This cross-sectional study evaluated the validity of three alternative methods compared to the gold standard 24-h urine collection for estimating dietary sodium intake, a modifiable risk factor for hypertension, among middle-aged and older adults with elevated blood pressure. These included spot urine collection (using Kawasaki, Tanaka, and INTERSALT equations), 24-h dietary recall, and food frequency questionnaire responses, compared against 24-h urine collection in a subset of 65 participants (aged 50–75 years, 58.5 % women, 61.6 % hypertensive) from the DePEC-Nutrition trial. The validity of the methods was assessed using bias, Spearman correlation coefficient (SCC), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and Bland-Altman analysis. Among the alternative methods, spot urine collection using the Kawasaki equation showed the strongest correlation (SCC 0.238; ICC 0.119, 95 % CI -0.079 to 0.323) but it exhibited a significant bias (1414 mg/day, p-value < 0.001) relative to 24-h urine collection. Conversely, dietary surveys had a smaller bias but wider limits of agreement. These findings underscore the complexities of accurately estimating dietary sodium intake using spot urine collection or dietary surveys in this specific population, suggesting that a combination or refinement of existing methodologies might improve accuracy. Further research with larger samples is necessary to develop more reliable methods for assessing sodium intake in this high-risk group.

Elizabethkingia anophelis is an opportunistic pathogen causing lifethreatening infections in humans, particularly in immunocompromised patients, neonates and elderly. Infections caused by this species are exceptionally challenging to treat due to its multiresistance to antimicrobials. We report a case of central line-associated bloodstream infection by E. anophelis in a 2.5-year-old girl with acute lymphoblastic leukemia successfully treated with a combination of piperacillin/tazobactam and amikacin. The literature was also reviewed on paediatric infections caused by E. anophelis. Accurate identification with MALDI-TOF, or using molecular techniques, is crucial because of varying susceptibilities among species. Early, accurate diagnosis and prompt effective treatment optimize outcomes.

Autoimmune hemolytic anemias (AIHAs) are conditions whereby a person produces an antibody to their own red blood cells (RBCs). These conditions can be primary with unknown cause or secondary, associated with diseases or infections. There are seven different categories of AIHA, warm-antibody AIHA (wAIHA); cold-antibody AIHA that includes cold agglutinin syndrome (CAS) and cold agglutin disease (CAD); mixed AIHA, also called combined cold and warm AIHA; paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria (PCH) also termed Donath-Lansteiner test-positive AIHA; direct antiglobulin test-negative AIHA (DAT-neg AIHA); drug-induced immune hemolytic anemia (DIIHA); and passenger lymphocyte syndrome. This review will discuss each of these AIHAs and provide information on diagnosis and treatment.

Background: Several kinds of research say that adjuvant blood glucose and blood pressure are usual, but an efficient solution for medical application count remains. This review analyzes the pandemic blood pressure and blood glucose to identify the publications which tell about the clinical practices and research gaps in systematic research.Methods: A study guides to identify the research of Blood Pressure (BP) and Blood Glucose. In order to analyze the recent innovations and research on BP and Blood glucose, the relevant publications and literature from journals were identified.Results: Co-morbidity of BP and Blood glucose is reported as very high. The commonness of blood pressure is thrice as high in type I diabetes patients and almost two times higher in type II diabetes patients when compared to others without Diabetes. The pervasiveness of getting depression is more in the female when compared with men. A detailed study about the linkage of BP and blood glucose tells that the relationship between them is not exactly clear.Limitations: Nearly all reviews providing the linkage of BP and blood glucose are with some limitations and they are not providing any clear conclusion.Conclusions: Present research tells that people having high blood glucose will have a greater chance of getting high blood pressure. More research is needed to state the linkage between BP, blood glucose, and the growth of diabetes mellitus issues and to provide support for managing Diabetes.

The aim of this study is to present the spatial and temporal variability of the frequency of dry and wet days and dry and wet spells against the background of changes in precipitation and atmospheric circulation. The study is based on daily precipitation totals from 46 meteorological stations in Poland for the years 1966-2023. Additionally seven circulation indices were used: GBI, NAO, AO, EA, EA/WR. SCAND ana AMO. Dry days are defined as days without precipitation. Wet days are days with at least 1 mm of precipitation. It was shown that dry spells are much more common that wet spells, are longer and cover larger areas. Long term changes in annual characteristics of dry and wet days and spells are statistically insignificant. Only the length of the longest dry spell in the year increases. However, there are significant changes in their annual cycles. Spring is drier, in summer months, precipitation decreases in the south and increases in the north, November and December, symbols of gloomy rainy weather, are increasingly drier, rainy weather moved to January and February. The impact of circulation varies with seasons and NAO, Ao, SCAN and GBI indices have the strongest impact.

Wildfires have always been a part of the history of Mediterranean forests. However, forest regeneration after a wildfire is not certain. It depends on many factors, some of which may be influenced by land management activities. Failure of regeneration will cause a regime shift in the ecosystem, reducing the provision of ecosystem services and ultimately leading to desertification. How can we increase Mediterranean forests’ resilience to fire? To answer this question, we did a literature review, investigating chains of processes that allow forests to regenerate (which we label “regeneration mechanisms”), and assessed the impact of selected management practices documented in the WOCAT database on the regeneration mechanisms. We identified three distinct regeneration mechanisms that enable Mediterranean forests to recover, as well as the time frame before and after a fire in which they are at work, and factors that can hinder or support resilience. The three regeneration mechanisms enabling a forest to regenerate after a fire consist of regeneration (1) from a seed bank; (2) from resprouting individuals; and (3) from unburned plants that escaped the fire. Management practices were grouped into four categories: (1) fuel breaks, (2) fuel management, (3) afforestation, and (4) mulching. We assessed how and under what conditions land management modifies the ecosystem’s resilience. The results show that land management influences resilience by interacting with resilience mechanisms before and after the fire, and not just by modifying the fire regime. Our analysis demonstrates a need for adaptive – i.e. context- and time-specific – management strategies.

A facilitative transport system exists on the blood brain barrier (BBB) that has been tacitly assumed to be a path for glutamate entry to brain. But glutamate is a non-essential amino acid whose brain content is much greater than plasma, and studies in vivo show that glutamate does not enter brain in material quantities except in those small regions with fenestrated capillaries (circumventricular organs). The situation became understandable when luminal (blood facing) and abluminal (brain facing) membranes were isolated and studied separately. Facilitative transport of glutamate and glutamine exist only on the luminal membranes whereas Na+-dependent transport systems for glutamate, glutamine and some other amino acids are present only on the abluminal membrane. The Na+-dependent cotransporters of the abluminal membrane are in a position to actively transport amino acids from the extracellular fluid (ECF) into the endothelial cells of the BBB. These powerful secondary active transporters couple the energy of the Na+-gradient to move glutamate and glutamine into the ECF whereupon glutamate can exit to blood on the luminal facilitative glutamate transporter. Glutamine may also exit brain on a separate facilitative transport system that exists on the luminal membranes or glutamine can be hydrolyzed to glutamate within the BBB thereby releasing ammonia that is freely diffusible. The γ-glutamyl participate cycle participates indirectly by producing oxoproline (pyroglutamate) that stimulates almost all secondary active transporters yet discovered in the abluminal membranes of the BBB.

Berberis vulgaris (L.) has remarkable ethnopharmacological properties and is widely used in traditional medicine. The present study investigates B. vulgaris stem bark (Berberidis cortex) by extraction with 50% ethanol. The main secondary metabolites were quantified, resulting in a polyphenols content of 17.6780 ± 3.9320 mg Eq Tannic acid / 100 g extract, phenolic acids amount of 3.3886 ± 0.3481 mg Eq Chlorogenic acid / 100 g extract and 78.95 µg/g berberine. The dried hydro-ethanolic extract (BVE) was thoroughly analyzed using Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC–HRMS/MS) and HPLC and 40 bioactive phenolic constituents were identified. Then, the antioxidant potential of BVE was evaluated using three methods; our results could explain the protective effects of Berberidis cortex EC50FRAP = 0.1398 mg/mL, IC50ABTS = 0.0442 mg/mL, IC50DPPH = 0.2610 mg/mL compared to ascorbic acid (IC50 = 0.0165 mg/mL). Next, the acute toxicity and teratogenicity of BVE and Berberine - Berberine sulfate hydrate (BS) - investigated on Daphnia sp reported significant BS toxicity after 24 h; BVE revealed considerable toxicity after 48 hours and induced embryonic developmental delays. Finally, the anticancer effects of BVE and BS were evaluated on different tumor cell lines after 24 and 48 hours of treatments. The MTS assay evidenced a dose- and time-dependent antiproliferative activity, higher on BS than BVE. The strongest diminution of tumor cell viability was recorded on breast (MDA-MB-231), colon (LoVo) cancer, and OSCC (PE/CA-PJ49) cell lines after 48 h of exposure (IC50 &lt; 100 µg/mL). However, no cytotoxicity was reported on normal epithelial cells (HUVEC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HT-29) cell lines. Extensive data analysis supports our results, showing a significant correlation between the BVE's concentration, phenolic compounds content, antioxidant activity, exposure time, and the viability rate of various normal cells and cancer cell lines.

Gas flaring is a disposal process widely used in the oil extraction and processing industry. It consists in the burning of unwanted gas at the tip of a stack and due to its thermal characteristic and the thermal emission it is possible to observe and to quantify it from space. Spaceborne observations allows us to collect information across regions and hence to provide a base for estimation of emissions on global scale. We have successfully adapted the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Nightfire algorithm for the detection and characterisation of persistent hot spots, including gas flares, to the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) observations on-board the Sentinel- satellites. A hot event at temperatures typical of a gas flare will produce a local maximum in the night-time readings of the shortwave and mid-infrared (SWIR and MIR) channels of SLSTR. The SWIR band centered at 1.61 mmis closest to the expected spectral radiancemaximumand serves as the primary detection band. The hot source is characterised in terms of temperature and area by fitting the sum of two Planck curves, one for the hot source and another for the background, to the radiances from all the available SWIR, MIR and thermal infra-red channels of SLSTR. The flaring radiative power is calculated from the gas flare temperature and area. Our algorithm differs from the original VIIRS Nightfire algorithm in three key aspects: (1) It uses a granule-based contextual thresholding to detect hot pixels, being independent of the number of hot sources present and their intensity. (2) It analyses entire clusters of hot source detections instead of individual pixels. This is arguably a more comprehensive use of the available information. (3) The co-registration errors between hot source clusters in the different spectral bands are calculated and corrected. This also contributes to the SLSTR instrument validation. Cross-comparisons of the new gas flare characterisation with temporally close observations by the higher resolution German FireBIRD TET-1 small satellite and with the Nightfire product based on VIIRS on-board the Suomi-NPP satellite show general agreement for an individual flaring site in Siberia and for several flaring regions around the world. Small systematic differences to VIIRS Nightfire are nevertheless apparent. Based on the hot spot characterisation, gas flares can be identified and flared gas volumes and pollutant emissions can be calculated with previously published methods.

Dried blood spot (DBS) testing on confetti is one of the most common methods used to collect and extract DNA from field samples for molecular epidemiology of malaria studies. Here, we investigated whether ethanol or other solutions used to clean scissors are a source of sample contamination. DBS were prepared from 3 drops of blood from two Plasmodium falciparum cultures spotted on confetti, and 3 solutions (water, ethanol and DNase) were used to clean scissors between spots during DNA extraction. For each cleaning solution, two blank confetti were used as negative controls. Samples were analyzed by PCR-based genotyping of merozoite surface proteins 1 & 2 (msp-1 and msp-2), and P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (Pfcrt). A total of 15 samples were analyzed. Based on msp-1 and msp-2 amplification, P. falciparum was detected on blank confetti when scissors were washed with ethanol. Based on Pfcrt amplification, DNA of P. falciparum was detected on blank confetti when scissors were cleaned with ethanol or water. No P. falciparum genes were detected on blank confetti when scissors were cleaned with DNase. Scissors cleaned with DNase prevented cross-contamination between samples during processing of dried blood spots, whereas ethanol (which is commonly used) fails to avert cross-contamination.

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

Udder health of dairy cows is related to their productivity and welfare. The period from dry-off to calving and early lactation is crucial. Ultrasonography is a useful and practical tool for the examination of the mammary parenchyma and blood flow. This observational study investigated the relationship between udder echotexture features, blood flow volume (BFVol) in the milk vein, milk somatic cell count (SCC) and daily milk yield (DMY) from late lactation, throughout dry period and consecutive early lactation. Seventeen repeated measurements were performed on 21 Holstein cows. The udder parenchyma was examined with B-mode ultrasonography. Udder echotexture was studied using 15 features: Numerical Pixel Value (NPV), Pixel Standard Deviation (PSD), Skewness, Excess, Contrast, Homogeneity, Correlation, Entropy, Run Percentage, Long Run Emphasis, Grey Value Distribution, Runlength Distribution, Gradient Mean Value, Gradient Variance and Percentage of Non-zero Gradients. Blood flow in the milk vein was examined with spectral Doppler. Linear mixed effects models were employed to investigate relationships between BFVol, udder echotexture features, SCC and DMY, throughout the study period. Our models showed that a 1-kg increase in DMY was associated with a significant increase of 0.25 L/min in the expected BFVol, and that a 1,000,000-cells/mL increase in SCC was associated with a significant BFVol decrease of 0.49 L/min, keeping all other variables constant. Multivariable models showed significant associations between DMY and NPV, PSD and Long Run Emphasis, and between SCC and NPV, PSD, Gradient Mean Value, Homogeneity, Gradient Variance and Entropy. In conclusion, udder echotexture and BFVol in the milk vein are related to SCC and milk yield. Ultrasonography can be used for the comprehensive assessment of udder health in the direction of precision dairy farming.

