Objective: To evaluate the effects of left intraparietal sulcus (IPS) inhibition by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on grip force modulation (GFM) for both hands during a unimanual task. Methods: GFM induced by manual action-verb listening was evaluated for each hand in a unimanual task, and the motor-evoked potentials (MEP) were recorded for both left and right hemispheres prior to and following the left IPS inhibition. Left IPS inhibition was obtained by rTMS (5 min of 1.0 Hz, 60% of maximal stimulator output) of the international 10–20 system P3 point. Seven healthy right-handed subjects were evaluated. Results: One-way repeated measures ANOVA found that MEP amplitude and duration increased following IPS inhibition in the left hemisphere and did not change in the right hemisphere. Language-induced modulation did not change in the left hemisphere, while it was significantly attenuated in the right hemisphere. Since IPS inhibition increased the left primary motor cortex (M1) excitability, the maintenance of language-induced modulation intensity suggests it was also attenuated. Conclusion: Left IPS inhibition increased left M1 excitability without changing right M1 excitability, while attenuating the language-induced GFM for both the left and right hands.

Background and objectives: The language-induced grip force modulation (GFM) can be used to better understand the link between the language and motor functions as an expression of the embodied language. However, the contribution of each brain hemisphere to the language-induced GFM is still unclear. Using six different action verbs as stimuli, this study evaluated the GFM of the left hand in unimanual task to characterize the left- and right-hemisphere contributions. Materials and Methods: The left-hand GFM of 20 healthy consistent right-handers subjects was evaluated using the verbs “to write”, “to hold”, “to pull”(left-lateralized central processing actions), “to draw”, “to tie”, and “to drive” (bi-hemispheric central processing actions) as linguistic stimuli. The time between the word onset and the first interval of statistical significance regarding the baseline (RT) was also measured. Results: The six verbs produced language-induced GFM. The modulation intensity was similar for the six verbs, but the RT was variable. The verbs “to draw”, “to tie”, and “to drive”, whose central processing of the described action is bihemispheric showed a longer Rt compared to the other verbs. Conclusions: The possibility that an action is performed by the left-hand does not interfere with the occurrence of GFM when this action verb is employed as linguistic stimulus. Therefore, the language-induced GFM seems mainly rely on the left hemisphere, and the engagement of the right hemisphere seems to slow down the increase in the GFM intensity.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the horizontal force and contribution of shoulder horizontal adductor and elbow extensor muscles activity during wide and narrow grip bench press (BP) in various conditions, such as resistance trained/non-trained, concentric/eccentric and muscle fatigue/non-fatigue.　We measured the horizontal force on the bar and the electromyographic (EMG) muscle activity of pectoralis major (PM) and triceps brachii (TB) during 10RM BP with wide grip (81cm) and narrow grip (40cm)　in 7　resistance trained men and 7 non-trained men. The all-reps average of the horizontal to vertical force ratio both in resistance trained and non-trained subjects was about 30% outward for the wide grip, and about 10% inward for the narrow grip. The EMG contribution ratio PM/TB shows no significant differences between narrow and wide grip in all evaluated conditions except in non-trained subjects muscle fatigue eccentric phase. Both resistance trained and non-trained subjects did not push the bar straight upward, and the EMG PM/TB was almost unchanged by hand width. The direction adjustment of the force on the bar that achieves almost the same muscle activity degree of the shoulder and elbow joints might be optimal BP kinetics.

The link between language processing and motor systems has been the focus of increasing interest to Cognitive Neuroscience. Some classical papers studying Event Related Potentials (ERPs) induced by linguistic stimuli have found differences in electrophysiological activity when comparing action and non-action words; more specifically, a bigger p200 for action words. On the other hand, a series of studies have validated the use of a grip force sensor (GFS) to measure language-induced motor activity during both isolated words and sentence listening, finding that action words induce an augmentation in the grip force around 250-300 ms after the onset of the stimulus. The purpose of the present study is to combine both techniques to assess if the p200 is related to the augmentation of the grip force measured by a GFS. We measured ERP and GFS changes elicited by listening to action and non-action words while maintaining an active grasping task in 10 healthy subjects. Our results show that the amplitude of the p200 in central electrodes is correlated to the augmentation in the GFS around 300 ms induced by linguistic stimuli. To our knowledge, this is the first study where the electrophysiological activity and the changes in the grip force induced by auditory language processing are put together, opening new venues of interpretation for the sensorimotor interaction in language processing.

In recent years, research on adversarial attack techniques for remote sensing object detection (RSOD) has made great progress. Still, most of the research nowadays is on end-to-end attacks, which mainly design adversarial perturbations based on the prediction information of the object detectors (ODs) to achieve the attack. These methods do not discover the common vulnerabilities of the ODs and thus the transferability is weak. Based on this, this paper proposes a foreground feature approximation (FFA) method to generate adversarial examples (AEs) that discover the common vulnerabilities of the ODs by changing the feature information carried by the image itself to implement the attack. Specifically, firstly, the high-quality predictions are filtered as attacked objects using the detector, after which a hybrid image without any target is made, and the hybrid foreground is created based on the attacked targets. The images' shallow features are extracted using the backbone network, and the features of the input foreground are approximated towards the hybrid foreground to implement the attack. In contrast, the model predictions are used to assist in realizing the attack. In addition, we have found the effectiveness of FFA for targeted attacks, and replacing the hybrid foreground with the targeted foreground can realize targeted attacks. Extensive experiments with seven rotating ODs on the RSOD datasets DOTA and UCAS-AOD show that FFA achieves both targetless and targeted attacks with a high success rate and transferability.

This paper represents the first investigation into the consensus problem of linear time-varying multi-agent systems utilizing an event-triggered communication scheme. First, a general event-triggered consensus control scheme is proposed for a general category of linear time-varying multi-agent systems. Under some suitable assumptions, it is demonstrated that all agents’ states will converge exponentially, with Zeno behaviour being ruled out. Second, the consensus problem in a network of linear time-varying multi-agent systems with a spanning tree is investigated using the proposed control strategy. It demonstrates that the consensus issue for the specified system can be reformulated as a stabilization problem for an error system through a time-varying linear transformation. Then, the event-triggered consensus problem is just a special instance of the general event-triggered consensus problem mentioned above. Finally, to illustrate the efficacy of the event-triggered method proposed in this study, simulation results are shown.

STRAS (Single access Transluminal Robotic Assistant for Surgeons) is a flexible robotic system based on the Anubis® platform of Karl Storz for application to intra-luminal surgical procedures. It consists of three cable-driven systems, one endoscope serving as guide and two inserted instruments. The flexible and bendable instruments have three degrees of freedom and can be teleoperated by a single user via two specially designed master interfaces. In this research, a pair of specific sensor gloves, which ergonomically fit to the master handles of the system was designed and the forces applied by one expert and one novice user during system-specific task execution in a simulator task (4-step-pick-and-drop) were compared. The results show that user expertise is not only reflected by shorter task execution times but also, more importantly, by specific differences in handgrip force profiles for specific sensor locations on anatomically relevant parts of the fingers and hand controlling the surgical instruments of the robotic master/slave system.

Biosensors and wearable sensor systems with transmitting capabilities are currently developed and used for the monitoring of health data, exercise activities, and other performance data. Unlike conventional approaches, these devices enable convenient, continuous, and unobtrusive monitoring of a user’s behavioral signals in real time. Examples include signals relative to hand an finger movement/pressure control reflected by individual grip force data. As will be shown here, these directly translate into task, skill and hand-specific (dominant versus non-dominant hand) grip force profiles for different measurement loci in the fingers and palm of the hand. On the basis of thousands of sensor data from multiple sensor locations, individual grip force profiles of an task expert, a trained user and a highly proficient user (expert) performing an image-guided and robot-assisted precision task with the dominant or the non-dominant hand are analyzed in several steps following Tukey’s “detective work” approach. Correlation analyses (Person’s Product Moment) reveal skill-specific differences in individual grip force profiles across multiple sources of variation, functionally mapped to the somatosensory brain networks which ensure grip force control and its evolution with control expertise. Implications for the real-time monitoring of individual grip force profiles and their evolution with training in complex task-user systems are brought forward.

Mechanical equipment is composed of several parts, the interaction between the parts exists throughout whole life cycle leads to the widespread phenomenon of fault coupling and the diagnosis of independent faults cannot meet the requirements of the health management of mechanical equipment under actual working conditions. In this paper, the topological structure of graph neural network is used to describe the correlation of coupling faults and multiple fault types are regarded as network nodes respectively. The fault features are fused and extracted by graph convolution to achieve the classification of coupling faults. In this paper, dynamic vertexes are defined in data topology and the parameters of DIGNN classification model are optimized by changing the fault type of dynamic vertexes during training stage. The data is loaded into dynamic vertexes for classification and analysis during testing stage. The one-dimensional vibration data is converted into two-dimensional time-frequency domain data by wavelet transform making the input features of the model interpretable to reduce the uncertainty of model training. The data topology is then fed into DIGNN for fault classification, and GCN's node aggregation gives interpretability to each layer of network data processing. The method proposed in this paper can realize accurate diagnosis of independent faults on the data set, and can effectively judge the coupling mode of coupling faults, which is suitable for coupling fault analysis of mechanical equipment.

