Most empirical work on sources of economic growth for different countries lack country-specific empirical evidence to guide policy choices in individual developing countries and previous studies of factor productivity tend to focus on the entire economy or a single sector. In this study, we use the recently developed growth accounting tools to explicitly determine the sources of economic growth at both national and sectoral levels in Zambia between 1970 and 2013. We use data from World Development Indicators and Zambia’s Central Statistical Office. On average, total factor productivity (TFP) contributes about 5.7% to economic growth. Sectoral analysis shows that agriculture contributes the least to GDP and that within each sector; factors that contribute to growth differ. Structural transformation has been slow and contributed to the observed inefficiency. We outline the implications of the observed growth and provide recommendations.

Motivated by empirical observations, we propose a possible extension of Gibrat's law. By applying it into the random growth theory of income distribution (Gabaix, 2009), we find that the income distribution is described by a generalized Pareto-type distribution (GPD) with three parameters. We observe that there is a parameter /elta in the GPD that plays a key role in determining the shape of income distribution. By using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, we empirically show that, for typical market-economy countries, /elta is close to 0 significantly, such that the income distribution is characterized by a two-class pattern in which the bottom 90% of the population is approximated by an exponential distribution and the richest 1%~3% is approximated by an asymptotic power law. However, we empirically find that, for China both in planned economy period and in early stages of market reformation (from 1978 to 1990), /elta is significantly deviated from 0, such that the bottom of the population no longer conforms to an exponential distribution.

One of the tools for optimal crop production is regular monitoring and assessment of crops. During the growing season of fruit trees, the bloom period has increased photosynthetic rates that correlate with the fruiting process. This paper presents the development of an image processing algorithm to detect peach blossoms on trees. Images of an experimental peach orchard were acquired from the Parma Research and Extension Center of the University of Idaho using an off-the-shelf unmanned aerial system (UAS), equipped with a multispectral camera (Near-infrared, Green, Blue). The orchard has different stone fruit varieties and different plant training system. Individual tree images (high-resolution) and arrays of trees images (low-resolution) were acquired to evaluate the detection capability. The image processing algorithm was based on different vegetation indices. Initial results showed that the image processing algorithm could detect peach blossoms and demonstrate good potential as a monitoring tool for orchard management.

The Himalaya is well known for high diversity and ethnobotanical uses of medicinal plants. However, not all areas of the Himalayas are well studied. In particular, studies on ethnobotanical uses of plants from the Eastern Himalayas are rare and lacking for many tribes. Past studies primarily focused on listing plants name and their traditional medicinal uses. However, studies on traditional ethnopharmacological practices on medicine preparation had not yet been reported in published literature from the Eastern Himalaya. In this study, we are reporting the first time ethnopharmacological used 24 medicines, their procedures of preparation and listed 53 plant species used for those medicines for Monpa tribe. Such documentations had not yet been done for other tribes in India. Our research demonstrates the urgent need to documents traditional medicine preparation procedures from the local healers before rapid cultural modernization forgets them in transforming country like India. This study should motivate national and international researchers to do more works on ethnopharmacology and bioprospecting.

The recent increase in global consumption of rice has led to increased demand for sustainable water management in paddy cultivation. In this study, we propose an enhanced paddy simulation module to be introduced to Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to evaluate the sustainability of paddy cultivation. The enhancements added to SWAT include: (1) modification of water balance calculation for impounded fields, (2) addition of an irrigation management option for paddy fields that are characterized by flood irrigation with target water depth, and (3) addition of a puddling operation that influences the water quality and infiltration rate of the top soil layer. In a case study, the enhanced model, entitled SWAT-Paddy, was applied to an agricultural watershed in Japan. The results showed that the SWAT-Paddy successfully represented paddy cultivation, water management, and discharge processes. Simulated daily discharge rates with SWAT-Paddy (R² = 0.8) were superior to the SWAT result (R² = 0.002). SWAT-Paddy allows the simulation of paddy management processes realistically, and thus can enhance model accuracy in paddy-dominant agricultural watersheds.

This paper summarizes the estimates of the total changes in sales, expenses, and income of participants of the horticulture research and extension programs at the Mississippi State University - Coastal Research and Extension Center for the past five years. Major items outline the estimation procedures for the past five years. The average annual values were used in estimating the total economic impacts of added gross sales, expenses, and incomes of participants in horticulture events. The cumulative total impacts reach $8.7 million in sales, 76 jobs, $1.4 million in labor income, $2.4 million in value-added, and $0.4 million in local, state, and federal taxes. In addition, the total willingness to pay for the horticulture program by the adult participants reached $1.8 million. In comparison, the annual public spending on the horticulture program averaged $1.4 million, creating additional substantial economic impacts to the region.

This paper summarizes opinions on the economic impacts of horticulture research and extension at MSU Coastal Research and Extension Center. More than 8,400 horticulture producers, master gardeners, research and extension staff, and non-profit organizations participated in horticulture events during the last five years. Qualitative assessments of horticulture research and extension performed by the faculty and staff were solicited during voluntary surveys.

In traditional finance, option prices are typically calculated using crisp sets of variables. However, in a proposed new approach, the assumption is made that these parameters have a degree of fuzziness or uncertainty associated with them. This allows participants to estimate option prices based on their risk preferences and beliefs, considering a range of possible values for the parameters. To determine the belief degree associated with a particular option price, an interpolation search algorithm was proposed recently[1]. Interpolation is a mathematical technique used to estimate values between known data points. In this case, the algorithm is applied to determine the belief degree associated with a specific option price within the range of possible prices. By incorporating fuzzy numbers and the belief degree, this approach provides a more flexible framework for practitioners to make their investment decisions. It allows them to consider their risk preferences and beliefs about the uncertain parameters when selecting an option price. In this paper, we will review a unified framework for combining fractional Brownian motion with fuzzy processes and obtain a joint measure space. We start by constructing a product measure space that captures the randomness and fuzziness inherent in the respective processes. We begin with the usual Kolmogorov filtered probability space (Ω, F, ℙ), where ℙ represents the probability measure, Ω is the set of all possible outcomes or states that a random process can take and {Ft, t ∈ [0, T]} is an information filtration. We will review the work of Merton (1976) on option pricing when the underlying stock returns have jumps [2] and expand it to fuzzy fractional processes.

Organic fertilizer application in agricultural land is known to improve soil microbial processes, fertility, and yield. In particular, stable changes in soil chemical composition through multi-year fertilization of organic fertilizers are thought to cause changes in the microbial community. Here, the effects of oil cake amendments (OC) on soil bacterial diversity, community profile and enzyme activity were evaluated and compared to those amended with chemical fertilizer (NPK). The comparison of diversity indices between OC and NPK amended soils shows that application of oil cake has increased microbial diversity potentially with an increase in the number of different microbial groups. The ordination plot distinguished and clustered both treatments showing differential effects of soils chemical factors on the microbial communities of each treatment. Proteobacteria, Verrucomicrobia and Bacteriodetes were significantly abundant in OC amended soil than in the NPK received soil, indicating alterations in community structure, composition, and diversity con-current to the changes in pH, Ca and Mg contents of the soil. These shifts in bacterial community structure and composition could also be observed from the phylum to the genus level in both NPK and OC amended soils partially explained by differences in soil chemical factors. The OC soil compared to the NPK amended soil also contain significantly higher abundance of predicted genes corresponding to enzymes related to biogeochemical cycling, decomposition and plant growth promotion. Collectively, these results support the use of an unconventional organic fertilizer positively altering bacterial populations in jujube orchards. The application of oil cake-based organic fertilizer improved microbial diversity and enhanced potential ecosystem functions related to bio-geochemical cycles, mineralization and plant growth promotion.

The main objective of this paper is to introduce a further extension of extended (p, q)-beta function by considering two Mittag-Leffler function in the kernel. We investigate various properties of this newly defined beta function such as integral representations, summation formulas and Mellin transform. We define extended beta distribution and its mean, variance and moment generating function with the help of extension of beta function. Also, we establish an extension of extended (p, q)-hypergeometric and (p, q)-confluent hypergeometric functions by using the extension of beta function. Various properties of newly defined extended hypergeometric and confluent hypergeometric functions such as integral representations, Mellin transformations, differentiation formulas, transformation and summation formulas are investigated.

While the simple model of the total atmospheric carbon sink effect as a linear function of concentration has provided excellent prediction results, several problems remained to be investigated and solved. The most obvious open issue is the correct treatment of land use change emssions. It turns out that the model improves by mostly neglecting them after 1959. This effectively implies that land use change emissions have been constant and small since then. The key investigation starts with the observation, that the total carbon sink has a short term component which be explained by temperature changes commonly known as El Nin˜o. The apparent paradox is analysed and explained, why contrary to the short term changes no temperature caused trend can be detected in the model, despite the fact that several contributing processes exhibit temperature dependency. The result of this analysis leads to the model extension, where the total effect of sinks and natural emissions are a linear function of concentration and temperature. This model not only explains current measurements but also paleo climate from ice-core time series.

Many metrics exist for the evaluation of binary classifiers, all with their particular advantages and shortcomings. Recently an “Efficiency Index” for the evaluation of classifiers has been proposed, based on the consistency, or matching, and contradiction, or mismatching, of outcomes. This metric and its confidence intervals are easy to calculate from base data in a 2x2 contingency table, and values can be qualitatively and semi-quantitatively categorised. For medical tests, in which context the Efficiency Index was originally proposed, it facilitates communication of risk (of correct diagnosis versus misdiagnosis) to both clinicians and patients. Variants of the efficiency index (balanced, unbiased) which take into account disease prevalence and test cut-offs have also been described. The objectives of the current paper were firstly to extend the EI construct to other formulations (balanced level, quality) and secondly to explore the utility of EI and all four of its variants when applied to the dataset of a large prospective test accuracy study of a cognitive screening instrument. This showed that the balanced level, quality, and unbiased formulations of EI are more stringent measures.

Thermally-assisted-occupation density functional theory (TAO-DFT) has been an efficient electronic structure method for studying the ground-state properties of large electronic systems with multi-reference character over the past few years. To explore the time-dependent (TD) properties of electronic systems (e.g., subject to an intense laser pulse), in this work, we propose a real-time (RT) extension of TAO-DFT, denoted as RT-TAO-DFT. Besides, we employ RT-TAO-DFT to study the high-order harmonic generation (HHG) spectra and related TD properties of molecular hydrogen H2 at the equilibrium and stretched geometries, aligned along the polarization of an intense linearly polarized laser pulse. The TD properties obtained with RT-TAO-DFT are compared with those obtained with the widely used time-dependent Kohn-Sham (TDKS) method. In addition, issues related to the possible spin-symmetry breaking effects in the TD properties are discussed.