Here, satellite images from 2006 to 2022 were collected to assess changes in the sandbar topography of the Nakdong River Estuary region, southeast of South Korea. The employed method of satellite image acquisition involves capturing images at the same time each year to facilitate a comparison of topographical changes over time. The shorelines of the islands in the study area, including Jinwoo Island, Shinja Island, and Doyo Sandbar, were analyzed. Shoreline analysis was performed using the digital shoreline analysis system (DSAS) package in ArcGIS. The results indicate that Jinwoo Island is expanding at 6.46 m/year in the direction of Nulcha Island. The western side of Shinja Island is expanding at 4.76 m/year, whereas the eastern side is retreating at a rate of 24.41 m/year. In the case of the Doyo Sandbar, the southern shoreline is retreating at a rate of 14.69 m/year; however, the speed is gradually decreasing. Marked topographical changes are evident in the Nakdong River Estuary, and the interlinked barrier islands undergo deposition and erosion, leading to alterations in the shoreline. These findings serve as foundational data for predicting and addressing environmental and social issues arising in the Nakdong River Estuary region due to climate change.

Hemangioblasts give rise to endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which also express the cell surface markers CD133 and C-kit. They may differentiate into the outgrowth endothelial cells (OECs) that control neovascularization in the developing embryo. Reduced levels of EPC in circulation have been linked to human cardiovascular disorders, according to numerous studies. Furthermore, preeclampsia and senescence have been linked to levels of EPCs produced from cord blood. Uncertainties surround how preeclampsia affects the way EPCs function. It is reasonable to speculate that preeclampsia may have an impact on the function of fetal EPCs during the in utero period; however, given the present literature's suggestion that maternal vasculopathies, including preeclampsia, damage fetal circulation. Additionally, the differentiation potential and general activity of EPCs may serve as an indicator of the health of the fetal vascular system since they promote neovascularization and repair during pregnancy. Thus, the purpose of this review is to compare, through assessment of their quantity, differentiation potency, angiogenic activity, and senescence, the angiogenic function of fetal EPCs obtained from cord blood for normal and pregnancy problems. This will shed light on the relationship between the angiogenic function of fetal EPCs and pregnancy complications, which could have an effect on the management of long-term health issues like metabolic and cardiovascular disorders in offspring with abnormal vasculature development.

The European Power Exchange has introduced day-ahead auctions and continuous trading spot markets to facilitate the insertion of renewable electricity. These markets are designed to balance excess or lack of power in short time periods, which leads to a large stochastic variability of the electricity prices. Furthermore, the different markets show different stochastic memory in their electricity price time series, which seem to be the cause for the large volatility. In particular, we show the antithetical temporal correlation in the intraday 15 minutes spot markets in comparison to the day-ahead hourly market. We contrast the results from Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) to a new method based on the Kramers–Moyal equation in scale. For very short term (< 12 hours), all price time series show positive temporal correlations (Hurst exponent H > 0.5) except for the intraday 15 minute market, which shows strong negative correlations (H < 0.5). For longer term periods covering up to two days, all price time series are anti-correlated (H < 0.5).

Recent maritime legislations demand the transformation of the sector to greener and more energy efficient transportation. Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) seems a promising alternative fuel solution that could replace the conventional fuel sources. Various studies have been focused on the prediction of LNG price, however, no previous work has been made on the forecast of spot charter rate of LNG carrier ships. An important knowledge for the maritime industries and companies when it comes to decision-making. Therefore, this study is focused on the development of a machine learning pipeline to address the aforementioned problem by: (i) forming a dataset with variables relevant to LNG; (ii) identifying the variables that impact on the freight price of LNG carrier; (iii) developing and evaluating regression models for short and mid-term forecast. The results showed that the General Regression Neural Network presented a stable overall performance for 2, 4 and 6 months forecast.

White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) has emerged as one of the most prevalent and lethal viruses globally, and infects both shrimps and crabs in the aquatic environment. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of WSSV in different ghers of Bangladesh and the virulence of the circulating phylotypes. We collected 360 shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and 120 crab (Scylla sp.) samples from the South-East (Cox’s Bazar) and South-West (Satkhira) coastal regions of Bangladesh. The VP28 gene-specific PCR assays and sequencing revealed statistically significant (p < 0.05, Kruskal Wallis test) differences in the prevalence of WSSV in shrimps and crabs between the study areas (Cox’s Bazar and Satkhira), and over the study periods (2017-2019). The mean Log load of WSSV varied from 8.40 (Cox’s Bazar) to 10.48 (Satkhira) per gram of tissue. The mean values for salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature and pH were 14.71±0.76 ppt, 3.7±0.1 ppm, 34.11±0.38˚C and 8.23±0.38, respectively in the WSSV-positive ghers. The VP28 gene-based phylogenetic analysis showed an amino-acid substitution (E→G) at 167th position in the isolates from Cox’s Bazar (referred to as phylotype BD2) compared to the globally circulating one (BD1). Shrimp PL artificially challenged with BD1 and BD2 phylotypes with filtrates of tissue containing 0.423 X 109 copies of WSSV per mL resulted a median LT50 value of 73 hrs and 75 hrs, respectively. The in-vivo trial showed higher mean Log WSSV copies (6.47±2.07 per mg tissue) in BD1 challenged shrimp PL compared to BD2 (4.75±0.35 per mg tissue). Crabs infected with BD1 and BD2 showed 100% mortality within 48 hrs and 62 hrs of challenge, respectively with mean Log WSSV copies of 12.06±0.48 and 9.95±0.37 per gram tissue, respectively. Moreover, shrimp antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) penaeidin and lysozyme expression was lower in BD1 challenged group compared to BD2 challenged shrimps. These results collectively demonstrated that relative virulence properties of WSSV based on mortality rate, viral load and expression of host immune genes in artificially infected shrimp PL could be affected by single aa substitution in VP28.

Probiotic feed additives have attracted considerable research interest in recent years because the effectiveness of probiotics can differ across microbial strains and the supplemented macroorganisms. The present study was conducted on 16 lambs divided into two groups (C - control and E - experimental). The examined lambs were aged 11 days at the beginning of the experiment and 40 days at the end of the experiment. The diet of group E lambs was supplemented with a multi-strain probiotic formulation (Lactobacillus plantarum AMT14, Lactobacillus plantarum AMT4, Lactobacillus rhamnosus AMT15, and Bifidobacterium animalis AMT30), whereas group C lambs did not receive the probiotic additive. At the beginning of the experiment (day 0) and on experimental days 15 and 30, blood was sampled from the jugular vein to determine and compare: phagocytic activity (PHAGOTEST) and oxidative metabolism (PHAGOBURST) of peripheral blood granulocytes and monocytes by flow cytometry. An analysis of the phagocytic activity of granulocytes and monocytes revealed significantly higher levels of phagocytic activity (expressed as the percentage of phagocytic cells and mean fluorescence intensity) in lambs administered the multi-strain probiotic formulation than in the control group. The probiotic feed additive also exerted a positive effect on the oxidative metabolism of both granulocytes and monocytes (expressed as the percentage of oxidative metabolism and mean fluorescence intensity) after stimulation with Escherichia coli bacteria and with PMA (4-phorbol-12-β-myristate-13-acetate).

In recent years, remote sensing technology has been widely used to predict forest stand parameters. In order to compare the effects of different features of remote sensing images and topographic information on the prediction of forest stand parameters, multivariate stepwise regression analysis method was used to build estimation models for important forest stand parameters by using textural and spectral features as well as topographic information of SPOT-5 satellite images in northeastern Heilongjiang Province in China as independent variables. The study results show that the optimal window to predict forest stand parameters using textural features of SPOT-5 satellite image is 9×9; the ability of textural features was better than that of spectral features in terms of predicting forest stand parameters; with the inclusion of topographic information, the accuracy of prediction of all models was improved, of which elevation has the most significant effect. The highest accuracy was achieved when predicting the stand volume (SV) (R²_adj=0.820), followed by basal area (BA) (R²_adj =0.778), accuracy of both above models exceeded 75%. The results show that models combined use of textural, spectral features and topographic information of SPOT-5 images have a good application prospect in predicting forest stand parameters.

Spatial biology is a rapidly growing research field which focuses on the transcriptomic or proteomic profiling of single cells within tissues with preserved spatial information. Imaging-based spatial transcriptomics uses epifluorescence microscopy, which has shown remarkable results for identification of multiple targets in situ. Nonetheless, the number of genes that can be reliably visualized is limited by the diffraction of light. Here, we investigate the effect of structured illumination (SIM), a super-resolution microscopy approach, over the performance of single gene transcript detection in spatial transcriptomics experiments. We performed direct mRNA-targeted hybridization in situ sequencing for multiple genes in mouse coronal brain tissue sections. We evaluated spot detection performance in widefield and confocal images versus those with SIM in combination with 20X, 25X and 60X objectives. In general, SIM increases the detection efficiency of gene transcripts spots compared to widefield and confocal modes. For each case, the specific fold increase in localizations is dependent on gene transcripts density and the numerical aperture of the objective used, which showed to play an important role especially for densely clustered spots. Taken together, our results suggest that SIM has the capacity to improve spot detection and overall data quality in spatial transcriptomics.

This study involved a comprehensive examination of sensory attributes in Bísaro dry-cured loins, including odor, androsterone, scatol, color, fat color, hardness, juiciness, chewiness, flavor intensity, and flavor persistence. Analysis of 40 samples revealed a wide variation in these attributes, ensuring a robust margin for multivariate calibration purposes. The respective near-infrared (NIR) spectra unveil distinct peaks associated with significant components such as protein, lipid, and water. Support Vector Regression (SVR) models were methodically calibrated for all sensory attributes, with optimal results using multiplicative scattering correction pre-treatment, MinMax normalization, and radial base kernel (non-linear SVR model). The predictive models exhibited acceptable results, characterized by R-squared values close to 1 (0.9616 - 0.9955) and low RMSE values (0.0400 – 0.1031). The prediction set's relative standard deviation (RSD) remained under 5%. Comparisons with prior research revealed significant improvements in prediction accuracy, particularly when considering attributes like pig aroma, hardness, fat color, and flavor intensity. This research underscores the potential of advanced analytical techniques to improve the precision of sensory evaluations in food quality assessment.

Sixteen crossbred rabbits (New Zealand white x Thai native breed) were randomly divided into two groups of eight to determine the effects of daily oral administration of crude extracts from the butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea L.) from weaning (at 35 days) to slaughter (at 90 days). Effects on phagocytic activity of blood polymorphoneuclear leukocytes, serum biochemistry, meat quality, muscular lipid peroxidation, apparent digestibility, and gut histology were studied. The results revealed that the phagocytic function of circulating leukocytes (75 and 90 days) and alveolar macrophages (90 days) did not differ between the two groups. At slaughter, treated rabbits had lower blood urea nitrogen concentrations and higher liver weight than control rabbits (p &lt; 0.05). After chilling at 4°C for 24 hours, lower meat pH and alteration of meat color (a brighter, less yellow, Hue angle and color saturation) were observed in the treated group (p &lt; 0.05). Furthermore, lipid peroxidation (measured at 3, 5 and 7 storage days) in the meat of treated rabbits was lower than in controls (p &lt; 0.05). Apparent digestibility (analyzed at 46 days for four days) revealed improved organic matter and ether extracts in the treated group (p &lt; 0.05), whereas gut histology was unaffected. In conclusion, butterfly pea extract supplementation did not affect phagocytic function but led to a modification in meat color, delayed lipid peroxidation, and improved digestibility.

The focus of our study was the changes in the composition of semi-natural dry grasslands in Hungary. Since these valuable habitats were created with the help of humans, their preservation also requires regular treatment. Our mowing experiment aimed to investigate the suppression of the native Calamagrostis epigejos L. Roth. In Hungary, in the Cserhát Mountains, eight permanent plots were mowed twice a year. The vegetation was sampled annually between 2001 and 2011. The effects of mowing were investigated with repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). After 10 years, the C. epigejos cover of the mowed plots decreased significantly, from the initial average of 62.38 to 7.50%. Surprisingly, we also experienced a similar decrease in the control plots. Regular treatment also had a positive effect on the number of species and diversity. Species richness increased continuously in both treatment types, which indicates the combined effect of vegetation succession and treatment. The biomass growth of other Poaceae and Fabaceae species, which are important from a grassland management perspective, was also facilitated by mowing. Our results suggest that long-term in situ experiments and continuous botanical studies are needed to establish a reliable utilization of grasslands.

Polyelectrolyte-drug complexes are interesting alternatives to improve unfavourable drugs properties. Vancomycin (VAN) is an antimicrobial used in the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus pulmonary infections in patients with cystic fibrosis. It is generally administered intravenously with high incidence of adverse side effects, which could be reduced by intrapulmonary administration. Currently, there are no commercially available inhalable formulations containing VAN. Thus, the present work focuses on the preparation and characterization of an ionic complex between hyaluronic acid (HA) and VAN with potential use as inhalable formulations. Particulate-solid HA-VAN25 complex by spray drying from an aqueous dispersion was obtained. FTIR spectroscopy and thermal analysis confirmed the ionic interaction between HA and VAN, while an amorphous diffraction pattern by X-ray was observed. The powder density, geometric size and morphology showed a suitable aerosolization and aerodynamic performance of the powder, indicating the capability of reaching the deep lung. An in vitro extended-release profile of VAN from the complex was obtained, exceeding 24 hours. Microbiological assays against methicillin-resistant and -sensitive reference strains of Staphylococcus aureus, showed that VAN preserves its antibacterial efficacy. In conclusion, HA-VAN25 exhibited interesting properties for the development of inhalable formulations with potential efficacy and safety advantages over conventional treatment.