A novel technique suitable for propulsion of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is discussed in this paper. This approach utilizes the rotational energy of airborne gyro rotors and converts it into translational propulsion for the vehicle. The energy conversion is achieved by generating precisely directed centrifugal force pulses through short-duration rotor unbalances. The accurate control of the timing and magnitude of these unbalances is crucial for successful propulsion generation. Our first-order theory of controlled unbalance propulsion (CUP) predicts the potential for achieving high translational accelerations and vehicle velocities up to orbital levels. Power saving levitation of UAVs can be attained. In this paper, we provide traceable evidence that pulsed centrifugal propulsion is based on well-established laws of physics and can be realized using state-of-the-art technologies.

In the paper, a study of the performance of unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), establishes numerical simulation model of the chassis system by three-dimensional software and finite element analysis software. Based on the numerical modelling and analysis, the work focuses on study of the strength and stiffness of the vehicle's chassis and researched the distribution of stress and deformation under the extremal condition. The paper also presents an autopilot design with new cascade control system for an autonomous motion of an unmanned ground vehicle based on Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) and Feed-Forward (FF) control. The PID-FF controller is a part of dedicated for presented UGV used in a hybrid control system for precise control and stabilization, necessary to increase the vehicle motion stability and maneuvers precision. The hybrid PID-FF control system proposed for the ground vehicle model gives a satisfactory quality of control, while maintaining the simplicity of the control system. Presented tests performed in area of mechanical design and control analysis gives good results and proves usefulness of designed unmanned device.

The unprecedented progress in Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly in deep learning algorithms with ubiquitous internet connected smart devices, has created a high demand for AI computing on the edge devices. This review studied commercially available edge processors, and the processors that are still in industrial research stages. We categorized state-of-the-art edge processors based on the underlying architecture, such as dataflow, neuromorphic, and Processing in-Memory (PIM) architecture. The processors are analyzed based on their performance, chip area, energy efficiency, and application domains. The supported programming frameworks, model compression, data precision, and the CMOS fabrication process technology are discussed. Currently, most of the commercial edge processors utilize dataflow architectures. However, emerging non-von Neumann computing architectures have attracted the industry in recent years. Neuromorphic processors are highly efficient for performing computation with fewer synaptic operations, and several neuromorphic processors offer online training for secured and personalized AI applications. This review found that the PIM processors show significant energy efficiency and consume less power compared to dataflow and neuromorphic processors. The future direction of the industry would be to implement state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms in emerging non-Von Neumann computing paradigms for low power computing on the edge devices.

Graph visualization has evolved significantly over time, offering various methods to effectively represent complex data structures. This study introduces a novel force-directed algorithm for 3D data visualization, specifically tailored for commonly used datasets in linked data visualization. Leveraging the power of graph theory and methods, the algorithm aims to address the challenge of creating visually appealing and easily interpretable visualizations, which often necessitate advanced user interaction. By utilizing 3D space and the Unity Engine, the research successfully visualizes data and develops interactive visualizations, overcoming limitations of basic force-directed implementations. The main contribution of presented research is in the force-directed algorithm with springs and controlled placement as a visualization technique that combines the use of springs and attractive forces to stabilize a graph in a 3D environment. The combination of these two techniques also helps prevent the formation of a single large cluster within the graph, enhancing the overall visualization quality.

Bionic robotic hand can perform many movements similar to human hand. But there is still a significant gap in manipulation between robot and human hand. It is necessary to understand the finger kinematics and motion patterns of human hand to improve the performance of robotic hand. This study aimed to comprehensively investigate normal hand motion patterns by evaluating the kinematics of hand grip and release in healthy individuals. The data corresponding to rapid grip and release were collected from the dominant hand of 22 healthy people by sensory glove. The kinematics of 14 finger joints were analyzed, including the dynamic range of motion (ROM), peak velocity, joint sequence and finger sequence. The results show that the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint had a largest dynamic ROM than metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints. Besides, the PIP joint had the highest peak velocity, both in flexion and extension. For joint sequence, the PIP joint moved prior to the DIP or MCP joints during flexion, while extension started in DIP or MCP joints, followed by PIP joint. Regarding the finger sequence, the thumb started to move before four fingers, and stopped moving after the fingers during both grip and release. This study explored the normal motion patterns in hand grip and release, which provided kinematic reference for the design of robotic hand and thus contribute to its development.

(1) Background: A wide literature based on loading and unloading bending tests has been carried out over the half past century for assessing the force released by superelastic wires. The aim of this investigation is not only to characterize a broadly described superelastic NiTi and a novel CuNiTi archwire, but also to provide novel insights into the load vs deflection profiles. A harmonic scenario for superelastic wires will be shown as temperature is kept constant at 37°C. However, a completely different picture will be highlighted as a temporary heating step up to 50°C is introduced within the force vs deflection profiles. (2) Methods: A variety of NiTi and a novel CuNiTi round and rectangular cross-section archwires have been investigated. Static 3-point bending tests up to a deflection level of 3.0 mm have been carried out for detecting the unloading force plateau levels occurring at 37°C. A hold deflection step of 5 min at deflection levels occurring along the unloading plateau extension is introduced. The effect of a temporary heating up to 50°C on the force plateau level released by the investigated wires is analyzed. (3) Results: Mechanical profiles suggest that the plateau force levels detected at 37°C are consistent with those broadly reported in the literature, but they only represent a single block puzzle of the force scenario that a superelastic wire releases during the orthodontic treatment. (4) Conclusions: Once a superelastic wire is bent and clinically applied, the effect of a temporary heating up to 50°C (e.g. hot food or drink ingestion) produces a significant plateau force increase whose magnitude depends on the deflection level. The highest force increase of about 50% and 40% have been detected at deflection levels located at the beginning of the unloading plateau extension for NiTi and CuNiTi wires, respectively.

Wind energy is a kind of renewable energy with great potential for development. This study mainly investigated the application of shock waves generated by high-pressure gases (wind energy) for generating energy. In this study, we designed a new supersonic shock wave generator that can be reused without disassembling and assembling bolts and developed a supersonic shock wave monitoring system. This system monitored the velocity of the generated shock waves, which was Mach 3-5, and the output pressure was more than 100 times higher than the input pressure of the shock wave generator tank.Then, we developed a power generation system driven by supersonic shock waves based on the characteristics of the new shock wave generator, which can generate high-pressure and high-speed blast waves and can be reused. The shock wave generator can repeatedly generate high-pressure waves to drive the Tesla turbine and then the magnetic energy generator for power generation. We established a complete control process for power generation driven by shock waves by controlling the valve stem. The system can detect the tank pressure, output pressure, gas flow, rotation speed, voltage, and current during the control process for the performance analysis of power generation.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) formula has been developed by Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet and published in 1840 [1] as a law of nature and society, based on statistics about the weight and height of the population of that time, the first part of the 19^th century. He called it “social physics”. From then, for nearly two centuries, the BMI had been the most important formula describing the normal relations and ratio of weight to the square of the height for humans. The problem arises if the BMI formula, developed in the first part of the 19^th century is still good today when the type of work people perform is very different? In modern times, most people are less muscular than at the time when the BMI was developed because they do not work physically as heavy as at that time. In many cases, the Body Mass index can predict mortality, morbidity and illness but not always, for example cases such as (a) the obesity paradox for some cardiovascular problems and (b) the U shape mortality paradox as well as (c) false positive obesity diagnostic in regard to people who are strong and muscular, have low body fat percentage but are classified as obese by the BMI and (d) cases where BMI is normal but people have an “obese metabolism” (e) BMI normal but high fat percentage. The objective is to develop a formula good for all body types, a formula that makes the difference between fat and non-fat body weight such as muscle and body frame and quantifies the effect of strength and fitness, which BMI does not. Another objective is to develop a formula to predict the health risks and fitness status of people, better than BMI. The first generalizations of BMI using anthropometric metrics could be found in [2], where I discuss and analyze many formulae, developed, tested, and simulated by me, using similar new methods, accounting for body shape, physical shape and body function, making the difference between muscle mass and fat, fat and non fat body weight. Nearly all formulae and methods developed and proposed in this new model are new, never published before. Many experiments published before, in highly cited papers show that grip strength and muscle strength is a predictor of health, mortality, morbidity, endocrine and metabolic disease outside the BMI and anthropometric measures. The purpose of my formula is to explain the outcome of those experiments and create a formula which predicts these experiments [21-41].

To analyze the combined response of ocular cyclotorsion and head tilt during body tilt and to interpret the physiologic role of those movements, each of the three subjects completed six different experiments of body tilt not fixating their head movements using a flight simulator, which consisted of combinations of three tilt angles (30, 45, and 60) and two visual conditions. Head tilt and ocular cyclotorsion of the right eye before, during, and after the tilt maneuver were recorded and analyzed by time sequence. In the active tilting phase, the right eye showed a stepladder pattern of multiple repeats of fast and slow cyclotorsion along with head tilt to obtain maximum visual information. During the stationary tilting phase, there occurred a small amount (mean, 2.3) of ocular cyclotorsion which was reciprocal to that of head tilt. The visual cue of body tilt through the central visual field induced a larger amount of head tilt but affected little ocular cyclotorsion. The maximum degree of ocular cyclotorsion during each experiment was 10.2 on average. In conclusion, the combined response of ocular cyclotorsion and head tilt develops during body tilt and it compromises the conflicting needs between binocular vision and gravitational orientation.