The presence of dark matter, though well established by indirect evidence is yet to be observed directly. Various dark matter detection experiments running for several years have yielded no positive results so far. In view of these negative results, we had earlier proposed alternate models by postulating a minimum gravitational field strength (minimum curvature) and also a minimum acceleration. These postulates led to the modified Newtonian dynamics and modified Newtonian gravity (MONG). The observed flat rotation curves of galaxies had also been accounted for through these postulates. Here we extend these postulates to galaxy clusters and model the dynamical velocity-distance curves for such large-scale structures. The velocity-distance curve of the Virgo cluster, plotted with this model is found to be in accordance with that observed.

Oedaleus decorus asiaticus, Calliptamus abbreviatus, Angaracris rhodopa, and Myrmeleotettix palpalis are the main grasshoppers that harm the natural grassland in the Hexi Corridor. In this study, the MaxEnt model was employed to identify the key environmental factors affecting the distribution of the four grasshoppers habitats and to assess their distribution under current and future climate change conditions. The aim was to provide a basis for grasshopper monitoring, prediction, and precise control. In this study, 61 occurrences of O. decorus asiaticus, 68 occurrences of A. rhodopa, 58 occurrences of C. abbreviatus, and 92 occurrences of M. palpalis were recorded by GPS, and the distribution of suitable habitats for O. decorus asiaticus, C. abbreviatus, A. rhodopa, and M. palpalis were predicted under current and future climatic scenarios using a MaxEnt model. The average AUC and TSS values of the four grasshoppers were greater than 0.9, and the simulation results were excellent and highly reliable. The mean annual precipitation was the main factor limiting the current range of suitable areas for these four species. Under the current climate, O. asiaticus, C. abbreviatus, and A. rhodopa were mainly distributed in the central and eastern parts of the Hexi Corridor, and M. palpalis was distributed throughout the Hexi Corridor, with a potential distribution area of 1.44×104, 1.43×104, 1.29×104, and 2.12×104 km2, accounting for 15.3, 15.2, 13.7, and 22.5% of the total area of the grasslands in the Hexi Corridor, respectively. The highly suitable areas of O. asiaticus, C. abbreviatus, and A. rhodopa were mainly distributed in the east-central part of Zhangye City, the western part of Wuwei City, and the western and southern part of Jinchang City, with areas of 0.35×104, 0.29×104, and 0.20×104 km2, accounting for 3.7, 3, and 2.2% of the grassland area, respectively. The high habitat of M. palpalis was mainly distributed in the southeast of Jiuquan City, the west, middle, and east of Zhangye City, the west of Wuwei City, and the west and south of Jinchang City, with an area of 0.32×104 km2, accounting for 3.4% of the grassland area. In the 2030s, the range of O. asiaticus, C. abbreviatus, A. rhodopa, and M. palpalis was predicted to decrease.

In this article we introduce an extension of the Akash distribution. We use the slash 1 methodology to make the kurtosis of the Akash distribution more flexible. We study the general 2 density of this new distribution, some properties, moments, coefficients of asymmetry and kurtosis. 3 Statistical inference is performed using the methods of moments and maximum likelihood via the 4 EM algorithm. A simulation study is carried out to observe the behavior of the maximum likelihood 5 estimator. An application to a real data set with high kurtosis is considered, where it is shown that 6 the new distribution fits better than other extensions of the Akash distribution.

A new discrete distribution for count data called extended biparametric Waring (EBW) distribution is developed. Its name is related to the fact that, in a specific configuration of its parameters, it can be seen as a biparametric version of the univariate generalized Waring (UGW) distribution, a well-known model for the variance decomposition into three components: randomness, liability and proneness. Unlike the UGW distribution, the EBW can model both overdispersed and underdispersed data sets. In fact, the EBW distribution is a particular case of a UWG distribution when its first parameter is positive; otherwise, it is a particular case of a Complex Triparametric Pearson (CTP) distribution. Hence, this new model inherits most of their properties and, moreover, it helps to solve the identification problem in the variance components of the UGW model. We compare the EBW with the UGW by a simulation study, but also with other over and underdispersed distributions through the Kullback-Leibler divergence. Additionally, we have carried out a simulation study in order to analyse the properties of the maximum likelihood parameter estimates. Finally, some application examples are included which show that the proposed model provides similar or even better results than other models, but with fewer parameters.

The aim of this expository article is to present recent developments in the centuries-old discussion on the interrelations between several types of domination in graphs. However, the novelty even more prominent in the newly discovered simplified presentations of several older results. Domination can be seen as arising from real-world application and extracting classical results as first described by this article.The main part of this article, concerning a new domination and older one, is presented in a narrative that answers two classical questions: (i) To what extend must closing set be dominating? (ii) How strong is the assumption of domination of a closing set? In a addition, we give an overview of the results concerning domination. The problem asks how small can a subset of vertices be and contain no edges or, more generally how can small a subset of vertices be and contain other ones. Our work was as elegant as it was unexpected being a departure from the tried and true methods of this theory that had dominated the field for one fifth a century. This expository article covers all previous definitions. The inability of previous definitions in solving even one case of real-world problems due to the lack of simultaneous attentions to the worthy both of vertices and edges causing us to make the new one. The concept of domination in a variety of graphs models such as crisp, weighted and fuzzy, has been in a spotlight. We turn our attention to sets of vertices in a fuzzy graph that are so close to all vertices, in a variety of ways, and study minimum such sets and their cardinality. A natural way to introduce and motivate our subject is to view it as a real-world problem. In its most elementary form, we consider the problem of reducing waste of time in transport planning. Our goal here is to first describe the previous definitions and the results, and then to provide an overview of the flows ideas in their articles. The final outcome of this article is twofold: (i) Solving the problem of reducing waste of time in transport planning at static state; (ii) Solving and having a gentle discussions on problem of reducing waste of time in transport planning at dynamic state. Finally, we discuss the results concerning holding domination that are independent of fuzzy graphs. We close with a list of currently open problems related to this subject. Most of our exposition assumes only familiarity with basic linear algebra, polynomials, fuzzy graph theory and graph theory.

Within the framework of multiblock data analysis, a unified approach of supervised methods is discussed. It encompasses multiblock redundancy analysis (MB-RA) and multiblock partial least squares (MB-PLS) regression. Moreover, we develop new supervised strategies of multiblock data analysis, which can be seen as variants of one or the other of these two methods. They are respectively refered to as multiblock weighted redundancy analysis (MB-WRA) and multiblock weighted covariate analysis (MB-WCov). The four methods are based on the determination of latent variables associated with the various blocks of variables. They are derived from clear optimization criteria whose aim is to maximize either the sum of the covariances or the sum of squared covariances between the latent variable associated with the response block of variables and the block latent variables associated with the various explanatory blocks of variables. We also propose indices to help better interpreting the outcomes of the analyses. The methods are illustrated and compared based on simulated and real datasets.

In this work, some numerical radius inequalities based on the recent Dragomir extension of Furuta's inequality are obtained. Some particular cases are also provided.

Ankle joint flexion and extension exercises play an important role in the rehabilitation training of patients who have been injured or bedridden for a long time before and after surgery. Accurately guiding patients to perform ankle flexion and extension exercises can significantly reduce deep vein thromboembolism. Currently, most ankle rehabilitation devices focus on assisting patients with ankle flexion and extension movements, and there is a lack of devices for effectively monitoring these movements. In this study, we designed an ankle joint flexion and extension movement monitoring device based on a pressure sensor. It is composed of an STM32 microcontroller, a pressure sensor, an HX711A/D conversion chip, and an ESP8266 WiFi communication module. The value of force and effective number of ankle joint flexion and extension movements were obtained. An experimental device was designed to verify the accuracy of the system. The results showed that the device can effectively monitor and control ankle flexion and extension movements remotely, ultimately ensuring that the patient can effectively monitor and grasp the active ankle pump movement.

Reassessment of the fatigue life for wind turbines structural components is typically performed using deterministic methods with the same partial safety factors as used for the original design. However, in relation to life extension, the conditions are generally different from the assumptions used for calibration of partial safety factors; and using a deterministic assessment method with these partial safety factors might not lead to optimal decisions. In this paper, the deterministic assessment method is compared to probabilistic and risk-based approaches, and the economic feasibility is assessed for a case wind farm. Using the models also used for calibration of partial safety factors in IEC61400-1 ed. 4 it is found that the probabilistic assessment generally leads to longer additional fatigue life than the deterministic assessment method. The longer duration of the extended life can make life extension feasible in more situations. The risk-based model is applied to include the risk of failure directly in the economic feasibility assessment and it is found that the reliability can be much lower than the target for new turbines, without compromising the economic feasibility.

An extension of the Stoney formula for the case of a back side metallized 8” silicon taiko wafer has been developed, in the elastic regime, within the frame of the theory of elasticity. A good correlation between the calculated warpage, determined by the stress released by a given back side metallization (BSM), and the corresponding experimental warpages of the same thick metal layers deposited on an 8” silicon taiko wafer provides evidences of the correctness of the developed theory. This development suggests the possibility to extend this approach to the case of 8” taiko wafers based on a wide band gap semiconductor such as silicon carbide (SiC).

In this paper, we define a (p,v)-extension of Hurwitz-Lerch Zeta function by considering an extension of beta function defined by Parmar et al. [J. Classical Anal. 11 (2017) 81–106]. We obtain its basic properties which include integral representations, Mellin transformation, derivative formulas and certain generating relations. Also, we establish the special cases of the main results.

The link of fracture analysis of large ships is an essential part of the structural safety of ships. However, the finite element analysis of large structure according to the traditional method not only has high requirements on the computer, but also the influence of the mesh encryption at special locations makes further requirements on the accuracy of the ship. In this paper, based on the extended finite element method (XFEM) and the multi-point constraint method (MPC), the dynamic crack expansion process of the rectangular plate containing cracks under the multi-scale model is comparatively studied by using ABAQUS simulation software Finally, the applicability of the method is verified by applying the multi-scale model of ship nodes. The results show that the computational effort of the multi-scale model is significantly reduced with the same accuracy and allowable error, which proves the accuracy and efficiency of the method.