This study aimed to investigate the potential of Cord Blood Stem Cell-derived exosome vesicles (CBSC-EVs) in regulating cancer growth and preventing cellular damage. The study aimed to examine the effects of CBSC-EVs on CHL1 cancer cells and healthy fibroblasts. The study results reveal that CBSC-EVs have an anti-cancer/antioxidant effect on CHL1 cancer cells without inducing any toxic effects on healthy lymphocytes. Further analysis of CBSC-EVs revealed the presence of seven miRNAs (noncoding RNA molecules), including three from the Let 7 family, two from the Let 5 family, and two novel miRNAs. The function of the novel miRNAs was the main focus of the study. To assess the efficacy of CBSC-EVs, CHL1 cells (a type of malignant melanoma cell line) and human fibroblasts were grouped into different treatments. One group of those cell lines were treated with CBSC-EVs, and in the second group, the cells were transfected with either miRNA inhibitor Novel 1 (miRNA IN1) plus CBSC-EVs or miRNA inhibitor Novel 2 (miRNA IN2) and CBSC-EVs to knock down those novel miRNAs in the CBSC-EVs. Therefore, by comparing these groups, the function of novel miRNAs is more understandable. In this study, the Comet assay was employed to evaluate cancer cells' DNA damage and CCK8 to measure cell viability. The findings revealed that CBSC-EVs caused an increase in DNA damage in CHL1 cells compared to cells without treatment (p

The blood count is crucial for assessing bone marrow's cell production and differentiation during infections, gauging disease severity, and monitoring therapeutic responses. The profile of blood count in chronic form of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) has been insufficiently explored. To better understand the changes in hematological cells in different stages of the PCM chronic form, we evaluated the blood count, including immature blood cells in automated equipment, before and during the treatment follow-up of 62 chronic PCM patients. Predominantly male (96.8%) with an average age of 54.3 (SD 6.9) years, participants exhibited pre-treatment conditions such as anemia (45.2%), monocytosis (38.7%), and leukocytosis (17.7%) which became less frequent after clinical cure. Anemia was more prevalent in severe cases. Notably, hemoglobin and reticulocyte hemoglobin content increased, while leukocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, immature granulocytes, and platelets decreased. Chronic PCM induced manageable hematological abnormalities, mainly in the red blood series. Monocytosis, indicating monocytes' role in PCM's immune response, was frequent. Post-treatment, especially after achieving clinical cure, significant improvements were observed in various hematological indices, including immature granulocytes and reticulocyte hemoglobin content, underscoring the impact of infection on these parameters.

By using the Black-Derman-Toy (BDT) model, we predict the future trend of the riskless rate, and then we build an equation that relates the market price of zero-coupon bonds and the theoretical price of zero-coupon bonds calculated using a binomial option pricing model. Based on this, we can find the implied daily return μ, implied natural upturn probability p, and implied daily volatility σ with respect to different time-to-maturity values of zero-coupon bonds. With these results, we can give some suggestions to bond traders.

Background/objectives: The health benefits of resistant starch are well known, but there have not been many studies available documenting the effect of basmati rice products containg resistant starch upon blood glucose level and lipid profile in vivo efficacy. Methods: Common cooking methods were used to prepare basmati rice products including two boiling methods viz. boiling 1 (boiling by absorption), boiling 2 (boiling in extra amount of water), frying and pressure cooking. The cooked rice were held at various temperatures and times: it was made fresh (T1), kept at room temperature (20–22°C) for 24 h (T2), kept at 4°C for 24 h (T3), and then reheated after being kept at 4°C for 24 h(T4). Next, the products' proximate composition, total dietary fibre (soluble and insoluble), resistant starch (RS), and In vitro starch digestion rate (rapidly and slowly digested starch) were examined. The effect of RS on blood glucose and lipid profile were measured in humans and rats. Histopathological study of liver and pancreas in rats were also observed. Results: The basmati rice prepared by boiling 1 and stored with T3 was found more effective to control blood glucose and lipid profile. Similarly in rats, the blood glucose level, cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL were reduced about 29.7, 37.9, 31.3 and 30.5% respectively, after consumption of basmsti rice prepared by boiling 1 and stored at T3. Conclusion: Rice products stored at 4⁰C have a high amount of resistant starh, insoluble dietary fibre, slowly digestible starch and low glycemic index. Thus helps to inhibit glycogen and lipid synthesis.

Blood testing is a crucial medical application. In this study, we applied Raman spectroscopy to test blood samples and obtained complete biological information, including the main components and compositions in these samples. Short-wavelength (532-nm green light) Raman scattering spectroscopy was conducted on samples of normal blood, abnormal blood in 3 types of preparation including whole blood, plasma, and serum, and the underlying information reflected by the biological characteristics detected in each sample type were analyzed. Raman spectroscopy results indicated that normal blood had high hemoglobin content, which suggests that hemoglobin is a major component of blood. Hemoglobin affects blood oxygen level. The characteristic peaks of hemoglobin were observed at 690, 989, 1015, 1182, 1233, 1315, and 1562–1649 cm−1. Analysis of plasma and serum samples indicated the presence of β-carotene, which exhibited characteristic peaks at 1013, 1172, and 1526 cm−1. In addition, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy was used to collect biological signals that are difficult to obtain in conventional Raman spectroscopy, including those of small molecules such as hormones, antibodies, and enzymes. Changes in biological information collected in this manner can be used as a basis for potentially diagnosing clinical diseases.

Beef dry aging consist in a selection of unpackaged primal cuts that are placed in a refrigerator room with controlled environment for several weeks. The goals are the concentration of flavor, like nutty and beefy and tenderness improvement. In this study it was intended verify the microbiological and physicochemical behavior and the meat sensorial perception during a process example of meat dry aging. Twelve beef loins were selected for 90 days of dry aging and placed in a refrigerator room with average temperature, relative humidity and forced air 3.17 ± 0.68 °C, 60.65 ± 4.23 % and 0.5-2 m/s, respectively. On 1, 14, 21, 35, 60 and 90 days of dry aging, were taken two samples, crust and lean meat for microbiological counts, pH, aw, color L*a*b* and sensorial analysis. During drying, there weren´t any pathogenic bacteria counts and the average counts were higher for the crust. The aw and pH had an average of 0.98 ± 0.02 and 5.77± 0.015, with a slightly decrease and increase respectively (P&lt;0.05) along aging days. The dry aging process practices, with room refrigeration at RH&lt;65.00% and temperature &lt;4.00 °C can be the reason for aw&lt;0.98 and meat pH&lt;6.00 and therefore for the absence of pathogenic bacteria. The lower microbial counts on the lean meat and the overall acceptability assessed by the sensory panel confirm the importance of the good trimming and storage practices for the dry aged beef.

The dry washing method is an alternative to replace water washing, thereby reducing the negative impacts of contamination. However, commercial adsorbents come from industrial processes that, due to their composition, may not be such a sustainable resource in the global biodiesel production process. In this study, the use of organic residues, such as sawdust, coconut fiber, nutshell, rice husk and water hyacinth fiber, were proposed as bioadsorbents for the purification of biodiesel from waste cooking oil (WCO). Quality parameters such as the acid value, water content, and free and total glycerin content were evaluated and compared with those of commercial resins such as Magnesol® and Amberlite™. Promising results were obtained using sawdust during the purification process, achieving a 31.6% reduction in the acid value compared to that of unpurified biodiesel, the reduction was 31.3% more efficient than Amberlite™. Sawdust adsorbed free glycerin at 55.8%, being more efficient than Amberlite™. The total glycerin values were similar between commercial resins and sawdust. A water content values were similar than Amberlite™ and better than that with Magnesol®, at 4.3% and 39.81%, respectively. These results show that sawdust can be used as an alternative bioadsorbent in a dry purification method for biodiesel being a residue with less environmental impact.

Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F. H. Chen, a valuable Chinese herb in Yunnan Province, is susceptible to leaf spot caused by Boeremia linicola. Nonetheless, effective control methods against leaf spot in P. notoginseng are lacking. We surveyed understorey P. notoginseng bases in Lincang, Lancang, and Xundian, with incidence rate reaching 80% and an average disease index of 25 in severe cases. We found that pathogenic bacteria overwinter in infected leaves and soil, with conidia and conidiophores serving as the primary infection source. The strain B. linicola LYB-2 showed the best growth at 20°C and pH 5.0. We also screened control agents using the plate and face-off culture methods. Tetramycin exhibited 38.56–74.67% inhibition with an EC50 of 0.60 mg/L. Copper abietate showed 3.10–34.76% inhibition with an EC50 of 3,120.05 mg/L. Trichoderma atroviride and T. harzianum exhibited inhibition rates of 52.48% and 44.19%, respectively, while Bacillus subtilis reached 78.45%. Field tests demonstrated significant control effects with 20% copper abresinate, B. subtilis, T. virenceae BH-10 preparation, and 0.3% tetramycin, achieving 82.57%, 72.56%, 71.3%, and 70.2% inhibition, respectively. These findings support their eco-friendly use for preventing and controlling leaf spot disease in P. notoginseng forests; we provide vital scientific evidence for disease prediction and green control strategies.

On the aero-engine combustor liner, a phenomenon of overheating resembling a hot spot exists, accompanied by a preferential peeling of the YSZ thermal barrier coating that will negatively affect the service life of the component. The temperature gradient of the hot spot may affect the YSZ fracture pattern.In this paper, the morphological and property changes of YSZ sintering is investigated experimentally, and a coupled analysis of the YSZ Crack Propagation Mode under the hot spot is performed using ABAQUS. The results show that the pore fractal size D of YSZ increases by 15%. Inside the hot spot region, the coating has a shear stress of 75MPa. By inserting Cohesive units globally in the model to simulate the random crack initiation and propagation, unlike the thinning of YSZ layered peeling caused by uniform superheating, hot spot will cause the crack initiation at the tip of the pores inside the coating and the oblique propagation, eventually forming an oblique crack connection through the pores. When the temperature gradient reaches 30K/mm, the crack propagation is 40% greater than in a uniform temperature field; consequently, the YSZ in the hot spot boundary region with a greater temperature gradient results in more severe bulk peeling.

The Open Access (OA) publishing model that is based on article processing charges (APC) is often associated with the potential for more transparency regarding the expenditures for publications. However, the extent to which transparency can be achieved depends not least on the completeness of data in APC monitoring systems. This article investigates two blind spots of the largest collection of APC payment information, OpenAPC. It aims to identify likely APC-liable publications for German universities that contribute to this system and for those that do not provide data to it. The calculation combines data from Web of Science, the ISSN-Gold-OA-list and OpenAPC. The results show that for the group of universities contributing to the monitoring system, more than half of the APC payments are not covered by it and the average payments for non-covered APCs is higher than for APCs covered by the system. In addition, the group of universities that does not contribute to OpenAPC accounts for two thirds of the number of APC-liable publications recorded for contributing universities. Regarding the size of these blind spots, the value of the monitoring system is limited at present.

Chronic inflammation may have a detrimental impact on human health as it tends to result in cancer. In addition, it is often linked to different steps that participate in tumorigenesis, including cellular transformation, survival, promotion, invasion, proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Hence, inflammation predisposes cancer development and plays a vital role in promoting all tumorigenesis stages. Inflammation is caused by many factors, such as bacterial and viral infections, tobacco smoking, autoimmune diseases, obesity, asbestos exposure, and many others, increasing cancer risk. Moreover, cancer can be enhanced by mutations that proceed to cancer progression. Consequently, it leads to immunosuppression and provides a favorable background for tumor development. Although many studies address the question of relationships between inflammation and cancer development, little attention is paid to the link between inflammation and blood cancer. Therefore, the current study reviews the role of inflammation in cancer development, particularly in blood cancer. A meta-analysis research approach meets the research objective and answers the research question. The review results indicate that chronic inflammation directly relates to the development of many cancer types, blood cancer in particular.

SARS-CoV-2 is the Coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though we are no more in a pandemic situation, people are getting infected some of them needing hospitalization, and a few of them die. Methods: We did a retrospective study including 445 patients who accessed the Emergency Section of Policlinico Umberto I, Rome, Italy, where they had routine blood exams. In this study, we concentrated on the complete blood count, creatinine, and azotemia. The data was analyzed using ANOVA, Spearman correlation, and ROC analysis. They were divided into four groups based on their outcome: (1) the emergency group (patients with mild forms who were quickly discharged); (2) the hospital ward group (patients who after admission to the emergency section were hospitalized in a COVID-19 ward); (3) the intensive care unit (ICU) group (patients that after the admission in the emergency section required intensive assistance); (4) the deceased group (patients that after the admission in the emergency section had a fatal outcome). Results: We found significant changes for creatinine, azotemia, hematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, basophils, monocytes, red blood cell distribution width, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and red blood cell numbers by ANOVA according to their outcomes, particularly for the deceased group. Also, we found outcome correlations for eosinophils, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, lymphocyte, neutrophil, platelet, and red blood cell number and red blood cell distribution width. Conclusions: This study discloses an association between “classical” routine blood biomarkers and the severity of outcomes in Omicron patients.

