This paper presents a piezoresistive pressure sensor with a shield layer for improved stability. Compared with the conventional piezoresistive pressure sensors, p-type piezoresistors are covered by an n-type shield layer, which is formed by ion implantation. The proposed pressure sensors have been successfully fabricated by bulk micromachining techniques. The impact of electrical field on piezoresistors is studied by simulation. The temperature drift of the pressure sensor has been investigated by both simulation and experimental measurement. Characteristics of developed pressure sensors are tested from -40 C to 125 C. A sensitivity of 0.022 mV/V/KPa and a maximum non-linearity of 0.085% FS are measured for the fabricated sensor in a pressure range of 1 MPa. The temperature coefficients of resistance of shielded piezoresistors are found to be smaller than those of un-shielded ones. It is demonstrated that the shield layer is able to reduce the drift caused by electrical field and ambient temperature variation.

We review time expansion wave theory and refine our model showing it to accurately match observed cosmological luminosity data. The theory augments general relativity to create a container within which quantum effects can be explained by treating time as an artefact of a fourth spatial dimension that we observe as the expansion of the universe. This leads us to explain mass creation, the speed of light limit, gravity, black holes without singularities and other macroscopic effects. Our model leads to an expansion velocity of 6.87 0.36 × 106 ms-1, which results in a Hubble expansion rate constant of 71.3 3.7 km/s/Mpc. Because of the finite window of time in which we exist, an extra a degree of freedom is available leading to interesting interpretations at the subatomic level. At this size range, then a spin is allowed within the time dimension explaining why wave particle duality occurs and explains the electromagnetic force and other quantum mechanical properties. It provides a solution to the double slit conundrum and can explain how quantum entangled partners can behave in a quantum way and pass seemingly time-defying information. The potential quantitative origin of the fine structure constant which governs the size of the electromagnetic force is also strongly indicated by this theory.

Amid escalating urbanization, devising rational commercial space layouts is a critical challenge. Leveraging machine learning, this study uses a Back-propagation (BP) neural network to optimize commercial spaces in Weinan City's central urban area. The results indicate an increased number of commercial facilities with a trend of multi-centered agglomeration and outward expansion. Based on these findings, we propose a strategic framework for rational commercial space development emphasizing aggregation centers, development axes, and spatial guidelines. This strategy provides valuable insights for urban planners in small and medium-sized cities in the Yellow River Basin and metropolitan areas, ultimately showcasing the power of machine learning in enhancing urban planning.

Although, promotion of urbanization culture in recent decades has made inevitable development of cities in the world, however, the development can be guided in a direction that leave, to the extent possible, minimum socioeconomic and environmental impacts. For this, it is required to first forecast auto-spreading orientation of cities and suburbs in rural areas over time and then avoid shapeless growth of cities. This paper is an attempt to develop a dynamic hybrid model based on logistic regression (LR), Markov chain (MC), and cellular automata (CA) for prediction of future urban sprawl in fast-growing cities. The model was developed using 12 widely-used urban development criteria, whose significant coefficient was determined by logistic regression, and validated by relative operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The validated model was run in Guilan, a tourist province in northern Iran with a very high rate of urban development. For this, changes in the area of urban land use were detected over the period of 1989 to 2013 and then, future sprawl of the province was forecasted by the years 2025 and 2037. The analysis results revealed that the area of urban land use was increased by more than 1.7 % from 36012.5 ha in 1989 to 59754.8 ha in 2013, and the area of Caspian Hyrcanian forestland was reduced by 31628 ha. The results also predicted an alarming increase in the rate of urban development in the province by the years 2025 and 2037, during which urban land use is predicted to develop 0.9 % and 1.38 %, respectively. The development pattern is expected to be uneven and scattered, without following any particular direction. The development will occur close to the existing or newly-formed urban basements as well as around major roads and commercial areas. This development, if not controlled, will lead to the loss of 13863 ha of Hyrcanian forests and if the trend continues, 21013 ha of Hyrcanian forests and 20208 ha of Barren/open lands are expected to be destroyed by the year 2037. In general, the proposed model is an efficient tool for the support of urban planning decisions and facilitates the process of sustainable development of cities by providing decision-makers with an overview on future development of cities where the growth rate is very fast.

Expansion tube is ideal energy absorber which dissipates kinetic energy through plastic deformation and friction. There is an urgent need to understand the influence of key parameter, e.g. semi angle, tube material, and friction coefficient, on the mechanical response and energy absorption characteristics of expansion tube. In the present work, the material properties of the tubes were tested under quasi-static loading condition, and the numerical simulations were carried out by using commercial software ABAQUS. Based on the validated finite element simulation, all the semi angle, tube material, and friction have significant effects on the energy absorption capacity of expansion tube. The expansion tube with high tensile stress of parent material have high energy absorption capacity, while the specific energy absorption is linear with the tensile stress/density of tube material. This work would give a guidance to the structural design and parent materials selection for expansion tubes.

In the northern Fennoscandian Shield, a vanadium mineralization occurs in the Paleoproterozoic Pechenga–Imandra-Varzuga (PIV) riftogenic structure. It is localized in sulfide ores hosted by sheared basic and ultrabasic metavolcanics in the Pyrrhotite Ravine and Bragino areas and was formed at the latest stages of the Lapland-Kola orogeny 1.90–1.86 Ga ago. An additional formation of vanadium minerals derived from contact metamorphism and metasomatism produced by the Devonian Khibiny alkaline massif in the Pyrrhotite Ravine area. Vanadium forms its own rare minerals (karelianite, coulsonite, kyzylkumite, goldmanite, mukhinite, etc.), as well as it can be an isomorphic admixture in rutile, ilmenite, crichtonite group, micas, chlorites, etc. Vanadium originated from two sources: (1) basic and ultrabasic volcanics initially enriched in vanadium and (2) metasomatizing fluids that circulated along shear zones. The crystallization of vanadium and vanadium-bearing minerals was accompanied by chromium and scandium mineralization. Vanadium mineralization in Paleoproterozoic formations throughout the world is briefly considered. The simultaneous development of vanadium, chromium and scandium mineralizations is a unique feature of the Kola sulfide ores. In other regions sulfide ores contain only two of these three mineralizations produced by one ore-forming process.

Deep learning architectures like ResNet and Inception have produced accurate predictions for classifying benign and malignant tumors in the healthcare domain. This enables healthcare institutions to make data-driven decisions and potentially enable early detection of malignancy by employing computer-vision-based deep learning algorithms. These Convolutional Neural Network algorithms, in addition to requiring huge amounts of data, can identify higher and lower-level features that are significant while classifying tumors into benign or malignant. However, these algorithms have limitations concerning explainability and identifying the exact features that are of importance and contributing to the final classification of tumors as benign or malignant. In this paper, we implement several explainable AI techniques, namely, LIME, Saliency Map, Occlusion Analysis, Grad-CAM, SHAP, and Smooth Grad to interpret the results of a custom ResNet60 classifier in the classification of ovarian tumors as benign or malignant. The ResNet60 model attained an accuracy of 97.50% for the test dataset.

The city administration of China planned numerous metro projects and more metros can hardly avoid undercrossing a bridge. While metro shield construction when undercrossing a bridge (MSCUB) is frequently located in complicated natural and social context, which made the construction process more susceptible to safety accidents. Therefore, it is crucial to look into safety risk of MSCUB. The paper identified the safety risk factors during SSCUR by using literature review and experts’ evaluation, proposed a novel safety risk assessment model by integrating CFA and FER, and then selected a project case to test the validity of the suggested model. Research results show that (a) a safety risk factors list of MSCUB was identified, including 4 first-level safety risks and 37 second-level safety risk factors; (b) the proposed safety risk assessment model can be used to measure the risk values of the overall worksite safety risk, the first-level safety risks and the safety risk factors of MSCUB; (c) environment-type safety risk and personnel-type safety risk have higher risk values when shield construction undercrossing a bridge; (d) when compared to worker-type safety risk, manager-type safety risk is the higher risk value. The research can enrich the theoretic knowledge of MSCUB safety risk assessment and provide references to safety managers for conducting scientific and effective safety management on the construction site when subway undercrossing a river.

The holographic principle states that the information about the volume of space is stored on its boundary. Assuming this holds, we can explain the aspects of gravity. The spacetime needs to be extended to 5D to explain gravity in this context. This naturally explains the four classical tests of gravity namely the gravitational redshift, the perihelion precession, the bending of light, and the gravitational time delay. We also show a novel way in which the universe expands in an accelerated manner at late times without the need for any form of dark energy.

The surface defects of shield subway tunnel can significantly affect the serviceability of the tunnel structure and may compromise the operation safety. To effectively detect the multiple surface defects, this research employs a tunnel inspection trolley (TIT) based on the mobile laser scanning technique. By conducting the inspection of the shield tunnel on a metro line section, various surface defects are identified by the TIT, including water leakage defect, dislocation, spalling, cross-section deformation, etc. To explore the root causes of the surface defects, the association rules between different defects are calculated via an improved Apriori algorithm. Results show that: i) there are significant differences in different association rules of various surface defects of the shield tunnel; ii) the average confidence of the association rule “dislocation & spalling → water leakage” is as high as 57.78%, indicating that most of the water leakage defects are caused by dislocation and spalling of the shield tunnel in the sections being inspected; iii) the weakest rule appears at “water leakage → spalling”, with the average confidence of 13%. The association analysis can be used in predicting the critical defects influencing the structural reliability and operation safety, such as water leakage, and optimizing the construction and maintenance work for the shield subway tunnel.

In this paper, we examined the temperature variations of key constituents during the operational cycle of a custom-built electric vehicle. The vehicle was made employing a motor of 10kW, a KLS7275D controller, and a lithium-ion battery. Temperature sensors for monitoring was affixed to the motor, controller, and battery, facilitating a comprehensive analysis of thermal behaviors. A controlled 20 minute driving tests encompassing both high and low speeds were executed to scrutinize temperature variations. Our findings reveal that the controller exhibited the most substantial temperature fluctuation compared to the battery and motor. Results shows the importance of thermal management strategies for components to ensure optimal driving performance and component reliability in electric vehicles.

In the construction of shield crossing existing mined tunnel without load, it is imperative to develop corresponding design standards that reflect actual engineering force characteristics to ensure the successful completion of tunnel construction. This research uses The MIDAS-GTS finite element software to facilitate the creation of a numerical model of the shield structure for an air-push-over mine tunnel project in Changsha, China, investigating the stress field’s evolution during shield construction, and calculating the maximum positive and negative bending moments and maximum axial forces for different structures and other force states under various construction conditions. This study's findings informed the design and construction optimisation of the shield tunnelling empty-push method. The outcomes of this numerical simulation led to several key findings: (1) The soil density exerted a significantly greater impact on the internal forces of the initial support structure than both the tunnel depth and soil Poisson's ratio. Additionally, a sudden shift in internal forces occurred within the 300-350 mm range when the lining thickness was altered. (2) Factors such as the tunnel depth, soil density, soil Poisson's ratio μ, and lining thickness have a similarly influenced internal forces of the segment and the initial support. Notably, the backfill layer thickness significantly affected the segment’s maximum axial force causing an abrupt change of approximately 300 mm. (3) Under the shield machine equipment’s weight constraint, it is essential to control the guide rail’s thickness, to prevent it from becoming overly large.

An 8-months old male American Staffordshire terrier was referred for a no weightbearing lameness of the right pelvic limb, hyperthermia, lethargy and inappetence caused by hematogenous osteomyelitis. Orthopedic, radiographic and tomographic examinations revealed a bone sequestrum of 4 x 1.4 cm and active periosteal reaction of the caudo-lateral cortical in the metaphysis and the distal third of the right femoral diaphysis, medullary osteolysis and interruption of the cranio-medial cortical profile, with involvement of the femoral trochlea leading to a secondary medial patella luxation. Once skeletally mature, after 4 months from surgical debridement and aggressive antibiotic therapy against Klebsiella oxytoca revealed by bacteriological exam, the patient underwent prosthetic surgery for the application of a custom-made patellar groove replacement (PGR) to fill the bone defect and restore the femoral trochlea surface. Despite the serious injury that afflicted the right pelvic limb, the surgery had satisfactory outcomes until the last 18-months postoperative follow up.