This work is intended to lead a study of necessary and sufficient optimality conditions for scalar optimization problems on Hadamard manifolds. In the context of this geometry, we obtain and present new function types characterized by the property of having all their second-order stationary points to be global minimums. In order to do so, we extend the concept convexity in Euclidean space to a more general notion of invexity on Hadamard manifolds. This is done employing notions of second-order directional derivative, second-order pseudoinvexity functions and the second-order Karush-Kuhn-Tucker-pseudoinvexity problem. Thus, we prove that every second-order stationary point is a global minimum if and only if the problem is either second-order pseudoinvex or second-order KKT-pseudoinvex depending on whether the problem regards unconstrained or constrained scalar optimization respectively. This result has not been presented in the literature before. Finally, examples of these new characterizations are provided in the context of \textit{"Higgs Boson like"} potentials among others.

With new discoveries and insights in atomic and optical physics, the field of spectroscopy is advancing to a new level with applications ranging from material science to astronomy. We here propose a theoretical description of a potential new phenomenon resulting from the extension of Compton's experiment on the scattering of high energy photons through atomic electrons. How the proposed phenomenon can be tested experimentally is discussed in the paper as well.

We studied generalization of a method for extending configurational studies to variables that are not exclusively geographical, in order to allow investigation of generic relationships in the built environment. We observed a number of limitations of the classical approach of configurational studies and we considered how a complex analytical method could be implemented in the study of non-topological variables, such as land use, noise pollution and financial or property rents. In order to do this we established a system of relationships based on a labeled primary graph. Categorization of the labels of the links was performed on a generic variable, specifically, the predominant use of roads. The graph was then contracted using an optimization algorithm, which we describe. The algorithm allows the network to be reduced to a more streamlined system that can better analyze the relationships between the different categories. Application of the method showed that it is faster to identify weaknesses in urban networks, and then take measures to resolve them. The case study concerns the pedestrianization of the Colosseum area in Rome.

Recently, different extensions of the fractional derivative operator are found in many research papers. The main aim of this paper is to establish an extension of the extended Caputo fractional derivative operator. The extension of an extended fractional derivative of some elementary functions derives by considering an extension of beta function which includes the Mittag-Leffler function in the kernel. Further, an extended fractional derivative of some familiar special functions, the Mellin transforms of newly defined Caputo fractional derivative operator and the generating relations for extension of extended hypergeometric functions also presented in this study.

For bounded unit interval, we propose a new Kumaraswamy generalized (G) family of distributions from a new generator which could be an alternate to the Kumaraswamy-G family proposed earlier by Cordeiro and de-Castro in 2011. This new generator can also be used to develop alternate G-classes such as beta-G, McDonald-G, Topp-Leone-G, Marshall-Olkin-G and Transmuted-G for bounded unit interval. Some mathematical properties of this new family are obtained and maximum likelihood method is used for estimating the family parameters. We investigate the properties of one special model called a new Kumaraswamy-Weibull (NKwW) distribution. Parameter estimation is dealt and maximum likelihood estimators are assessed through simulation study. Two real life data sets are analyzed to illustrate the importance and flexibility of this distribution. In fact, this model outperforms some generalized Weibull models such as the Kumaraswamy-Weibull, McDonald-Weibull, beta-Weibull, exponentiated-generalized Weibull, gamma-Weibull, odd log-logistic-Weibull, Marshall-Olkin-Weibull, transmuted-Weibull, exponentiated-Weibull and Weibull distributions when applied to these data sets. The bivariate extension of the family is proposed and the estimation of parameters is given. The usefulness of the bivariate NKwW model is illustrated empirically by means of a real-life data set.

We propose a generalization of Nambu-Hamilton equation in superspace $\mathbb R^{3|2}$ with three real and two Grassmann coordinates. We construct the even degree vector field in the superspace $\mathbb R^{3|2}$ by means of the right-hand sides of proposed generalization of Nambu-Hamilton equation and show that this vector field is divergenceless in superspace. Then we show that our generalization of Nambu-Hamilton equation in superspace leads to family of ternary brackets of even degree functions defined with the help of Berezinian. This family of ternary brackets is parametrized by the infinite dimensional group of invertible second order matrices, whose entries are differentiable functions on the space $\mathbb R^{3}$. We study the structure of ternary bracket in a more general case of a superspace $\mathbb R^{n|2}$ with $n$ real and two Grassmann coordinates and show that for any invertible second order functional matrix it splits into the sum of two ternary brackets, where one is usual Nambu-Poisson bracket, extended in a natural way to even degree functions in a superspace $\mathbb R^{n|2}$, and the second is a new ternary bracket, which we call $\Psi$-bracket, where $\Psi$ can be identified with invertible second order functional matrix. We prove that ternary $\Psi$-bracket as well as the whole ternary bracket (the sum of $\Psi$-bracket with usual Nambu-Poisson bracket) is totally skew-symmetric, satisfies the Leibniz rule and the Filippov-Jacobi identity (Fundamental Identity).

A finite-type immersion or smooth map is a nice tool to classify submanifolds of Euclidean space, which comes from eigenvalue problem of immersion. The notion of generalized 1-type is a natural generalization of those of 1-type in the usual sense and pointwise 1-type. We classify ruled surfaces with generalized 1-type Gauss map as part of a plane, a circular cylinder, a cylinder over a base curve of an infinite type, a helicoid, a right cone and a conical surface of $G$-type.

The main objective of this present paper is to establish the extension of an extended fractional derivative operator by using an extended beta function recently defined by Parmar et al. by considering the Bessel functions in its kernel. Also, we give some results related to the newly defined fractional operator such as Mellin transform and relations to extended hypergeometric and Appell's function via generating functions.

Hardaliye, a traditional non-alcoholic beverage, made from red grape pomace from wine production and produced by lactic acid fermentation with addition of different concentrations of whole/ground or heat-treated mustard seeds and of sour cherry leaves. Short shelf life of hardaliye limits its consumption and search in trend to process hardaliye to extend its shelf life. Thus, high hydrostatic pressure treatment of hardaliye drink with determination of changes in physicochemical and sensory properties in addition to microbial inactivation were studied according to Box-Behnken design. Maximum 5.10±0.00, 4.21±0.00, 5.38±0.59 and 5.05±0.22 log reductions were obtained in total mesophilic aerobic bacteria, total mold and yeast, Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Lactobacillus brevis by HHP. Shelf-life studies of the hardaliye samples were conducted with optimum processing parameters of 490 MPa, 29 oC for 15 min with the response variables of OD520 and inactivation of L. brevis. Both control and HHP treated samples were stored at 4 and 22 C for shelf-life studies. While control samples at 4 and 22 °C were spoiled at the 15th and 3rd days, HHP treated samples were spoiled after 108th and 228th days, respectively.

We asked whether the level of peripheral fatigue would differ when three consecutive exercise trials were completed to task failure, and whether there would be delayed recovery in maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) force, neuromuscular activation and peripheral fatigue following task failure. Ten trained sport students performed three consecutive knee extension isometric trials (T1, T2, T3) to task failure without breaks between trials. T1 and T2 consisted of repeated 5-s contractions followed by 5-s rest. In T1, contractions were performed at a target force at 60% pre-exercise MVC. In T2, all contractions were MVCs, and task failure occurred at 50% MVC. T3 was a sustained MVC performed until force fell below 15% MVC. Evoked force responses to supramaximal electrical femoral nerve stimulation were recorded to assess peripheral fatigue. Electromyography signals were normalized to M-wave amplitude to assess neuromuscular activation. Lower levels of evoked peak forces were observed at T3 compared to T2 and T1. Within 5 s of task failure in T3, MVC force and neuromuscular activation recovered substantially without any recovery in evoked peak force. Neuromuscular activation 5-10 s after T3 was unchanged from pre-exercise values, but evoked peak forces were substantially reduced. These results challenge the existence of a critical peripheral fatigue threshold that reduces neuromuscular activation. Since neuromuscular activation changed independently of any change in evoked peak force, immediate recovery in force production after exercise is due to increased central recruitment and not to peripheral mechanisms.

Various factors, such as uncertainty of component parameters and uncertainty of sensor meas-urement values, contribute to the difficulty of fault detection in the landing gear retrac-tion/extension hydraulic system. In this paper, we introduce linear fractional transformation technology and uncertainty analysis theory for the construction of the diagnostic bond graph of the landing gear retraction/extension hydraulic system. In this way, interval analytical redundancy relations and fault signature matrix can be derived. Using the fault signature matrix, existing faults of the system can be preliminarily detected and isolated. Additionally, interval analytical re-dundancy relations can be used to detect system faults in detail, and cases analysis can be carried out to determine if the actuator is externally or internally leaky, and if the landing gear selector valve is reversing stuck. Compared to the traditional analytical redundancy relations, this method takes into account the negative factors of uncertainty; and compared to the traditional absolute diagnostic threshold, the interval diagnostic threshold is more accurate and sensitive.

Epidemiological studies have shown a strong association between high body mass index (BMI) and papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). We assessed the clinical and histopathological features of PTC in patients with a higher BMI and compared them to analogous parameters in PTC patients with a normal BMI. We retrospectively analyzed 5,021 medical records of patients admitted and surgically treated for thyroid tumors in one center between 2008 and 2018. Finally, we extracted data from 523 adult patients with PTC and stratified patients into two groups according to BMI: Group 1 with BMI < 25 kg/m² and Group 2 with BMI ≥25 kg/m². Data stratification was performed to estimate the association of overweight and obesity with clinical and histopathological features of PTC in both univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses. Overall, compared to patients with a normal BMI, overweight and obese patients had a greater risk of minimal extrathyroidal extension (minimal ETE), multifocality and bilaterality of PTC (p<0.001 for all). Analysis did not show that BMI was significantly associated with more advanced tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (p=0.894). Obesity and overweight were significantly associated with higher aggressiveness of PTC. When considering various management options for PTC patients, these findings regarding overweight and obesity should be taken into consideration during the decision-making process.

I extend earlier work that derived a Born rule for nuclear-decay cloud chamber tracks (Mott problem) without invoking quantum measurement axioms. The key ingredient there was the identification of sites at which the cross section for ionization by a passing charged particle is singular at ionization threshold. This singularity arose from a Penning-like process involving molecular polarization in sub-critical vapor clusters. In the present paper, I propose a simple experiment to determine if similar ionization physics takes place in the mica window of a Geiger counter and drives the collimation of spherically-symmetric wavefunctions outside the counter tube into ion tracks inside. The experiment measures the count rate from a radioactive point source as a function of source-window separation. I have performed a proof-of-concept of this experiment; results are consistent with the singular-ionization picture. I consider implications for the Stern-Gerlach experiment and superconducting qubits. I detail further work required to flesh out these results more rigorously.