Molecular hybridization is a widely used strategy in drug discovery and development processes that consists in the combination of two bioactive compounds toward a novel entity. In the current study, two libraries of hybrid derivatives coming from the linkage of sesquiterpene counterparts dihydroartemisinin and artesunic acid with a series of monoterpenes were synthesized and evaluated by cell viability assay on primary and metastatic melanoma cell lines. Almost all the obtained compounds showed micromolar antimelanoma activity and selectivity toward the metastatic form of this cancer. Four hybrid derivatives containing perillyl alcohol, citronellol, and nerol as monoterpene counterpart, emerged as the best compounds of the series, with nerol being active in combination with both sesquiterpenes, dihydroartemisinin and artesunic acid. Preliminary studies on the mechanism of action have shown the dependence of the pharmacological activity of newly synthesized hybrids on the formation of carbon- and oxygen-centered radical species. This study demonstrated the positive modulation of the pharmacodynamic effect of artemisinin semisynthetic derivatives dihydroartemisinin and artesunic acid due to the hybridization with monoterpene counterparts.

Abstract: MicroRNAs can interfere with a protein function by suppressing their messenger RNA translation or the synthesis of its related factors. The function of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is essential to the proper formation and function of the nervous system and is seen to be regulated by many microRNAs. However, understanding how microRNAs influence BDNF actions within cells requires a wider comprehension of their integrative regulatory mechanisms. Aim: In this literature review, we have synthesized the evidence of microRNA regulation on BDNF in cells and tissues, and provided an analytical discussion about direct and indirect mechanisms that appeared involved in BDNF regulation by microRNAs. Methods: Searches were conducted on PubMed.gov using the terms “BDNF” AND “MicroRNA” and “brain-derived neurotrophic factor” AND “MicroRNA”, updated on September 1st, 2023. Papers without open access were requested from the authors. One hundred and seventy-one papers were included for review and discussion. Results and Discussion: The local regulation of BDNF by microRNAs involves a complex interaction between a series of microRNAs with target proteins that can either inhibit or enhance BDNF expression, at the core of cell metabolism. Therefore, understanding this homeostatic balance provides resources for the future development of vector-delivery-based therapies for the neuroprotective effects of BDNF.

Currently, there is a high interest in smart sensors and integrated composite materials in various industries such as construction, aviation, automobile, medical, information technology, communication, and manufacturing. Here, a new conceptual design for a force and temperature sensor system is developed by integrating fiber optic Bragg grating sensors embedded within composite materials, and a mathematical model is proposed that allows one to estimate strain and temperature based on signals obtained from optical Bragg gratings. This is important for understanding the behaviors of sensors under different conditions and for creating effective monitoring systems. Describing the strain gradient distribution, especially considering different materials with different values of Young's modulus, provides insight into how different materials respond to applied forces and temperature changes. The shape of the strain gradient distribution was obtained, which is a quadratic function with a maximum value of 1500 µ, with a maximum value at the center of the lattice and a symmetrically decreasing strain value with distance from the central part of the fiber Bragg grating. With axial strain at the installation site of the Bragg grating sensor under applied force values ranging from 10 to 11 N, the change in strain was linear. As a result of theoretical research, it was found that the developed system with fiber-optic sensors based on Bragg gratings embedded in composite materials is resistant to external influences and temperature changes.

LCK, a member of the Scr kinase family, is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase involved in immune cell activation, antigen recognition, tumor growth, and cytotoxic response. The enzyme has usually been linked to T lymphocyte activation upon antigen recognition. Lck activation is central to CD4, CD8, and NK activation. However, recently, it has become clearer that activating the enzyme in CD8 cells can be independent of antigen presentation and enhance cytotoxic response. The role of Lck in NK cytotoxic function has been controversial in a similar fashion as the role of the enzyme in CAR T cells. Inhibition of Lck has been mainly to treat hematologic malignancies with a high rate of success. They may be useful in treating other tumor types, and they may be useful to prevent cell exhaustion. New, more selective inhibitors have been documented, and they have shown inter-esting activities not only in tumor growth but in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, asthma, and graft vs host disease. Drug repurposing and bioinformatics can aid in solving several unsolved is-sues on the role of Lck in cancer. In summary, the role of Lck in immune response and tumor growth is not a simple event and requires more research.

Dynamic time history analysis is a powerful and effective method to study the seismic response of tunnels, the dynamic time history to analyze the seismic response of the tunnel in the typical subway in this paper. The analysis results show that the overall levelling of the tunnel will not affect the tunnel too much, and the seismic response of the tunnel is mainly related to the relative displacement of the ground around the tunnel. The analysis results show that the internal force of the tunnel and the tunnel inclination have a good linear relationship, and the tunnel inclination can be used to measure the magnitude of the seismic response of the tunnel.

Background: Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are a major public health concern due to their high incidence and potential for complications. Pharmacists often serve as the first point of contact for patients with URTIs. This study aims to develop and evaluate the RESP-8 tool to assist pharmacists in determining the need for medical evaluation. Methods: This prospective interventional cohort study was conducted over six months (October 2023 to March 2024) in community pharmacies. Participants included adults aged 18 years and older presenting with URTI symptoms. Pharmacists used the RESP-8 tool, which comprises eight criteria to assess the need for medical referral. Data on medical history, symptom duration, and progression were recorded. The primary outcome was the feasibility of implementing the RESP-8 tool. Secondary outcomes included the accuracy of the tool, the percentage of patients recommended for medical evaluation, and compliance with these recommendations. Results: A total of 64 participants were included, with an average age of 55.7 years. Pharmacists recommended medical evaluation for 75% (48/64) of patients using the RESP-8 tool. Among these, 70.83% (34/48) complied with the recommendation. The tool demonstrated high accuracy in identifying patients needing further medical evaluation, with only two noted errors. All compliant patients received appropriate treatment without complications. The tool was easy to implement, taking less than 5 minutes per patient. Discussion: The RESP-8 tool effectively guided pharmacists in recommending medical evaluations for URTI patients. The high compliance rate indicates patient trust in pharmacists' guidance. While the study's small sample size limits generalizability, the results are promising. Future studies with larger populations are necessary to validate these findings and further refine the tool. Conclusion: The RESP-8 tool shows potential in enhancing pharmacists' ability to make informed decisions about medical referrals for URTIs, ultimately improving patient outcomes and optimizing healthcare resource management.

The paper presents the prediction of hydrodynamic characteristics of different rudder -plane configurations behind a submarine in deep water through the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes method in Ansys Fluent Solver. The hydrodynamic force and moment acting on the Cross-plane, X-plane, and Y-plane rudder configurations are analyzed for estimating hydrodynamic coefficientsfor predicting the advantages of each configuration to control the ship. The obtained results show that X-force of the X-plane rudder configuration is larger than the force acting on the Cross-plane rudder and Y-plane rudder configurations. However, Y-force, and Z-force of the X-plane rudder configuration are significantly greater than the Y-force of the left configurations. The same tendency can be seen in the moment of the X-plane rudder about the y-axis and z-axis. The roll moment induced by the Y-plane and Cross-plane rudder configurations is significantly larger than the case of the X-plane rudder configuration.

Both bacteria product flagellin and macrophages are implicated in HIV infection/disease progression. However, the impact of their interaction on HIV infection and the associated mechanisms remain to be determined. We thus examined the effect of the flagellins on HIV infection of primary human macrophages. We observed that the pretreatment of macrophages with the flagellins from the different bacteria significantly inhibited HIV infection. The mechanistic investigation showed that the flagellin treatment of macrophages downregulated the major HIV entry receptors (CD4 and CCR5) and upregulated the CC chemokines (MIP-1α, MIP-1β, and RANTES), the ligands of CCR5. These effects of the flagellin could be compromised by a toll like receptor 5 (TLR5) antagonist. Given the important role of flagellin as a vaccine adjuvant in TLR5 activation-mediated immune regulation and in HIV infection of macrophages, future investigations are necessary to determine the in vivo impact of flagellin-TLR5 interaction on macrophage-mediated innate immunity against HIV infection and the effectiveness of flagellin adjuvant-based vaccines studies.

Rice prolamins are categorized into three groups by molecular size (10, 13, or 16 kDa), while the 13 kDa prolamins are assigned to four subgroups (Pro13a-I, Pro13a-II, Pro13b-I, and Pro13b-II) based on cysteine residue content. Here, we generated four knockout strains of rice using CRISPR-Cas9, each of which demonstrated selectively reduced expression of specific subgroups of the 13 kDa prolamins. These four mutant rice lines also demonstrated compensatory expression of glutelins and non-targeted prolamins, which resulted in low grain weight, altered starch content and atypically-shaped starch granules and protein bodies. Transcriptome analysis identified 746 transcripts that were differentially expressed in the mutant rice lines during development. These transcripts played roles primarily in RNA processing, protein synthesis, stress response, and transport. After selective suppression/knockout of genes in the Pro13a-I subgroup, compensatory upregulation of genes in the Pro13a-II and Pro13b-I/II subgroups was observed. Compensatory expression of 9 ER stress and 17 transcription factor genes was also observed in mutant rice in which expression of 13 kDa prolamin genes was suppressed. Our results provide valuable insight into the regulatory mechanisms underlying rice seed development and the specific roles played by 13 kDa rice prolamins and their target genes.