In the context of food packaging design, customization enhances the value of a product by meeting the needs of the consumer. Personalization is also linked to adaptation. This makes it possible to improve the properties of the packaging from various points of view: functional, aesthetic, economic and ecological. Currently the functional and formal properties of packaging are not investigated among themselves, however the study of both properties are the basis for creating a new concept of personalized and sustainable product. In accordance with this approach, the conceptual design procedure of packaging with personalized and adapted geometries based on the digitization of fresh food is proposed in this work. This study is based on the application of advanced technologies for the design and development of food packaging, in this case apples, in order to improve the quality of the packaging. The results obtained show that it is possible to use advanced technologies in the early stages of product design in order to obtain competitive products adapted to new emerging needs.

The article presents an accessible route into the field of neuroscience through ardEEG device. This device allows convert Arduino UNO R4 WIFI into a brain-computer interface, making it easy to measure EEG, EMG and ECG signals with 8 channels. Over the past decade, the proliferation of artificial intelligence has significantly impacted various industries, including neurobiology. The integration of machine learning techniques has opened avenues for practical applications of EEG signals across technology sectors. This surge in interest has led to the widespread popularity of low-cost brain-computer interface devices capable of recording EEG signals using non-invasive electrodes. ardEEG device demonstrates satisfactory noise levels and accuracy for use in applied tasks. Moreover, it successfully detects alpha brain waves, showcasing its effectiveness in capturing essential neurological signals

In order to master the structure state of subway shield tunnel, reduce the diseases and avoid the potential safety hazards, the lateral convergence deformation of subway shield tunnels should be predicted. For the non-stationarity small sample size of subway shield tunnel lateral convergence deformation value, the existing prediction models have poor performance in terms of accuracy and stability. In this paper, a lateral convergence model of subway shield tunnel based on Kalman algorithm is constructed based on Kalman filtering theory. The model is efficient, adaptive and robust, and can accurately predict the lateral convergence deformation of subway shield tunnel. Taking the horizontal diameter of 200 rings shield segment in the interval section of a subway tunnel as an example, it is proved that the residuals of the Kalman prediction model are small, the residual distribution conforms to the normal distribution, and the prediction effect is great. The model is suitable for the prediction of more than 5 periods of data, and the prediction accuracy of the model is improved with the increase of the number of data periods. In addition, the Kalman model is compared with GM(1,1) model and GM-Markov model, and RMSE and MAPE are introduced as evaluation indexes. The results show that the Kalman model has higher prediction accuracy and is more suitable for predicting the lateral convergence deformation of subway shield tunnel.

As a typical form of value co-creation, crowdsourcing has been increasingly applied by firms to generate business value. By engaging a crowd, a platform, and other stakeholders, a crowdsourcer can foster the co-creation of a portfolio of value for diverse stakeholders. In analyzing the value co-creation in crowdsourcing, we propose a framework by combining the theories and frameworks in value co-creation and crowdsourcing. The framework examines the key stakeholders, joint purpose, engaged value co-creation processes, contributions, bidirectional relationships of the engagement, and perceived value, exhibiting a holistic view of the value co-creation in a crowdsourcing project. Results of the analysis reveal the business performance of the crowdsourcing project and identify areas of improvement regarding business sustainability. This is a major theoretical contribution of this study. The research design applied a case study approach to empirically investigate a crowdsourcing project. Both the theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

We emphasize the point that, standard model of cosmology is basically a model of classical general relativity and it seems inevitable to have a revision with reference to quantum model of cosmology. Utmost important point to be noted is that, ‘Spin’ is a basic property of quantum mechanics and ‘rotation’ is a very common experience. In this context, we propose five assumptions in line with Planck mass as the baby universe. We appeal that, 1) Universe can be modeled as a time-reversed black hole (a white hole) with rotation and light speed expansion, and 2) ‘Light speed expanding cosmic space’ can be called as ‘Flat space’. With reference to light speed expansion, if one is willing to re-define cosmic red shift as [z/(1+z)], without considering Lambda cosmology model of matter density fractions, light travel distances can be reproduced with a marginal error of +8.6% at z =1.2, (i.e. traditional light travel distance is 8.6% higher than our estimate), 0% at z = 11.5 and -5.5% at z = 1200.( i.e. traditional light travel distance is 5.5% lower than our estimate). Advantages of our model are, 1) A quantum model of cosmology can be developed with unification of general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. 2) Tension in estimating the current Hubble parameter can be eliminated via scaled Hawking’s black hole temperature formula with great confidence. 3) Galactic dark matter and visible matter can be studied in a unified manner. 4) Galactic light travel distances can be estimated very easily without matter density fractions. 5) Big Bang and Inflation like non-general relativistic concepts can be relinquished with further study.

The human-centric approach is a leading trend for future production processes, and collaborative roboticists are key to its realization. This article addresses the challenge of designing a new cus-tom-made non-conventional machine or robot involving toolpath control (interpolated axes) with collaborative functionalities but by using “general-purpose standard" safety and motion control technologies. This is done on a non-conventional Cable-Driven Parallel Robot (CDPR). Safety is assured by safe commands to individual axes, known as Safe Motion Monitoring Functionalities, which limits the axes speed in the event of human intrusion. At the same time, the robot's Motion Controller applies an override to the toolpath speed to accommodate the robot's path speed to the axis’s limitations. The implementation of a new Pre-Warning Zone, prevent unnecessary stops due to the approach of the human operator. The article also details a real experiment that validates the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

This article presents a low-cost and flexible solution for acoustic startle response (ASR) tests that can be used in any laboratory with CED Power1401 or a similar Spike2-based interface. ASR is a reflexive response to an unexpected, loud acoustic stimulus, and prepulse inhibition (PPI) is a phenomenon in which the startle response is reduced when preceded by a weak prestimulus of the same modality. Measuring PPI is important because changes in PPI have been observed in patients with various psychiatric and neurological disorders. Commercial ASR testing systems are expensive, and their closed source code affects their transparency and result reproducibility. The proposed setup is easy to install and use, and simultaneous recording of ASR and brain activity (electrocorticogram or intracerebral local field potential) is possible. The Spike2 script is customizable and supports a wide range of PPI protocols. The article presents data obtained in female rats, both wild-type (WT) and dopamine transporter knockout (DAT-KO), showing the same tendency as the data obtained in males, with ASR on single pulse higher than ASR on prepulse+pulse, and PPI reduced in DAT-KO rats compared to WT.

Using numerical software to establish a three-dimensional geological model of shield tunneling through fault fracture zones, considering the synchronous grouting effect at the shield tail, the disturbance of various geotechnical structures in the fault fracture zone under deep burial and high water pressure conditions is studied. According to the comparison between the numerical model analysis results and the on-site inspection results of the entire process of Shiziyang B3 section, synchronous grouting at the shield tail is the main reason for the changes in soil and water pressure in the fault fracture zone area. The soil and water pressure changes strongly during shield tunneling, and the maximum excess pore pressure value occurs when the shield tail passes. When the shield tunneling machine is far away, the soil and water stress shows a downward trend. The impact of synchronous grouting decreases with the increase of tunneling distance. Due to the difference in permeability, the variation law of pore pressure in the fault fracture zone is significantly different from the original rock, leading to a faster increase in pore pressure in the fracture zone area and a wider range of influence.

Objective: CAD/CAM generated ceramic implant abutments have recently attracted interest due to their superior customization possibilities and aesthetic advantages. Despite their widespread clinical use, little information is currently available on their surface topography, however. The transmucosal portion of the abutment shoulder is of particular interest, as it ideally supports soft tissue but minimizes mechanical plaque retention. The aim of this in vitro study was to topographically characterize the trans- and subgingival roughness of CAD/CAM zirconia abutments from different manufacturers and compare them with zirconia stock abutments. Material and Method: The surface topography of eight CAD/CAM zirconia implant abutments (tests) and two prefabricated zirconia stock abutments (controls) was determined using focus variation microscopy. Two points on the abutment shoulder were subjected to profilometric examination. 2D and 3D parameters of roughness were obtained and compared. Results: The surface roughness of all the test abutments exceeded the recommended threshold of Ra = 0.2 µm and therefore exhibited an increased risk of mechanical plaque retention. Obvious differences in surface structure were apparent, allowing conclusions to be drawn about the manufacturing method and subsequent reworking processes. Conclusion: Manually reworking the trans- and submucosal area of the investigated CAD/CAM zirconia abutments appears necessary to fulfil the conditions for optimal surface topography. The Sa value as arithmetic mean, taking the maximum height (Sz value) and surface excess (Sdr) into account, is an essential parameter for assessing the surface topography of implant abutments.

This paper seeks to fill in the gaps of modern relativistic Cosmology by utilizing the total symmetry between space and time dimensions and re-interpreting the scale factor of the Universe as a gravitational potential generated by the mass/energy of the entire Universe as a whole. The gradient of this potential is along the cosmological time dimension through which the Universe is falling. This gradient gives us an arrow of time, we find explanations for why the Universe began expanding and why the expansion is accelerating without the need for a Cosmological Constant. In a finite time, the gradient will point in the opposite direction of time turning the expanding Universe into a collapsing one where it is shown that when placing the Schwarzschild metric in the dynamic Cosmological background, gravity becomes repulsive and things like would-be Black Holes become White Holes. The model naturally describes a Universe and an anti-Universe (consisting of antimatter) moving in opposite directions of time that collide at the end of collapse, annihilating and subsequently pair producing two new Universes as the cycle begins again. It is shown that the model's Hubble diagram fits the currently available supernova and quasar data. It is found that Dark Matter can perhaps be understood as ordinary matter that is not connected to us with null geodesics.

The ordered Ca3TaGa3Si2O14 and disordered La3Ga5SiO14 crystals of the lantangallium silicate family were grown by the Czochralski method. The independent coefficients of thermal expansion of crystals αc and αa were determined by X-ray powder diffraction based on the analysis of X-ray diffraction spectra measured in the temperature range of 25÷1000°C. It is shown that in the temperature range of 25÷800°C the thermal expansion coefficients are linear. At temperatures above 800°C there is a nonlinear character of the thermal expansion coefficients associated with a decrease in the Ga content in the crystal lattice of the lantangallium silicate family crystals.

Different values of the Hubble constant for extragalactic objects are not considered here. We give a number of examples of the extreme accordance of expansion rates of different fields of knowledge with the cosmological expansion rate. The coincidence of the expansion rates means that a common cause is almost inevitable. All these examples are gravitationally bound in themselves and in this case are subject to cosmological expansion. According to standard theory, this should not happen. We therefore question the common boundary of gravity and expansion for both theoretical and observational reasons and conclude that all gravitationally dominated objects participate in cosmological expansion or scale drift, contrary to general doctrine. The space expands with its contents while numerically maintaining distance, radius, rotation time and density. What is generally interpreted as an expansion is obviously a scale drift with a drift rate that corresponds to the size of the Hubble constant. The Earth is subject to expansion and scale drift. This results in numerically constant measured values. This drift apparently also applies to distant galaxies and other objects. The cosmological red shift is not interpreted here as a Doppler effect and numerical increase in distances, but in accordance with standard theory as an expansion or drift of the space-time scale. The expansion of the radii of galaxies makes the assumption of dark matter superfluous. The continents and our everyday environment are not subject to expansion or scale drift.

The unicellular eukaryote S. cerevisiae is an invaluable resource for the study of basic eukaryotic cellular and molecular processes. However, due to its small size compared to other eukaryotic organisms the study of subcellular structures is challenging. Expansion microscopy (ExM) holds great potential to study the intracellular architecture of yeast, especially when paired with pan-labelling techniques visualising the full protein content inside cells. ExM allows to increase imaging resolution by physically enlarging a fixed sample that is embedded and cross- linked to a swellable gel followed by isotropic expansion in water. The cell wall present in fungi – including yeast – and Gram-positive bacteria is a resilient structure that resists denaturation and conventional digestion processes usually used in ExM protocols, resulting in uneven expansion. Thus, the digestion of the cell wall while maintaining the structure of the resulting protoplasts are crucial steps to ensure isotropic expansion. For this reason, specific experimental strategies are needed, and only a few protocols are currently available. We have developed a modified ExM protocol for S. cerevisiae, with 4x expansion factor, which allows the visualisation of the ultrastructure of the cells. Here, we describe the experimental procedure in detail, focusing on the most critical steps required to achieve isotropic expansion for ExM of S. cerevisiae.