NASA mission systems proposals are often compared using an equivalent system mass (ESM) framework wherein all elements of technology to deliver an effect- its components, operations and logistics of delivery- are converted to effective masses since this has a known cost scale in space operations. To date, ESM methods and the tools for system comparison have not considered complexities wherein systems that serve a mission span multiple transit and operations stages, such as would be required to support a crewed mission to Mars, and thus do not account for the different mass equivalency factors operational during each period and the inter-dependencies of the costs across the mission. Further, ESM does not account well for the differential reliabilities of the underlying technologies. Less reliability should incur an equivalent mass cost for technologies that might otherwise provide a mass advantage. We introduce an extensions to ESM to address these limitations and show that it provides a direct method for analyzing, optimizing and comparing different mission systems. We demonstrate our extended ESM (xESM) calculation with crop production technologies -- an aspect of the developing offworld biomanufacturing suite -- since it represents a case with strong coupling among stages of the mission and a relatively high-risk profile.

A perirectal abscess, while typically considered benign, has the potential to invade extraperitoneal spaces, including the space of Retzius, resulting in complications with severe systemic illness. It is postulated that there is communication within adipose tissue between the pararectal spaces and the vesical extraperitoneal space anteriorly, secondary to the termination of the umbilical-vesical fascia at the reflection of the vesical peritoneum. While occurrences of perirectal abscess ex-tending to the extraperitoneal space are infrequent, a thorough understanding of the anatomical structure, physiology, and the subsequent therapeutic approach remains crucial. For assessment, a computed tomography scan with intravenous contrast is preferred for evaluation, given the probable insidious and nonspecific nature of the clinical presentation, physical exam signs, and even laboratory studies. Primary therapeutic modalities involve immediate resuscitation, intra-venous administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics, and percutaneous drainage. Surgical in-tervention may become necessary in cases where there is no prompt improvement in septic progression. Additionally, the underlying comorbidities and baseline illness could be indicative of unfavorable outcomes. If fever or sepsis is not efficiently controlled, a more comprehensive workup or intervention should be contemplated, considering the associated higher risks of complications and mortality rates. In this study, we presented the case of a 68-year-old male with diffuse pain located in the lower abdomen. Fortunately, an immediate computed tomography scan played a pivotal role in iden-tifying a perirectal abscess with upward extension to the space of Retzius, which was subse-quently treated appropriately. Above all, this rare case presentation underscores the anatomic complexity within pelvic compartments and emphasizes the importance of maintaining high-index suspicions and analyzing overall differential diagnosis.

In experimental physics, we understand time as the duration of material changes that run into space. This fact is the standpoint for our model of time-invariant space in which causality is only a principle and not a physical actuality, and entropy runs only in space and not in time. Time is merely a duration of entropy that is increasing in time-invariant space. Time is entering existence when measured by the observer. In time-invariant space, motion happens only in space and not in time which means that also in open timelike curves motion happens only in space and not in time.

Great toe strength (GTS) weakness is linked to declines in balance and mobility. Assessing GTS, particularly great toe extension strength (GTES) accurately is often neglected in clinical evaluations due to cumbersome and subjective methods. This study aims to characterize the force development curve output from the ToeScale and examine GTES variations with age, sex, BMI, and grip strength (GS) using traditional analyses and machine learning (ML). We conducted a pilot, cross-sectional feasibility study with convenience samples. We assessed GS using a hand-grip dynamometer and GTES using the ToeScale. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlations, independent samples t-tests, and accuracy and area under the curve (AUC) scores for three ML models. Thirty-one participants (Males: 9, Females: 22), 14 young (18-24 years), and 17 older (&gt;65 years) adults participated in the study. Males had significantly higher peak GTES than females in both age groups. Associations between GTES parameters with BMI and GS varied by age and sex. ML model accuracies and AUC scores were low-moderate but aligned with traditional analyses. Future studies with larger samples and optimized ML models are needed.

The Kuroshio Extension(KE) System exhibits highly energetic mesoscale phenomena, but the impact of mesoscale eddies on marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycling is not well understood. This study utilizes remote sensing and Argo floats to investigate how eddies modify surface and subsurface chlorophyll (Chl-a) concentrations. On average, cyclones (anticyclones) induce positive (negative) surface Chl-a anomalies, particularly in winter. This occurs because cyclones (anticyclones) lift (deepen) isopycnals and nitrate into (out of) the euphotic zone, stimulating (depressing) the growth of phytoplankton. Consequently, cyclones (anticyclones) result in greater (smaller) subsurface Chl-a maximum (SCM), depth-integrated Chl-a, and depth-integrated nitrate. The positive (negative) surface Chl-a anomalies induced by cyclones (anticyclones) are mainly located near (north of) the main axis of the KE. The second and third mode represent monopole Chl-a patterns within eddy centers corresponding to either positive or negative anomalies, depending on the sign of the principal component. Chl-a concentrations in cyclones (anticyclones) above the SCM layer are higher (lower) than the edge values, while those below are lower (higher), regardless of winter variations. The vertical distributions and displacements of Chl-a and SCM depth are associated with eddy pumping. In terms of frequency, negative (positive) Chl-a anomalies account for approximately 26% (18%) of the total cyclones (anticyclones) across all four seasons. The opposite phase suggests that nutrient supply resulting from stratification differences under convective mixing may contribute to negative (positive) Chl-a anomalies in cyclone (anticyclone) cores. Additionally, the opposite phase can also be attributed to eddy stirring, trapping high and low Chl-a, and/or eddy Ekman pumping. Based on OFES outputs, the seasonal variation of nitrate from winter to summer primarily depends on the effect of vertical mixing, indicating that convective mixing processes contribute to an increase (decrease) in nutrients during winter (summer) over the KE.

This paper describes RTMN 2.0 - an extension of the modeling language RTMN. RTMN combines process modeling and robot execution. The reusability and intuitive robot programming allows people without programming expertise to plan and control robots. While RTMN focuses on the ease of use and flexibility of robot programming by providing an intuitive modelling language, RTMN 2.0 concentrates on Human Robot Collaboration (HRC), which represents the current trend of the industry shift from ‘mass-production’ to ‘mass-customization’. While traditional robot systems provide high payload capabilities and repeatability, they suffer from limited flexibility and dexterity. Therefore, human-robot collaboration is a suitable arrangement to leverage the unique capabilities of both humans and robots for increased efficiency and quality in industrial scenarios. HRC has made a great impact on the robotic industry: increased efficiency, reduced costs and improved productivity, which can be adopted to make up for the skill gap of a shortage of workers in the manufacturing industry. The extension in RTMN 2.0 includes the following notations: HRC tasks, requirement, Key Performance Indicator (KPI), condition check and decision making, join/split and data association. With all these additional elements RTMN 2.0 covers the full scale of agile manufacturing – light out and collaborative.

In this paper a more flexible extension of the Fréchet distribution is introduced. The new distribution is defined by means of the stochastic representation as the quotient of two independent random variables, a Fréchet distribution and the power of a random variable with uniform distribution in the interval (0,1). We will call this new extension the Slash Fréchet distribution and one of its main characteristics is that its tails are heavier than the Fréchet distribution. The general density of this distribution and some basic properties are determined. Its moments, skewness coefficients and kurtosis are calculated. In addition, the estimation of the model parameters is obtained by the method of moments and maximum likelihood. Finally, two applications with real data are performed by fitting the new model and comparing it with the Fréchet distribution.

A series of water diversion projects to address the uneven distribution of water resources in China involve the construction of a large number of hydraulic tunnels. As the lining structure that maintains the stability and durability of the tunnels, it is prone to durability damage during the operation process, which in turn affects the water transmission safety and water supply capacity. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the durability of hydraulic tunnel lining structure. Considering the randomness and fuzziness of the factors affecting the durability of hydraulic tunnel lining structure, this paper proposes a comprehensive evaluation model based on the coupling of set-pair analysis and extension. The G1 method and the simple correlation function method are used to determine the subjective and objective weights of the evaluation indexes respectively, and the combination weight is assigned based on the principle of minimum entropy; the set-pair analysis principle is used to establish the linkage affiliation function, calculate the comprehensive linkage affiliation of the object to be evaluated, and the maximum affiliation principle is used to judge the durability level of the hydraulic tunnel lining structure. Finally, taking a section of hydraulic tunnel as an example, the model proposed in this paper is used to calculate its durability grade as Class III, with the set-pair potential SHI(H) = 7.5856, which is consistent with the actual engineering practice, and a comparative study is done in combination with the AHP-Extenics method. It is verified that the evaluation model can scientifically and reasonably evaluate the durability of hydraulic tunnel lining structure, providing a basis for subsequent maintenance and reinforcement.

Exopolysaccharides-EPS are long-chain biopolymer with branched, recurring unit of sugars and non-carbohydrate constituents connected to exterior of cells. Rhizobial, a legume nodulating organism is capable of producing EPS. This study investigated the characteristics’ of some Rhizobium EPS and their effects in shelf life extension of some Musa spp. Rhizobial-EPS was produced using yeast extract mineral medium purified by standard methods. The EPS was characterized to determine functional group, thermal stability, chemical compounds and the monosaccharide component using Fourier Transform Infra-red, Spectroscopy, thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and HPLC and their bio-preservative property on post-harvest quality of plantain and different banana was done. The Rhizobial-EPS functional groups were hydroxyl, carboxyl, amine, methyl and ethers associated with polysaccharides. Pentadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, oleic acid and heptacosanoic acid, and varied concentration of monosaccharides were detected in the exopolysaccharides. The TGA of the EPS shows a constant loss in weight with two quasi-sharp alterations and almost steady plateau. The EPS coated samples had the lowest weight loss across the samples and as such edible coating was effective in delaying weight loss. The weight loss of Musa paradisiaca (plantain) coated with (EPSA obtained from USDA 110), (EPSB USDA 532C) and (EPSC S2) at the first day were 314 and 314.5g. The initial weight loss of coated and uncoated Musa sp. (Apple Banana), Musa acuminata (Lady Finger), and Musa balbisiana (Cooking Banana), ranged from 72 – 72.7g, 96 – 97g and 95 – 98g respectively. The total sugar of EPS Coated Musa sp. ranges from 0.381 – 0.528mg/L, 0.392 – 0.576 mg/L and 0.41 – 0.598 mg/L at days 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The highest Titratable acidity and pH was observed in EPS coated sample. The results obtained from this study proves that EPS solution is a valuable product for fruit preservation and viable for commercial applications.