The mortality of birds resulting from collisions and electrocutions with overhead lines, such as power lines, and phone line among others, has been implicated in the decline of various avian species globally. Specifically, overhead line collisions pose a significant threat to the conserva-tion of the Canarian houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae), an endangered sub-species endemic to the Canary Islands. This study centres on the postmortem findings of Canarian houbara bustards that have collided with overhead lines, providing insights into the post-collision outcomes for these birds. A com-plete standardized necropsy of nine Canarian houbara bustards revealed that polytrauma was the cause of death in all cases. The most notable gross lesions associated with trauma included bone fractures, soft tissue lacerations, haemorrhages, luxations, and hemocoelom, with certain body regions being more frequently affected. Histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and en-tomology analysis confirmed that numerous birds survived the initial trauma, exhibiting varia-ble survival intervals before succumbing to their injuries. We concluded that when a houbara bustard collide with an overhead line it frequently survives the initial trauma. The histopathology, immunohistochemistry, or entomologic analysis may be helpful to approximate the timing interval between trauma and death.

Objective. To test the hypothesis that a session of unilateral tSMS over the dominant primary motor cortex (M1) in healthy subjects produces a transient decrease in manual dexterity. Methods. A triple-blinded randomized control trial was conducted in 40 healthy participants who were allocated to real- or sham-tSMS group. Each participant underwent one session of tSMS and were assessed before, immediately after, 15 minutes, and 40 minutes after stimulation. Outcome measures were Finger Tapping Test (FTT), 5-seconds FTT, nine Hole Peg Test, and the hand grip assessment. Results: Significant differences were found between groups 15 minutes after stimulation in favor of the tSMS group in the FTT (2.2 ± 0.99; CI= .18-4.22; d= .84p=.034), and 5-second FTT (4.2 ± 1.98; CI= .199-8.2, d= .68; p=.04). In the intragroup analysis, a significantly lower number of taps 15 minutes after stimulation was observed in sham group (3.3 ± 1.01; CI= .47-6.13; d= .42; p=.015), but not in the real stimulation group. Conclusion: A unilateral session of tSMS in the M1 of the dominant hemisphere of healthy individuals does not reduce manual dexterity or grip strength. This technique could have benefits on the motor performance of the arm contralateral to the stimulated motor cortex

In spite of prevalence gaps in several micronutrients supporting immune function, significance of their deficits/supplementation for efficacy of vaccines is underinvestigated. Thus, influence of supplementation combining vitamins C and D, zinc, selenium and manganese, and N-acetyl-cysteine on mouse IgG responses and underlying mechanisms to seasonal quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) was investigated. QIV was given in two doses (28 days apart). The supplementation starting 5 days before the first injection increased the total serum IgG titre, through stimulation of germinal centre (GC) reaction in secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs), as indicated by increase in the frequency of GC B cells and follicular CD4+ T helper (Th) cells, and IL-21-producing Th cells. Additionally, the supplementation “optimized” IgG response following the second QIV injection by supporting more favorable (in respect to virus clearance) IgG2a response through favoring Th1 differentiation as indicating by Th1 (INF-γ) /Th2 (IL-4) signature cytokine level ratio upon QIV restimulation in SLO cell cultures. This most likely reflected partly their antioxidant action (as indicated by redox status analyses) on Th cell differentiation. Thus, the study forms solid base for further research aimed at repurposing use this safe and inexpensive micronutrient combination as an adjuvant for virus influenza vaccine.

The electric field is enormously more powerful than the gravitational field. However, in our normal experience there is no electric field, the electric force is missing. How is it that when you get to larger and larger scales the gravitational field is extremely important whereas the electric field becomes less and less important [1]? This paper proposes a model to explain why gravitation dominates at a larger scale.

Although sarcopenia is characterized by a loss of muscle strength and skeletal muscle mass, few studies have evaluated the effect of muscle strength on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. We separately evaluated the impact of sarcopenia-related factors (grip strength [GS] and the skeletal muscle index [SMI]) on the survival among lenvatinib-treated unresectable HCC (u-HCC) patients. This single-center cohort study was conducted at a university hospital. The study population included 63 lenvatinib-treated u-HCC patients managed between April 2018 and April 2020. A decreased GS and decreased SMI were found in 21 (33.3%) and 22 (34.9%) patients, respectively. The overall survival (OS) of the normal GS group was significantly higher than that of the decreased GS group, while that of the normal and decreased SMI groups did not differ markedly. There were no significant differences in the progression-free survival between the normal GS and decreased GS groups or the normal SMI and decreased SMI groups. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards model showed that ALBI2b (hazard ratio [HR] 4.39) and a decreased GS (HR 3.55) were independently associated with an increased risk of poor prognosis. In addition to the hepatic functional reserve, a decreased GS was a poor prognostic factor in lenvatinib-treated u-HCC patients.

Several Lung diseases can result in lung damage structural changes, with lung transplantation as a only therapeutic option when the disease reaches an advanced progression, unfortunately, the success of lung transplantation is limited. In this context, lung bioengineering is considered a potential therapeutic alternative and the current approach is based on the use of the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) of the decellularized lung. The use of undifferentiated cells to seed an ECM can be a more practical strategy for lung bioengineering but the sterilization of the organ for this recellularization process is still a challenge. In this sense, Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) can emerge as a potential treatment alternative. Therefore, the objective of this study was to verify if LLLT, can optimize lung recelularization with mesenchymal stem cells by cytokine modulation. For this, we decellularized lungs from C57BL/6 mice perfusing SDS 1% via pulmonary artery, sterilized with LLL (660nm, 100mW, 30s). Whole lung scaffolds were recellularized: (1) Recellularized Lung (2) Recellularized Lung + LLLT. Mesenchymal stem cells derived from human tooth pulp (DPSc) were seeded into lungs and incubated for 24 hours at 37ºC, 5% CO₂, in a bioreactor-like conditions, maintaining CPAP at 20cmH2O, 90% O2, and LLL at wavelength of 808nm, 100mW, 30s. Culture medium were analyzed at 24 hours. H&E, immunostaining, SEM and ELISA assay were performed. We produced viable biological scaffolds absent of DNA content, preserving glycosaminoglycans and collagen I, III and IV, fibronectin, laminin and elastin and lung structure (SEM). The levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were stable during the 24 hours of culture. IFN-γ levels showed significant difference in the DPSc and DPSc+LLLT group in the 24-hour evaluation. The levels of IL-10 decreased after LLLT. These findings highlight LLLT's role in cytokine regulation and contamination prevention during lung recellularization with mesenchymal stem cells. Overall, these results demonstrated that LLLT's modulated cytokine levels and could prevent contamination during the lung recellularization process with mesenchymal stem cells, offering promise for enhanced therapeutic strategies in lung bioengineering.

Abstract: Understanding the reliability and sensitivity of jump testing is essential to determine the neuromuscular progress of athletes and make informed decisions. This study aimed to assess the reliability and sensitivity of countermovement jump (CMJ) and drop jump (DJ) tests metrics in female volleyball players. Sixteen semi-professional female volleyball players participated in the study. Intrasession and intersession reliability of CMJ and DJ metrics were evaluated using a randomized cross-over design. Dual force platform was used to collect data, and several dependent variables were calculated using forward dynamics. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), coefficients of variation (CV) and minimum difference (MD) were calculated. The third attempt presented the highest values for both test, and changes in jump strategy in DJ. CMJ is consistent across sessions, while DJ also shows intersession differences (p<0.05) in 11 out of 15 variables. Most CMJ variables exhibit excellent reliability while DJ variables have lower reliability and higher variability. Concentric and eccentric impulses for DJ showed excellent reliability. Most CMJ variables showed excellent reliability and variability, DJ had lower reliability, higher variability, and lower sensitivity. These findings provide valuable information when assessing athletes' performance and highlight the reliability, sensitivity, and variability in jump performance for CMJ and DJ tests.

The literature offers limited information on the effect of obesity on the rate of force development, a critical parameter for mobility in older adults. The objectives of this study were; to explore the influence of obesity on RFD in older adults and to examine the association between this neuromuscular parameter and walking speed. 42 older adults were classified into two groups: the control group (CG, n=22; age=81.13±4.02 years; Body mass index (BMI)=25.13±3.35 kg/m²), and the obese group (OG, n=20; age=77.71±2.95 years; BMI=34.46±3.25 kg/m²). Walking speed (m/s) was measured using the 10-meter walking test. Neuromuscular parameters of the plantar flexors were evaluated during a maximal voluntary contraction test using a dynamometer. The RFD was calculated from the linear slop of the force – time curve in two phases: from the onset of the contraction to 50 ms (RFD50-100) and from 100 to 200 ms (RFD100-200). The gait speed was lower in the OG compared to the CG (p

Myocardial hypertrophy is the most common condition that accompanies heart changings in children. Transcriptional pathways regulating gene expression playing a critical role both in cardiac embryogenesis and in the pathogenesis of congenital hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, neonatal posthypoxic myocardial hypertrophy and congenital heart diseases. This paper describes the state of cardiac gene expression and potential pharmacological modulators at different transcriptional levels. An experimental model of perinatal cardiac hypoxia showed downregulated expression of genes responsible for cardiac muscle integrity and overexpressed genes associated with energy metabolism and apoptosis, which may provide a basis for a therapeutic approach. Current evidence suggests that RNA drugs, theaflavin, neuraminidase, proton pump and histone deacetylase inhibitors are promising pharmacological agents in progressive cardiac hypertrophy. The different points of application of the above drugs makes combined use possible, potentiating the effects of inhibition in specific signaling pathways. The special role of N-acetyl cysteine in both the inhibition of several signaling pathways and the reduction of oxidative stress was emphasized.