Hydrogen powered vehicles use high-pressure reservoirs from which the gas is transferred to the low-pressure fuel-cell via a classical pressure reduction valve. In these systems no expansion work is recovered and the question is addressed of the potential to increase the global efficiency by using an expansion machine between the reservoir and the electrochemical reactor. This paper investigates the feasibility of such an expansion machine, evaluates the mechanical constraints in terms of forces, torques and produced power by numeric simulation. It further evaluates the energetic contribution to the whole conversion chain from the hydrogen reservoir to the common electrical network on board. A low energy contribution of the expansion system addresses the question of the real benefit of such an investment.

Gold occurrence Maljavr, located in amphibolite metamorphosed rocks in the Uragubsky greenstone belt, is the first gold prospect connected with conglomerates of Archean age, found in the Fennoscandian Shield. Gold mineralization is controlled by a series of lenses of altered rocks in biotite gneiss-metaconglomerate. The age of zircon from biotite gneiss in the zone of alteration is 2665±22 Ma, this is considered as the time of alteration processes. Biotite gneiss and altered rocks were later intruded by tourmaline granite pegmatite at 2508±7Ga, the pegmatite caused recrystallization of sulfide minerals in the altered rocks. Visible gold in association with bismuth minerals native bismuth, ehrigite (the second finding in the world), maldonite, bismuthinite, joseite-B, hedleyite was found exceptionally in polymineral inclusions in recrystallized arsenopyrite and löllingite. The age of pegmatite 2508±7Ma we regard as the time of formation of gold-bismuth mineralization. Geological position of the Maljavr occurrence, the linkage of gold mineralization with pegmatite, geochemical association Au-As-Se-Te-Bi in the mineralized rocks – all these characteristics correspond to intrusion-related gold deposits. Biotite gneiss-metaconglomerate, hosting the mineralized altered rocks, was the probable primary source of arsenic and gold for mineralization.

Transparent materials used for facial protection equipment provide protection against microbial infections caused by viruses and bacteria, including multidrug-resistant strains. However, transparent materials used for this type of application are made of materials that do not possess antimicrobial activity. They just avoid direct contact between the person and the biological agent. Therefore, healthy people can get infected through contact of the contaminated material surfaces and this equipment constitute an increasing source of infectious biological waste. Furthermore, infected people can transmit microbial infections easily because the protective equipment do not inactivate the microbial load generated while breathing, sneezing, or coughing. In this regard, the goal of this work consisted of fabricating a transparent face shield with intrinsic antimicrobial activity that could provide extra-protection against infectious agents and reduce the generation of infectious waste. Thus, a single-use transparent antimicrobial face shield composed of polyethylene terephthalate and an antimicrobial coating of benzalkonium chloride has been developed for the next generation of facial protective equipment. The antimicrobial coating was analyzed by atomic force microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy with elemental analysis. This is the first facial transparent protective material capable of inactivating enveloped viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 in less than one minute of contact, and the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Bacterial infections contribute to severe pneumonia associated with the SARS-CoV-2 infection, and their resistance to antibiotics is increasing. Our extra protective broad-spectrum antimicrobial composite material could also be applied for the fabrication of other facial protective tools such as such as goggles, helmets, plastic masks and space separation screens used for counters or vehicles. This low-cost technology would be very useful to combat the current COVID-19 pandemic and protect health care workers from multidrug-resistant infections in developed and underdeveloped countries.

As of July 7, 2022, the total number of confirmed cases caused by COVID-19 has reached 544,324 million, and the total number of 6.333 million deaths (WHO). Older people were globally the most vulnerable during the pandemic. This paper examined the mortality and psychological crisis of older people during the pandemic in four cities, namely Wuhan, Milan, London, and Hong Kong. The selection of cities was based on different degrees of social connectedness of older people and chronologically to cover the whole period of the outbreak from January 2020 to August 2022. Older people in Milan and Wuhan tended to rely on the close family relationship during times of crisis. Meanwhile, older people in Hong Kong and London were more dependent on social services. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed to analyze the situations of older people under different government responses and the strengths and weaknesses of respective healthcare systems. Government reports and official statistics were used to illustrate the seriousness of each city's COVID-19 outbreak while stories reported by the press, NGOs, and journal articles were used to reflect the reactions of the older people. Interactions of social culture, health care provisions, and government responses to the pandemic were discussed from the perspective of health welfare regimes. On one hand, results showed that governments have not learned from the experiences of other countries. On the other hand, older people have not successfully coped with the life-threatening stress by breaking institutional boundaries and redefining cultural norms.

Based on the kinematic approach of the limit analysis and slip-line theories, this paper proposes a new 2D analytical model to evaluate the collapse support pressure to ensure the face stability of a circular tunnel in purely cohesive soils driven by a shield. The normality conditions, the yield criterion and the vertical soil arching effect are considered in the analytical model. Two upper bound solutions corresponding to the ratio of the cover to the diameter (C/D) are derived from considering the mechanisms based on the motion of rigid multi-blocks. Comparisons are made with existing upper and lower bound solutions published in previous articles. The results are close to the solutions of practical engineering. The failure mechanisms proposed in this study provide a better explanation for the failure process in the heading of the tunnel face.

The influence of the cult television series Twin Peaks (1990-91) can be detected in a wide range of videogames, from adventure, to roleplaying to survival horror titles. While many games variously draw upon the narrative, setting and imagery of the series for inspiration, certain element of the distinctive uncanniness of Twin Peaks are difficult to translate into gameplay, particularly its ability consistently disrupt the expectations and emotional responses of its audience. This paper examines the ways in which the 2010 survival horror title Deadly Premonition attempts to replicate the uncanniness of Twin Peaks in both its narrative and gameplay, noting how it expands upon conceptualisations of the gamerly uncanny (Hoeger and Huber 2007). It contends that Deadly Premonition's awkward and uncanny recombination of seemingly inconsistent and excessive gameplay features mirrors the ways in which David Lynch and Mark Frost draw upon and subvert audience expectations for police procedurals and soap operas in the original Twin Peaks, while also providing a similarly disorienting excess of “realistic” detail. Furthermore its exploration of the theme of possession – a central element of the television series – offers a diegetic exploration of the uncanny relationship between the player and their onscreen avatar.

Metagenomic sequencing has led to a recent and rapid expansion in the animal virome. It has uncovered a multitude of new virus lineages from under-sampled host lineages, including many that break up long branches among previously known clades, and many with genomes that display unexpected sizes and structures. Although there are challenges to inferring the existence of a virus from a virus-like sequence, the analysis of nucleic acid (including small RNAs) and sequence data can give us considerable confidence in the absence of an isolate. As a consequence, this period of ‘molecular natural history’ is helping to reshape our views of deep virus evolution. Nevertheless, there is a limit to what metagenomic discovery alone can tell us, and some open questions will require experimental isolates.

The ground surface deformation induced by shield tunnels passing through enclosure structure of existing tunnels is a particular underground construction scenario, which is encountered in Wuhan metro line 12 engineering cases in China. The classic ground deformation theory is difficult to accurately predict this ground deformation. This paper develops a semi-analytical method to predict ground heave considering space effect in this engineering condition. Based on improved ground deformation theory, a novel deformation prediction method of ground and enclosure structure is derived combined with Kirchhoff plate theory. Comparing with field deformation measurements, the maximum difference between measured and calculated deformation is 14.6%, which demonstrating that the proposed method can be used to predict the ground heave induced by shield tunnels passing through the enclosure structure of existing tunnels. The parameters of underground diaphragm wall used in Wuhan metro line 12 are further studied in detail. The results show that the ground heaves have positive correlation with embedded ratio of diaphragm wall, but negative correlation with its elastic modulus and thickness. But the thickness and embedded ratio has a limited effect on ground heaves. This study provides a technical reference for optimization setting of enclosure structure in protecting existing building.

Thermal expansion of four alkaline-earth borates, namely Ca3B2O6 (0D), CaB2O4 (1D), Sr3B14O24 (2D) and CaB4O7 (3D), have been studied by in situ high-temperature powder X-ray diffraction (HTXRD). Strong anisotropy of thermal expansion is observed for the structures of Ca3B2O6 (0D) and CaB2O4 (1D) built up from BO3 triangles only: these borates exhibit the maximal expansion perpendicular to the BO3 plane, i.e. along the direction of weaker bonding in the crystal structure. Layered Sr3B14O24 (2D) and framework CaB4O7 (3D) built up from various B-O groups expand less anisotropically. Thermal properties of the studied compounds compared to the other alka-line-earth borates are summarized depending on the selected structural characteristics like anion dimensionality, residual charge per one polyhedron (BO3 BO4), cationic size, and structural com-plexity. For the first time these dependencies were established as an average for both types of polyhedra (triangle and tetrahedron) occurring in the same structure at the same time. The most common trends were identified for : (i) Melting temperature decreases as the dimensionality of the borate polyanion, and more precisely, as the residual charge per one polyhedron (triangle or tetrahedron) decreases; (ii) volumetric expansion decreases while the degree of anisotropy in-creases weakly when the residual charge decreases; (iii)both trends (i) and (ii) are most steady within borates built by the triangles only, while the borates built by both triangles and tetrahedra show a larger scatter in values.

Hubble expansion may be considered as a velocity per photon travel time rather than as velocity or redshift per distance. Dimensionally, this is an acceleration and will have an associated curvature of space under general relativity. This paper explores this theoretical curvature as an extension to the spacetime manifold of general relativity, generating a modified solution with three additional non-zero Christoffel symbols, and a reformulated Ricci tensor and curvature. The observational consequences of this reformulation were compared with the ΛCDM model for luminosity distance using the extensive type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) data with redshift corrected to the CMB, and for angular diameter distance with the recent baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) data. For the SNe Ia data, the modified GR and ΛCDM models differed by −0.15+0.11μB mag. over zcmb=0.01−1.3, with overall weighted RMS errors of ±0.136μB mag for modified GR and ±0.151μB mag for ΛCDM espectively. The BAO measures spanned a range z=0.106−2.36, with weighted RMS errors of ±0.034 Mpc with H0=67.6±0.25 for the modified GR model, and ±0.085 Mpc with H0=70.0±0.25 for the ΛCDM model. The derived GR metric for this new solution describes both the SNe Ia and the BAO observations with comparable accuracy to ΛCDM without requiring the inclusion of dark matter or w’-corrected dark energy.

This article explores the cutting-edge advancement of gypsum and cement building boards infused with shape-stabilized n-octadecane, an organic phase change material (PCM). The primary focus is on improving energy efficiency and providing electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding capabilities for contemporary buildings. The research investigates the integration of these materials into construction materials, using red-mud Carbon Foam as a stabilizer for n-octadecane (OD@CCF). Various analyses, including microstructural examination, porosity assessment, and additive dispersion, were conducted using X-ray microtomography and density measurements. Thermal conductivity measurements demonstrated the enhancement of composite boards as the OD@CCF content increased, while mechanical tests indicated an optimal additive content of up to 20%. The thermal-regulated capabilities of these advanced panels were evaluated in a custom-designed room model equipped with a homemade environmental chamber, illustrating a consistent temperature environment during heating and cooling cycles. The incorporation of OD@CCF into cement boards exhibited improved thermal energy storage properties. Moreover, the examined composite boards displayed efficient electromagnetic shielding performance within the frequency range of 3.2–7.0 GHz, achieving EMI values of approximately 18 and 19.5 dB for gypsum and cement boards, respectively, meeting the entry-level value required for commercial applications.

In this paper, we derive multifarious relationships among the two types of higher order q-Daehee polynomials and p-adic gamma function via Mahler theorem. Also, we compute some weighted p-adic q-integrals of the derivative of p-adic gamma function related to the Stirling numbers of the both kinds and the q-Bernoulli polynomials of order k.

Microbe-plant interactions are linked with the core microbiota, and both the plant and the microbial partners depend on one other to thrive in nature. However, why and how the below-ground core microbiota become established aboveground is poorly understood. We tracked the movement of a probiotic Streptomyces endophyte throughout a managed strawberry ecosystem. Probiotics in the rhizosphere and anthosphere were genetically identical, yet these niches were segregated in space and time. The probiotic in the rhizosphere moved upward via the vascular bundle, relocated to aboveground plant parts, and protected against Botrytis cinerea. It also moved from flowers to roots, and among flowers via pollinators that were protected against pollinator pathogens. Our results reveal a solid evidence in tripartite interaction with Streptomyces exploiting plant and pollinator partners.