In this work, we report the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in two systems of non-interactive particles, the first corresponds to the Landau problem case and the second, the case of an electron in a quantum dot subjected to a parabolic confinement potential. In the first scenario, we realize that the effect is totally different from what happens when the degeneration of a single electron confined in a magnetic field is not taken into account. In particular, when the degeneracy of the system is negligible, the magnetocaloric effect cools the system, while in the other case, when the degeneracy is strong, the system heats up. For the second case, we study the competition between the characteristic frequency of the potential trap and the cyclotron frequency to find the optimal region that maximizes the ΔT of the magnetocaloric effect, and due to the strong degeneration of this problem, the results are in coherence with those obtained for the Landau problem. Finally, we consider the case of a transition from a normal MCE to an inverse one and back to normal as a function of temperature. This is due to the competition between the diamagnetic and paramagnetic response when the electron spin in the formulation is included.

Garlic, as an important economic crop in China, still has room for improvement in terms of identification using remote sensing technology, Among them, high-precision classification of garlic has become an important subject. The Erhai Lake is an important freshwater lake in China. Under the influence of technology and policies, significant changes have occurred in the cultivation of garlic crops. this study constructed multidimensional features for crop classification suitable for Google Earth Engine, and Propose a method for identifying garlic crops using sample and feature datasets under limited conditions. The results indicate that: 1) In the land-use classification of the Erhai Lake Basin, the importance ranking of characteristic bands, from high to low, is as follows: spectral features, vegetation features, texture features, and terrain features. 2) The Random Forest method based on feature selection demonstrates high classification accuracy in land-use classification within the Erhai Lake Basin in Yunnan Province. The overall classification accuracy reaches 95.79%, with a Kappa coefficient of 0.9481. 3) The expansion direction of garlic cultivation in the Erhai Lake Basin initially strengthened and then weakened from 1999 to 2023. The vertical development of garlic cultivation reached saturation, showing a slow trend towards horizontal expansion between 2005 and 2018. The planting distribution in various townships in the Erhai Lake Basin gradually shifted from a relatively uniform distribution to an upstream development in the basin. This study utilizes the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud computing platform and machine learning algorithms to compensate for the lack of statistical data on garlic cultivation in the Erhai Lake Basin. Simultaneously, it accurately, rapidly, and efficiently extracts planting information, demonstrating significant potential for practical applications.

The health of the landing gear retraction and extension hydraulic system may be assessed using fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE), however the traditional FCE method depends solely on human assessment by specialists, which is excessively subjective. To address the issue of excessive human subjective variables in the assessment, an improved FCE model based on enhanced risk coefficient is provided, which includes four consideration indexes: failure probability, failure severity, failure detection difficulty, and failure repair difficulty. To reduce subjective human judgment errors entirely due to expert experience, the improved FCE takes into account the likelihood of failure using a statistical method, the severity of failure using a fault simulation analysis based on the LMS Imagine.Lab AMESim simulation platform, and the difficulty of fault detection and repair using the aircraft manufacturer's professional maintenance information. As part of the evaluation model, the range of health assessment values and accompanying treatment methods are included, making it easier to implement on a daily basis in aircraft maintenance. As a final step, the simulation is evaluated and the simulated faults are calculated.

This paper presents the design of a robust speed controller for brushless DC motors (BLDCM) under field-oriented control (FOC). The proposed robust controller integrates extension theory (ET) and sliding mode theory (SMT) to achieve robustness. First, the speed difference between the speed command and the actual speed of the BLDCM, along with the rate of change of the speed difference, are divided into 20 interval categories. Then, the feedback speed difference and the rate of change of the speed difference are calculated for their extension correlation with each of the 20 interval categories. The interval category with the highest correlation is used to determine the appropriate control gain for the sliding mode speed controller. This gain adjustment tunes the parameters of the sliding surface in the SMT, thereby suppressing the overshoot of the motor speed. Because the sliding surface reaching law of the sliding mode controller (SMC) adopts the exponential approach law, the system's speed response can quickly follow the speed command in any state and exhibit excellent load regulation response. The simplicity of this robust control method, which requires minimal training data, facilitates easy implementation. Finally, the speed control of the BLDCM is simulated using Matlab/Simulink software, and the results are compared with those of the SMC using the constant speed approach law. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed robust controller exhibits superior speed command tracking and load regulation response compared to the traditional SMC.

The selectin of a demand forecasting method is critical for companies aiming to avoid manufacturing overproduction or shortages in pursuit of sustainable development. Various qualitative and quantitative criteria with different weights must be considered during the evaluation of a forecasting method. The qualitative criteria and criteria weights are usually assessed in linguistic terms. Aggregating these various criteria and linguistic weights for evaluating and selecting demand forecasting methods in sustainable manufacturing is a major challenge. This paper proposes an extension of fuzzy Elimination and Choice Translating Reality (ELECTRE) I to resolve this problem. In the proposed method, fuzzy weighted ratings are defuzzified with the signed distance to develop a crisp ELECTRE I model. Moreover, an extension to ELECTRE I is developed by suggesting an extended modified discordance matrix and a closeness coefficient for ranking alternatives. The proposed extension can overcome the problem of information loss which can lead to incorrect ranking result when using the Hadamard product to combine concordance and modified discordance matrices. A comparison is conducted to show the advantage of the proposed extension. Finally, a numerical example is used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method; furthermore, a numerical comparison is made to display the advantage of the proposed method.

Digitalization technologies have been identified as enablers for the adoption of Circular Economy practices. The machinery value chain, addressed in this study, is affected by the introduction of digital technologies that enable real-time monitoring data on product condition and control optimization deploying predictive analytics techniques, as well as the offerings of circular-based services. Machinery lifetime extension can be digitally enabled on both old and new machines. The research objectives were to investigate how digital technologies enable the adoption of circular economy-based business models in manufacturing companies and provide an answer about i) what Life Cycle Extension Strategy is suitable for digital circular business model adoption and ii) how digitalization of machines enables manufacturing companies to innovate their business model. The correlation matrix is the tool developed from the proposed approach; it aims at supporting manufacturers in the very first contact with circular business models. In the context of the European RECLAIM project, two manufacturers apply the approach, proving its validity and wide applicability. The next steps are expected to introduce quantitative indicators to define thresholds for the steps toward circularity, without replacing the qualitative approach, as it guarantees the wide applicability of the approach in context that never considered circularity yet.

In this paper, we will extend the expected value of the function w.r.t the uniform probability measure on sets measurable in the Caratheodory sense to be finite for a larger class of functions, since the set of all measurable functions with infinite or undefined expected values forms a prevalent subset of the set of all measurable functions, which means "almost all" measurable functions have infinite or undefined expected values. Before we define the specific problem in section 2, we will outline some preliminary definitions. We'll then define the specific problem (along with a partial solution in section 3) to visualize the complete solution. Along the way, we will ask a series of questions to clarify our understanding of the paper.

We propose a new approach of extending the laser filament plasma channel. By adding a circular aperture quartz plate before the focusing lens, the extension of the plasma channel is doubled. The effects of different diameters, thicknesses of the circular aperture quartz plate and different pulse energies on the length of the plasma channel were investigated. The experimental results show that the thickness of the quartz plate and the depth of the hole have little effects on the plasma channel of the filament, and the diameter of the hole in the center of the quartz plate has a significant effect on the length of the optical filament. The moving-focus model is used to explain the extension of the optical filament.

Kinect is a device that has been widely used in many areas since it was released in 2010. Kinect SDK was announced in 2011 and used in many other areas than its original purpose, which was a controller for gaming. In particular, it has been used by a number of artists in digital media art since it is inexpensive and has a fast recognition rate. However, there is a problem. Kinect create 3D coordinates with a single 2D RGB image for x, y value - single depth image for z value. And this creates a significant limitation on the installation for interactivity of media art. Because the Cartesian XY coordinate and the spherical Z coordinate system are used in combination, depth error depending on the distance is generated, which makes real-time rotation recognition and coordinate correction difficult above coordinate system. This paper proposes a real-time calibration method of Kinect recognition range expansion for useful application in the digital media art area. The proposed method can recognize the viewer accurately by calibrating a coordinate in any direction in front of the viewer. 3,400 datasets witch acquire from experiment were measured as five stances: the 1m attention stance, 1m hands-up stance, 2m attention stance, 2m hands-up stance, and 2m hands-half-up stance, which were taken and recorded every 0.5 sec. The experimental results showed that the accuracy rate was improved about 11.5% compared with front measurement data according to Kinect reference installation method.

The class of A-stable symmetric one-step Hermite-Obrechkoff (HO) methods introduced in [1] for dealing with Initial Value Problems is analyzed. Such schemes have the peculiarity of admitting a multiple knot spline extension collocating the differential equation at the mesh points. As a new result, it is shown that these maximal order schemes are conjugate symplectic which is a benefit when the methods have to be applied to Hamiltonian problems. Furthermore a new efficient approach for the computation of the spline extension is introduced, adopting the same strategy developed in [2] for the BS linear multistep methods. The performances of the schemes are tested in particular on some Hamiltonian benchmarks and compared with those of the Gauss Runge-Kutta schemes and Euler-Maclaurin formulas of the same order.

This study presents virtual reality (VR) videos as an effective technique for delivering extension educational materials on manure and mortality management. Virtual reality is a technology that can enable immersive distance learning. Using VR tours can enable the public to learn manure and mortality management technologies without in-person farm visits, thus saving traveling time and money and avoiding exposure to pathogens and noxious odors in farms. As the first part of this project, 360° VR tours were created on multiple aspects of manure management, including composting, anaerobic digestion, and preliminary wastewater treatment. These videos were presented to a diverse audience of agricultural producers, extension specialists, and researchers through in-person and online extension events and the Texas Manure YouTube channel. The effectiveness of videos was evaluated using surveys, which measured the audience's awareness of the topics before and after watching VR videos. Statistical analysis revealed that the increase in awareness after watching the videos was statistically significant, with a p-value of less than 0.0001. Statistical analysis also revealed that job classification and professional experience significantly impacted the change in awareness. Researchers, extension specialists/agents, and participants with less experience in manure and mortality management experienced a greater change in awareness than agricultural producers and participants with more experience. Interest and impression of the audience on the VR videos was also evaluated. According to survey data, the majority of the audience rated these videos as an effective technique for educating the public about manure and mortality management, found the VR videos interesting, were willing to learn more content through VR videos, and were likely to recommend them to their colleagues. A statistically significant correlation could be observed between the awareness change and the effectiveness rating given to the videos by the participant.