This study investigated the effects of fish oil (FO) treatment, particularly enriched with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), on obesity induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) in mice. The investigation focused on elucidating the impact of FO on epigenetic modifications in white adipose tissue (WAT) and the involvement of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). C57BL/6j mice were submitted to a control diet or a HFD for 16 weeks, treated (or not) with FO for the last 8 weeks. WAT was removed for RNA and protein extraction, while ASCs were isolated, cultured, and treated with Leptin. All samples were analyzed using functional genomics tools, including PCR-array, RT-PCR and Western Blot assays. Mice receiving HFD displayed increased body mass, fat accumulation, and altered gene expression associated with WAT inflammation and dysfunction. FO supplementation attenuated these effects, a potential protective role against HFD-induced obesity. Analysis of H3K27 revealed HFD-induced changes in histone, which were partially reversed by FO treatment. The study further explored leptin signaling in ASCs, suggesting a potential mechanism for ASC dysfunction in the leptin-rich environment of obese WAT. Overall, FO supplementation demonstrated efficacy in mitigating HFD-induced obesity, influencing epigenetic and molecular pathways, and shedding light on the role of ASCs and leptin signaling in WAT dysfunction associated with obesity.

The proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) networks is increasing, driven by their capacity to deliver automated services tailored to the varied demands of numerous smart city applications. Trust, security, and privacy remain paramount in the public domain. Traditional centralized network designs fall short of ensuring device authentication, data integrity, and privacy within UAV networks’ highly dynamic and adaptable environments. Decentralized reputation systems emerge as a promising solution to enhance the reliability and trustworthiness of data and communications within these networks while safeguarding UAV security. This paper presents an exhaustive survey of trust and reputation systems, exploring existing frameworks and proposed innovations alongside their inherent challenges. It highlights the crucial role of reputation systems in strengthening trust, security, and privacy throughout these networks and discusses various strategies to mitigate existing vulnerabilities. As a useful resource for researchers and practitioners seeking to advance the state of the art in UAV network security, we hope this survey will spark further community discussion and stimulate innovative ideas in this burgeoning field.

Malignant lymphoma is an unusual form of gallbladder neoplasm. Almost all of these tumors are diffuse large B-cell lymphomas or mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue-type lymphomas. Herein, we report a rare case of a gallbladder Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) in a child living with HIV. As far as we are concerned, this is the first report in the pediatric population and in an individual living with HIV. The patient attended the Federal Hospital of Lagoa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, underwent cholecystectomy and the postoperative pathological analysis of the gallbladder revealed a diagnosis of BL. Also, HIV serology was performed and returned positive. She was transferred to the Martagão Gesteira Institute of Pediatrics and Childcare for oncological treatment, dying from sepsis and disease progression about 18 months later. Patient did not undergo ART/cART. Previous cases of gallbladder BL were analyzed to characterize the clinicopathological features. BL can occur in the gallbladder both in the context of HIV infection and in the pediatric population. Biopsy is mandatory in cases with suggestive findings of lymphoma, and an early diagnosis can change the course of the disease. Furthermore, the case highlights the importance of an early initiation of ART/cART in people living with HIV (PLWH).

The manual muscle test (MMT) is a flexible diagnostic tool, which is used in many disciplines, applied in several ways. The main problem is the subjectivity of the test. The MMT in the version of a “break test” depends on the tester’s force rise and the patient’s ability to resist the applied force. As a first step, the investigation of the reproducibility of the testers’ force profiles is required for valid application. The study examined the force profiles of n=29 testers (n=9 experiences (Exp), n=8 little experienced (LitExp), n =12 beginners (Beg)). The testers performed 10 MMTs according to the test of hip flexors, but against a fixed leg to exclude the patient’s reaction. A handheld device recorded the temporal course of the applied force. The results show significant differences between Exp and Beg concerning the starting force (padj=0.029), the ratio of starting to maximum force (padj=0.005) and the normalized mean Euclidean distances between the 10 trials (padj=0.015). The slope is significantly higher in Exp vs. LitExp (p=0.006) and Beg (p=0.005). The results also indicate that experienced testers show inter-tester differences and partly even a low intra-tester reproducibility. That highlights the necessity of an objective MMT-assessment. Furthermore, an agreement on a standardized force profile is required – a suggestion is given.

An actual problem of inertial navigation related to the creation of a multifunctional device that performs the functions of a meter for both angular velocities and linear accelerations is considered. The possibility of constructing such a device based on a hybrid-type modulation micromechanical gyroscope has shown. The ability to measure linear accelerations has provided by the presence of a small symmetrical distance between the axes of the elastic suspension relative to the center of mass of the sensor element. A mathematical model of the device ("heavy" gyroscope) as a high-quality three-dimensional oscillatory system is constructed. It has shown numerically that the reaction of the system to the movement of an object has, along with precession, the observed nutation. This allows you to develop an algorithm for separating information about the angular and linear motion of the base and implement a two-component angular velocity meter and a two-component linear acceleration meter in one device.

(1) Background: The aim of this investigation is to determine the effect of archwires’ deflection on the temperature transitions driving the austenite to martensite transformation (and vice versa) and the force released by NiTi and CuNiTi orthodontic wires. (2) Methods: Round cross-section archwires have been investigated. The calorimetric approach has been used for measuring transition temperatures occurring in the unstressed (e.g. undeflected) state of the wires. Static Thermo-mechanical analysis in a temperature controlled wet environment has been performed in the range of temperature between 5°C and 55°C for measuring temperature transitions occurring in highly deflected archwires in conjunction with the force released by these wires. (3) Results: Plateau forces investigated in Part I and those reported in the literature describes the wire’s behaviour only at deflection levels close to the end point of the force plateau extension detected at 37°C. Upon heating or cooling, the austenite finish (Af) transition temperature and the martensite start (Ms) temperature largely depends on the deflection level for both NiTi and CuNiTi. (4) Conclusions: The plateau force levels at 37°C, broadly reported in the literature, only represent the lower boundary force that a superelastic wire releases at 37°C above its elastic limit. For both NiTi and CuNiTi, plateau force levels at 37°C can be predicted by the static TMA profile matching the end point of the force plateau extension. Transition temperatures in largely deflected wires are significantly higher than those determined through the calorimetric approach.

Phosphorus (P) is an important and irreplaceable macronutrient. It is central to energy and information storage and exchange in living cell. P is an element with “broken geochemical cycle” since it lacks abundant volatile compounds capable of closing the P cycle. P fertilizers are critical for global food security, but the reserves of minable P are scarce and non-evenly distributed between countries of the world. Accordingly, the risks of global crisis due to limited access to P reserves is expected to be graver than those entailed by competition for fossil hydrocarbons. Paradoxically, despite the scarcity and value of P reserves, its usage is extremely inefficient: current waste rate reaches 80% giving rise to a plethora of unwanted consequences such as eutrophication leading to harmful algal blooms. Microalgal biotechnology comprise a promising solution to tackle this challenge. The proposed review briefly presents the relevant aspects of microalgal P metabolism such as cell P reserve composition and turnover, and the regulation of P uptake kinetics for maximization of P uptake efficiency with the focus on novel knowledge. Multifaceted role of polyPhosphates, the largest cell depot for P, is discussed with emphasis on the P toxicity mediated by short-chain polyPhosphates. Opportunities and hurdles of P bioremoval via P uptake from waste streams with microalgal cultures, either suspended or immobilized, is discussed along with the role of bacterial components of microalgal-bacterial consortia in these processes. Possible avenues of P-rich microalgal biomass such as biofertilizer production or extraction of valuable polyPhosphates and other bioproducts are considered. The review concludes with a comprehensive assessment of the current potential of microalgal biotechnology for ensuring the sustainable usage of phosphorus.

Significance: Electrophile signaling is coming into focus as a bona fide cell signaling mechanism. The electrophilic regulation occurs typically through a sensing event (i.e., labeling of a protein) and a signaling event (the labeling event having an effect of the proteins activity, association, etc.). Recent advances: Herein, we focus on the first step of this process, electrophile sensing. Electrophile sensing is typically a deceptively simple reaction between the thiol of a protein-cysteine, of which there are around 200,000 in the human proteome, and a Michael acceptor, of which there are numerous flavors, including enals and enones. Recent data overall paint a picture that despite being a simple chemical reaction, electrophile sensing is a discerning process, showing labeling preferences that are often not in line with reactivity of the electrophile. Critical issues: With a view to trying to decide what brings about highly electrophile-reactive protein-cysteines, and how reactive these sensors may be, we discuss aspects of the thermodynamics and kinetics of covalent/non-covalent binding. Data made available by several laboratories indicate that it is likely that specific proteins exhibit highly stereo- and chemoselective electrophile sensing, which we take as good evidence for recognition between the electrophile and the protein prior to forming a covalent bond. Future directions: We propose experiments that could help us gain a better and more quantitative understanding of the mechanisms through which sensing comes about. We further extoll the importance of performing more detailed experiments on labeling and trying to standardize the way we assess protein-specific electrophile sensing.We propose experiments that could help us gain a better and more quantitative understanding of the mechanisms through which sensing comes about. We further extoll the importance of performing more detailed experiments on labeling and trying to standardize the way we assess protein-specific electrophile sensing.