We describe the effect of the expansion of space on the wavelength of the light beam in a Fabry-Pérot interferometer. For an instrument such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), which has high sensitivity and a long period of light storage, the wavelength ${\lambda }_L$ of laser photons are redshifted due to the expansion of space in each cavity by an amount $\delta \lambda$ given by $\delta \lambda /{\lambda }_L=H_0{\tau }_s\approx 8.8\times {10}^{-21}$ , where $H_0\approx 2.2\times {10}^{-18}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ is the Hubble constant and ${\tau }_s\approx 4\mathrm{ms}$ is the light storage time for the cavity. Since ${\tau }_s$ is based on the cavity finesse $\mathcal{F}$ which depends on the laser beam full width at half maximum (FWHM) $\delta \omega$ of each cavity, we show that a difference in finesses between the LIGO arm cavities produces a signal $h_H\left(t\right)$ at the anti-symmetric output port given by $h_H\left(t\right)=2a_1{H}_0\left(\frac{1}{\delta {\omega }_X\left(t\right)}-\frac{1}{\delta {\omega }_Y\left(t\right)}\right),$ where $\delta {\omega }_X\left(t\right)$ and $\delta {\omega }_Y\left(t\right)$ are the beam FWHM at time t, respectively, for the X and Y arm cavities and $a_1$ is a beam proportionality constant to be determined expermentally. Assuming $a_1\approx 1$ , then for cavity beams FWHM of $\delta \omega \left(t\right)\approx (523.2\pm 31)\mathrm{rad}.{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ the output signal has the range $\mid h_H\left(t\right)\mid \le 1\times {10}^{-21}$ , which is detectable by advanced LIGO.

At this point, because of the progression of technology, the shift toward new forms of communication, and the expansion of existing ones, we can communicate with another person in any part of the world, regardless of how great the distance between us may be. In addition, the importation of technologies helps boost living standards and advances the service sector. The digital revolution is not only taking place but also gaining momentum daily. Expanding our knowledge has a profound impact on all facets of our economy, from healthcare to the energy and transportation industries and beyond. These paradigm-shifting breakthroughs are exceptional in their breadth, scale, and pervasiveness of impact. Our work is to convey the theoretical perspectives about the impact of digitalization on highlighting the growth of businesses, and that is the ultimate goal of our efforts.

With the recent advances in science and technology, more processing capability and data have become available, allowing a more straightforward implementation of data analysis techniques. Fortunately, the available online data storage capacity follows this trend, and vast amounts of data can be stored online freely or at accessible costs. As happens with every evolution (or revolution) in any science field, organizing and sharing this data is essential to contribute to new studies or validate the obtained results quickly. To facilitate this, we must guarantee interoperability between the existing datasets and the developed software, whether commercial or open source. This article explores this issue, analyzing the current initiatives to establish data standards and comparing some of the existing dataset online storage platforms. Through a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, it is possible to understand better the strategy that should be taken to improve the efficiency in this field, which directly depends on the data characteristics.

Expansion of the universal space was never directly observed. It is an unproven assumption. Measurement of the gravitational redshift proves only gravitational redshift and nothing more. Gravitational redshift is proven by the Mössbauer experiment. Claiming that gravitational redshift proves universal space expansion is false because there is no causality between gravitational redshift and hypothetical expansion. Even if universal space would expand, gravitational redshift could not be taken as proof of expansion. The Doppler effect was never observed in an expanding space and claiming that cosmological redshift is partially caused by the Doppler effect caused by the expanding of space is an unproved assumption. The discovery of CMB proves only that the entire universal space radiates CMB. CMB is not proof of the existence of the recombination period.

Software-In-The-Loop (SITL) simulation tools have been extensively used in development of safety-critical software. Utilizing these tools substantially accelerates software development eliminating potential risks and resource costs of physical experiments. This paper investigates the effects of model specific parameters on the development and testing of custom module in PX4 SITL environment. Models of a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities and steerable sensor platform/gimbal are used as case study for this investigation. The effects of parameters of these aerial vehicle and sensor platform models are taken into consideration in the development of custom module that controls the dynamics of steerable sensor platform mounted on the vehicle model. The work also presents steps necessary to customize PX4 SITL and Gazebo simulation environment to incorporate parameters of the vehicle and sensor platform models in the development and testing process of custom module. Based on these instances, simulation results are obtained and discussed. The results show that reliability of PX4 SITL simulation framework is justified by proper customization and integration of PX4 SITL and Gazebo simulator.

Falls are extremely damaging to the elderly. The number of elderly who have experienced falls has increased over the years, several of the elderly stay alone or in in badly maintained elderly homes. This makes a low-cost fall detection system a necessity. There has been huge improvements in terms of IoT systems, ML algorithms. Varied data sets have been collected across the world for fall detection. These data sets have a very little in common among them, in terms of user demographics, sensors used, the ADL and Fall activities Hence in this paper we present a data set that has wide user demographics, we used various sensors – such as accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer and hear rate. We used wrist worn sensors to collect data. In this paper we present a detailed analysis of the data set we collected using common ML algorithms such as – Naïve Bayes (NB), K Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Logistic Regression (LR), Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machines (SVM). We analyzed the performance of these algorithms for variations in accuracy with respect to age, gender, height, weight and health issues and we have identified outliers by analyzing each incorrect prediction. This paper provides the complete details of the data collection methodology, The methods used for analysis and presents the results of analysis in complete detail.

Automated weeding is an important research area in agrorobotics. Weeds can be removed mechanically or with the precise usage of herbicides. Deep Learning techniques achieved state of the art results in many computer vision tasks, however their deployment on low-cost mobile computers is still challenging. These paper present an advanced version of the system presented in [1]. The described system contains several novelties, compared both with its previous version and related work. It is a part of a project of the automatic weeding machine, developed by Warsaw University of Technology and MCMS Warka Ltd. The obtained model reaches satisfying accuracy at over 10~FPS on the Raspberry Pi 3B+ computer. It was tested for four different plant species at different growth stadiums and lighting conditions. The system performing semantic segmentation is based on Convolutional Neural Networks. Its custom architecture mixes U-Net, MobileNets, DenseNet and ResNet concepts. Amount of needed manual ground truth labels was significantly decreased by the usage of knowledge distillation process, learning final model to mimic an ensemble of complex models on the large database of unlabeled data. Further decrease of the inference time was obtained by two custom modifications: in the usage of separable convolutions in DenseNet block and in the number of channels in each layer. In the authors’ opinion, described novelties can be easily transferred to other agrorobotics tasks.

Background: The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the clinical success of horizontal ridge augmentation in the severely atrophic maxilla (Cawood and Howell class IV) using freeze-dried custom made bone harvested from cadaver donors tibial hemiplateau and to analyze the marginal bone level gain prior dental implants placement at 9 months after bone grafting and before prosthetic rehabilitation. Methods: A 52-year-old woman received custom made bone grafts. Patient underwent CT scans 2 weeks prior and 9 months after surgery for graft volume and density analysis. Results: The clinical and radiographic bone observations showed a very low rate of resorption after bone graft and implant placement. Conclusions: The custom-made allograft material was a highly effective modality for restoring the alveolar horizontal ridge, resulting in this way to reduce the need to obtain autogenous bone from a secondary site with predictable procedure. Further studies are needed to investigate its behavior at longer time points.

A model of space-time is presented, whose origin is set before the appearance of any universe. It uses concepts of previous work, a central one being that the information about the laws of nature is stored locally everywhere in space such that all physical processes obey them. Since information storage is bound to matter or energy, space is assumed to consist of dark energy (DE), which thus assumes an importance far beyond its function as a stopgap for an energy deficit in our universe ( U ). The primordial state (PS) is a timeless and relatively large space of 3 dimensions described by a Wheeler DeWitt (WDW) equation, whose solution is interpreted as an arrangement of very many space quanta and possesses properties that remind of the time-honored concept of the unmoved mover. The comparison of WDW solutions belonging to different mass densities of the DE favors one in which the space quanta are mini black holes. This allows the space quanta to be imagined as mass points which are kept at a distance compatible with the quantum volume by the Pauli principle or something equivalent. Triggered by a dramatic increase in probability, the PS is followed by a time-controlled sequence of quantized expansion states (ES i ). The concomitant emergence of time occurs in a lightning huge crash, consuming almost all DE of the PS. The subsequent quantized ES i emerge from a WDW equation, novelly derived from a solution of the modified cosmic momentum equation, which classically describes an exponential space expansion (CS). The huge volme of the ES i is also used as size of the PS. Information is assumed to be geometrically stored in arrangements of space quanta similar to how genetic information is stored in DNA molecules. During the CS information must be transferred from already existing "information quanta" to new ones. This requires time, slows down the expansion and is taken into account by a friction term in the cosmological momentum equation thus modified. Since the Friedmann-Lemaître (FL) equation remains fully valid, the model is widely based on recognized equations, so that some results may be understood as interpretations.

The dynamic nature of international business necessitates a strategic approach to achieve sustainable value creation. This paper supports the hypothesis that understanding institutional constraints and leveraging organizational resources provides the foundation for sustainable value creation during international expansion. These elements provide a solid foundation for firms seeking to expand internationally by enabling them to effectively navigate the complexities of foreign markets. Using the context supplied by Peng (2023), the subsequent sections and subsections delve into critical facets of international expansion, including market integration, the role of entrepreneurial firms, entry strategies, supply chain establishment, multinational strategies, and the impact of global trade and foreign direct investment (FDI).

Chronic gastro-abdominal pain with altered bowel habits are associated with pathologies including gastroenteritis, autoimmune and inflammatory bowel disease, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In IBS, diagnostic evidence of infection or inflammation are absent, yet symptoms nonetheless include chronic abdominal pain and alterations of stool frequency and consistency, with most common subtypes including diarrhea-predominant (IBS-D) or constipation predominant (IBS-C). [1, 2] IBS is a common clinical complaint in westernized nations, with females more frequently diagnosed than males [3]. Obesity is also associated with increased likelihood of chronic pain [4], and is associated with intestinal dysbiosis, and systemic inflammatory signatures [5]. Improving personalized medicine therefore requires patient stratification based on a combination of biological factors contributing to the individual’s symptom and biomarker spectrum. The “buffy coat” method isolates leukocytes and PBMCs from whole blood, comprises the immune cell population in peripheral blood. These cells are relatively inactive but are primed to respond to generalized and localized immune activation signals; they are under active investigation as diagnostic biomarkers [6]. Collection of buffy coat is a standard method in clinical laboratories; detection of immune activation via RNA expression biomarkers will be informative of differential biological response, and be tractable to collect in clinical settings. Results of differential expression, pathway analysis, and cell-type abundance analysis from buffy coat RNA, is presented here using variables for BMI, Gender, and IBS-subtype from publicly available Nanostring RNA expression and phenotypic data from the NCBI GEO database.

Two anisotropic exact Bianchi type I solutions of Einstein’s field equations that generalize the isotropic ΛCDM universe model, are used to investigate the Hubble tension. It is shown that the cosmic anisotropy as deduced from the Planck measurements of the fluctuations in the temperature of the cosmic microwave background radiation, is ten billion times too small to solve the Hubble tension.

Thesis Statement: The consumption of externally fermented foods acted as the initial metabolic trigger enabling hominid brain expansion. Because brain tissue is metabolically expensive, it is thought that the evolution of humans’ large brains was only possible through a concomitant reduction in the size of another expensive organ system, the gut. However, this gut reduction must have itself been made possible by dietary changes, the nature of which are still unclear. Here, we propose that the initial metabolic trigger of hominid brain expansion may have been the consumption of externally fermented foods. We define “external fermentation” as occurring outside the body, as opposed to the internal fermentation that occurs through the gut microbiome. This practice could have begun accidentally and with limited understanding, but over time, fermentation technologies may have become increasingly intentional, socially-transmitted, and culturally-reinforced. We detail the mechanisms by which external fermentation can mediate the evolution of increased brain size, as well as a reduction in gut size, by increasing the bioavailability of macro- and micronutrients while reducing digestive energy expenditure. Importantly, we calculate that the reduction in human gut size relative to modern apes is mainly due to a reduction in the colon, the site of internal fermentation. We also discuss the explanatory power of our hypothesis relative to others, including realistic plausibility in hominids with brains roughly the size of modern chimpanzees. Finally, we survey external fermentation practices across human cultures to demonstrate its viability across a huge range of environments, temperatures, and food sources. We close with suggestions for empirical tests.