We report an unusual case of Terson's syndrome that resulted in the di-agnosis of a right posterior communicating artery aneurysm. Interest-ingly Terson's syndrome presented with Roth spot resembling features accompanied by third nerve palsy in a patient without any disturbance of consciousness. To our knowledge, the association of Terson's syndrome with third nerve palsy has not been described before in the absence of radiologically diagnosed subarachnoid haemorrhage. We present the case of a 48-year old woman who presented in the De-partment of Emergencies of the University Hospital of Patras with right-sided complete pupil-involving third nerve palsy combined with bilateral Terson's syndrome. More precisely, fundoscopy revealed multi-ple scattered intra- and pre-retinal haemorrhages in both eyes while some retinal haemorrhages had a white-centered pattern resembling Roth spots. Neurological examination revealed no nuchal rigidity or any other neurological signs. The Glasgow coma scale was 15/15. A cerebral computed tomography angiography revealed a 5mm aneurysm of the right posterior communicating artery and the patient underwent a mi-crovascular clipping operation after craniotomy. The significant contribution of the ophthalmological consultation to the appropriate and timely diagnosis and management of a life-threatening condition is highlighted.

Peanut leaf spot is a worldwide disease whose prevalence poses a major threat to peanut yield and quality, and accurate prediction models are urgently needed for timely disease management. In this study, we proposed a novel peanut leaf spot prediction method based on an improved long short-term memory (LSTM) model and multi-year meteorological data combined with disease survey records. Our method employed a combination of convolutional neural network (CNN) and LSTM to capture spatial-temporal patterns from the data and improve the model ability to recognize dynamic features of the disease. In addition, we introduced an attention mechanism module to enhance model performance by focusing on key features. Through several hyper-parameter optimization adjustments, we identified a peanut leaf spot disease condition index prediction model with a learning rate of 0.001, a number of cycles (Epochs) of 800, and an optimizer of Adma. The results showed that the integrated model demonstrated excellent prediction ability, obtaining an RMSE of 0.063 and an R2 of 0.951, which reduced the RMSE by 0.253 and 0.204, and raised the R2 by 0.155 and 0.122, respectively, compared to the single CNN and LSTM. Predicting the incidence and severity of peanut leaf spot disease based on the meteorological conditions and neural networks is feasible and valuable to help growers made accurate management decisions and reduced disease impacts through optimal fungicide application timing.

Knowledge of a lasers beam’s profile throughout a laser system and experiment can help immensely in diagnosing laser problems and assisting in beam alignment and focusing at a sample. Obtaining such profiles is a trivial task in the ultraviolet-visible wavelength range but more challenging with near-infrared to infrared beams. Scientific grade bolometer arrays, suitable for such a task, do exist but are extremely costly, relatively large and have a large pixel size, of the order of 80 μm, which is adequate for profiling larger beams but poses an issue when trying to profile sub 100 μm beams for example at a focal point. This communication identifies a micro-bolometer array for near- to mid-infrared laser beam profiling, which is extremely low cost. In addition, the device is very compact, enabling use in confined spaces, and has a small, 12 μm, pixel size permitting the profiling of focused laser beams. The best scientific grade device identified has a pixel size of 17 μm. This device is a powerful tool for infrared laser spectroscopists, reducing the time required to measure the spot size of beams and to achieve spatial overlap of multiple infrared beams as used in two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy, saving many hours of setup time. The use of the bolometer array as a spectrographic detector and probe of long-term beam drifts is also demonstrated.

Background: The intrauterine and early extrauterine development represents a “window of opportunity” in the immunological development. The underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. The aim of this study was to provide reference values B cell subpopulations in cord blood of term newborns, juveniles and in adults to find the spectrum of their physiological age-related variation. Methods: In this study, we used flow cytometry to evaluate human B lymphocytes and subpopulations in cord blood (n = 10), in peripheral blood from healthy juveniles aged 1 to 17 years (n=20) and from donors aged 24 to 62 years (n = 10). Results: Our findings showed increasing frequencies of IgM memory B cells, class-switched memory B cells, marginal zone B cells and plasmablasts, from cord blood to peripheral blood of juveniles and adults. In con-trast, the percentage of naïve B cells was higher in newborns than in juveniles and adults. The frequencies of were similar in cord blood and peripheral blood of adults. Interestingly, transitional B cells frequencies were similar in cord blood and adults but significantly lower in juveniles. Conclusions: The frequencies of circulating B cell subpopulation are subject to considerable changes during on-togeny, reflecting overlying effects of maturation and of the acquisition of an adaptive immune memory.

Since fine powders tend strongly to adhesion and agglomeration, their processing with conventional methods is difficult or impossible. Typically, in order to enable the handling of fine powders, chemicals are added to increase the flowability and reduce adhesion. This contribution shows that instead of additives also vibrations can be used to increase the flowability, to reduce adhesion and cohesion, and thus to enable or improve processes such as precision dosing, mixing, and transport of very fine powders. The methods for manipulating powder properties are described in detail and prototypes for experimental studies are presented. It is shown that the handling of fine powders can be improved by using low-frequency, high-frequency or a combination of low- and high-frequency vibration.

Accidents between right-turning commercial vehicles and crossing vulnerable road users (VRU) in urban environments often lead to serious or fatal injuries and therefore play a significant role in forensic accident analysis. To reduce the risk of accidents, blind spot assistance systems have been installed in commercial vehicles for several years, among other things, to detect VRUs and warn the driver in time. However, since such systems cannot reliably prevent all turning accidents, an investigation by experts must clarify how the accident occurred and to what extent the blind spot assistance system influenced the course of the accident. The occurrence of the acoustic warning message can be defined as an objective reaction prompt for the driver, so that the blind spot assistance system can significantly influence the avoidability assessment. In order to be able to integrate the system into forensic accident analysis, a precise knowledge of how the system works and its limitations is required. For this purpose, tests with different systems and accident constellations were conducted and evaluated. It was found that the type of sensor used for the assistance systems has a great influence on the system’s performance. The lateral distance between the right side of the commercial vehicle and the VRU as well as obstacles between them and the speed difference can take great influence on the reliability of the assistance system. Depending on the concrete time of the system’s warning signal the accident can be avoided or not by the driver when reacting on this signal.

Futures markets are mainly used as a tool for price discovery and for risk management on the spot markets and enable diversification for international portfolio investments. With this study we aim (1) to investigate the causality relationship between futures markets and spot market and (2) to examine the causality relationship between futures markets and spot markets in different countries. We are interested in both the futures markets - spot market relations and the interactions between the markets at international level. For variables we used the the BIST30 spot index and BIST30 futures contract representing the Borsa Istanbul market and the Dow-Jones 30 index and Dow-Jones 30 futures contract, which are the most important indices representing the US markets. Daily closing price data for the period between 2nd January, 2009 and 18th June, 2018 were analyzed using correlation, unit root test, causality test and regression equations. The results of the study show that the futures markets continue their price discovery role for both the spot markets and futures markets and are influential on other futures and spot markets at international level. These findings are important for investors wanting to invest in Turkey and in similarly considered emerging market economies. It will help investors take informed decisions by providing them with a more efficient price estimations utilizing the futures markets.

Time estimation was investigated in 24 healthy adults, 12 women and 12 men, before and after an exhaustive exercise. We compared the capability of estimating time intervals in the range from 1 to 5 s using tasks requiring mental count and tasks that did not allow the mental count. Time estimation and blood lactate levels were evaluated before and at the end of the exercise. We found that the perception of time intervals between 1 and 5 s was affected at the end of the exercise. The observed effects, associated with a significant increase in blood lactate levels, were different in the two types of time estimation used in the present study. In experimental conditions in which participants had to evaluate duration of the time interval by mental counting, at the end of exercise a significant reduction in the overestimation of time made at rest was observed. On the other hand, when participants had to assess the difference in duration between two events without the possibility to mentally count, at the end of the exercise a significant deterioration in performance was observed. In both cases, no gender differences were seen.

Blood has certain significant physical properties, which the authors investigated. This paper provides values of surface tension and viscosity of blood at 37 °C, as well as relationship between them plotted on a cross-plot. By applying Hagen- Poiseuille equation and Jurin's law to the experimentally obtained data, the authors calculated with great accuracy viscosity and surface tension of blood. Evaluating both of the properties using described methods required from the authors to know the density of investigated liquid, which was found to be on average $\rho=1063,56 \frac{kg}{m^3}$. The authors took blood samples from 30 healthy subjects and determined aforementioned physical properties. There has been made a distinction in regard of a sex of the blood donor. Results indicate that both surface tension and viscosity are independent from sex of a subject, as well as indicate that there is no correlation between viscosity and surface tension of blood at 37\degree C. Average values of surface tension and viscosity were found to be $\sigma=5,241\pm 0,262 \cdot 10^{-2}\frac{J}{m^2}$ and $\eta=3,352\pm0,360 \cdot 10^{-3} Pa \cdot s$, respectively.

Brown leaf spot disease caused by Alternaria spp. is among the most common diseases in potato crops. Typical brown spot symptoms were observed in commercial potato-cultivated areas of northern Korea during June 2021–2022. In total, 77 isolates were collected, and based on sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, the collected isolates were identified as Alternaria spp. (83.1%). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that a majority of these isolates clustered within a clade that included A. alternata. Additionally, the ITS region and rpb2 yielded the most informative sequences for the identification of A. alternata. Pathogenicity tests confirmed that the collected pathogens elicited identical symptoms in the field. In the pathogenicity test performed on seven commercial cultivars, the pathogens exhibited strong virulence in both wound and non-wound inoculations. Among the cultivars tested, Arirang-1ho, Arirang-2ho, and Golden Ball were resistant to the pathogens. Furthermore, when testing effective fungicides in vitro, mancozeb and difenoconazole were found to be effective agents for inhibiting mycelial growth. In summary, our findings suggest that A. alternata plays a critical role in leaf disease in potato crop regions and emphasise the necessity for continuous monitoring and management to protect against this disease in South Korea.

Human Face and facial parts are the most significant parts as it reveals a person’s true identity. It plays an important role in various biometric applications like crowd analysis, human tracking, photography, cosmetic surgery, etc. There are many techniques are available to detect a facial image. Among them, skin detection is the most popular one. The aim of this paper is to detect first the person's identity from facial image and finally check any spot present the the detected person. The first step is to detect the maximum skin region based on a combination method of RGB and HSV color space model. Next it is to verify the skin areas of human through machine learning approach. The Aggregated Channel Features (ACF) detector is used to identify the different facial parts like eye pairs, nose, and mouth. Bootstrap aggregation decision tree classifier is applied to classify the person’s identity based on Histogram Oriented Gradient (HOG) features value. The experimental results show that the proposed method gives the average 97% accuracy.

Despite its growing importance as a dry beneficiation method, there is a lack of studies exploring the fundamentals aspects of dry jigging. In this sense, this study focuses on explore some essential aspects of density-based separation in dry jigs, like pulse profile, energy consumption and, especially, stratification over time, also exploring an innovative operational strategy here called “transient pulsation”. The tests were carried out using density tracers distributed across 11 density ranges (0.4-2.4 g/cm³) and employing a base bed (gravel) to analyze their segregation in a pilot-scale dry jig. Pressure drop and active power data were acquired to measure the pulse characteristics and energy consumption. The findings suggest that establishing the dry jigging cycle is more complex than in hydraulic jigs due to the compressibility of air. Stationary pulsation tests revealed an unstable behavior of stratification over time, contrasting with traditional hydraulic jigs, while transient pulsation tests unveiled varied trends in separation quality. Energy consumption analysis underscored the significant role of the blower drive. These insights have the potential to inform operational enhancements in dry jigging.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of irreversible blindness world-wide. We recently reported that polyethylene glycol (PEG) can activate the alternative pathway of the complement system and induce choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in mice. Currently, no other investigator has demonstrated CNV after PEG injection in the mouse eye. The aim of this article is twofold: we review the histologic changes in mouse retina and retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) after treatment with PEG, and we summarize a model of wet and dry AMD pathogenesis in mice through subretinal PEG treatment of RPE cells and retinal layers. We injected (subretinal) male C57BL/6 mice with 2 μL of solution containing 0.5 mg and 1.0 mg of PEG or PBS in control groups. Eyes were harvested at day 1, 3 and 5 after injection and processed for analysis. Sections were immunohistochemically stained for complement component C3, mem-brane attack complex (MAC), and cytokeratin 18. Light and laser confocal microscopy was used for image capturing. PEG increased deposition of C3 and MAC on RPE cells and on all retinal layers after 1.0 mg injection. PEG induced loss of cellular contacts between RPE cells and migration of RPE cells in the subretinal space at day 1 after PEG injection. After 0.5 mg PEG injection, increased size of RPE cells was detected at day 3 and 5. Apoptotic bodies were observed in outer nuclear layer at day 3 and 5 after 0.5 mg PEG treatment. RPE cells with dark cytoplasm and condensed chromatin were observed. Higher doses of PEG induce CNV, encouraged RPE cell proliferation and death, and damage photoreceptors in mice. This simple and fast model may be useful to explore the pathogenesis of both dry and wet AMD.

The basis of the work of electroencephalography (EEG) is the registration of electrical impulses from the brain or some of its individual areas using a special sensor/electrode. This method is used for the treatment and diagnosis of various diseases. The use of wet electrodes in this case does not seem viable, for several well-known reasons. As a result of this, a detailed analysis of modern EEG sensors developed over the past few years is carried out, which will allow researchers to choose this type of sensor more carefully and, as a result, conduct their research more competently. Due to the absence of any standards in the production and testing of dry EEG sensors, the main moment of this manuscript is a detailed description of the necessary steps for testing a dry electrode, which will allow researchers to maximize the potential of the sensor in the various type of research.