Drones have experienced rapid technological advancements, leading to the proliferation of small, low-cost, remotely controlled, and autonomous aerial vehicles with diverse applications, from package delivery to personal transportation. However, integrating these drones into the existing air traffic management (ATM) system poses significant challenges. The current ATM infrastructure, designed primarily for traditional manned aircraft, requires enhanced capacity, workforce, and cost-effectiveness to coordinate the large numbers of drones expected to operate at low altitudes in complex urban environments. To address this critical issue, this study aims to develop an intelligent, highly automated drone management system for integration into smart city transportation networks. The key objectives include: i) Developing a conceptual framework for an intelligent total transportation management system tailored for future smart cities, focusing on incorporating drone operations; ii) Designing an advanced air traffic management and flight control system capable of managing individual drones and drone swarms in complex urban environments; iii) Improving drone management methods by leveraging drone-following models and emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Drones (IoD); and iv) Investigating the landing processes and protocols for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to enable safe and efficient operations.

The Universe is treated as an unbound thermodynamic system in which two forces of Nature compete: Attractive gravity loss and repulsive entropic gain. Entropic gain, although not presently considered a force of Nature, is otherwise well known and can be expressed with the gas laws. The Universe at the time of last scattering was all gas. Its instant gain is expressed as gas pressure. When the Gibbs equation is properly applied to this unbound gas, the resulting atomic Hubble parameter is found to be exclusively dependent on baryon density, giving a constant and perpetual two-to-one gain/loss ratio. Instant loss to gravity cannot offset gas pressure in this “thermal equation”. By contrast, the Friedmann equation, a ΛCDM foundation, treats baryon mass as accreted, having little if any entropic gain. These two equations are actually equivalent. Expanding accreted matter at its comoving critical density is herein shown to behave exactly like a freely expanding gas. However, neither equation includes all of today’s Universal kinetic energy, and cannot by themselves fully account for observed stellar movement. The present paper proposes the plausible existence of highly energetic or “suprathermal” free electrons which comprise about half of the intergalactic medium’s kinetic total. It is this suprathermal energy which Λ expresses. The fluid equation, another ΛCDM foundation, eliminates entropic gain from the Gibbs equation. Additionally, rest mass’s Einstein energy E=Mc² is treated as a thermal variable. These two assumptions, isoentropy and energy conflation, led astronomers to populate Λ as they followed the prior art.

This article deals primarily with the problem of determining the cutting force when machining hardened steels. Secondary issues are focused on the evaluation of surface quality on machined samples and the recommendation of cutting conditions. A wide variety of components are used in engineering, the final heat treatment of which is hardening. These components are usually critical in a particular product. The quality of these components determines the correct functioning of the entire technical equipment and ultimately its service life. In our case, these are the core parts of thrust bearings, specifically the rolling elements. The subject of the experiment is machining these components in the hardened state with cubic boron nitride tools and continuous measurement of the cutting force using a dynamometer. The following evaluation assesses the surface quality by both touch and non-touch methods. A structural equation with appropriate constant and exponents was then constructed from the data obtained using the dynamometer.

(1) Background: In this work, a series of benzimidazole derivatives containing colchicine-like and cathechol-like moieties with methyl group substitution in the benzimidazole ring were evaluated for their in vitro antiproliferative, pro-apoptotic and antioxidative activity against highly invasive breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 and related impairment of tubulin dynamics; (2) Methods: MTT assay was used to evaluate the antiproliferative activity. In vitro tubulin polymerization assay as well as docking analysis was applied to prove the alterations in tubulin polymerization. Immunofluorescent and DAPI staining reveal the pro-apoptotic potential of benzimidazole derivatives and the effect on tubulin’s dynamics in living cells. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by scavenging of H2O2 and hypochlorite ion and ortho-phenanthroline tests; (3) Results: The compounds containing colchicine-like moiety displayed significant growth inhibitory effect against cancer cell line as was highlighted the role of methyl functional group on the tubulin aggregation and blockage of mitosis. All compounds showed an ability to scavenge H2O2, while the compounds with cathecol-like moiety were more effective against hypochlorite ion and chelation of iron; (4) Conclusions: The benzimidazole derivative containing colchicine-like moiety and methyl group substitution in benzimidazole ring is a potential antiproliferative and microtubule destabilizing agent.

In the case of solid slabs made of reinforced concrete that are usually subjected to bending, large areas of the structure are stressed well below their load-bearing capacity. Contrary to this are shell structures, which can bridge large spans with little material if designed according to the force flow. To improve the efficiency of ceiling slabs, we want to utilize the shell load-bearing behavior on a smaller scale by resolving the solid interior accordingly. In order to be able to study a wide range of such constructions virtually, a parametric multiobjective simulation environment is being developed in an ongoing research project. The basic analysis approaches which were implemented are presented in this paper. The basic workflow, the used programs and material models and their calibration on the tests on textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) samples are described.

The properties of the dark matter, dark energy, graviton and photon are discussed in terms of the new three-dimensional quantized space model. Three new particles (bastons) with the electric charges (EC) are proposed as the dark matters. It is proposed that the EC, LC and CC charges are aligned along the time axes but not along the space axes. The photon is confined on its corresponding three-dimensional quantized space. However, the graviton can be evaporated into other three-dimensional quantized spaces. The rest mass of the electron neutrino (n_e) of 3.494·10⁻³ eV/c² is obtained from the experimental vacuum energy density in terms of quantum field theory (QFT). The rest mass and force range of the massive g(0,0,0) graviton with the Planck size are m_g = 3.1872·10⁻³¹ eV/c² and x_r = 3.0955·10²³ m = 10.0 Mpc, respectively, based on the experimental rest mass and rms charge radius of the proton. The possible diameter (10 Mpc) of the largest galaxy cluster is remarkably consistent with the gravitational force range (10 Mpc). Then, the diameter of the largest dark matter distribution related to the largest galaxy cluster is 9.2865·10²³ m = 30 Mpc equal to the force range of the massive g(0) graviton with the rest mass of 1.0624·10⁻³¹ eV/c². Because of the huge number (N) of the evaporated gravitons, the very small Coulomb’s constant of about 10⁻⁴⁸k and large gravitation constant of 10⁶G_N are expected for the charged dark matters. Therefore, F_c(mm) > F_g(dd) > F_g(mm) > F_g(dm) > F_c(dd) > F_c(dm) = 0 for the proton-like particle. The proposed weak gravitational force between the dark matters and normal matters explains the observed dark matter distributions of the bullet cluster, Abell 1689 cluster and Abell 520 cluster. The transition from the galaxy without the dark matters to the galaxy with the dark matters are explained. Also, the accelerated space expansion is caused by the new space quanta created by the evaporated gravitons into the x1x2x3 space and repulsive electromagnetic force between dark matters corresponding to the dark energy. The decreasing coupling constant of the strong force, neutron lifetime anomaly and the pressure distribution inside the proton are explained by the unobservable proton and hadronization. And the rest mass of 1.4 TeV/c² is assigned to the Le particle with the EC charge of −2e. The proposed rest mass (26.12 eV/c²) of the B1 dark matter is indirectly confirmed from the supernova 1987A data. Also, the gravitation constant has been changing with the time because of the graviton evaporation.

This review focuses on the regulation and modulation of human DNA polymerase δ (Pol δ). The emphasis is on mechanisms that regulate the activity and properties of Pol δ in DNA repair and replication. The areas covered are the degradation of the p12 subunit of Pol δ, which converts it from a heterotetramer (Pol δ4) to a heterotrimer (Pol δ3), in response to DNA damage and also during the cell cycle. The biochemical mechanisms that lead to degradation of p12 are reviewed, as well as the properties of Pol δ4 and Pol δ3 that provide insights into their functions in DNA replication and repair. The second focus of the review involves the functions of two Pol δ binding proteins, PDIP46 and PDIP38, both of which are multi-functional proteins. PDIP46 is a novel activator of Pol δ4, and the impact of this function is discussed in relation to its potential roles in DNA replication. Several new models for the roles of Pol δ3 and Pol δ4 in leading and lagging strand DNA synthesis that integrate a role for PDIP46 are presented. PDIP38 has multiple cellular localizations including the mitochondria, the splicesosomes and the nucleus. It has been implicated in a number of cellular functions, including the regulation of specialized DNA polymerases, mitosis, the DNA damage response, Mdm2 alternative splicing and the regulation of the Nox4 NADPH oxidase.

Similar to humans, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) plays a key role in regulating blood pressure and body fluid homeostasis in dogs and cats. The classical RAAS pathway, which involves the conversion of angiotensin I to angiotensin II by the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), leads to aldosterone production and associated maladaptive effects in cardiovascular and renal diseases. Recent studies have highlighted the alternative RAAS pathway, which counteracts these effects through angiotensin 1-7, promoting vasodilation and reducing inflammation. Beyond RAAS modulation, RAAS inhibitors have been shown to exert significant anti-inflammatory properties. This is particularly relevant given the American Heart Association's recent focus on Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) health, which emphasizes the interconnected risks of cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease (CKD), type 2 diabetes, and obesity. These conditions share common pathophysiological pathways, including chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and metabolic dysregulation. Advances in biomedical research, including the development of adult stem cell-derived canine organoids, provide impetus to study the effects of RAAS modulators and new CVD drugs on CKM health, with a focus on epithelial inflammation within the context of One Health.