Synovial sarcomas are rare soft tissue tumors that infrequently occur in the ethmoid sinus, posing diagnostic challenges. Herein, we report a case of a 38-year-old male with a 7-month history of recurrent throbbing headaches, left eye pain, and facial nerve palsy, evolving into multiple stroke episodes. Radiological studies showed extension to the cavernous sinus, raising an initial suspicion of vasculitis. Histological findings of an endoscopic biopsy, however, confirmed a monophasic synovial sarcoma. Consequently, the patient was referred to a specialized center for comprehensive management. This case underscores the rarity of ethmoid sinus synovial sarcomas, their diverse clinical presentations, and the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach for accurate diagnosis and tailored therapeutic strategies.

Living systems must solve the problem of realizing their environment to act appropriately to maintain external relationships and internal order for survival and reproduction. This problem is a biological version of the philosophical enigma of how the self can escape solipsism. This study develops a comprehensive model to solve this adaptation problem. LSs must be composed of material entities that have the property of detecting their external states. The detection of the outside is conceptualized as “cognition,” a related state change that occurs at three levels of nested hierarchy: physical, chemical, and semiotic cognitions. Any entity that cognizes the surroundings is a “cognizer.” The hierarchical extension of cognition to all levels of the world provides a monistic view that only cognizers exist. Semiotic cognition is essential for the emergence and evolution of life. Living systems invented semiotic cognitions based on physical and chemical cognitions to manage the probability distribution of events that occur to them. This study proposes a theoretical model in which semiotic cognition is an adaptive process in which inverse causality operations produce particular internal states as symbols that signify hidden external states. This operation makes the living systems aware of the external world.

Agricultural extension and advisory services in Africa have significant impact on food security as well as economic and social development. Recent moves towards a pluralistic delivery system, including the emergence of private-sector led initiatives in many countries are subject of policy and academic discourse. Our study used an adapted, fit-for-purpose market systems development framework to review available research in extension and advisory services in selected sub-Sahara Africa countries. Using a literature survey methodology, we report evidence of multiple actors in extension delivery, findings that point towards evolution towards mixed delivery as well as objectives. While there are significant uptake of cost-recovery approaches among commercially-oriented farmers, many smallholder farmers still depended on donor-funded services. Our review adds to existing knowledge through incorporating a market systems development framework, which extends the often-used willingness to pay approach, and highlights the need for merger of the public and private-sector objectives to achieve developmental outcomes.

A single paragraph of about 200 words maximum. Electroencephalography (EEG) accumulates the electrical activities of human brain. It is an easy and cost effective tool to characterize motor imagery (MI) task used in brain computer interface (BCI) implementation. The MI task is represented by short time trial of multichannel EEG. In this paper, the raw EEG is decomposed into a finite set of narrowband signals obtained from individual EEG channels using Fourier transformation based bandpass filter. Each of the subband signals represents narrowband rhythmic components which characterize the brain activities related to motor imagery. The subband signals are arranged to extent the dimension of EEG trial in spatial domain. The spatial features are extracted from the set of extended trials using common spatial pattern (CSP). An optimum number of features are used to classify the motor imagery tasks represented by EEG trials. Artificial neural network is used to classify MI tasks. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated using two publicly available benchmark datasets. The experimental results show that it performs better than the recently developed algorithms.

The present study aims to develop a risk-based approach to find optimal solutions for life extension management for offshore wind farms based on Markowitz’s modern portfolio theory, adapted from finance. The developed risk-based approach assumes that the offshore wind turbines (OWT) can be considered as cash-producing tangible assets providing positive return from the initial investment (capital) with a given risk attaining the targeted (expected) return. In this regard, the present study performs a techno-economic life extension analysis within the scope of the multi-objective optimisation problem. The first objective is to maximise the return from the overall wind assets, while the latter aims to minimise the risk associated with obtaining the return. In formulating the multi-dimensional optimisation problem, the life-extension assessment considers the results of a detailed structural integrity analysis, free-cash-flow analysis, and probability of project failure, local and global economic constraints. Further, the risk is identified as the variance from the expected mean of return on investment. The risk-return diagram is utilised to classify the OWTs of different classes using an unsupervised machine learning algorithm. The optimal portfolios for the various required rate of return are recommended for different stages of life extension.

The forest transition – or forest-area transition – has been put forward as a land-use concept by A.S. Mather in 1992 (The forest transition. Area 24, 367-379), to describe the historical trend generally observed in the forest area of developed countries, embodied in a V-shaped curve of the forest area over time, and that may serve as a paradigm to understand and anticipate deforestation in the developing world. Well in line with a geographical approach to forests, forest transition has thus been defined as one-dimensional, forest area being the reference state variable. From a forestry perspective, the analysis appears to be reductive, as forests are described by many other state variables than area, including forest growing stock, composition in tree species, or stand structure. Whether the drivers of forest transition (population dynamics, economic modes of production and consciousness, as classified by Mather) also impact these other forest state variables in a general way thus comes forth as a logical issue.From a deductive analysis of forest transition drivers, and from forest trends brought to light in Europe, France, and at other places in the world, we here argue that the forest transition concept can be extended to a multi-dimensional space of forest attributes, characterized by typical ideal dynamics. Cumulative impacts onto forests and irreversible losses in forest biodiversity over a forest transition are hence highlighted. Global change, as a parallel consequence of countries’ developing process, further appears as one additional albeit less coupled dimension of forest transition, as it modifies forest productivity and vitality over time. Since forest ecosystem services and forest profitability primarily depend on such attributes, we argue that the extension of the forest transition concept has significance for land-use change and forest protection issues. A prospect on future changes in the forests of developed countries with the European space as a benchmark is finally proposed that leads to extend the temporal significance of forest transition. Though poorly described, returning forests on abandoned agricultural lands are significant, and deserve greater attention.

The Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN) is a Swiss research infrastructure initiative that aims to facilitate the exchange of health-related data in a FAIR manner. The SPHN Dataset and SPHN RDF Schema form an essential part of the SPHN Semantic Interoperability Framework, which currently covers mostly clinical routine data. To facilitate the integration of omics data produced by the SPHN National Data Streams, a genomics extension was developed. This was done in close collaboration with clinicians, researchers, bioinformaticians, and data managers, from Swiss university hospitals, academic research groups and the omics platforms. Here, we present the genomics extension of the SPHN RDF Schema, which can be used to semantically describe genomics experiments and covers both clinical and research domains. The schema centers around the general omics process flow, with concepts that denote the individual steps, such as sample processing, assay, and data processing. Genomics-specific specializations are provided, such as library preparation, sequencing assay, and sequencing analysis. The schema also facilitates in capturing other important omics metadata, such as information about the sequencing instrument, standard operating procedure, and quality control metrics. The extension aligns with existing semantic data models and reuses common biomedical vocabularies, such as EDAM, OBI and FAIR genomes, as value sets, thereby facilitating semantic interoperability. It will be used to FAIRify data that is produced within the Swiss network and to facilitate sharing this data as one knowledge graph for reuse among its participants.

We report new findings of live specimens of Nassarius persicus (Martens, 1874) and N. tadjallii Moolenbeek, 2007, extending their range to the Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat, India. The known distribution of both species was limited: N. persicus was distributed in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Karachi, Pakistan; N. tadjallii was reported from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. We also provide comprehensive taxonomic descriptions of both species, along with additional morphological and ecological information.

The aim of this article is three-fold: firstly, it is to highlight how the different Bantustans with the focus to Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei also know as the (TBVC) States secured extra territories. However, these Bantustans remained unrecognized in the international community because of their financial dependence to the apartheid regime. Secondly, the successes and failures of this process are fundamental in understanding the territorial monopolies of the Bantustans and thirdly we will interrogate how the Bantustan residents who were against the process mobilized other residents to reject the proposal and attempts of territorial expansion. Furthermore, this article contributes to the broader Bantustan’s historiography on the intended economic spin-offs with these endeavors. We contend that the above have received little scholarly attention. The methodology of this article draws from an historical approach and utilizes a range of different archival documentary sources, most importantly material housed in South Africa’s national archives and British Commonwealth archives. In conclusion, we argue in this article that these developments of territorial expansion had little benefits for the Bantustans and the extended territories adjacent to them.

There is consensus that climate variability and change is impacting food security in Eastern Africa, and that conventional extension approaches, based on top-down model of information dissemination and technology transfer, are too inadequate to help smallholder farmers tackle increasingly complex agro-climatic adversities. Innovative service delivery options exist but are mostly operated in silos with little effort to explore and blend them. There are efforts to develop a blended Climate-Resilient Farmers Field School methodology to address the gaps, with objective to improve participants’ knowledge, skills and attitude to apply the blended approach and to sensitize actors on what needs to be advocated at the policy level. Some 661 local trainers/facilitators (ToT/ToFs), 32% of them women and 54% youth, were trained across Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, with additional 76 Master Trainers (MToTs) trained to backstop the ToT/ToFs. Through the implementation, the process reached 36 agribusinesses covering some 237,250 smallholder farmers trained across Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda on CSA technologies, practices, and innovations by the end of 2020. The blended approach offers lessons to transform extension to help farmers improve food security and resilience. Preliminary findings indicate that the process is rapidly shaping individual adaptive behavior and group adaptive thinking. Lessons also show a strong need for agronomists to work more closely with agro-meteorologists to ensure that farmers are properly guided to participate appropriately in the co-generation and application of climate information and agro-weather advisories, which they can interpret easily and utilize for their agricultural production purposes. Experience from this initiative can be leveraged to develop scalable participatory extension and training models

The accuracy of multi-parametric MRI (mpMRI) in pre-operative staging of prostate cancer (PCa) remains controversial. Objective: To evaluate the ability of mpMRI to accurately predict PCa extra-prostatic extension (EPE) on a side-specific basis using a risk-stratified 5-point Likert scale. This study also aimed to assess the influence of mpMRI scan quality on diagnostic accuracy. Patients and Methods: We included 124 men who underwent robot-assisted RP (RARP) as part of the NeuroSAFE PROOF study at our centre. Three radiologists retrospectively reviewed mpMRI blinded to RP pathology and assigned a Likert score (1-5) for EPE on each side of the prostate. Each scan was also ascribed a Prostate Imaging Quality (PI-QUAL) score for assessing the quality of the mpMRI scan, where 1 represents poorest and 5 represents best diagnostic quality. Outcome measurements and statistical analyses: Diagnostic performance is presented for binary classification of EPE including 95% confidence intervals and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: A total of 231 lobes from 121 men (mean age 56.9 years) were evaluated. 39 men (32.2%), or 43 lobes (18.6%) had EPE. Likert score ≥3 had sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), NPV, PPV of 90.4%, 52.3%, 96%, 29.9%, respectively, and AUC was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.77-0.86). AUC was 0.63 (95% CI: 0.37-0.9), 0.77 (0.71-0.84) and 0.92 (0.88-0.96) for biparametric scans, PI-QUAL 1-3 and PI-QUAL 4-5 scans, respectively. Conclusions: MRI can be used effectively by genitourinary radiologists to rule out EPE and help inform surgical planning for men undergoing RARP. EPE prediction was more reliable when the MRI scan was a) multi-parametric and b) of a higher image quality according to the PI-QUAL scoring system.

