reliable, thus recommended as the primary treatment method. This study underscores the importance of selecting the appropriate fixation technique to minimize complications and enhance patient outcomes.

Aiming at the problems of inaccurate segmentation of long object and information loss of small object in real-time semantic segmentation algorithm, this paper proposes a lightweight multi-branch real-time semantic segmentation network based on BiseNetV2. The new auxiliary branch makes full use of spatial details and context information to cover the long object in the field of view. Meanwhile, in order to ensure the inference speed of the model, the asymmetric convolution is used in each stage of the auxiliary branch to design a structure with low computational complexity. In the multi-branch fusion stage, the alignment and fusion module is designed to provide guidance information for deep and shallow feature mapping, so as to make up for the problem of feature misalignment in the fusion of information at different scales, and thus reduce the loss of small target information. In order to further improve the model’s awareness of key information, a global context module is designed to capture the most important features in the input data. The proposed network uses NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU experiment, on the road street view data set Cityscapes and CamVid average occurring simultaneously ratio reached 77.1% and 78.4% respectively, with running speed of 127 frames/s respectively and 112 frames/s. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve real-time segmentation and improve the accuracy significantly, showing good semantic segmentation performance

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

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.

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

Pyrops candelaria is one of the common pests of fruit trees, but the research on the pathogenic microorganisms it may carry is very limited. Therefore, it is essential to reveal the pathogenic microbes it carries and their potential hazards. This study found a new virus from the transcriptome of P. candelaria, which was first reported in P. candelaria and named as PyCaV (Pyrops candelaria associated virus). RACE and bioinformatics assay revealed that the full-length of PyCaV is 10855 bp with the polyA tail, containing a single open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polyprotein consisting of 3171 amino acid (aa). The virus has a typical Iflavirus structure, including two rhv domains, a RNA helicase domain (HEL), a 3C cysteine protease domain (Pro), and a RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domain (RdRp). Further phylogenetic analysis revealed that this virus belongs to family Iflaviridae and sequence alignements analysis suggedted PyCaV is new member in unassigned genus of family Iflaviridae. Further in-depth analysis of virus-infection-part showed that PyCaV is distributing in the whole longan lanternfly, including its head, chest, and abdomen, but more PyCaV was identified in the chest. The distribution of PyCaV in different parts of P. candelaria was further explored, which showed that more PyCaV were detected in its piercing-sucking mouthparts and chest viscera. Statistical analysis showed that the PyCaV infection was affected by time and locations.

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 &lt; 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.

In this paper, we extend the KdVSKR equations in (1+1)-dimension and (2+1)-dimension to fractional KdVSKR equations with modified Riemann-Liouville derivative. The (2+1)-dimensional KdVSKR equation, which is a recent extension of (1+1)-dimensional KdVSKR equation, can model the resonances of solitons in shallow water. By means of the Hirota bilinear method, finite symmetry group method and consistent Riccati expansion method, many new interaction solutions have been derived. Soliton-cnoidal interaction solution of the (1+1)-dimensional fractional KdVSKR equation has been derived for the first time. For the (2+1)-dimensional frac-tional KdVSKR equation, two-wave interaction solutions and three-wave interaction solutions, including dark-soliton-sine interaction solution, bright-soliton-elliptic interaction solution, and lump-hyperbolic-sine interaction solution, have been derived. Impact of the fractional order on the shapes of these solutions has been illustrated by figures. Three-wave interaction solutions of fractional systems have not been reported in the existing references. The research idea in this paper can be applied to other fractional differential equations.

With the burgeoning growth of online retail, the issue of counterfeit products has become a significant threat to both consumer trust and brand integrity, posing challenges to sustainable market practices. Online retail platforms are promoted to redesign their channel structures and enhance brand traceability to tackle counterfeits using blockchain technology. To investigate the interactions between blockchain technology and the channel structures of online retail platforms, we design a game theory model incorporating a manufacturer with(out) blockchain participation selling products via an online retail platform that operates an agency channel and/or a reselling channel. We show that the critical trade-off of blockchain participation comprises the brand assurance effect of the blockchain, the channel competition intensification effect, and the blockchain adoption cost. The platform is capable of strategically designing the channel structure to encourage (while discouraging) blockchain participation by the manufacturer. Our analysis highlights the complementarity between blockchain participation and the channel structure. Furthermore, the effect of the consumer’s belief in the reselling channel, the commission fee in the agency channel, and the substitutability between channels are investigated in depth. The research provides valuable insights for online retail platforms and policymakers seeking to foster a sustainable and trustworthy e-commerce ecosystem.

Antimicrobial peptides represent a promising alternative to traditional drugs in relation to cost, toxicity and, primarily, the growing problem of drug resistance. Here we report on the activity against HSV-1 and HSV-2 of a previously described wide-spectrum synthetic decapeptide, Killer Peptide (KP). As determined by plaque reduction assays, treatment with KP at 100 μg/mL resulted in a reduction in the viral yield titer of 3.5 Logs for HSV-1 and 4.1 Logs for HSV-2. Further evaluation of KP antiviral activity focused on the early stages of virus replicative cycle, including the determination of the residual infectivity of viral suspensions treated with KP. A direct effect of the peptide on viral particles, impairing virus absorption and penetration, was shown. The toxicity profile proved to be extremely good with a selectivity index of 29.6 for HSV-1 and 156 for HSV-2. KP was also active against an acyclovir (ACV)-resistant HSV-1 strain, while HSV-1 subcultures in the presence of sub-inhibitory doses of KP did not lead to the emergence of resistant strains. Finally, the antiviral action of KP proved to be synergistic with that of ACV. Overall, these results demonstrate that KP could represent an interesting addition/alternative to acyclovir for antiviral treatment.

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.