The trillions of bacteria that live in and on our bodies make up the human microbiota, which is a very important part of keeping us healthy and protecting us from pathogenic infections. Dysbiosis is when there are changes in the composition and variety of the microbiota. This can upset the delicate balance between the host and its microbes, making the host more vulnerable to pathogens. Understanding the complicated link between microbiota and pathogens is important for coming up with effective ways to change microbiota and boost the body's defenses against infections. This study looks at how microbiota modulation affects the spread of pathogens and infections. It talks about how the makeup of microbiota affects how susceptible you are to pathogens. It shows how a healthy microbiota can protect you by making it hard for pathogens to grow and take over. The review also goes into detail about how the microbiota protects against pathogens, such as through competitive exclusion, the production of antimicrobial compounds, and the regulation of immune reactions. The study also looks at the idea of dysbiosis and how it is linked to pathogenic shifts. Disruptions in the microbiota can make it easier for pathogens to grow and make it harder for the host to fight off infections. It focuses on the need to recover microbial balance to improve the host's defenses and lower risks caused by pathogens. There is also talk about the use of probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) as ways to change the microbiome. The goal of these interventions is to restore the diversity and function of microbes, improve the integrity of barriers, and boost the immune system's reaction to pathogens. The review shows how these methods could be used to change the microbiota and make it easier for the body to fight off infections. In conclusion, knowing how the microbiota and pathogens work together in a complicated way can help a lot when it comes to making specific interventions for microbiota modulation. Strategies that restore the balance of microbes and boost the host's defenses could stop pathogens from taking over and making people sick. More study needs to be done in this area to improve therapeutic approaches and use the microbiota to its fullest extent to fight infectious diseases.

In recent years, two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted significant attention due to their distinctive properties, including exceptional mechanical flexibility and tunable electronic properties. Via the first-principles calculation, we investigate the effect of strain on the electronic properties of monolayer SnP2S6 and GeP2S6. We find that monolayer SnP2S6 is an indirect band gap semiconductor, while monolayer GeP2S6 is a direct band gap semiconductor. Notably, under uniform biaxial strains, SnP2S6 undergoes an indirect-to-direct band gap transition at 4.0% biaxial compressive strains, while GeP2S6 exhibits a direct-to-indirect transition at 2.0% biaxial tensile strain. The changes of the conduction band edge can be attributed to the high-symmetry point Γ being more sensitive to strain than K. Thus, the relocation of the conduction-band and valence-band edges in monolayer SnP2S6 and GeP2S6 induces a direct-to-indirect and indirect-to-direct band-gap transition respectively. Consequently, the strain is an effective band engineering scheme which is crucial for the design and development of next-generation nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices.

Ethylene is a plant hormone controlling physiological and developmental processes such fruit maturation, hairy root formation and leaf abscission. Its effect on regeneration systems, such as organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis (SE), has been studied and progresses in molecular biology techniques have contributed to unveil mechanisms behind its effects. This compound affects regeneration differently, depending on the species, genotype and explant. In some species, ethylene seems to revert recalcitrance in genotypes with low regeneration capacity. However, its effect is not addictive, since in genotypes with high regeneration capacity this ability decreases in the presence of ethylene precursors, suggesting that regeneration is modulated by ethylene. Several lines of evidence have shown that the role of ethylene on regeneration is markedly connected to biotic and abiotic stresses as well as to hormonal-crosstalk, in particular with key regeneration hormones and growth regulators of the auxin and cytokinin families. Transcriptional factors of the ethylene response factor (ERF) family are regulated by ethylene and strongly connected to SE induction. Thus, an evident connection between ethylene, stress responses and regeneration capacity is markedly established. In this review the effect of ethylene and the way it interacts with other players during organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis is discussed.

Force reduction is one of the most important benefit of applying ultrasonic vibration on milling. However, most of studies so far are limited to experimental investigation. In the current study, an analytical predictive model on cutting forces in ultrasonic vibration-assisted milling is proposed. The three types of tool-workpiece criteria are considered based on the instantaneous position and velocity of tool center. Type I criterion indicates that there is no contact if the instantaneous velocity is opposite to tool rotation direction. Type II criterion checks whether the vibration displacement is larger than the instantaneous uncut chip thickness. Type III criterion considers the overlaps between current and previous tool paths due to vibration. If none of these criteria is satisfied, milling forces are nonzero. Then the calculation is performed by transforming milling and tool geometry configuration to orthogonal cutting at each instant. The orthogonal cutting forces are predicted through the exhaustive search of shear angle and calculation of shear flow stress on tool-chip interface. The axial force is then calculated based on tool geometry, and the milling forces in feed, cutting, and axial directions are calculated after coordinate transformation. The proposed predictive force model in ultrasonic vibration-assisted milling is validated through comparison to experimental measurements on Aluminum alloy 2A12. The predicted values are able to match the measured milling forces with high accuracy of average difference of 13.6% in feed direction and 13.8% in cutting direction.

The seasonally adjusted civilian labor force participation rate, the sum of employed and unemployed persons as a percentage of the civilian non-institutional population, is analysed in the general to specific modelling framework with a saturating set of step indicators from January 1977 through June 2018. The results indicate that, ceteris paribus, the rise in the ratio of women to men in the labor force in addition to positive demographic movements can largely account for the rise in the labor force participation rate up to January 2000. Subsequently, the aging population helps to explain the decline. Recessions play a transitory role.

Although researchers have proposed various indentation size effect (ISE) models, these models often involve different form and number of parameters that can make our wonder which is the best in existed ISE models. Three types of ISE test data, namely, normal ISE, reverse ISE and transition of normal to reverse ISE, are used to evaluate the sixteen ISE models. The comparatively study indicates that H-J, N-G-Fs, N-G-H, N-G-A and N-G-Qs models can accurately predict the normal ISE. The reason for this is that the friction stress that is not related to dislocation activities or the indentation size effect of plastic zone has been introduced into these models. Therefore, these two factors should be considered in future ISE models. The sixteen ISE models are originally proposed to describe the normal ISE of different materials. However, to our surprise, some of these models are able to capture the reverse ISE and the transition of normal to reverse ISE of different materials. The determination coefficients (DC) of the sixteen ISE models are also determined for different materials. For reverse ISE, the highest DC value for NiCSi, TC4 and PED Ni are given by the EXP, N-G-Fs and N-G-A models, respectively. For the transition of normal to reverse ISE, the N-G-YC, N-G-Fs, and N-G-H models produce the maximum DC for ZrO2, Cu and Y2O3-ZrO2, respectively. Moreover, the mean DC of the N-G-Fs model is the maximum among the sixteen ISE models, followed by the N-G-H model, but they cannot accurately predict the reverse ISE. Therefore, the N-G-Fs and N-G-H models should be further modified to accurately predict the reverse ISE.

Autophagy is a multistep catabolic process through which misfolded, aggregated or mutated proteins and damaged organelles are internalized in membrane vesicles called autophagosomes and ultimately fused to lysosomes for degradation of sequestered components. The multi-step nature of the process offers multiple regulation points prone to be deregulated and cause different human disease, but also offers multiple targetable points for designing therapeutic strategies. Cancer cells have evolved to use autophagy as an adaptive mechanism to survive under extremely stressful conditions within tumor microenvironment, but also to increase invasiveness and resistance to anti-cancer drugs such as chemotherapy. This review collects all clinical evidences of autophagy deregulation during cholangiocarcinogenesis together with all pre-clinical reports evaluating compounds that modulate autophagy to induce cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) cell death. Altogether, experimental data suggests an impairment of autophagy during initial steps of CCA development and increased expression of autophagy markers on established tumors and in invasive phenotypes. Pre-clinical efficacy of autophagy modulators promoting CCA cell death, reducing invasiveness capacity and resensitizing CCA cells to chemotherapy open novel therapeutic avenues to design more specific and efficient strategies to treat this aggressive cancer

Activation of the N-methyl D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) results in increased sensitivity of spinal cord and brain pathways that process sensory information, particularly that which relates pain. The NMDAR shows increased activity in fibromyalgia and hence modulation of the NMDAR is a target for therapeutic intervention. A literature review of interventions impacting on the NMDAR shows a number of drugs to be active on the NMDAR mechanism in fibromyalgia patients, with variable clinical effects. Low-dose intravenous ketamine and oral memantine both show clinically useful benefit in fibromyalgia. However, consideration of side-effects, logistics and cost need to be factored into management decisions regarding use of these drugs in this clinical setting. Overall benefits with current NMDAR antagonists appear modest and there is a need for better strategy trials to clarify optimal dose schedules and to delineate potential longer –term adverse events. Further investigation of the role of the NMDAR in fibromyalgia and the effect of other molecules that modulate this receptor appear important to enhance treatment targets in fibromyalgia.