This paper shows that the kinematic wave model exhibits self-organized criticality when initialized with random initial conditions around the critical density. A direct consequence is that conventional traffic management strategies seeking to maximize the flow may be detrimental as they make the system more unpredictable and more prone to collapse. Other implications for traffic flow in the capacity state are discussed, such as: \item jam sizes obey a power-law distribution with exponents 1/2, implying that both its mean and variance diverge to infinity, and therefore traditional statistical methods fail for prediction and control, \item the tendency to be at the critical state is an intrinsic property of traffic flow driven by our desire to travel at the maximum possible speed, \item traffic flow in the critical region is chaotic in that it is highly sensitive to initial conditions, \item aggregate measures of performance are proportional to the area under a Brownian excursion, and therefore are given by different scalings of the Airy distribution, \item traffic in the time-space diagram forms self-affine fractals where the basic unit is a triangle, in the shape of the fundamental diagram, containing 3 traffic states: voids, capacity and jams. This fractal nature of traffic flow calls for analysis methods currently not used in our field.

The main aim of this paper is to analyse the performance of different intelligent compaction measurement values (ICMVs) and compare them with spot test measurements for asphalt pavement. To accomplish this, a two-layer asphalt testbed was constructed using an instrumented double-drum roller. All ICMVs [compaction meter value ( ), compaction control value ( ), roller-integrated stiffness ( ), and vibratory modulus ( )] were calculated using the same accelerometer data collected during the construction of the asphalt testbed. A novel method using the cross-correlation technique was developed to estimate the phase lag between the excitation force of the roller drum and the ground reaction, which is required for and calculations. The analysis of ICMV data showed a strong correlation between and , while and demonstrated a strong correlation only when double jump of the roller drum did not occur. Further, none of the ICMVs recorded during the last roller pass of asphalt compaction showed an acceptable correlation with asphalt densities [measured using a non-nuclear density gauge (NNDG)], mainly due to the influences of the underlying support and asphalt temperature on ICMVs. A correction method to decouple the influence of underlying support on was developed and validated using existing data from the literature. The applicability of this method for different field scenarios was demonstrated using numerical modelling.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of different types of olive cake (five treatments) in the diet of Bísaro pigs on the volatile compounds and sensory characteristics in the dry-cured loin and dry-cured “cachaço” (2 processed meat products). The treatments applied are based on the type of extraction and this may imply differences in their water and fat content. Eighty com-pounds were identified, and grouped into eight chemical classes: hydrocarbons, aldehydes, es-ters, alcohols, ketones, acids, furans, and other compounds. Aldehydes and alcohols were the ma-jor groups of compounds, representing 57.06-66.07 % and 68.67-75.61 % for the loin and “cacha-ço”, respectively. There were no significant differences between treatments for any of the volatile compounds identified. The major aldehydes were hexanal, heptanal, pentanal, and propanal. These compounds were significantly higher (p<0.001) in “cachaço”. This significant difference be-tween the two types of dry-cured products is directly related to the amount of total fat content. The major alcohols were 2.3-butanediol, 1-octen-3-ol, 1-butanol, 3-methyl, 1-hexanol, benzyl-alcohol and glycidol. Except for compounds 2,3-butanediol and benzyl-alcohol, the majority in this group are significantly different in terms of the type of dry-cured product. As for the sensory evaluation, for both dry-cured products, the trained tasters did not detect significant differences between the different treatments, which is in line with the results obtained for volatile compounds.

Roller milling of sorghum and quinoa seeds into flour fractions (course, middle, and fine) was investigated, chemically analysed and applied in the baking of gluten-free sourdough bread. Gap settings were adjusted to 0, 5, 8 and 10 for quinoa and 3, 5, and 7 for sorghum. The fine fractions reached values of up to about 41% (gap 8) for quinoa and around 20% for sorghum (gap 5). SEM pictographs illustrated clear separation of each fraction with chemical analysis showing high contents of protein, TDF (total dietary fibre) and IDF (insoluble dietary fibre) in the course fraction. Up to 77% starch content was obtained in the fine fraction with significant amounts of SDF (soluble dietary fibre) which has good health benefits. Increasing the dough moisture up to 90% helped in decreasing the bread crumb firmness, while low Avrami parameters and RVA pasting behaviour indicated slow bread staling rate for both sourdough breads.

Blood testing is a crucial application in the field of clinical studies for disease diagnosis and screening, biomarkers discovery, organ function assessment, and personalized medication. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to collect precise data in a short time. In this study, we utilized Raman spectroscopy to analyze blood samples and extracted comprehensive biological information, including the primary components and compositions present in the blood. We conducted short-wavelength (532 nm green light) Raman scattering spectroscopy on blood samples, plasma, and serum, and subsequently analyzed the biological characteristics detected in each sample type. Our results indicated that whole blood had high hemoglobin content, which suggests that hemoglobin is a major component of blood. The characteristic Raman peaks of hemoglobin were observed at 690, 989, 1015, 1182, 1233, 1315, and 1562–1649 cm−1. Analysis of plasma and serum samples indicated the presence of β-carotene, which exhibited characteristic peaks at 1013, 1172, and 1526 cm−1. Additionally, in the field of medical blood testing, the novel 3D Silicon micro-channel device technology holds immense potential. It can serve as a substrate and helps to detect various diseases and biomarkers, providing real-time data to help medical professionals and patients better understand their health conditions. Changes in biological data collected in this manner could potentially be used to diagnose clinical diseases.

Celtis sinensis is an adaptable species that is widely grown in southern China. In June 2022, a leaf blotch disease of C. sinensis was observed in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Based on morphological characterization, three isolates were identified as Alternaria species. Phylogenetic analysis of combined ITS, GAPDH, TEF1-α, RPB2 and Alt a 1 sequences identified the three isolates we obtained as Alternaria alternata and Alternaria koreana. Koch’s postulates were fulfilled in the greenhouse, and the pathogenicity of A. alternata and A. koreana was determined by leaf inoculation tests on C. sinensis seedlings. The symptoms of indoor inoculation were consistent with those in the field. A. alternata and A. koreana can grow at 15-35 °C, with an optimal growth temperature of 25 °C. The results of fungicide sensitivity experiments indicated that A. alternata and A. koreana were the most sensitive to prochloraz, which may be a useful strategy for the future prevention and control management of A. alternata and A. koreana. This study provides the first step for further research on A. alternata and A. koreana as pathogens of C. sinensis and provides a theoretical basis for future control strategies.

Sweet pepper is an important vegetable in the world. Bacterial leaf spot caused by the pathogen Xanthomonas perforans, is a limiting factor that significantly reduces the quality and yield of sweet pepper To control this disease, the use of chemical fungicides is currently the main disease control method. Thus, we want to develop an alternative method by using antagonistic microorganisms. Under this demand, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens PMB04 has strong antagonistic effects against pathogens and can inhibit the occurrence of diseases. B. amyloliquefaciens PMB04 has the potential for the development of a disease control product. Primarily, PMB04 revealed to contain a strong inhibitory effect against all isolated X. perforans strains. In the inoculation assay, the severity of bacterial spot disease on sweet peppers was reduced by PMB04 bacterial suspensions. To increase the convenience of field application for future prospects, the development of PMB04 fermentation liquid was carried out with different ratios of brown sugar and yeast extract in a 30-liter fermentation tank subsequently. Results exhibited that the fermentation liquid of 3-1 formula obtained the highest bacterial population in a 30-liter fermentation tank. The fermentation liquid of 0.5-0.5 formula was the most stable formula under two different conditions in terms of consistent bacterial population and sporulation. In addition, the 200-fold dilution of 3-1 and 0.5-0.5 fermentation liquids revealed best control efficacy on bacterial leaf spot of sweet pepper. Additionally, the results of the 0.5-0.5 fermentation liquid (PMB4FL) with different dilution concentrations also showed that the 200- and 500-fold dilutions had the best control efficacy. To understand the effect of commonly used copper-containing fungicides on sweet peppers on the application of microbial agent PMB4FL, the effects of copper hydroxide and tribasic copper sulfate on the growth of X. perforans strains and B. amyloliquefaciens PMB04 were assayed. The results exhibited that the above two fungicides did not have any inhibitory effect on the growth of PMB04, but had a strong inhibitory effect on the X. perforans strain. In the follow-up control experiment, the treatment of copper hydroxide had no synergistic effect with PMB4FL to control bacterial leaf spot. We concluded that the use of PMB4FL fermentation liquid alone on the leaves can effectively control the occurrence of bacterial leaf spot in sweet pepper crops.

Wall Shear Stress (WSS) abnormalities in carotid artery blood flow are key hemodynamic factors leading to arterial endothelial damage, atherosclerotic plaque formation, and carotid artery stenosis. Precise simulation of carotid artery blood flow WSS in vitro play an important role in understanding the underlying hemodynamic mechanism of carotid artery stenosis. This study presents a design for a microfluidic cell culture chamber with a variable cross-section and a step structure, leveraging microfluidic technology and principles of fluid dynamics. We propose an optimization strategy for microchannel dimensions based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. This strategy aims to replicate the distinct WSS waveform features found at various locations within the carotid bifurcation as observed in vivo. Our simulations indicate that with a step height of 0.09 mm, a width of 4 mm for the initial segment, and 5 mm for the subsequent wider channel, the device can effectively model the characteristics of low oscillatory WSS seen at sites of carotid sinus stenosis. Furthermore, it accurately represents the high-magnitude pulsatile WSS waveforms in the more uniform arterial sections downstream of the carotid sinus. The study also reveals that vortex formation and variations in low oscillatory WSS within the stepped section of the microchannel correlate with the step's height and width, as well as with the dimensions of the wider channel section. An increase in step width leads to a decrease in both the vortex area and the magnitude of negative WSS oscillations. When the step height is less than 0.03 mm, vortex formation is inhibited, challenging the simulation of low oscillatory WSS patterns. The variable cross-section microfluidic channel developed in this study provides a platform for simulating carotid artery WSS waveforms and facilitates research into the interplay between low oscillatory WSS at sites of carotid sinus stenosis and arterial endothelial dysfunction.

Dry eye disease (DED) is a multifactorial disorder in which tear fluid homeostasis is lost, resulting in increased tear film osmolarity and ocular surface irritation. In Asia, the short tear film breakup time type-DED is common, and stabilization of the tear film is the first goal of treatment. Treatment of DED begins with eye drops. Until now, artificial tears and steroid eye drops have been the main treatment for DED. However, artificial tears require frequent administration of eye drops and thus pose adherence problems, while steroids have problems with side effects (cataracts, increased intraocular pressure). This review evaluates the new generation of DED therapies in Asia based on what is known about them and demonstrates that they are more effective for DED than traditional therapies such as artificial tears and steroids. Based on these considerations, it is proposed that the optimal treatment for DED in Asia is the initial application of mucin secretion enhancing eye drops (long-acting diquafosol) and oral supplements, and if additional treatment is needed, cyclosporine eye drops and the adjunctive therapies presented in this review are added.

Ultrasound is a well-known tool to produce thermal and non-thermal effects on cells and tissues. These effects require a correct application of ultrasound in terms of localization and acoustic energy delivered. This article describes a new device that combines ultrasound and Dry Needling treatments. The ultrasound transducer can rotate in 3D space mechanically to align itself in the direction of the needle. The transducer electronically focuses the acoustic pressure automatically on the needle tip and its surroundings. A computer, using graphical interface software, controls the angulation of the array and the focus position.

Background: Aflatoxins (AFs) as toxic compounds are widely spread. They are frequent contaminants of crops that are produced by fungi species. Corn is of crops that widely used in the corn dry milling process; a four-step procedure comprises grain handling and milling, liquefaction and saccharification, fermentation, and co-product recovery that produces ethanol and animal feed. However, it is possible that corn as a feed for dry milling process might be contaminated with AFs. Therefore, monitoring AFs in during widespread this process results having a better understanding of the fate of AFs. Methods: In this study, a sample of corn kernel was contaminated with a high level of AFs using Aspergillus parasiticus. Then, the corn flour comprising 23400.5 µg/kg of the total level of aflatoxins (AFT), was hydrolyzed by enzymes and acid for ethanol fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Also, the level of AFs was monitored during ethanol fermentation process. Results: The results showed that AFs did not detect in the ethanol produced through fermentation and it was safe. Also, during the experiments, the AFT level reduced by 58.5 and 95.7% for the ethanol fermentation with simultaneous saccharification and fermentation and ethanol production with acidic hydrolysis, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that highly contaminated corn with AFs can be used for ethanol fermentation through dry milling process and the produced ethanol was safe.

Each year in March, adherents of the Bahá’í faith abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset for 19 days. Thus, Bahá’í fasting (BF) can be considered as a form of daytime dry fasting. We tested if BF decreases energy expenditure after a meal and improves anthropometric measures, and systemic and tissue-level metabolic parameters. This was a self-controlled cohort study with 11 healthy men. We measured anthropometric parameters, metabolic markers in venous blood, and pre- and postprandial energy metabolism at systemic (indirect calorimetry) and tissue (adipose tissue and skeletal muscle microdialysis) level, both before and during BF. During BF, we found reduced body weight, body mass index, body fat and blood glucose. Postprandial increase in energy expenditure was lower, diet-induced thermogenesis tended to be lower. In adipose tissue, perfusion, glucose supply and lipolysis were increased. In skeletal muscle, tissue perfusion did not change. Glucose supply and lipolysis were decreased. Glucose oxidation was increased, indicating an improved insulin sensitivity. BF may be a promising approach to losing weight and improving metabolism and health. However, outside the context of religiously-motivated fasting, skipping a meal rather in the evening (dinner cancelling) might be recommended, as metabolism appears to be reduced in the evening.