Micro-plasma is generated in ultra-high-pure hydrogen gas filled inside a cell at a pressure of (1.08 ± 0.033) × 10⁵ Pa (810 ± 25 Torr) by using a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser device operated at 1064 nm wavelength and 14 ns pulse duration. Micro-plasma emission spectra of the hydrogen Balmer alpha line, H_α, are recorded with a Czerny-Turner type spectrometer and an intensified charge-coupled device. The spectra are calibrated for wavelength and corrected for detector sensitivity. During the first few tens of nanoseconds after initiating optical breakdown, significantly Stark-broadened and Stark-shifted H_α lines mark the well-above hypersonic outward expansion. The vertical diameters of the spectrally resolved plasma images are measured for time delays of 10 ns to 35 ns to determine expansion speeds of the order of 100 km/s to 10 km/s. For time delays of the order of 0.5 µs to 1 µs, the expansion decreases to the speed of sound of 1.3 km/s in the near ambient temperature and pressure hydrogen gas.

Background: Oscillation and pulmonary expansion (OPE) therapy can decrease postoperative pulmonary complications in a general surgical population, but its effect after cardiac surgery has not been reported, to our knowledge. We hypothesized that using an OPE device after cardiac surgery before extubation would decrease pulmonary complications. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included adults undergoing elective open cardiac surgery at our institution from January 2018 through January 2019, who had an American Society of Anesthesiologists score of 3 or greater. For mechanically ventilated patients after cardiac surgery, a new OPE protocol was adopted July 1, 2019, comprising an initial 10-minute OPE treatment administered in-line with the ventilator circuit, then continued treatments for 48 hours after extubation. Severe postoperative respiratory complications (primary outcome measure) included need for antibiotics, increased supplemental oxygen use, and prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS). Demographic, clinical, and outcomes data were compared for patients before (usual care with postextubation hyperinflation) and after protocol implementation (OPE). Results: Of 104 patients, 54 patients received usual care, and 50 received OPE. Usual-care recipients had more men (74% vs 62%; P=.19) and were older (median, 70 vs 67 years; P=.009) than OPE recipients. The OPE group had a significantly shorter hospital LOS than the usual-care group (mean, 6.2 vs 7.4 days; P=.04). Other measures improved with OPE but did not reach significance: shorter ventilator duration (mean, 0.6 vs 1.1 days with usual care; P=.06) and shorter LOS in the intensive care unit (mean, 2.7 vs 3.4 days; P=.06). On multivariate analysis, intensive care unit LOS was significantly shorter for the OPE group (mean difference, 0.85 days; 95% CI, 1.65 to 0.06; P=.04). The OPE group had a lower percentage of postoperative complications (10% vs 20%). Conclusion: OPE therapy after cardiac surgery is associated with decreased ICU and hospital LOS.

A framework for optimal sensor placement (OSP) for virtual sensing using the modal expansion technique and taking into account uncertainties is presented based on information and utility theory. The OSP maximizes a utility function that quantifies the expected information gained from the data for reducing the uncertainty of quantities of interest (QoI) predicted at the virtual sensing locations. The utility function is extended to make the OSP design robust to uncertainties in structural model and modelling error parameters, resulting in a multidimensional integral of the expected information gain over all possible values of the uncertain parameters and weighted by their assigned probability distributions. Approximate methods are used to compute the multidimensional integral and solve the optimization problem that arises. The Gaussian nature of the response QoI is exploited to derive useful and informative analytical expressions for the utility function. A thorough study of the effect of model, prediction and measurement errors and their uncertainties, as well as the prior uncertainties in the modal coordinates on the selection of the optimal sensor configuration is presented, highlighting the importance of accounting for robustness to errors and other uncertainties.

The shield tunnels inevitably endure various damage with the service time increasing. Meanwhile, steel corrugated plate has been used extensively in multiple conditions and proved effective to strengthen the segmental joints by full-scale tests. A numerical model is proposed to probe the feasibility of using new Stainless Steel Corrugated Plate (SSCP) to reinforce the shield tunnel segments. A new method, called virtual tracking element technology, is employed to achieve the simulation of realistic stress state of the segmental joint. Moreover, the segmental joint component analysis and parametric study are conducted based on the numerical model. The results demonstrate that: (1) the virtual tracking element technology proves valid and efficient to simulate the secondary stress state of segmental joint; (2) SSCP reinforcement is not fully utilized when the grade of segmental concrete is C50 and it has abundant safety margin for potential overload; (3) SSCP reinforcement is well-performed regardless of the burial depth and reinforcement in advance is recommended.

Pulsating high frequency voltage injection can be used for sensorless control of SPMSM at zero and low speed ranges. However, the sensorless capability still faces challenges to the requirements of industrial application, especially at heavy load status. Aiming at this issue, this article proposes a sensorless capability expansion method for SPMSM based on inductance parameter identification. First, incremental inductances at d-q-axis and cross-coupling inductance are identified by three steps combining the rotating high frequency voltage injection and pulsating high frequency voltage injection, then, using polynomial curve fitting algorithm, apparent inductances are calculated. Second, positive DC current injection at d-axis is proposed to enhance the saliency ratio based on the analysis of parameter identification results. Compared with the conventional =0 or < 0 method, when positive DC current is injected at d-axis, saliency ratio is enhanced. Third, convergence region is expanded at heavy load status and accuracy of rotor position estimation is improved using the proposed method. Finally, the experiment results validate that the sensorless capability of SPMSM is expanded.

With the ever-growing emphasis on global decarbonization and rapid increases in the power density of electronics equipment in recent years, new methods and lightweight materials have been developed to manage heat load as well as interfacial stresses associated with Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) mismatch between components. The Al-Si system provides an attractive combination of CTE performance and high thermal conductivity whilst being a very lightweight option. Such materials are of interest to industries where thermal management is a key design criterion, such as aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics, defense, EV and space. This paper will describe the development and manufacture of a family of high-performance hypereutectic Al-Si alloys (AyontEX™) by a powder metallurgy method. These alloys are of particular interest for structural heat sink applications that require high reliability under thermal cycling (CTE of 17μm/(m·°C)) as well as reflective optics and instrument assemblies that require good thermal and mechanical stability (CTE of 13μm/(m·°C)). Critical performance relationships are presented, coupled with the microstructure, physical and mechanical properties of these Al-Si alloys.

We propose a toy model of a spherical universe made up of an exotic dark gas with temperature $T$ in thermal equilibrium with a black-body. Each particle of this exotic gas mimics a kind of particle of dark energy. So, each dark particle occupies a very small area of space so-called Planck area $L_p^{2}$, which represents the minimum area of the whole space-time given by the spherical surface with area $4\pi R_H^2$, where $R_H$ is the Hubble radius. We realize that such spherical surface is the surface of the black-body for representing the dark universe as if it were the surface of an expanding balloon. Thus, we are able to derive the law of universal gravitation, thus leading us to understand the cosmological anti-gravity. We estimate the tiny order of magnitude of the cosmological constant and the acceleration of expansion of the dark sphere. In this toy model, as the dark universe can be thought of as a large black body, when we obtain its power and frequency of emission of radiation, we find very low values. We conclude that such radiation and frequency of the black body made up of dark energy is a background gravitational wave with very low frequency in the order of $\sim 10^{-17}$Hz due to the slight stretching of the fabric of space-time.

Recently it was found from Cassini data that the mean recession speed of Titan from Saturn is v = 11.3 ± 2.0 cm/yr which corresponds to a tidal quality factor of Saturn Q ≈ 100 while the standard estimate yields Q ≥ 6 · 10⁴ . It was assumed that such a large speed v is due to a resonance locking mechanism of five inner mid-sized moons of Saturn. In this paper, we show that an essential part of v may come from a local Hubble expansion, where the Hubble-Lemaˆıtre constant H0 recalculated to the Saturn-Titan distance D is 8.15 cm/(yrD). Our hypothesis is based on many other observations showing a slight expansion of the Solar system and also of our Galaxy at a rate comparable with H0. We demonstrate that the large disproportion in estimating the Q factor can be just caused by the local expansion effect. [Accepted for publication in "Gravitation and Cosmology". The paper is to appear in Vol. 28, Issue 2 (2022) of the journal Gravitation and Cosmology.]

Sensor fusion technology is one of extensive used methods in the field of robot, aerospace and target tracking control. In this paper, the generalized sensor fusion framework, named the closed-loop fusion (CLF) is analyzed and the optimal design principle of filter is proposed in detail. Fusion error optimization problem, which is the core issue of fusion design, is also solved better through the feedback compensation law of CLF framework. Differently from conventional methods, the fusion filter of CLF can be optimally designed and the determination of superposition of fusion information is avoided. To show the validity, simulation and experimental results are to be submitted.

This study presents results of the sediment yield Watershed of Ribeirão do Pinhal, in the city of Limeira, São Paulo, conducted under three different scenarios of the land use: 1 – land use in 2008, 2 – with reforested protection areas, 3 – the increase sugarcane's areas over grassland and citrus areas. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used as a hydro-sedimentological modeling tool to simulate these scenarios. This watershed was divided into five sub-watersheds according to the prevalent use, and adjustments were made in soils database parameters and cultures that are in SWAT, to adapt it to the Brazilian reality. Was used climatological data of eight years (2007-2014) for this modeling. Different sediment yield could be noted in the different types of land use, sub-watersheds and scenarios. The uses that presented higher sediment yield, in ascending order, were: natural vegetation, sugarcane, citrus, annual crop e grassland. Sub-watershed number 2 had the highest sediment yield (~10Mg.ha^-1), while the sub-watershed 5, the lowest (5.51Mg.ha^-1). This remained in the three scenarios. Overall, scenario 2 had the lowest sediment yield (7.74Mg.ha^-1). Scenario 1 had 8.37 Mg.ha^-1 and scenario 3, 8.58Mg.ha^-1. SWAT was considered efficient to simulate the sediment yield by scenarios and by use, combining different thematic and tabular data when performing the necessary adjustments on their original database.

One of the most broadly used models for membrane fouling is the Hermia model, which separates this phenomenon into four blocking mechanisms, each with an associated parameter n. These mechanisms are complete blocking (n=2), intermediate blocking (n=1), standard blocking (n=3/2), and cake formation (n=3/2). The original model, which was obtained through experimental data, is given by an Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) dependent on n. At the time, this ODE was only solved for these four values of n, which limits the effectiveness of the model when adjusted to experimental data. This paper aims to not only mathematically prove the original Hermia model but also to broaden the scope of this model for any real number n by using the original ODE, the equations of fluid mechanics, and the properties of single and multivariable calculus. The extended Hermia model (EHM) is given by a power law for any n≠2 and is given by an exponential function at n=2. To better test the model, we have performed the model fitting of the EHM and compared its performance to the original four pore-blocking mechanisms in 6 micro- and ultrafiltration examples. In all examples, the EHM performed consistently better than the four original pore-blocking mechanisms. Changes in the blocking mechanisms concerning transmembrane pressure (TMP), crossflow rate (CFR), crossflow velocity (CFV), membrane composition, and pretreatments are also discussed.

Semantic communication is not obsessed with improving the accuracy of transmitted symbols, but is concerned with expressing the desired meaning that the symbol sequence exactly carried. However, the generation and measurement of semantic messages are still an open problem. Expansion combines simple things into complex systems and even generates intelligence, which is consistent with the evolution of the human language system. We apply this idea to semantic communication system, quantifying and transmitting semantics by symbol sequences, and investigate the semantic information system in a similar way as Shannon did for digital communication systems. This work was the first to propose the concept of semantic expansion and knowledge collision, which may provide a new paradigm for semantic communications. We believe that expansion and collision will be the cornerstone of semantic information theory.