Solar3D is an open-source software application designed to interactively calculate solar irradiation at three-dimensional (3D) surfaces in a virtual environment constructed with combinations of 3D city models, digital elevation models (DEMs), digital surface models (DSMs) and feature layers. The GRASS GIS r.sun solar radiation model computes solar irradiation based on two-dimensional (2D) raster maps for given day, latitude, surface and atmospheric conditions. With the increasing availability of 3D city models and demand for solar energy, there is an urgent need for better tools to computes solar radiation directly with 3D city models. Solar3D extends GRASS GIS r.sun from 2D to 3D by feeding the model with input, including surface slope, aspect and time-resolved shading, that is derived directly from the 3D scene using computer graphics techniques. To summarize, Solar3D offers several new features which, as a whole, distinguish itself from existing 3D solar irradiation tools: (1) the ability to consume massive heterogeneous 3D city models, including massive 3D city models such as oblique airborne photogrammetry-based 3D city models (OAP3Ds or integrated meshes); (2) the ability to perform near real-time pointwise calculation for duration from daily to annual; (3) the ability to integrate and interactively explore large-scale heterogeneous geospatial data. (4) the ability to calculate solar irradiation at arbitrary surface positions including at rooftops, facades and the ground. Solar3D is publicly available at https://github.com/jian9695/Solar3D.

In a continuation and extension of an earlier publication, the calculation of the refractivity and polarizability of organic molecules at standard conditions is presented, applying a commonly applicable computer algorithm based on an atom-group additivity method, where the molecules are broken down into their constituting atoms, these again being further characterized by their immediate neighbor atoms. The calculation of their group contributions, carried out by means of a fast Gauss–Seidel fitting calculus, used the experimental data of 5988 molecules from literature. An immediate subsequent ten-fold cross-validation test confirmed the extraordinary accuracy of the prediction of the molar refractivity, indicated by a correlation coefficient R^2 and a cross-validated analog Q^2 of 0.9997, a standard deviation σ of 0.38, a cross-validated analog S of 0.41, and a mean absolute deviation of 0.76%. The high reliability of the predictions has been exemplified with three classes of molecules: ionic liquids, silicon- and boron-containing compounds. The corresponding molecular polarizabilities have been calculated indirectly from the refractivity using the inverse Lorentz-Lorenz relation. In addition, it could be shown that there is a close relationship between the "true" volume and the refractivity of a molecule, revealing an excellent correlation coefficient R^2 of 0.9645 and a mean absolute deviation of 7.53%.

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

Digital agricultural technology extension service and sustainable food production have attracted attention from academia. However, the association between digital agricultural technology extension service and sustainable food production has not yet been fully investigated. This research investigates the average and heterogeneous impacts of digital agricultural technology extension service use on eco-efficiency among 1302 maize producing farmers from Northeast China major maize producing area in 2022 to fill this knowledge gap. The slack-based measure model with undesirable outputs is applied to calculate the eco-efficiency of maize production. To obtain an unbiased estimation of the average effect, the self-selection problem generated by observable and unobservable factors is solved by the endogenous switching regression model. Quantile regression is utilized to analyze the heterogeneous effect. Notably, the mediated effects model is utilized to examine the potential mechanism between them. Our findings indicate that digital agricultural technology extension service use can increase maize production's eco-efficiency. Digital agricultural technology extension service users would reduce eco-efficiency by 0.148 (21.11%) if they had not used the digital agricultural technology extension service. Digital agricultural technology extension service nonusers would improve eco-efficiency by 0.214 (35.20%) if they had used it. The robustness check reconfirms the results. Moreover, digital agricultural technology extension service use is more helpful to maize farmers who have lower eco-efficiency than those who have higher eco-efficiency. Digital agricultural technology extension service use can improve eco-efficiency of maize production through the application of organic fertilizers, green pesticides and biodegradable agricultural films.

In this study we used a non-autonomous Chua’s Circuit, and the fractional Lorenz chaos system together with a detection method from Extension theory to analyze the voltage signals. The measured bearing signals by acceleration sensor were introduced into the master and slave systems through a Chua’s Circuit. In a chaotic system minor differences can cause significant changes that generate dynamic errors, and extension matter-element models can be used to judge the bearing conditions. Extension theory can be used to establish classical and sectional domains using the dynamic errors of the fault conditions. The results obtained were compared with those from Discrete Fourier Transform analysis, Wavelet analysis and an integer order chaos system. The diagnostic ratio showed the fractional order master and slave chaos system calculations. The results show that the method presented in this paper is very suitable for monitoring the operational state of ball bearing system to be superior to the other methods. The diagnosis ratio was better and there were other significant advantages such as low cost and few.

Optimum postharvest storage conditions increase the shelf life and postharvest quality of horticultural crops. The effects of forced-air precooling (FAP) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on shelf life, physicochemical quality, and health-promoting properties of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L. cv. Nagano) harvested at 90% and 50% coloring stages in May and July respectively, stored at 11℃, 95% relative humidity were assessed. Fruits were treated with FAP + 30 μm polyethylene liner (FOLO), FAP (FOLX), 30 μm polyethylene liner (FXLO), and control (FXLX). The quality attributes, viz. weight loss, firmness, color, SSC, soluble sugars, TPC, TFC, DPPH, and ABTS were evaluated. FOLO maintained sensory quality (weight loss, firmness, and color), physicochemical (soluble solids content and soluble sugars), and health-promoting properties compared to other treatments during storage. The investigated parameters differed significantly (p &lt; 0.05) among treatments except soluble sugars. The 50% coloring fruits had a huge variation between treatments than 90% coloring. The results revealed more TPC and antioxidant capacity in 50% than in 90% coloring fruits. The study highlights the need to consider the ideal fruit coloring stage at harvest under the effect of FAP and MAP treatments in preserving bell pepper's postharvest quality and shelf life.

The construction industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is a significant sector in the Middle East, with annual expenditures exceeding USD 120 billion. It employs 15% of the work force and consumes more than 14% of the country’s energy resources. Despite the significant growth in the Saudi construction sector, it faces various challenges due to the rapid launch of mega projects such as NEOM and the Line project, as well as other new projects as part of the Saudi Vision 2030. Challenges might be limited to shortages of skilled labours, rising costs, construction disputes, and material shortages. This study aims to investigate the claims management procedures under traditional practice to be compared with a proposed BIM package as an alternative solution to mitigate construction disputes. The proposed BIM model improves and streamlines the claims process through automation. This study presents prospective and retrospective methods for delay analysis under an accepted program. A questionnaire survey was conducted, and out of a total of 123 practitioners, 79 replied. The findings reveal that 40% of the respondents acknowledged a growing awareness of BIM in the KSA construction industry. 47% agreed that BIM can help reduce potential disputes, and 33% strongly agreed that BIM can reduce overall project cost overruns.

This paper has a twofold objective. The first aim is to present a comprehensive bibliographical analysis of journal articles and book chapters on fuzzy-random option pricing (FROP) over the WoS and SCOPUS databases. It follows PRISMA criteria and takes special care of developments in continuous time. Thus, we described the principal findings about the research streams, outlets and authors of this topic and lets us suggest further research. The second contribution is motivated by the fact that the bibliographical revision has identified a lack of developments on equilibrium models on the yield curve. This question motivates extending Vasicek’s yield curve equilibrium model to introduce fuzziness in the parameters that govern interest rate movements (speed of reversion, equilibrium short-term interest rate, and volatility). Likewise, this paper develops an empirical application on the term structure of fixed income public bonds with the highest credit rating in the Euro area.

A construction for the systems of natural and real numbers is presented in Zermelo-Fraenkel Set Thoery, that allows for simple proofs of the properties of these systems, and practical and mathematical applications. A practical application is discussed, in the form of a Simple and Linear Fast Adder (Patent Pending). Applications to finite group theory and analysis are also presented. A method is illustrated for finding the automorphisms of any finite group $G$, which consists of defining a canonical block form for finite groups. Examples are given, to illustrate the procedure for finding all groups of $n$ elements along with their automorphisms. The canonical block form of the symmetry group $\Delta_4$ is provided along with its automorphisms. The construction of natural numbers is naturally generalized to provide a simple and sound construction of the continuum with order and addition properties, and where a real number is an infinite set of natural numbers. A basic outline of analysis is proposed with a fast derivative algorithm. Under this representation, a countable sequence of real numbers is represented by a single real number. Furthermore, an infinite $\infty\times\infty$ real-valued matrix is represented with a single real number. A real function is represented by a set of real numbers, and a countable sequence of real functions is also represented by a set of real numbers. In general, mathematical objects can be represented using the smallest possible data type and these representations are calculable. In the last section, mathematical objects of all types are well assigned to tree structures in a proposed type hierarchy.

Technical sectors are an inseparable and elementary part of a critical infrastructure (CI) complex system. The services they provide are essential to the functioning of all the dependent sectors of CI on whose services society depends, especially in areas with high levels of urbanisation. The starting point for effective CI elements protection of is permanent assessing and strengthening their resilience to the negative effects of internal and external threats. Current perceptions of resilience focus primarily on repressive components responsive to incident (i.e., robustness, recoverability, and adaptability), while little attention is paid to preventative components. Therefore, the benefit of the article is to define resistance which could be seen as the CI element ability or characteristic to prevent the occurrence of incidents. Based on that, the article defines 1) the individual factors (variables and parameters) determining the CI resistance and 2) the methodological procedure for infrastructure elements resistance assessment in order to identify weak points and subsequently strengthen them. The essence of the article is defining the starting points for extending the CIERA method by a component strengthening the critical infrastructure resilience in the prevention phase. A practical example of resistance assessment for a selected critical energy infrastructure element is presented at the end of the article.