The interest in dry EEG electrodes has increased in recent years and especially as everyday suitability earplugs for measuring drowsiness or focus of auditory attention. However, the challenge is still the need for a good electrode material, which is reliable and can be easily processed for highly personalized applications. Laser processing as used here is a fast and very precise method to produce personalized electrode configurations that meet the high requirements of in-ear EEG electrodes, for example. The arrangement of the electrodes on the very flexible and compressible mats allows an exact alignment of the electrodes to the ear mold and contributes to a high wearing comfort, as no edges or metal protrusions are present. For better transmission properties, an adapted coating process for surface enlargement of platinum electrodes is used, which allows easy control of the thickness and growth form of the porous layer. The porous platinum-copper alloy is chemically very stable, shows no exposed copper residues and enlarges the effective surface area by 40. In a proof-of-principle experiment, these porous platinum electrodes could be used to measure the Berger effect in a dry state using just one ear of a test person. Their signal-to-noise ration and frequency transfer function is comparable to gel-based silver/silver chloride electrodes.

(1) Background: The elderly who have chewing difficulty (CD) are prone to malnutrition, frail-ty, and sarcopenia, and those with insufficient physical activity (IPA) are also prone to frailty, overweight, and high blood cholesterol. There is an urgent need to prepare functional foods and to promote healthy physical activity for the elderly over 70 years of age to prevent poor nutri-tion and frailty. (2) Methods: This study prepared functional foods (FF) with softened chicken moose and milkfish without fin for the elderly and compared the different effects of FF from those of music aerobic exercise (MAE) on the complete blood counts, blood biochemistry, in-cluding nutrition index of albumin, and cholesterol levels, and frailty scores before and after in-stitution of FF and MAE among residents of long-term care institutes. (3) Results: The FF signif-icantly increased the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and albumin levels. In contrast, MAE significantly increased red blood cells (RBC), and decreased the rates of frailty items on fatigue feeling and low physical activity. In comparison between FF and MAE groups, we found that the FF for 5 weeks significantly improved better on HDL-C and MCV while the MAE for 10 weeks improved significantly better on hematopoiesis as increases in red blood cells and platelets. (4) Conclusions: Results from this study suggest that FF and MAE for the elderly have different ef-fects on nutrition status, blood biochemistry and frailty. A combination of both FF and MAE might provide better benefits of nutrition status, physical function, and frailty for the elderly.

The benthic matrix acts as a key natural archive where the memory of long-term timescale environmental changes is recorded. Some ecological and chemical features of fjord sediments were explored during the AREX cruise carried out in the Svalbard archipelago in summer 2021. The activity rates of the enzymes leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), beta-glucosidase (GLU) and alkaline phosphatase (AP) and community-level physiological profiles (CLPP) were studied with the aim of determining the functional diversity of the benthic microbial community, while bacterial isolates were screened for their susceptibility to antibiotic molecules in order to explore the role of these extreme environments as potential reservoirs of antibiotic resistance. Enzyme activity rates were obtained by fluorogenic substrates, CLPP by Biolog Ecoplates; antibiotic susceptibility assays were performed through the standard disk diffusion method. Spatial trends observed in the functional profiles of the microbial community suggested the variability in the microbial community composition, presumably related to the patchy distribution of organic substrates. Complex Carbon sources, carbohydrates and amino acids were the organic polymers preferentially metabolized by the microbial community. Multiple resistance to ampicillin, clindamycin and gentamycin was detected in all the sampled sediments, excepting in the southern Hornsund area, stressing the role of sediments as a potential reservoir of chemical wastes ascribable to antibiotic residuals. This study provides new insights on the health status of fjord sediments of West Spitsbergen applying a dual ecological and biochemical approach. Microbial communities in the fjord sediments showed globally a good functional diversity, suggesting their versatility to rapidly react to changing conditions.

Anthracnose (ANT) and angular leaf spot (ALS) are significant diseases in common bean, leading to considerable yield losses under specific environmental conditions. The California Dark Red Kidney (CDRK) bean cultivar is known for its resistance to multiple races of both pathogens. Previous studies have identified the CoPv01CDRK/PhgPv01CDRK resistance loci on chromosome Pv01. Here, we evaluated the expression levels of ten candidate genes near the CoPv01CDRK/PhgPv01CDRK loci and plant defense genes using quantitative real-time PCR in CDRK cultivar inoculated with races 73 of Colletotrichum lindemuthianum and 63-39 of Pseudocercospora griseola. Gene expression analysis revealed that the Phvul.001G246300 gene exhibited the most elevated levels, showing remarkable 7.8-fold and 8.5-fold increases for ANT and ALS, respectively. The Phvul.001G246300 gene encodes an abscisic acid (ABA) receptor pyrabactin resistance - PYR1-like (PYL) protein, which plays a central role in crosstalk between ABA and jasmonic acid responses. Interestingly, our results also showed that the other defense genes were initially activated. These findings provide critical insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying plant defense against these diseases and could contribute to the development of more effective disease management strategies in the future.

Blood image intensity has been used to detect erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). However, it does not give an information on biophysical properties of blood sample under continuous ESR. In this study, three physical properties, including, τ₀, ESR_τ, and AI_I, are suggested to quantify mechanical variations of blood under continuous ESR. To demonstrate the proposed method, blood sample is loaded into a driving syringe. The blood flow rate is set in a periodic on–off pattern. Blood sample is then supplied into a capillary chip, and microscopic blood images are captured at specific intervals. Blood shear stress is quantified from the interface of blood stream in the coflowing channel. Both τ₀ and ESR_τ are then obtained by analyzing the blood shear stress. Simultaneously, the AI_I is evaluated by analyzing the image intensity of blood flow. According to the experimental results, the τ₀ exhibits consistent trends with respect to hematocrit as well as diluent. The ESR_τ and AI_I showed a reciprocal relationship each other. Three suggested properties represented substantial differences for suspended blood samples (i.e., hardened red blood cells, different concentration of dextran solution and fibrinogen). In conclusion, the present method can detect variations of blood sample under continuous ESR effectively.

(1)Background: Early-age concrete shrinkage induces stress that impact the cost and service life of concrete pavements. (2)Methods: In this study, strain measurements of field slabs were conducted and a methodology was presented that independently derived autogenous, drying, and thermal shrinkages in the initial stages of concrete placement. Total strain was measured according to five different environmental conditions and shrinkage strain was calculated for each condition. (3)Results: By measuring the strain of the slab and the specimen, the drying shrinkage strain was measured to be approximately 54% better than that by the conventional non-stressed cylinder method because it was possible to measure the drying shrinkage strain at the surface rather than in the middle part of the slab along its depth direction. When the water-to-cement ratio increased (35→40%), there was a considerable reduction (317με→82με) of autogenous shrinkage strain for the concrete at 28 days of age. Furthermore, calculation of stress-dependent strain allowed the presentation of more intuitive and accurate results. (4)Conclusion: As the measurement of independent shrinkage occurrence is possible, the consequent calculated result of the stress-dependent strain acting on real slabs will facilitate improvement in the construction quality, reduction in the development of defects in the concrete structure, and increase in the service life.

Traditional dry fermented meat products are obtained artisanally in many countries, where they represent a gastronomic heritage well distinguished from industrial counterparts. This food category is most often obtained from red meat, a food commodity that is under attack because of evidences of increased risk of cancer and degenerative diseases with high consumption. However, traditional fermented meat products are intended for moderate consumption and gastronomic experience and, as such, their production must be continued also to safeguard culture and economy of the geographical areas of origin. In this review, the main risks attributed to these products are considered and how these risks are minimized by following precise production norms, respectful of the ancient manufacturing processes is described. Moreover, results obtained in studies reporting use of autochthonous microbial cultures of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS), Debaryomyces hansenii and Penicillium nalgiovense to improve safety and quality of traditional fermented meats are summarized. The role of these products as a source of microorganisms that can be beneficial to the host are also considered. From the results of the studies reviewed here it appears that the development of autochthonous cultures for these foods ensure safety and stabilize sensory characteristics with possibility to be extended to the large variety of traditional productions.

Data on the seasonally dry tropical forests of Mexico have been examined in the light of statistical mechanics. The results suggest a division into two classes of species. There are drifting populations of a cosmopolitan class capable of existing in most dry forest sites; these have a statistical distribution previously only observed (globally) for populations of alien species. A high proportion of species found only at a single site are endemic and these prefer sites comparatively low in species richness.

Black spot disease is associated with the breakdown of chitin by chitinolytic bacteria resulting in extensive black lesions across the body of crustaceans. Black spot is prevalent across most fished crustaceans worldwide. Severely infected individuals are rejected from the fishery resulting in financial loss to both fisher’s and seafood export and processing companies. Ecologically, populations with high infection rates may have increased mortalities resulting in fewer individuals surviving the population. The prevalence and severity of shell disease in the edible crab, Cancer pagurus, of various size classes, was assessed via scaled images taken from crabs sampled within the Berwickshire Marine Reserve, UK. A total of 22.4% of individuals across all size groups were found to contain black spot lesions. Male crabs were more commonly affected (26.21%), with more body parts showing lesions and a greater overall blackspot coverage (1.75%) than females (16.43% and 1% respectively). Crabs under the MLS (140mm) showed a significantly higher black spot coverage, but size did not significantly affect infection rates. Carapace and chelae were the most commonly affected areas. Compared to previous studies the Berwickshire Marine Reserve has a relatively low prevalence of black spot disease in Cancer pagurus.

The aim of this investigation is to offer a data-based scheme for predicting electrode wear in resistance spot welding. Electrode wear and alloying is one of the most significant factors that affect the mechanical properties of spot welds and the variation in weld quality. In this study, Rogowski coils and twisted pairs attached to the top and bottom electrodes were used to obtain the welding current and the inter-electrode voltage in the welding process, thereby calculating the dynamic resistance value during the welding process. The electrode diameter was obtained from the pressure exerted by the upper and lower electrodes on the carbon paper when the current was cut off and was regarded as an indicator of electrode wear. By continuously welding 0.5mm thick BH 340 steel plates until the electrode failed, the dynamic resistance signal was recorded in real time. Simultaneously, the electrode diameter after every 4 welds was also recorded. On this basis, the correlation between electrode diameter and dynamic resistance is studied. In order to quantitatively study the mapping relationship between dynamic resistance and electrode wear, 11 characteristic values were extracted from the dynamic resistance, and the stepwise regression method was used to obtain the regression formula between the characteristic values and the electrode diameter. Using new data to verify the effectiveness of the regression model, the acquired results display that the maximum error between the predicted value of the electrode diameter and the measured value obtained by the regression equation with the interactive quadratic term is 0.3 mm, and the corresponding relative error is 7.69 %. This result demonstrates that the method proposed in this paper can effectively monitor the electrode wear and failure process.

The coevolution of species drives diversity in animals and plants and contributes to natural selection, whereas in host–parasite coevolution, a parasite may complete an incomplete evolutionary/developmental function by utilizing the host cell’s machinery. Analysis of related older data suggests that Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum), the pathogen of malaria tropica, cannot survive outside its human host because it is unable to perform the evolutionarily first protein glycosylation of serologically A-like, O-GalNAcα1-Ser/Thr-R, Tn antigen (“T nouvelle”) formation, owing to its inability for synthesizing the amino sugar N-acetyl-d-galactosamine (GalNAc). This parasite breaks the species barrier via hijacking the host's physiological A-like/Tn formation through abundantly expressing serine residues and creating hybrid A-like/Tn structures, which in the human blood group O(H) are attacked by the germline-encoded nonimmune polyreactive immunoglobulin M (IgM), exerting the highly anti-A/B/H-aggressive isoagglutinin activities. These activities physiologically undergo the ABO(H) blood group phenotype formation, occurring on the surfaces of red blood cells (RBC), epithelial and endothelial cells and on plasma proteins by identical glycosylation, performed by the ABO(H)-allelic glycotransferases, phenotypically downregulating the anti-A/B/H-reactive IgM (isoagglutinin) activities in the non-O blood groups. ABO(H) phenotype diversity, this way glycosidically linked and molecularly connected to humoral immunity, becomes exposed to the evolution.

The blood counts of α thalassemia carriers (α-thal) are similar to those of β thalassemia carriers, except for Hgb A2 that is not elevated. The objective of this study was to determine whether mathematical formulas are effective for detecting suspected α-thal. The data were obtained from the database of the prevention program for detecting couples at risk for having a child with hemoglobinopathy. RBC indices were analyzed using mathematical formulas and the sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) calculated. Among 1334 blood counts suspected α-thal analyzed, only the Shine&Lal and the Support Vector Machine formulas revealed high sensitivity and NPV. Sensitivity was 85.54 and 99.33% and NPV 98.93 and 99.93%, respectively. Molecular defects were found in 291, 81 had normal α genes. Molecular analysis was not performed in 962. Based on these results, mathematical formulas incorporating one of these reliable formulas for detecting suspected α or β thalassemia carriers in the program of the automatic analyzers can flag these results and increase the awareness of the primary physicians about the carrier risk and send an alert with a recommendation for further testing.