Thermodynamics and phase transitions of magnetic Anti-de Sitter black holes are studied. We consider an extended phase space thermodynamics with the cosmological constant being a thermodynamic pressure and the black hole mass is treated as a chemical enthalpy. The extended phase space thermodynamics of black holes mimics the behavior of the Van der Walls liquid. Quantities conjugated to the coupling of nonlinear electrodynamics (NED) and a magnetic charge are obtained. Thermodynamic critical points of phase transitions are investigated. It is demonstrated that the first law of black hole thermodynamics and the generalized Smarr relation take place. The Joule--Thomson adiabatic expansion of NED-AdS black holes is studied. The dependence of inversion temperature on pressure and the minimum of inversion temperature are found.

Economic expedience of waste heat recovery systems (WHRS), especially for low temperature difference applications, is often questionable due to high capital investments and long pay-back periods. By its simple design isobaric expansion (IE) machines could provide a viable pathway to utilize otherwise unprofitable waste heat streams for power generation and particularly for pumping liquids and compression of gases. Different engine configurations are presented and discussed. A new method of modelling and calculation of the IE process and efficiency is used on IE cycles with various pure and mixtures as a working fluid. Some interesting cases are presented. It is shown in this paper, that the simplest non-regenerative IE engines are efficient at low temperature differences between a heat source and heat sink. Efficiency of non-regenerative IE process with pure working fluid can be very high approaching Carnot efficiency at low pressure and heat source/heat sink temperature differences. Regeneration permits to increase efficiency of the IE-cycle to some extent. Application of mixed working fluids in combination with regeneration permits to significantly increase the range of high efficiencies to much larger temperature and pressure differences.

The post-2007 crisis-induced an agricultural expansion across Africa, but local level production and marketing experiences remain understudied. This study assesses the dynamics of agricultural expansion and small-scale farmers’ experiences in rural Zambia. Using a mixed research design, data were drawn from surveys, multi-level interviews, group discussions policy reviews and observations. Results show an agriculture expansion among small-scale farmers is underway due to favourable climatic conditions, land, and water availability, enabled by state subsidies, and an emerging market in commercial and supermarket outlets. However, farmers encounter production and marketing challenges related to poor tenure security, late delivery of inputs, and low financing. They face low and fluctuating prices, poor infrastructure, including low levels of mechanisation necessary to expand the production. Overall, despite an agricultural and land-use expansion taking shape, actual benefits for real transformation are largely missing – and currently over their heads. An argument is made that whilst policy actors continue to impress farmers to organise themselves to maximise benefits of an agricultural expansion, actual processes on how farmers can achieve this are missing in policy and practice. This necessitates a focus on multi-level processes aimed at addressing production, storage and marketing dynamics within a progressive coordination arrangement that centralizes small producers. Until that is addressed, the prospects for local development and poverty reduction for small-scale farmers under an agricultural expansion will be slender but continue to centrally reside in the state efforts to create enabling local and community environment that addresses real challenges. Overall, this study helps to extend the debate on diverse processes shaping rural transformation in Zambia and across sub-Saharan Africa, including the role and importance of agricultural expansion.

We present a Machian model of Quantum Cosmology with full dark matter and light speed expansion and rotation. During galaxy formation and evolution, fraction of dark matter transforms to visual matter with a relation of the form, m_vis = constant * (m_dark)^2/3. Using this relation and replacing MOND’s ‘critical acceleration’ with “current cosmic maximum angular acceleration”, galactic flat rotation speed range of (50 to 500) km/sec can be fitted well. Estimated flat rotation speeds of DD168, Milky Way and UGC12591 are 49.96 km/sec, 199.66 km/sec and 521.75 km/sec respectively. Based on these striking coincidences, it is possible to say that, MOND’s approach is implicitly connected with cosmological estimation of 95% invisible matter. Considering galactic total matter and current cosmic maximum angular acceleration, galactic working radii, angular velocity and visual matter density can be estimated. Even though, this model is free from ‘big bang’, ‘inflation’, ‘dark energy’, ‘flatness’ and ‘red shift’ issues, at 2.722 K, estimated present Hubble parameter is 66.24 km/sec/Mpc, cosmic radius is 146.3 times the Hubble radius, angular velocity is 146.3 times lower than the Hubble parameter and cosmic age is 146.3 times the Hubble age. With future observations and advanced telescopes, it may be possible to see far distant galaxies and very old stars far beyond the current observable cosmic radius.

Durum wheat is an important food crop in the world and an endemic species of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In the highlands of Ethiopia and the oases of the South Sahara this crop has been cultivated for thousands of years. Today, smallholder farmers still cultivate it on marginal lands to assure production for their self-consumption. However, durum wheat is no longer just a staple crop for food security but it has become a major cash crop. In fact, the pasta and couscous industry currently purchase durum grain at prices 10 to 20% higher than bread wheat. Africa as a whole imports over € 4 billion per year of durum grain to provide the raw material for its food industry. Hence, African farmers could obtain a substantial share of this large market by turning their production to this crop. Here, the achievements of the durum breeding program of Ethiopia are revised to reveal a steep acceleration in variety release and adoption in the last decade. Furthermore, the variety release for Mauritania and Senegal is described to show how modern breeding methods could be used to deliver grain yields above 3 t ha^-1 in seasons of just 92 days of length and daytime temperatures always above 32°C. This review describes the ability of releasing durum wheat varieties adapted to all growing conditions of SSA, from the oases of the Sahara to the highlands of Ethiopia. This potential area of expansion for durum wheat production in SSA is not linked to any breeding technology, but rather it remains dependent on the market ability to purchase these grains at a higher price to stimulate farmer adoption. The critical importance of connecting all actors along the semolina value chain is presented in the example of Oromia, Ethiopia, and that success story is then used to prompt a wider discussion on the potential of durum wheat as a crop for poverty reduction in Africa.

Genus Clematis is one of the largest within Ranunculaceae. Here we report the chloroplast genome of two Clematis species, C. brachyura and C. trichotoma endemic to Korea. The chloroplast genome lengths of C. brachyura and C. trichotoma are 159,532 bp and 159,170 bp, respectively. Gene contents in the complete chloroplast genomes of these two Clematis species are identical to that of most Ranunculaceae and other angiosperms. However, our data results demonstrated that genus Clematis has inversion and rearrangement events concerning gene rps4 gene, rps16 to trnH region, and trnL to ndhC region, and IR regions expansion. Comparison of IR regions among Ranunculaceae species revealed that Clematis species contained six protein coding genes (infA, rps8, rpl14, rpl16, rps3, and rpl22) usually found in the long single copy (LSC) region of other species. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that genus Clematis is closely related to genus Ranunculus. Differences in repeat structure, substitution rates, and IR expansion in genera Clematis and Ranunculus, explained their relationship. Clematis species showed slightly higher tandem repeats content than Ranunculus species. The six protein-coding genes showed lower synonymous substitution rates in the IR of Clematis species than in the LSC of Ranunculus species. Overall, the chloroplast genomes and results presented here provide important information on the evolution of Ranunculaceae.

Liver X receptors (LXR) are deemed as potential drug targets for atherosclerosis, whereas a role in adipose tissue expansion and its relation to insulin sensitivity remains unclear. To assess the metabolic effects of LXR activation, C57BL/6 mice on a high-fat diet (HFD) were treated with the dual LXRα/β agonist T0901317 (30 mg/kg per day) for 3 weeks. Differentiated 3T3-L1 was used for analysing the effect of T0901317 on glucose uptake.T0901317 reduced fat mass, accompanied by a massive fatty liver and lower adipokine levels in circulation of HFD mice. Increased adipocyte apoptosis and macrophage infiltration were found in epididymal fat of T0901317-treated HFD mice. In addition, T0901317 treatment promoted basal lipolysis, but blunted the anti-lipolytic action of insulin. Furthermore, LXR activation antagonized PPARγ target genes in epididymal fat and PPARγ-PPRE binding activity in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Although the glucose tolerance was comparable to that in vehicle-treated HFD mice, the insulin tolerance was significantly decreased in T0901317-treated HFD mice, indicating decreased insulin sensitivity by T0901317 administration, and which was further supported by impaired insulin signalling found in epididymal fat and decreased insulin-induced glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 by T0901317administration. These findings reveal that LXR activation impairs adipose expansion which contributes to decreased insulin sensitivity.

We present a new theory to explain the expansion of the universe that augments general relativity to create a container within which quantum effects can be explained by treating time as an artefact of a fourth spatial dimension. The theory is tested by accurately modelling against stellar luminosity data that is available for redshifts, z

Paratemporal methods based on tree expansion have proven to be effective in efficiently generating trajectories of stochastic systems. However, combinatorial explosion of branching arising from multiple choice points presents a major hurdle that must be overcome to implement such techniques. In this paper we tackle this scalability problem by developing a systems theory-based framework covering both conventional and proposed tree expansion algorithms for speeding up discrete event system stochastic simulations while preserving desired accuracy. An example is discussed to illustrate the tree expansion framework in which a discrete event system specification (DEVS) Markov stochastic model takes the form of a tree isomorphic to a free monoid over the branching alphabet. We derive the computation times for baseline, non-merging, and merging tree expansion algorithms to compute the distribution of output values at any given depth. The results show the remarkable reduction from exponential to polynomial dependence on depth effectuated by node merging. We relate these results to the similarly reduced computation time of binomial coefficients underlying Pascal’s triangle. Finally, we discuss application of tree expansion to estimating temporal distributions in stochastic simulations involving serial and parallel compositions with potential real world use cases.

In this work, we studied the Green’s functions of the second order differential operators with involution. Uniform equiconvergence of spectral expansions related to the second-order differential operators with involution is obtained. Basicity of eigenfunctions of the second-order differential operator operator with complex-valued coefficient is established.

We present a unified approach to the thermodynamics of hadron-quark-gluon matter at finite temperatures on the basis of a quark cluster expansion in the form of a generalized Beth-Uhlenbeck approach with a generic ansatz for the hadronic phase shifts that fulfills the Levinson theorem. The change in the composition of the system from a hadron resonance gas to a quark-gluon plasma takes place in the narrow temperature interval of 150−185 MeV where the Mott dissociation of hadrons is triggered by the dropping quark mass as a result of the restoration of chiral symmetry. The deconfinement of quark and gluon degrees of freedom is regulated by the Polyakov loop variable that signals the breaking of the Z(3) center symmetry of the color SU(3) group of QCD. We suggest a Polyakov-loop quark-gluon plasma model with O(αs) virial correction and solve the stationarity condition of the thermodynamic potential (gap equation) for the Polyakov loop. The resulting pressure is in excellent agreement with lattice QCD simulations up to high temperatures.

Capacity Expansion Models (CEMs) are optimization models used for long-term energy planning on national to continental scale. They are typically computationally demanding, thus in need of simplification, where one such simplification is to reduce the temporal representation. This paper investigates how using representative periods to reduce the temporal representation in CEMs distorts results compared to a benchmark model of a full chronological year. The test model is a generic CEM applied to Europe, equipped with a novel formulation for storage in model versions with reduced temporal representation. We test the performance of reduced models at penetration levels of wind and solar of 90%. Three measures for accuracy are used: (i) system cost, (ii) total capacity mix and (iii) regional capacity. We find that: (i) the system cost is well represented (~5% deviation from benchmark) with as few as ten representative days, (ii) the capacity mix is in general fairly well (~20% deviation) represented with 50 or more representative days, and (iii) the regional capacity mix displays large deviations (>50%) from benchmark for as many as 250 representative days. We conclude that modelers should be aware of the error margins when presenting results on these three aspects.