Josephson junctions (JJs) in the presence of a magnetic field exhibit qualitatively different interference patterns depending on the spatial distribution of the supercurrent through the junction. In JJs based on two-dimensional topological insulators (2DTIs), the electrons/holes forming a Cooper pair (CP) can either propagate along the same edge or be split into the two edges. The former leads to a SQUID-like interference pattern, with the superconducting flux quantum $\phi_0$ (where $\phi_0=h/2e$) as a fundamental period. If CPs’ splitting is additionally included, the resultant periodicity doubles. Since the edge states are typically considered as being strongly localized, the critical current does not decay as a function of the magnetic field. Here we go beyond this approach and inspect a topological JJ in the tunneling regime featuring extended edge states. We consider the possibility that the two electrons of a CP propagate and explore the junction independently over length scales comparable with the superconducting coherence length. As a consequence of the spatial extension, we obtain a decaying pattern with different possible periods. In particular, we show that, if crossed Andreev reflections (CARs) are dominant and the edge states overlap, the resulting interference pattern features oscillations whose periodicity approaches $2\phi_0$.

The application of organic fertilizers plays a crucial role in achieving carbon sequestration in the agricultural sector. This paper discusses how farmers can more smoothly promote organic fertilizer extension services. An evolutionary game model is developed to describe the conflicting interests of Chinese farmers and local governments in organic fertilizer extension services, and the dynamic evolution of the game players and the influence of parameter adjustment on the strategic choices of both parties is presented. In this paper, the game model and the main results are validated with the help of simulation tools, and a sensitivity analysis of the selected parameters is performed. The results show that (1) the implementation of subsidy policy is less helpful for organic fertilizer extension services; (2) The ideal event probability of the game was found to be positively related to the cost of applying inorganic fertilizers, additional benefits to farmers, political returns to local governments, and penalties for not using organic fertilizers; (3) This is important for improving the performance of local governments, reducing government regulatory costs, improving policy support for organic fertilizer extension services, and reducing the cost of implementing organic fertilizer extension services.

\abstract{The existence of vorticies is well known in fluid mechanics and particularly in turbulence theory. In the context of the millennium problem of the Clay Institute on the existence (or not) of Global solutions in time of the Periodic Navier Stokes equations (PNS) results are now proposed to confirm that Global solutions do not exist in the general case of PNS defined on $\mathbb{T}^3$. This corresponds to part ($D$) proposition in the Navier Stokes problem as posted by C.Fefferman. Recent work has shown that for the Euler equations defined on the 3-Torus there exists a H\"older continuous solution for the third component of velocity $v_3$ at the center of each cell or cube of the 3-Torus Lattice. It has also been determined that as the kinematic viscosity changes from the corresponding value at $\nu=0$ to the fully viscous case for the Periodic Navier Stokes equations (PNS) at the value $\nu=1$ the solution reaches a peak ($\frac{\partial v_3}{\partial y_3} = 0$ ) in $y_3$. (third component of $\vec{r}=(y_1,y_2,y_3)$ in Cartesian co-ordinates) Here in the viscous case there exists a dipole which is not centered at the center of the cell of the Lattice. This immediately implies that since the dipole by definition has an equal in magnitude positive and negative peak in the third component of velocity, then the dipole Riemann cut-off surface is covered by a closed surface which is the sphere $\|\vec{r}\|=1$ and where a given cell of dimensions $[-1,1]^3$ is circumscribed on a sphere of radius $1$. For such a closed surface containing a dipole it necessarily follows that the flux at the surface of the sphere of $v_3$ wrt to surface normal $\vec{n}$ is zero including at $y_i, i=1\dots 3$ is zero at the points where the surface of sphere touches the cube walls. At the finite time singularity on the sphere a rotation boundary condition is deduced. Here $\frac{\partial v_3}{\partial \vec{n}}= \vec{n}\cdot \nabla v_3$. Also a boundary condition on the sphere shows rotation of sphere. Finally as a result, on the sphere a solution for $v_3$ is obtained which is proven to be H\"older continuous and it is proven that it is possible to extend H\"older continuity on the sphere uniquely to all of the interior of the ball.}

Nowadays, bioeconomy and nanotechnology trends push food packaging sector in the re-placement of food additives by biobased antioxidant/antibacterial compounds and their inclusion in nanocarriers to control their release. Herein by following this trend, a rich in thymol-(TO) activated carbon (AC) nanostructure (TO@AC) was prepared and physiochemically characterized with various technics. This TO@AC nanostructure as well as pure AC were extruded with low density polyethylene (LDPE) to develop novel active packaging LDPE/TO@AC and LDPE/AC films. X-ray diffractometry, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy measuraments shown high dispersity and capability of both AC and TO@AC in LDPE matrix which was resulted in enhanced tensile and water/oxygen barrier properties of obtained LDPE/AC and LDPE/TO@AC films. LDPE/TO@AC films shown higher elongation at break values and water/oxygen barrier than LDPE/AC films and significant antioxidant activity. TO release kinetics studies shown that by increasing TO@AC content the total TO amount released increased and the constant release rate decreased. Pork fillets wrapped with the optimum active film containing 15 wt.% TO@AC and succeed to prevent lipid oxidation and heme iron loss during storage. Estimation of microbial population of pork fillets shown that this active film could ex-tend the microbiological shelf-life of pork fillets by 2 days

In this paper, we present the extension of the pressure-based solver designed for the simulation of compressible and/or incompressible two-phase flows of viscous fluids. The core of the numerical scheme is based on the hybrid Kurganov— Noele — Petrova/PIMPLE algorithm. The governing equations are discretized in the conservative form and solved for velocity and pressure, with the density evaluated by an equation of state. The acoustic-conservative interface discretization technique helps to prevent the unphysical instabilities on the interface. The solver was validated on various cases in wide range of Mach number, both for single-phase and two-phase flows. The numerical algorithm was implemented on the basis of the well-known open-source Computational Fluid Dynamics library OpenFOAM in the solver called interTwoPhaseCentralFoam. The source code and the pack of test cases are available on GitHub: https://github.com/unicfdlab/hybridCentralSolvers

Users of meteorological forecasts are often faced with the question of whether to make a decision now based on the current forecast or whether to wait for the next and hopefully more accurate forecast before making the decision. One would imagine that the answer to this question should depend on the extent to which there is a benefit in making the decision now rather than later, combined with an understanding of how the skill of the forecast improves, and information about the possible size and nature of forecast changes. We extend the well-known cost-loss model for forecast-based decision making to capture an idealized version of this situation. We find that within this extended cost-loss model, the question of whether to decide now or wait depends on two specific aspects of the forecast, both of which involve probabilities of probabilities. For the special case of weather and climate forecasts in the form of normal distributions we derive a simulation algorithm, and equivalent analytical expressions, for calculating these two probabilities. We apply the algorithm to forecasts of temperature and find that the algorithm leads to better decisions relative to three simpler alternative decision-making schemes. Similar problems have been studied in many other fields, and we explore some of the connections.

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

Suppose for n∈ ℕ, set A⊆ℝⁿ and function f∶A→ℝⁿ. If set A, using the Hausdorff outer measure, is measurable in the sense of Carathèodory; we want to find an extension of the expected value, w.r.t the Hausdorff measure, that's unique, finite and "natural" (defined on §2.3 & §2.4) for all f in a prevalent subset of ℝᴬ. The issue is current extensions of the expected value are finite for all functions in only a shy subset of ℝᴬ. The reason this issue wasn't resolved is mathematicians have not thought of the problem, focusing on application rather than generalization. Despite the lack of potential use, we'll attempt to solve the problem by defining a choice function---this shall choose a unique set of equivalent sequences of sets (Fₖ***) , where the set-theoretic limit of Fₖ*** is the graph of f; the measure Hʰ is the ℎ-Hausdorff measure, such for each k∈ℕ, 0 < Hʰ(Fₖ***) < +∞; and (fₖ*) is a sequence of functions where {(x,fₖ*(x))∶x∈ dom(Fₖ***)}=Fₖ***. Thus, the extended expected value of or E**[f,Fₖ***] is: ∀(ε>0)∃(N∈ℕ)∀(k∈N)(k≥N⇒1/Hʰ(dom(Fₖ***))∫dom(Fₖ*** )fₖ* dHʰ - E**[f,Fₖ***]<ε ) which should be unique, finite, and "natural" (defined on §2.3 & §2.4) for all f in a prevalent subset of ℝᴬ. Note we guessed the choice function using computer programming but we don’t use mathematical proofs due to the lack of expertise in the subject matter. Despite this, the biggest use of this research is the extension of the expected value is finite for "almost all" functions: this is easier to use in application when finding the "average" of functions covering an infinite expanse of space.

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

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

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

Today, enhancing food preservation and safety in the spirit of the bioeconomy suggests the use of biodegradable polymers such as poly-L-lactic acid (PLA) in food packaging and the replacement of chemical additives with natural antioxidant/antibacterial agents such as essential oils and their derivatives. Herein a novel carvacrol (CV) @ natural zeolite (NZ) nanohybrid was developed by employing a new vacuum adsorption desorption method which results in the adsorption of a high CV amount on NZ equal to 61.7 %wt. This CV@NZ nanohybrid was successfully dispersed in a PLA/triethyl citrate (TEC) matrix via a melt-extrusion process to obtain PLA/TEC/xCV@NZ nanocomposite films with 5, 10 and 15 CV@NZ %wt. content. PLA/TEC/xNZ films were also de-veloped for comparison. The overall study resulted in a biodegradable active film with the fol-lowing properties: 10%wt. CV@NZ content (PLA/TEC/10CV@NZ), self-healable properties, 22% higher tensile strength and 40% higher elongation at break, 45% higher water barrier and 40% higher oxygen barrier than pure PLA/TEC matrix. This film also provides high CV release content, high CV control release rate as well as significant antioxidant activity and antibacterial activity against the food pathogens Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enterica spp. enterica serovar Typhimurium. This film not only succeeds in extending the shelf-life of fresh pork minced, as shown by total variable count measurements in four days, but also prevents lipid oxidation of fresh minced pork and maintains the minced meat in higher nutritional conditions, as revealed by the heme iron content determination, and in a much better and acceptable sensory condition than the commercial packaging paper.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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