Mandarins occupy the third group among citrus produced in Brazil. Primarily aimed at the fresh fruit market, commercial orchards have suffered significant losses in production, due to the high incidence of diseases, such as alternaria brown spot (ABS) and huanglongbing (HLB). The fact that 80% of the orchards are composed of two varieties, Ponkan mandarin and Murcott tangor, are highly susceptible to both diseases, demand intensive chemical control of the diseases in the field, which has resulted in a significant increase in production costs and a negative environmental impact. A total of one hundred and seventy-three mandarin accessions, including several species and hybrids, belonging to the Collections of the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC), were evaluated in the field, in an endemic location for the diseases. Evaluations of the incidence and severity of the diseases showed that there is a range of genotypes tolerant to ABS with potential to replace the current commercial varieties, mainly within the clementina and Willow leaf mandarin groups. Although with differences in incidence and susceptibility to HLB, there are no varieties tolerant to this disease, which significantly impacts the loss of fruit quality.

With the application of high-precision, enormous rotating equipment and the addition of harsh working conditions, the advantages of dry gas sealing technology are increasingly obvious. Herein, research on the dynamic stability of dry gas seals is reviewed based on their operating mechanism. The influence of the dry gas seal structure, vibration response, and dynamic followability on the reliability of the shaft end sealing system of rotating machinery is the focus of current dry gas sealing technology. This work reviews the research history; analyzes the key coefficient of instability of the sealing system under external disturbances and the existing research on stability models; discusses the influence of starting and stopping characteristics, working conditions, and groove parameters on the stability of dry gas seals; and points out the shortcomings in the existing research. In addition, potential developments in dynamic stability are proposed, including improving model accuracy, improving experimental techniques, or applying intelligent control and optimization methods to enhance the dynamic stability of the sealing system. Finally, the development prospects for dry gas sealing technology in intelligent monitoring and wide temperature range adaptations are discussed, and theoretical guidance for improving the dry gas seal system is provided.

A simple fabrication method in the surface modification of electroosmotic silicon microchannel using thermal dry oxidation is presented. The surface modification is done by coating the silicon surface with a silicon dioxide (SiO₂) layer using thermal oxidation process. The process is aimed not only to improve the surface quality of the channel to be suitable for electroosmotic fluid transport but also to reduce the channel width using a simple technique. Initially, the parallel microchannel array with dimensions of 0.5 mm length and width ranging from 1.8 µm to 2 µm are created using plasma etching on the 2x2 cm <100> silicon substrate. The oxidation of silicon channel in a thermal chamber is then conducted to create the SiO₂ layer. The layer properties and the quality of the surface are analyzed using SEM and surface profiler, respectively. The results show that the maximum oxidation growth rate occurs in the first 4 hours of oxidation time and the rate decreases by time as the oxide layer becomes thicker. It is also found that the surface roughness is reduced with the increase of process temperature and oxide thickness. The scallop effect on the vertical wall due to plasma etching process also improved with the presence of the oxide layer. After the oxidation, the channel width is reduced by ~40%. The demonstrated method is suggested for the fabrication of a uniform channel cross section with high aspect ratio in sub-micro and nanometer scale that will be useful for the electroosmotic flow (EOF) manipulation of the biomedical fluid sample.

Aluminum alloy Al 2024-T3 were successfully joined using friction stir spot jwelding joining (FSSW). Satisfactory joint strengths were obtained at different welding parameters (tool rotational speed, tool plunge depth, dwell time) and tool pin profile (straight cylindrical, triangular and tapered cylindrical). Resulting joints were welded with welded zone. The different tools significantly influenced the evolution on the stir zone in the welds. Lap-shear tests were carried out to find the weld strength. Weld cross section appearance observations were also done. The macrostructure shows that the welding parameters have a determinant effect on the weld strength (x: the nugget thickness, y: the thickness of the upper sheet and SZ: stir zone). The main fracture mode was pull out fracture modes in the tensile shear test of joints. The results of tensile shear tests showed that the tensile-shear load increased with increasing rotational speed in the shoulder penetration depth of 0.2 mm. Failure joints were obrerved in the weld high shoulder penetration depth and insufficient tool rotation.

Hypnotizability is a cognitive trait associated with differences in the brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation of individuals with high hypnotizability (highs) and low hypnotizability scores (lows). The study investigated possible hypnotizability-related cerebrovascular differences. Among 24 healthy volunteers the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale Form A, identified 13 medium-to-lows (med-lows), 11 medium-to-highs (med-highs), 1 medium hypnotizable. Hypnotizability did not influence the significant changes produced by the trail making task (TMT), mental arithmetic task (MAT), hyperventilation (HVT) and rebreathing (RBT) on Heart rate (HR), arterial blood pressure (ABP) and partial pressure of end-tidal CO2 (PETCO2) and oxygenation (TOI); but moderated the correlations between the changes occurring during tasks with respect to basal conditions (Δ) in ABP and PETCO2 with MCAv. In HVT, med-lows exhibited a significant correlation between ΔMCAv and ΔPETCO2, med-highs showed a significant correlation between ΔABP and ΔMCAv; a significant correlation between ΔTHI and ΔTOI was observed in medium lows. Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) and conductance (ΔCVCi) were significantly correlated with ΔMCAv in med-lows during HVT and RBT. Findings represent the first assessment of hypnotizability-related differences in the mechanisms controlling the middle cerebral artery flow velocity, cerebrovascular reactivity and conductance in response to hyperventilation and rebreathing.

The study examines projected changes in dry- and wet-spell probabilities in West Africa using a Markov chain approach. Four simulations of regional climate models from the CORDEX-Africa program were used to analyze projected changes in intraseasonal variability. The results show an increase in the probability of having a dry day, a dry day preceding a wet day and a dry day preceding a dry day, and a decrease in the probability of wet days in the Sahel region under anthropogenic forcing scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The decrease in wet days is stronger in the far future and under the RCP8.5 scenario (up to -30%). The study also finds that the probability of consecutive dry days (lasting at least 7 days and 10 days) is expected to increase in the Western Sahel, the Central Sahel, and the Sudanian Area under both scenarios, with stronger increases in the RCP8.5 scenario. In contrast, the decrease is expected over the Guinea Coast, with the changes more important under the RCP4.5. These changes in dry- and wet-spell probabilities are important for water management decisions and risk reduction in the energy and agricultural sectors. The study also highlights the need for decision-makers to implement mitigation and adaptation policies to minimize the adverse effects of climate change.

This study aimed to develop a high-quality dry emulsion incorporating omega-3, 6, and 9 fatty acid-rich ostrich oil for use as a dietary supplement. Extracted from abdominal adipose tissues using a low-temperature wet rendering method, the ostrich oil exhibited antioxidant properties, favorable physicochemical properties, microbial counts, heavy metal levels, and fatty acid compositions, positioning it as a suitable candidate for an oil-in-water emulsion and subsequent formulation as a dry emulsion. Lecithin was employed as the emulsifier due to its safety and health benefits. The resulting emulsion, comprising 10% w/w lecithin and 10% w/w ostrich oil, was stable, with a droplet size of 3.93 ± 0.11 μm. This liquid emulsion underwent transformation into a dry emulsion to preserve the physicochemical stability of ostrich oil, utilizing Avicel® PH-101 or Aerosil® 200 through a granulation process. Although Aerosil® 200 exhibited superior adsorption, Avicel® PH-101 granules surpassed it in releasing the ostrich oil emulsion. Consequently, Avicel® PH-101 was selected as the preferred adsorbent for formulating the ostrich oil dry emulsion. The dry emulsion, encapsulated with a disintegration time of 3.11 ± 0.14 min for ease of swallowing, maintained microbial loads and heavy metal contents within acceptable limits. Presented as granules containing butylated hydroxytoluene, the dry emulsion showcased robust temperature stability, suggesting the potential incorporation of animal fat into dry emulsions as a promising dietary supplement.

Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) are being used extensively in modern industries that require high strength-to-weight ratio such as aerospace, automotive, motorsport, and sports equipment. However, although reinforcement with carbon fibers improves the mechanical properties of polymer, this comes on the expense of abrasive wear resistance. Therefore, to efficiently utilize CFRPs in dry sliding contacts, solid lubricant is used as a filler. Further, to facilitate fabrication of objects with complex geometries, selective laser sintering (SLS) can be employed. Accordingly, in the present work, graphite-filled carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide 12 (CFR-PA12) specimens were prepared using SLS process to explore the dry sliding friction and wear characteristics of the composite. The test specimens were aligned along four different orientations in the build chamber of SLS machine to determine the orientation-dependent tribological properties. The experiments were conducted using pin-on-disc tribometer to measure the coefficient of friction (COF), interface temperature, friction-induced noise, and specific wear rate. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of tribo-surfaces was conducted to specify the dominant wear pattern. The results indicated that the steady state COF, contact temperature, and wear pattern of graphite-filled CFR-PA12 are orientation-independent, and that the contact temperature is likely to approach an asymptote far below the glass transition temperature of amorphous PA12 zones, thus eliminating the possibility of matrix softening. Additionally, the results showed that the Z-oriented specimen exhibits the lowest level of friction-induced noise along with the highest wear resistance. Moreover, SEM of tribo-surfaces determined that abrasive wear is the dominant wear pattern.

This study aims to assess the interface shear adhesion behaviour between compacted clay and a metallic surface. A new testing approach was developed in this study for this purpose. The proposed method is simple and requires neither advanced equipment nor special test procedures, and thus represents an improvement on existing practice in this field. The experimental program involves determining the interface shear adhesion strength of reconstituted Kaolin clay/metallic surface where the Kaolin clay testing specimens were compacted dynamically at different energy levels and moisture contents. In general, the results show that the interface shear adhesion strength increases as the dry density of the clay increases, whereas it decreases as the moisture content increases. Furthermore, the results in this study reveal a unique multistage interfacial shear adhesion strength behaviour as the moisture content changes that could be related to the compaction curve of the clay. The observed behaviour, in this study, could be interpreted in terms of the effect of clay dry density and moisture content on the contact area and moisture-induced capillary adhesion at clay particles-continuum interface surface.

: The objective of this study was to obtain different dry matter contents and proportions of mel-on plant biomass for silage making. A completely randomized design was adopted with a facto-rial scheme (3 x 2) in four replications. The first factor corresponded to three mixtures of melon biomass on as fed basis (AF) of plant (branch + leaf) and fruit (harvested melon) as follows: 100% plant, 90% plant + 10% fruit, and 100% fruit. The other factor corresponded to the ensiled materi-al with fresh and dehydrated melon plant biomass (40% DM) which was dried in the field, after harvest. Silages with partial dehydration of the biomass available after fruit harvest with 0% and 10% fruit showed the greatest DM values: 297 and 293 g/kg DM, respectively. Silages with 0, 100 and 10% fruit showed medium LAB populations: 5.79, 5.14 and 4.58 logs CFU/g, respectively. Higher concentrations of acetic acid contents were observed in silages with 0 and 10% fresh fruit, which were 14.9 and 14.1 g/kg DM, respectively. Silages with 0% and 100% of dehydrated fruit showed better results for the indicators of good-quality silage. Dehydration improves the fer-mentative profile and quality of the melon silage.

Ultra-short 230 fs laser pulses of 515 nm wavelength were tightly focused into 700 nm focal spots and utilised in opening ~ 0.4 − 1 μm holes in alumina Al2O3 etch masks with 20-50 nm thickness. Such dielectric masks simplify fabrication of photonic crystal (PhC) light trapping patterns for the above-Lambertian performance of high efficiency solar cells. Conditions of laser ablation of transparent etch masks and effects sub-surface Si modifications were revealed by plasma etch- ing, numerical modeling, and minority carrier lifetime measurements. Mask-less patterning of Si is proposed using fs-laser direct writing for dry plasma etch of Si.

The alteration of the delicate balance that regulates the secretion and distribution of the tear film determines the dry eye (DE) syndrome, because the tear film represents the interface between the eye and the environment. Despite having a multifactorial origin, the main risk factors for the emergence of the ocular disease are female gender and advanced age. Likewise, morphological changes in several glands and in chemical composition of their secretions such as proteins, mucins, lipidics, aqueous tears, and salinity, are highly relevant factors to maintain a condition of good health of the ocular anterior segment. Another key factor of recurrence and onset of the disease is the presence of local and/or systemic infiammation that reflex on the ocular surface. However, it is one of the most commonly encountered disease in clinical practice and many other causes related to daily life and to lengthen the average life will contribute to the beginning. This review will consider how and what disorders of the ocular surface are responsible for a widespread pathology so. In the end, the most appropriate and new therapies will be briefly exposed according to the specific pathology.

The individual and combined effects of extracellular products (ECP) from Arthrobotrys oligospora (Ao) and A. musiformis (Am) growth in liquid media against Haemonchus contortus L3 (HcL3) were assessed. The following methodological steps were established: isolation, morphological (MI) and molecular identification (Mol-I), assessment of nematocidal activity (NA) of fungal liq-uid culture filtrates (LCF) produced in two liquid media alone and in combination and finally, the myco-compound profile identification (MCP). The MI of both isolates suggested that the fungi corresponded to the species Ao and Am. This result was confirmed by PCR analysis followed by sequencing, alignment and obtaining coverage and similarity with respect to isolates reported in the NCBI database. Likewise, the highest Hc mortalities were 91.4% with individual LCF of Am and 86.2% with those of Ao at the highest concentration (100 mg/mL) in Czapek-Dox Broth. The combination of both LCF resulted in a similarly high larval mortality with no statistical differ-ences in relation to individual activity (P>0.05). The MCP showed the presence of alkaloids in both fungi. Coumarins, triterpenes and saponins were found only in Ao. Both fungi produced ECP with a high NA that could be identified and assessed in future studies as potential natural an-thelmintic compounds.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based model systems can be used to produce blood cells for the study of both hematologic and non-hematologic disorders. This commentary discusses recent advances that have utilized iPSC-derived red blood cells, megakaryocytes, myeloid cells, and lymphoid cells to model hematopoietic disorders. In addition, we review recent studies that have defined how microglial cells differentiated from iPSC-derived monocytes impact neurodegenerative disease. Related translational insights highlight the utility of iPSC models for studying pathologic anemia, bleeding, thrombosis, autoimmunity, immunodeficiency, blood cancers, and neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s.