Ataxin-2 (ATXN2) acts during stress-responses, modulating mRNA translation and nutrient metabolism. Atxn2 knockout mice exhibit progressive obesity, dyslipidemia and insulin resistance. Conversely, the progressive ATXN2 gain-of-function due to polyGlutamine (polyQ) expansions leads to a dominantly inherited neurodegenerative process named spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2), with early adipose tissue loss and late muscle atrophy. We tried to understand lipid dysregulation in a SCA2 patient brain and in an authentic mouse model. Thin layer chromatography of a patient cerebellum was compared to the lipid metabolome of Atxn2-CAG100-KnockIn (KIN) mouse spinocerebellar tissue. The human pathology caused deficits of sulfatide, galactosylceramide, cholesterol, C22/24-sphingomyelin and gangliosides GM1a/GD1b, despite quite normal levels of C18-sphingomyelin. Cerebellum and spinal cord from the KIN mouse showed a consistent decrease of various ceramides, with a significant elevation of sphingosine in the more severely affected spinal cord. Deficiency of C24/26-sphingomyelins contrasted with excess C18/20-sphingomyelin. Spinocerebellar expression profiling revealed consistent reductions of CERS protein isoforms, of Sptlc2 and Smpd3, but upregulation of Cers2 mRNA, as prominent anomalies in the ceramide-sphingosine metabolism. Reduction of Asah2 mRNA correlated to deficient S1P levels. In addition, downregulations for the elongase Elovl1, Elovl4, Elovl5 mRNAs and ELOVL4 protein explain the deficit of very-long-chain sphingomyelin. Reduced ASMase protein levels correlated to the accumulation of long-chain sphingomyelin. Overall, a deficit of myelin lipids was prominent in SCA2 nervous tissue at prefinal stage, not compensated by transcriptional adaptation of several metabolic enzymes. Myelination is controlled by mTORC1 signals, so our human and murine observations are in agreement with the known role of ATXN2 yeast, nematode and mouse orthologs as mTORC1 inhibitors and autophagy promoters.

A study of Bianchi Type I cosmological model is undertaken in the framework of creation of particles. To accommodate the creation of new particles, the universe is regarded as an Open thermodynamical system. The energy conservation equation is modified with the incorporation of a creation pressure in the energy momentum tensor. Exact solutions of the field equations are obtained (i) for a particular choice of the particle creation function and (ii) by considering the deceleration parameter to be constant. In the first model the behavior of the solution at late times is investigated. The physical aspects of the model have also been discussed. In the case of the second model we have restricted our analysis to the power law behaviour for the average scale factor. This leads to a particular form for the particle creation function. The behavior of the solution is investigated and the physical aspects of the model have also been discussed for the matter dominated era.

In response to growing industrial demands, necessitated by larger ships and increased cargo volumes, many port authorities worldwide are undertaking a significant expansion of their infrastructure to increase their capacity. Significant expansion raises challenges such as potential congestion and environmental concerns, especially for port located in urban area as the case study explored in this paper. To address these issues, the study employs a combination of scenario analysis developed in collaboration with the port authority and logistic system simulation. This approach assesses the capacity of existing access gates to handle the increased trucking traffic and optimizes the unloading process of construction trucks at a new terminal. Key findings suggest that while the current gate capacities are adequate, optimizing unloading times at the new terminal is critical to prevent road congestion in urban area before the gate and reduce negative impacts such as sound and atmospheric pollution. The study advocates for an appointment system during peak hours to manage traffic flow effectively and underscores the importance of collaboration between the city and port authorities in managing truck traffic to mitigate congestion on the city side. Nonetheless, the study recognizes certain constraints, including the incomplete evaluation of the influence of intermodal transport on truck traffic. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the need for future research to consider the correlation between vehicle numbers and service levels, aiming to effectively adjust the time in the system.

The expansion of concrete subjected to extreme elevated temperature is linked with intricate micro-structural variations, such as the transformation of the constituent phases. This study proposes a model to predict the thermal expansion of cement paste and concrete considering micro-structural changes under elevated temperatures ranging from 20°C to 800°C. The model presented can consider characteristics of various aggregates in the calculation of thermal expansion for concrete. The model is a combination of a multi-scale stoichiometric model and a multi-scale composite model. At the cement paste level, the model satisfactorily predicted a test result. At concrete level, upper bounds from the model were matched relatively well with test results by previous researcher. If the mechanical properties, such as elastic modulus (E), Poisson’s ratio (ν), and thermal deformation, of the aggregates used in concrete are given, it is likely that the model will reasonably predict experimental results.

The possibility to test a radio frequency transceiver through the use of appropriate channel emulators allows to evaluate their performance under various operating conditions. Many systems are able to operate with a relatively limited instantaneous bandwidth by applying known statistical models. Sometimes it is necessary to evaluate the performance of a RF transceiver installed on high or very high speed platforms over predictable trajectories using optionally DEMs (Digital Elevation Models)data of the terrain to estimate the number of stimulated paths and their contributions during the flight. When the instantaneous bandwidth of the signal becomes high (over several hundred of MHz), one of the most important phenomenon to consider is the Doppler spread induced by the channel and traditional narrowband models become unuseful. In this paper there are presented some results when a time expansion is adopted in order to emulate the transceiver dynamic and the consequent Doppler spread with the aim to control the spectral purity of the emulated propagation channel.

Nearly 50 years ago, Francis Crick propounded the frozen accident scenario for the evolution of the genetic code along with the hypothesis that the early translation system consisted primarily of RNA. Under the frozen accident perspective, the code is universal among modern life forms because any change in codon assignment would be highly deleterious. The frozen accident can be considered the default theory of code evolution because it does not imply any specific interactions between amino acids and the cognate codons or anticodons, or any particular properties of the code. The subsequent 49 years of code studies have elucidated notable features of the standard code, such as high robustness to errors, but failed to develop a compelling explanation for codon assignments. In particular, stereochemical affinity between amino acids and the cognate codons or anticodons does not seem to account for the origin and evolution of the code. Here I expand Crick’s hypothesis on RNA-only translation system by presenting evidence that this early translation already attained high fidelity that allowed protein evolution. I outline an experimentally testable scenario for the evolution of the code that combines a distinct version of the stereochemical hypothesis, in which amino acids are recognized via unique sites in the tertiary structure of proto-tRNAs, rather than by anticodons, expansion of the code via proto-tRNA duplication and the frozen accident.

The Malyy (Little) Murun massif of the Aldan Shield of the Siberian Craton has long been a kind of the geologists’ Siberian Mecca. It attracted thousands of geologists, prospectors and mineral collectors despite of its remote location. It is famous for a dozen of new and rare minerals, including gemstones charoite and dianite (the latter is the market name for strontian potassicrichrerite), as well as for specific alkaline igneous rocks. Despite of this, the age of the Malyy Murun igneous complex and associated metasomatic and hydrothermal mineral associations remained poorly constrained. In this paper, we provide extensive 40Ar/39Ar geochronological data to reveal its age and temporal history. It appeared that being unique in terms of rocks and constituent minerals, the Malyy Murun is one of multiple alkaline massifs and lavas emplaced in Early Cretaceous (~137-128 Ma) within a framework of extensional setting of the Aldan Shield and nearby Transbaikalian region. The extension has occurred 40-60 million years after the supposed closure of the Mongolia-Okhotsk Ocean and peak of orogeny in Early-Middle Jurassic.

The appropriate maintenance of highway roads is critical for the safe operation of road networks and conserves maintenance costs. Multiple methods have been developed to investigate the surface of roads for various types of cracks and potholes, among other damage. Like road surface damage, the condition of expansion joints in concrete pavement is important to avoid unexpected hazardous situations. Thus, in this study, a new system is proposed for autonomous expansion joint monitoring using a vision-based system. The system consists of the following three key parts: (1) a camera-mounted vehicle, (2) indication marks on the expansion joints, and (3) a deep learning-based automatic evaluation algorithm. With paired marks indicating the expansion joints in a concrete pavement, they can be automatically detected. An inspection vehicle is equipped with an action camera that acquires images of the expansion joints in the road. You Only Look Once (YOLO) automatically detects the expansion joints with indication marks, which has a performance accuracy of 95%. The width of the detected expansion joint is calculated using an image processing algorithm. Based on the calculated width, the expansion joint is classified into the following two types: normal and dangerous. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed system is very efficient in terms of speed and accuracy.

Genetic code expansion has emerged as an enabling tool to provide insight into functions of understudied proteinogenic species such as small proteins and peptides, and to probe protein biophysics in the cellular context. Here we discuss recent technical advances and applications of genetic code expansion in cellular imaging of complex mammalian protein species, along with considerations and challenges upon using the method.

A foundational model has been developed based on trends built from empirical data of space exploration and computing power through the first six plus decades of the Space Age which projects earliest possible launch dates for human-crewed missions from cis-lunar space to selected Solar System and interstellar destinations. The model uses computational power, expressed as transistors per microprocessor, as a key broadly limiting factor for deep space missions’ reach and complexity. The goal of this analysis is to provide a projected timeframe for humanity to become a multi-world species through off-world colonization, and in so doing all but guarantees the long-term survival of the human race from natural and human-caused calamities that could befall life on Earth. Be-ginning with the development and deployment of the first nuclear weapons near the end of World War II, humanity entered a ‘Window of Peril’ which will not be safely closed until robust off-world colonies become a reality. Our findings suggest the first human-crewed missions to land on Mars, selected Asteroid Belt objects, and selected moons of Jupiter and Saturn can occur before the end of the 21^st century. Launches of human-crewed interstellar missions to exoplanet destinations within roughly 40 lightyears of the Solar System are seen as possible during the 23^rd century and launch of intragalactic missions by the end of the 24^th century. An aggressive and sustained space exploration program, which includes colonization, is thus seen as critical to the long-term survival of the human race.

Growing energy demand in the distributed energy system (DES) besides new charging loads of electric vehicles (EVs) make DES infrastructure unavailable earlier than normal projections. DES lines need to be upgraded to carry the modern demand of customers. DES line upgrade (LU) cost minimized and deferred to the next years by using energy storage system (ESS). ESS offers the opportunity to use energy flexibly in the distribution grid. It is possible to use ESS to shift the inevitable upgrade costs of the distribution grid elements and increase the power quality of the distribution grid. In this study, a method is proposed to extend the lifespan of DES with ESS and reduce line upgrade and investment costs in the distribution system. For this purpose, the IEEE 33 bus test grid is used, and the proposed method is tested and analyzed with different case studies. According to the results, the proposed method can reduce the investment cost by up to 80%. Besides, ESS usage considering load increase and line conditions of the distribution grid, upgrade costs of distribution grid are shifted, resulting in an optimal dimensioning and positioning while extending the lifespan of the distribution grid elements and, at the same time, offering significant improvements in energy quality. Additionally, it is seen that the power losses of the distribution grid are reduced up to 26%, and the voltage profile of buses is improved with the usage of ESS.

Intermediate CAG expansions in the gene ataxin-2 (ATXN2) are a known risk factor for ALS, but little is known about their role in FTD risk. Moreover, their contribution to the risk and phenotype of patients might vary in populations with different genetic background. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of intermediate CAG expansions in ATXN2 with the risk and phenotype of ALS and FTD in the Spanish population. Repeat-Primed PCR was performed in 620 ALS and 137 FTD patients in three referral centers of Spain to determine the exact number of CAG repeats. In our cohort, ≥27 CAG repeats in ATXN2 was associated with a higher risk of developing ALS (odds ratio [OR] = 2.666 [1.471-4.882]; p = 0.0013), but not FTD (odds ratio [OR] = 1.446 [0.558-3.574]; p = 0.44). Moreover, ALS patients with ≥27 CAG repeats in ATXN2 showed shorter survival rate compared to those with <27 repeats (hazard ratio [HR] 1.74 [1.18, 2.56], p = 0.005), more frequent limb onset (odds ratio [OR] = 2.34 [1.093-4.936]; p = 0.028), as well as family history of ALS (odds ratio [OR] = 2.538 [1.375-4.634]; p = 0.002). Intermediate CAG expansions of ≥27 repeats in ATXN2 are associated with ALS risk, but not with FTD, in the Spanish population. ALS patients carrying an intermediate expansion in ATXN2 show more frequent limb onset, but worse prognosis than those without expansions. In patients carrying C9orf72 expansions, the intermediate ATXN2 expansion might increase the penetrance and modify the phenotype.

This computational research study analyzes the increase of the specific charge capacity that comes with the reduction of the anisotropic volume expansion during lithium ion insertion within silicon nanowires. This research paper is a continuation from previous work that studied the expansion rate and volume increase. It has been determined that when the lithium ion concentration is decreased by regulating the amount of Li ion flux, the lithium ions to silicon atoms ratio, represented by x, decreases within the amorphous lithiated silicon (a-LixSi) material. This results in a decrease in the volumetric strain of the lithiated silicon nanowire as well as a reduction in Maxwell stress that was calculated and Young’s elastic module that was measured experimentally using nanoindentation. The conclusion as will be seen is that as there is a decrease in lithium ion concentration there is a corresponding decrease in anisotropic volume and a resulting increase in specific charge capacity. In fact the amplification of the electromagnetic field due to the electron flux that created detrimental effects for a fully lithiated silicon nanowire at x = 3.75 which resulted in over a 300% volume expansion becomes beneficial with the decrease in lithium ion flux as x approaches 0.75 which leads to a marginal volume increase of ~25 percent. This could lead to the use of crystalline silicon, c-Si, as an anode material that has been demonstrated in many previous research work to be ten times greater charge capacity than carbon base anode material for lithium ion batteries.