To elucidate the cellular immune response to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among children, we assessed cellular immunity in 8 children post-vaccination for COVID-19 and 11 children after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, using the T-SPOT®.COVID assay for both the spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins. In the vaccinated group, the T-SPOT®.COVID assay for the S protein yielded positive results in all eight children. In contrast, in the post-infection group, the assay for the N protein was positive in 5 of 11 children, with 3 of these 5 children requiring hospital admission, including 2 who needed mechanical ventilation. Therefore, the T-SPOT®.COVID assay is valuable for assessing cellular immunity against COVID-19, and most children infected with COVID-19 may not develop such immunity unless the disease severity is significant.

Reference evapotranspiration (ET0) plays an irreplaceable role in regional dry/wet conditions under the background of climate change. Based on the FAO Penman-Monteith method and daily climate variables, ET0 was calculated for 22 stations in and around Songnen Grassland, northeast China, during 1960-2014. The temporal and spatial variations of ET0 and precipitation (P) were comprehensively analyzed at different time scales by using the Mann-Kendall test, Sen’s slope estimator, and linear regression coupling with break trend analysis. Sensitivity analysis was used to detect the key climate parameter attributed to ET0 change. Then, the role of ET0 in regional dry/wet conditions was discussed by analyzing the relationship between ET0, P and aridity index (AI). Results shown a higher ET0 in the southwest and a lower in the northeast, but P was opposite to that of ET0. Evidently decreasing trend of ET0 at different time scales was detected in almost the entire region, and the significant trend mainly distributed in the eastern, northeastern and central. For the whole region, sensitivity analysis indicated decreasing trend of ET0 was primarily attributed to relative humidity and maximum air temperature. The positive contribution of increasing temperature rising to ET0 was offset by the effect of significantly decreasing relative humidity, wind speed and sunshine duration. In addition, the value of ET0 shown higher in drought years and lower in wet years.

Blood gas analysis plays a central role in modern medicine. Advances in technology have expanded the range of available parameters and increased the complexity of their interpretation. By applying user-centered design principles, it is possible to reduce the cognitive load associated with interpreting blood gas analysis. In this international, multicenter study, we explored anesthesiologists' perspectives on Visual Blood, a novel visualization technique for presenting blood gas analysis results. We conducted interviews with participants following two computer-based simulation studies: the first utilizing Virtual Reality (VR) (50 participants) and the second without VR (70 participants). Employing the template approach, we identified key themes in the interview responses and formulated six statements, which were rated using Likert scales: from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) in an online questionnaire. The most frequently mentioned theme was the positive usability features of Visual Blood. The online survey revealed that participants found Visual Blood to be an intuitive method for interpreting blood gas analysis (median 4, IQR 4-4, p<0.001). Participants noted that minimal training was required to effectively learn how to interpret Visual Blood (median 4, IQR 4-4, p<0.001). However, adjustments are necessary to reduce visual overload (median 4, IQR 2-4, p<0.001). Overall, Visual Blood received a favorable response. The strengths and weaknesses derived from these data will help optimize future versions of Visual Blood to improve the presentation of blood gas analysis results.

Knowing, with reasonable accuracy, the dry matter (DM) content of Hass avocado fruit will help determine when the fruit must be harvested. The reliability of predictive models based on near infrared spectra for DM quantification depends on the ability of the spectra to be representative of the DM gradient within a whole fruit. The aim of this work was to develop a methodology to determine the optimum number of spectra to develop a robust model for DM content quantification. Three spectra were recorded for each zone of the intact fruit: peduncle, equator, and base. Each scanning point was sampled, and the DM content was determined using oven drying. Two-way ANOVA confirmed the DM gradient within the whole fruit. This gradient was observed within spectra using the RMS (root mean square) criterion and PCA. The PLS models showed that at least one spectrum per zone could be enough to construct an efficient and robust model for dry matter quantification.

Snowpack loss in midlatitude mountains is ubiquitously projected by Earth system models, though the magnitudes, persistence and time horizons of decline vary. Using daily downscaled hydroclimate and snow projections we examine changes in snow seasonality across the U.S. Pacific Southwest region during a simulated severe 20-year dry spell in the 21st century (2051–2070) developed as part of the 4th California Climate Change Assessment to provide a "stress test" for water resources. Across California’s mountains, substantial declines (30–100% loss) in median peak annual snow water equivalent accompany changes in snow seasonality throughout the region compared to the historic period. We find 80% of historic seasonal snowpacks transition to ephemeral conditions. Subsetting empirical-statistical wildfire projections for California by snow seasonality transition regions indicates a two-to-four-fold increase in burned area, consistent with recent observations of high elevation wildfires following extended drought conditions. By analyzing six of the major California snow-fed river systems we demonstrate snowpack reductions and seasonality transitions result in concomitant declines in annual runoff (47-58% of historic values). The negative impacts to statewide water supply reliability by the projected dry spell will likely be magnified by changes in snowpack seasonality and increased wildfire activity.

Electrode degradation in continuous resistance spot welding process of BH 220 steel was evaluated by electrode life test, and weldability tests were conducted by geometry features measurement, mechanical property analysis, and electrode diameter measurement with 88 or 176 weld intervals. The analysis of weld geometry shows that the HAZ width, nugget diameter, and nugget area tend to decrease rapidly, while the nugget height tends to firstly increase with the weld repetitions till the welding heat input becomes too small to form the valid nugget. The peak load shows a rapid downward trend, while failure energy and maximum displacement slightly increase till the 176th weld and then decrease. The cavities and pores in the nugget mainly appear after the 176th spot weld. The electrode diameter increases during welding. The reason for the increase in electrode diameter may be that the contact area between the electrode and BH 220 steel sheets becomes smaller in the welding process, which causes the continuous sticking phenomenon between the electrode and the BH 220 steel sheets. In the absence of alloying, the edge of the electrode is geometrically deformed, while Cu-Zn-Fe alloying occurs in the area in contact with the BH 220 steel sheet.

The present study illustrates a brain-computer interface designed and developed to be wearable, portable, and user-friendly. Eight dry electroencephalographic sensors were adopted to acquire the brain activity associated with motor imagery. Multimodal feedback in extended reality was exploited to improve the detection of neurological phenomena. Twenty-seven healthy subjects used the proposed system in five sessions to investigate the effects of feedback on motor imagery. The sample was divided into two equal-sized groups: the "neurofeedback" group, which performed motor imagery while receiving feedback, and the "control" group, which performed motor imagery with no feedback. Several questionnaires were administrated to participants aiming to investigate the usability of the proposed system and individual’s ability to imagine movements. The highest mean classification accuracy across subjects of control group was about 62 % with 3 % associated type A uncertainty, and 69 % with 3 % uncertainty for neurofeedback group. Moreover, in some cases the results were significantly higher for the neurofeedback group. The perceived usability by all participants was high. Overall, the study highlights the advantages and the pitfalls of using a wearable brain-computer interface with dry sensors. Notably, the results and the perceived usability pave the way for the employment of the proposed system in tele-rehabilitation.

Transition between the unfolded and native states of the ordered globular proteins is accompanied by accumulation of several intermediates, such as pre-molten globule, wet molten globule, and dry molten globule. Structurally equivalent conformations can serve as native functional states of intrinsically disordered proteins. This overview captures the characteristics and importance of these molten globules in both structured and intrinsically disordered proteins. It also discusses examples of engineered molten globules. The formation of these intermediates under the conditions of macromolecular crowding and their interactions with nanomaterials are also reviewed.

Dry eye disease (DED) most commonly caused by evaporative subtypes and mainly induced by meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). Intense pulsed light (IPL) combined with meibomian gland expression (MGX) is noninvasive treatment for improvement of ocular discomfort symptoms and MGD. In this prospective study between November 2020 and May 2022, the patients met the criteria of both ocular surface disease index (OSDI) ≥13 scores and standardized patient evaluation of eye dryness (SPEED)≥ 8 scores were enrolled in Kaohsiung Veteran General Hospital. Three separate treatment sessions of IPL therapy combined with MGX administered to the lower lids with an interval of 28 days. Further tear film assessment included lipid layer thickness (LLT), tear meniscus height (TMH), non-invasive tear break-up time (NIBUT), meibomian gland loss (MGL) either beforeor after 1st and 3rd IPL therapy combined with MGX. Besides, lissamine green staining and pain scores were also recorded. We totally enrolled 37 patients of 74 eyes. Men accounted for 18.92% (7/37). The mean age was 54.51 ± 11.72 years. The mean OSDI scores were 58.12 ± 22, while the SPEED scores were 17.03 ± 5.98. The mean Schirmer’s test was 3.66 ± 2.43 mm. After three sessions IPL treatment with MGX, the OSDI, SPEED, LLT, TMH, MGL, MGXS and pain scores were significantly improved. For the MGX scores (MGXS) ≤20 group, MGL and lissamine green scores showed significant improvements. For the MGXS >20 group, TMH and dry spot rate revealed statistically improvement. Noninvasive IPL therapy with MGX statistically improved not only dry eye symptoms but also tear film assessments.

Sinkhole flooding is an essential hydrological process to recharge karst aquifer in arid to dry sub-humid regions. On the other hand, the increase of rain extremes is one of the major consequences of the global warming, together with the expansion of drylands. Thus, appropriate runoff regulation in endorheic karst basins in order to reduce the risk of flooding and improve the quantity and quality of the water drained by sinkholes will be more and more crucial. With these premises, a systematic review was performed by using WoS engine to infer the best practices for the karst water management in regions actually or potentially affected by water scarcity. Hydrological models are essential to manage the consequences of climate change on karst water resource, however the review shows that providing the tools necessary for reliable modeling is still challenging. Finally, due to the intrinsic vulnerability of the karst aquifers, pollution reduction and wastewater recycling policy will play key role in the next decades.

The WASP-Index is computed over Iberia for three monthly timescales in 1961-2020, based on an observational gridded precipitation dataset (E-OBS), and in 2021-2070, based on bias-corrected precipitation generated by a six-member climate model ensemble from EURO-CORDEX, under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The WASP performance in identifying extremely dry or wet events, reported by the EM-DAT disaster database, is assessed for 1961–2020. An overall good agreement between the WASP spatial patterns and the EM-DAT records is found. The areolar mean values revealed an upward trend in the frequency of occurrence of intermediate-to-severe dry events over Iberia, which will be strengthened in the future, particularly for the 12m-WASP intermediate dry events under RCP8.5. Besides, the number of 3m-WASP intermediate-to-severe wet events is projected to increase, mostly the severest events under RCP4.5, but no evidence was found for an increase in the number of more persistent (12m-WASP) wet events under both RCPs. Despite important spatial heterogeneities, an increase(decrease) of the intensity, duration, and frequency of occurrence of the 12m-WASP intermediate-to-severe dry(wet) events is found under both scenarios, mainly in the southernmost regions of Iberia, thus becoming more exposed to prolonged and severe droughts in the future, corroborating the results from previous studies.

There is sufficient knowledge of the beneficial effect of warm-dry storage on breaking the morpho-logical dormancy of the chincuya (Annona purpurea Moc. & Sessé ex Dunal) seed embryo. Chincuya is an underutilized, tropical wild species native to Mexico, with potential as a biopesticide. The impact of warm-dry storage and gibberellic acid treatment on seed viability and germination was determined to improve that knowledge further. Also, the content and kinetics of fatty acids in chincuya seeds were profiled during warm-dry storage. Seed treatments included storage time (0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months), seed imbibition for 72 h in gibberellic acid at 350 mg L-1, and distilled water im-bibition for 72 h for the control treatment. Seed viability was determined using the TTZ classic test. Imbibed seeds were germinated on paper towels and incubated at 30 °C during the day and 25 °C at night in a 12:12 h dark:light photoperiod. The lipid profile was obtained by gas chromatography. During the storage treatment, seeds stayed in darkness at 25 ± 3 °C. Results showed that high viability remained up to month 9 in storage when it significantly decreased. Freshly harvested seeds germi-nated at a statistically significantly lower rate (26.1 %) than six-month-old seeds (65.6 %). The profile of fatty acids breaks down as palmitic acid (33.41 %), stearic acid (7.72 %), and arachidic acid (1.30 %), for a total of 42.44 % of saturated fatty acids. The detected unsaturated fatty acids (52.15 %) were palmitoleic acid (1.52 %), oleic acid (43.37 %), and linoleic acid (7.24 %). No significant changes were detected in fatty acid content; however, the highest fatty acid content (92.84 %) occurred with the highest germination rate. Regression analysis showed significant content changes: palmitoleic and palmitic acid increased while oleic acid decreased during dry storage. Arachidic acid showed a slight downward trend. Also, fatty acid content significantly differed between intact seeds (unstored and unincubated) and latent seeds (unstored, incubated, and ungerminated). The total fatty acids content for latent seeds was significantly lower. These results show that Annona purpurea seeds present morphophysiological dormancy. Also, we document the highest germination rate reported (65.6 %) and report the presence of arachidic and palmitoleic acids in chincuya seeds.