Abstract: This computational research study analyzes the increase of the specific charge capacity that comes with the reduction of the anisotropic volume expansion during lithium ion insertion within silicon nanowires. This research paper is a continuation from previous work that studied the expansion rate and volume increase. It has been determined that when the lithium ion concentration is decreased by regulating the amount of Li ion flux, the lithium ions to silicon atoms ratio, represented x, decreases within the amorphous lithiated silicon (a-LixSi) material. This results in a decrease in the volumetric strain of the lithiated silicon nanowire as well as a reduction in Maxwell stress that was calculated and Young’s elastic module that was measured experimentally using nanoindentation. The conclusion as will be seen is that as there is a decrease in lithium ion concentration there is a corresponding decrease in anisotropic volume and a resulting increase in specific charge capacity. In fact the amplification of the electromagnetic field due to the electron flux that created detrimental effects for a fully lithiated silicon nanowire at x=3.75 which resulted in over a 300% volume expansion becomes beneficial with the decrease in lithium ion flux as x approaches 0.75 which leads to a marginal volume increase of ~25 percent. This could lead to the use of crystalline silicon, c-Si, as an anode material that has been demonstrated in many previous research work to be ten times greater charge capacity than carbon base anode material for lithium ion batteries.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is caused by polyglutamine expansion in Ataxin-2 (ATXN2). This factor binds RNA/proteins to modify metabolism after stress, and to control calcium (Ca2+) homeostasis after stimuli, thus exerting crucial neuroprotection for cerebellar ataxias and corticospinal motor neuron degeneration. Our Atxn2-CAG100-Knock-In mouse faithfully models features observed in patients at pre-onset, early and terminal stages. Here, its cerebellar global RNA profiling revealed downregulation of signaling cascades to precede motor deficits. Validation work at mRNA/protein level defined alterations that were independent of constant physiological ATXN2 functions, but specific for RNA/aggregation toxicity, and progressive across the short lifespan. Earliest changes were detected at 3 months among Ca2+ channels/transporters (Itpr1, Ryr3, Atp2a2, Atp2a3, Trpc3), IP3 metabolism (Plcg1, Inpp5a, Itpka), and Ca2+-Calmodulin dependent kinases (Camk2a, Camk4). CaMKIV–Sam68 control over alternative splicing of Nrxn1, an adhesion component of glutamatergic synapses between granule and Purkinje neurons, was found affected. Systematic screening of pre/post-synapse components, with dendrite morphology assessment, suggested early impairment of CamKIIα abundance together with weakening of parallel fiber connectivity. These data reveal molecular changes due to ATXN2 pathology, impacting communication and excitability of cerebellar neurons. Discovery of such risk versus progression markers improves the assessment of pre-symptomatic treatments in SCA2 and related disorders.

The clustering methods of Software Defined Networking (SDN) gained popularity due to their ability to offer improved scalability, consistency, dependability, and load balancing within overlay networks and SDN partitions. This paper delved into the effects of increasing the number of OpenFlow-enabled southbound devices on the establishment and coordination of SDN-Controller clusters. Specifically, we examined the volume of east-west cluster packet communication concerning the number of southbound devices within the topology. Many research studies focused on bandwidth and the number of bytes in East-West communication. While bandwidth referred to the maximum rate at which data could be transferred, and the number of bytes reflected the volume of data being transmitted, the number of packet communications directly influenced the efficiency and responsiveness of network operations. Our investigation encompassed the impact of SDN controllerto- controller communication within the cluster concerning the rising number of OpenFlow switches connected to various topologies, including tree (star-bus network), linear, and torus configurations. This study presented data on communication patterns within Open Network Operating Systems (ONOS) and OpenDaylight (ODL) clusters, revealing differing levels of controller communication with southbound network expansions. We evaluated the scalability of ODL and ONOS controllers by scrutinising the effect of increasing the number of southbound devices on control communication volume. Our analysis revealed varied communication patterns within ONOS and ODL clusters, resulting in different volumes of control communication with southbound expansions. The findings indicated that in small to medium-sized SDNs, ODL outperformed ONOS, notably with faster cluster discovery. Conversely, ONOS demonstrated greater efficiency in larger networks owing to its centralised communication architecture. Finally, we provided recommendations for selecting the most suitable controllers based on the size of southbound networks, aiming to provide practical guidelines for optimal network performance.

Energy storage systems (ESSs) are the key elements to improve the operation of power systems. On the other hand, these elements challenge the power system planners. The difficulties arise as a result of the ESSs' economic and technological features. The cycle life of ESSs is a critical aspect that influences the choices made during expansion planning processes. In this manuscript, we have focused on a new model for the expansion planning of ESSs considering the impacts of technical properties, such as the cycle life and depth of discharge. For this purpose, the proposed model consists of the hourly operation planning of ESSs in the sample days of year. A new indicator is proposed to determine the daily charging/discharging cycles of ESSs. Numerical results show the ability of the proposed model to determine the optimal technology and capacity of ESSs.

Student mobility is one of the most important indicators to reflect institutional internationalization in a sustainable higher education system. While student mobility issues have been addressed persistently, the phenomenon is rarely discussed in association with higher education expansion. Since higher education sustainable development has received much scholarly attention, monitoring student mobility flows to adjust international strategies is necessary. This study explored practical approaches to detect student mobility flows in the process of higher education expansion. Targeting Taiwan’s higher education system as an example, we addressed the topic of system expansion and the core issues of student mobility. Target series data were collected from 1950 to 2021, including higher education enrollment, gross enrollment ratio (GER), and number of inbound and outbound students. The data were transformed with index formats, for example enrollment increasing ratio (IR) and net flow ratio. The cross-correlation function (CCF) and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) were used to determine the correlations of the series data and their future trends. The findings suggested that the effect of system expansion, with GER and IR, might influence the mobility ratios significantly in the process of higher education expansion. This study confirmed that the time series approaches work well in detecting the phenomena of higher education expansion and their effects on student mobility flows in the future.

We report on the study of ultrafast laser-induced plasma expansion dynamics in a gas microjet. To this purpose, we focused femtosecond laser pulses on a nitrogen jet produced through a homemade De Laval micronozzle. The laser excitation leads to plasma excitation with a characteristic spectral line emission at 391 nm. By following the emitted signal with a detection system based on an Intensified Charge-Coupled Device (ICCD) we captured the two-dimensional spatial evolution of the photo-excited nitrogen ions with a temporal resolution on the nanosecond time scale. We fabricated the micronozzle on fused silica substrate by femtosecond laser micromachining. This technique enables high accuracy and three-dimensional capabilities, thus providing an ideal platform for developing glass-based microfluidic structures for application to plasma physics and ultrafast spectroscopy.

The cyclic universe theory is a model of cosmic evolution according to which the universe undergoes endless cycles of expansion and cooling, each beginning with a big bang and ending in a big crunch. In this paper, the researcher finds a unique property of Space-time, this particular and marvelous nature of space shows us that space can shrink, expand, and stretch. This property of space is caused the size of the Universe changing over time: growing or shrinking. The observed accelerated expansion, which relates the stretching of Shrunk space for the new theory, is derived. This model is based on three underlying notions: First, the Big Bang was not the beginning of Space-time, but rather at the very beginning fraction of a second there was an infinite force of infinite Shrunk space in the cosmic singularity, that force gave rise to the big bang and caused the rapidly growing of space-time, and all other forms of energy are transformed into matter and radiation and a new period of expansion and cooling begins. Second, there was a previous phase leading up to it, with multiple cycles of contraction and expansion that repeat indefinitely. Third, the two principal long-range forces are the gravitational force and the repulsive force generated by shrunk space. They are the two most fundamental quantities in the universe that govern cosmic evolution. They may provide the clockwork mechanism that operates our eternal cyclic universe. The space will not continue to expand forever, no need however, for dark energy and dark matter. This model of Space-time and its unique properties enables us to describe a sequence of events from the Big Bang to the Big Crunch.

The available direct gas dynamic tables provide the area ratio and the Prandtl-Meyer(P-M) angle of isentropic expansion of gas as functions of the Mach number. But finding the value of the Mach number in terms of area ratio or P-M angle requires an inverse function. Currently, the Mach number is determined by either interpolation from the direct gas dynamics tables, or the application of non-linear equation solvers using numerical methods. Both methods are approximate. In this paper inverse functions for Mach number in the form of Taylor’s series expansions are reported to develop the so-called inverse tables. The advantage of this approach is that the Mach number with a greater accuracy, referred to as nearly exact can be obtained by reading from the inverse table. In the presentation, the necessary equations and new tables that can be used by the scientific community will be disseminated. The data and computer programs are made available on GitHub through https://github.com/anillals/Inverse-gas-dynamic-tables- and-codes. A paper describing the complete mathematical steps in the derivation of the equations can be found at https://rdcu.be/dgrlf

In this work, Gd-filled skutterudite GdxCo4Sb12 has been prepared in one-step method under high-pressure conditions in a piston-cylinder press at 3.5 GPa and moderate temperature of 800 °C. A detailed structural characterization was performed using synchrotron X-ray diffraction (SXRD), revealing a filling fraction of x = 0.066(4) and an average <Gd–Sb> bond length of 3.3499(3) Å. The lattice thermal expansion accessed via temperature-dependent SXRD led to a precise determination of a Debye temperature of 322(3) K, from the fitting of the unit-cell volume expansion using the second order Grüneisen approximation. Such parameter, when evaluated from the mean square displacements of Co and Sb, displayed a value of 265(2) K, meaning that the application of the harmonic Debye theory underestimates the Debye temperature in skutterudites. Regarding the Gd atom, its intrinsic disorder value is ~5× and ~25× higher than those of Co and Sb, respectively, denoting that Gd has a strong rattling behavior with an Einstein temperature of θE = 67(2) K. As a result, an ultra-low thermal conductivity of ~0.89 W/m·K at 773 K was obtained, leading to a thermoelectric efficiency zT of ~0.5 at 673 K.

When a large artery becomes occluded, hemodynamic changes stimulate remodeling of arterial networks to form collateral arteries in a process termed arteriogenesis. However, the structural changes necessary for collateral remodeling have not been defined. We hypothesize that decon-struction of the extracellular matrix is essential to the remodeling of smaller arteries into effective collaterals. Using multiphoton microscopy, we analyzed collagen and elastin structure in maturing collateral arteries isolated from ischemic rat hindlimbs. Collateral arteries harvested at different timepoints showed progressive diameter expansion associated with striking rearrangement of in-ternal elastic lamina (IEL) into a loose fibrous mesh, a pattern persisting at 8 weeks. Despite a 2.5-fold increase in luminal diameter, total elastin content remained unchanged in collaterals compared with control arteries. Among the collateral midzones, baseline elastic fiber content is low. Outward remodeling of these vessels with a 10-20 fold diameter increase was associated with fractures of the elastic fibers and evidence of increased wall tension as demonstrated by straight-ening of the adventitial collagen. Inhibition of lysyl oxidase (LOX) function with β-aminopropionitrile resulted in severe fragmentation or complete loss of continuity of the IEL in developing collaterals. Collateral artery development is associated with permanent redistribution of existing elastic fibers to accommodate diameter growth. We found no evidence of new elastic fiber formation. Stabilization of the arterial wall during outward remodeling is necessary and dependent on LOX activity.

The basic idea is to expand the completed zeta function $\xi(s)$ in MacLaurin series (infinite polynomial), which can be further expressed as infinite product (Hadamard product) by conjugate complex roots. Finally, the functional equation $\xi(s)=\xi(1-s)$ leads to $(s-\alpha_i)^2 = (1-s-\alpha_i)^2, i \in \mathbb{N}$ with solution $\alpha_i= \frac{1}{2}, i \in \mathbb{N}$, where $\alpha_i$ are the real parts of the zeros of $\xi(s)$, i.e., $s_i =\alpha_i\pm j\beta_i, i\in \mathbb{N}$. Therefore, a proof of the Riemann Hypothesis is achieved.