Zinc (Zn) is the second most abundant metal in the human body, and is essential for the function of 10% of all proteins. As metals cannot be synthesized or degraded, they must be assimilated from diet by specialized transport proteins, which unfortunately also provide an entry route for the toxic metal pollutant cadmium (Cd). The intestinal absorption of Zn depends on the composition of food that is consumed, firstly the amount of Zn itself, and then the quantity of other food constituents such as phytate, protein and calcium (Ca). In cells, Zn is involved in regulation of intermediary metabolism, gene expression, cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and antioxidant defense mechanisms. Cellular influx, efflux, subcellular compartmentalization, and trafficking of Zn are coordinated by transporter proteins, the Solute-Linked Carrier 30A and 39A (SLC30A and SLC39A), known as the ZnT and the Zrt-/Irt-like protein (ZIP). Because of its chemical similarity with Zn and Ca, Cd disrupts the physiological functions of both. The concurrent induction of a Zn efflux transporter ZnT1 (SLC30A1) and metallothionein by Cd disrupts the homeostasis and reduces the bioavailability of Zn. The present review highlights the increased mortality and the severity of various diseases, including those induced by COVID-19 infections, among Cd-exposed persons and the roles of Zn and other transport proteins in the manifestation of Cd cytotoxicity. Special emphasis is given to the potential protective effects of Zn against bone, lung and heart diseases associated with Cd exposure. The difficult challenge of determining a permissible intake level of Cd is discussed in relation to the recommended dietary Zn intake levels.

In this paper, we investigate the so-called electronic dressed states, a unified quasiparticle resulting from the interaction between electrons in a two-dimensional material with an off-resonance optical dressing field. If the frequency of this field is much larger than all characteristic energies in the system, such as the Fermi energy or bandgap(s), the electronic band structure is affected by radiation so that some important properties of the electron dispersions could be modified in a way desirable for practical applications. For example, a circularly polarized light can be used to vary the bandgap of Dirac materials: it opens a gap in graphene and other metallic and semimetallic lattices, or modifies the magnitude of an existing gap. This will either enhance or reduce a gap, depending on its initial value as well as properties of a host material. Here, we consider gaped dice and Lieb lattices as samples, and put forward a full theoretical model to reveal how these electronic states are deformed by an elliptically-polarized irradiation with a focus on generation and modification of a bandgap.

A deep relationship is identified between the Coulomb Force and Gravity. A gravitational constant for strong gravity is calculated from the relationship. The equivalence between mass and charge is explored. Implications are given for the expansion of Einstein's Field Equations to include vector gravity.

Studies on evolution have made significant progress in multiple disciplines, but evolutionary theories remain scattered and controversial. Here we deduce that, thermodynamically, many carbon-based entities (CBEs) on the Earth tend to absorb energy from widespread relatively temperate heat streams on the Earth flowing from the solar, geothermal, and other energy sources, to form higher-hierarchy CBEs (HHCBEs). This has been the driving force of evolution leading to accumulation of HHCBEs for billions of years. We further deduce three progressive mechanisms of evolution including natural selection from the driving force. We hence establish the CBE evolutionary theory (CBEET) which reinterprets the major aspects of evolution in a comprehensive and comprehensible way. The CBEET provides novel explanations for natural selection, origin of life (abiogenesis), macroevolution, sympatric speciation, and evolutionary tempos. It suggests that evolution is driven hierarchy-wise by thermodynamics and favors fitness and diversity. It elucidates that altruism, collaboration, and obeying rules with balanced freedom are important throughout the CBE evolution which includes chemical evolution, biological evolution, and animal group evolution. The CBEET refutes several erroneous views including negative entropy and survival of the fittest. It integrates with research advances in multiple disciplines and links up laws of physics, evolution in biology, and harmonious development of human society.

Unpaid family caregivers must consider the economic trade-off between caregiving and paid employment. Prior literature has suggested labour force participation (LFP) to decline with caregiving intensity, but no study has evaluated this relationship by accounting for the presence of both kinks and discontinuities. Here we used respondents of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study baseline survey who were non-farming, of working-age (aged 45-60) and had a young grandchild and/or a parent/parent-in-law. For women and men separately, a caregiving threshold-adjusted probit model was used to assess the association between LFP and weekly unpaid caregiving hours. Instrumental variables were used to rule out the endogeneity of caregiving hours. Of the 3,718 respondents in the analysis, for men, LFP was significantly and inversely associated with caregiving that involved neither discontinuities nor kinks. For women, a kink was identified at the caregiving threshold of 8 hours per week such that before 8 hours, each caregiving hour was associated with an increase of 0.0257 in the marginal probability of LFP, but each hour thereafter was associated with a reduction of 0.0014 in the marginal probability of LFP. These results have implications for interventions that simultaneously advance policies of health, social care and labour force.

The energy E takes the place of the gravitational mass m_G to produce gravity [1]. We wonder whether the inertial mass m_i in the inertial force is also replaced by E. The experiments to measure the inertial force and weight of a carrier are presented. Now we can test the principle of equivalence and study foundations of physics in condensed matter.

A recently developed thermodynamic theory for the determination of the driving force of crystallization and the crystal–melt surface tension is applied to the ice–water system employing the new Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater TEOS-10. The deviations of approximative formulations of the driving force and the surface tension from the exact reference properties are quantified, showing that the proposed simplifications are applicable for low to moderate undercooling and pressure differences to the respective equilibrium state of water. The TEOS-10 based predictions of the ice crystallization rate revealed pressure-induced deceleration of ice nucleation with an increasing pressure, and acceleration of ice nucleation by pressure decrease. This result is in, at least, qualitative agreement with laboratory experiments and computer simulations. Both the temperature and pressure dependencies of the ice–water surface tension were found to be in line with the le Chatelier–Braun principle, in that the surface tension decreases upon increasing degree of metastability of water (by decreasing temperature and pressure), which favors nucleation to move the system back to a stable state. The reason for this behavior is discussed. Finally, the Kauzmann temperature of the ice–water system was found to amount TK=116K, which is far below the temperature of homogeneous freezing. The Kauzmann pressure was found to amount pK=-212MPa, suggesting favor of homogeneous freezing upon exerting a negative pressure on the liquid. In terms of thermodynamic properties entering the theory, the reason for the negative Kauzmann pressure is the higher mass density of water in comparison to ice at the melting point.

Neurotrophins, particularly brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), act as key regulators of neuronal development, survival and plasticity. In this review, we focus on the role of BDNF for corticostriatal plasticity in movement disorders, including Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and dystonia. We discuss the mechanisms how dopaminergic input modulates BDNF/TrkB signaling at corticostriatal synapses and the involvement of these mechanisms in neuronal function and synaptic plasticity. Disruption of these pathways can lead to aberrant plasticity, ultimately affecting motor function. Advancing our understanding of these mechanisms could pave the way towards innovative therapeutic strategies aiming at restoring neuroplasticity and enhancing motor function in these diseases.

Every land plant exists in close relationship with microbial communities of several niches: rhizosphere, endosphere, phyllosphere, etc. The growth and yield of potato – a critical food crop worldwide – highly depend on the diversity and structure of bacterial and fungal communities with which the potato plant coexists. The potato plant has a specific part – tubers, and the soil near the tubers as sub-compartment is usually called “geocaulosphere”, which is associated with storage process and tare soil microbiome. Specific microbes can help the plant to adapt to particular environment conditions and resist to pathogens. There is a number of approaches to modulate the microbiome that provides organisms with desired traits during inoculation. The mechanisms of plant–bacterial communication remain understudied, and for the further engineering of microbiomes with particular features the knowledge on potato microbiome should be summarized. The most recent approaches to microbiome engineering include construction of a synthetic microbial community or management of plant microbiome using genome engineering. In this review, the various factors that form the microbiome of potato and the role of these factors in overcoming the negative impact of drought and pathogens are surveyed.

In this paper, a mathematical and physical interpretation of the length and the angle of the catenary curve made by the anchor chains was implemented, and the safety of an anchored vessel was reviewed. So far, holding force has been calculated approximately when the angle of the catenary curve of the anchor chain to the seafloor is 0°. In this study, the holding force equation was strictly derived for the case of anchor dragging. In addition, the equations for the angle and length of the catenary curve were mathematically derived when the anchor dragging occurs. The holding force equation derived in this paper are expected to help provide guidelines in vessel design or increase the safety of anchoring.

The pinning force density FpJc,B=Jc×B (where Jc is the critical current density and B is the applied magnetic field) is one of the main parameters that characterize the resilience of a superconductor to carry a dissipative-free transport current in an applied magnetic field. Kramer (1973 J. Appl. Phys. 44 1360), and Dew-Hughes (1974 Phil. Mag. 30 293) proposed a widely used scaling law for the pinning force density amplitude: FpB=Fp,max×p+qp+qppqq×BBc2p×1-BBc2q, where Fp,max, Bc2, p, and q are free-fitting parameters. Since the late 1970-s till now, several research groups have reported experimental data on the dependence of Fp,max on the average grain size, d, in Nb3Sn-based conductors. Godeke (2006 Supercond. Sci. Techn. 19 R68) proposed that the dependence obeys the law Fp,maxd=A×ln1d+B. However, this scaling law has several problems, for instance, the logarithm is taken from a non-dimensionless variable, and Fp,maxd&lt;0 for large grain sizes, and Fp,maxd→∞ for d→0. Here, we reanalysed the full inventory of publicly available Fp,maxd data for Nb3Sn conductors and found that the dependence can be described by Fp,maxd=Fp,max0×exp-dδ law, where the characteristic length, δ, varies within a remarkably narrow range, that is, δ=175±13 nm, for samples fabricated by different technologies. The interpretation of the result is based on the idea that the in-field supercurrent flows within a thin surface layer (thickness of δ) near the grain boundary surfaces (similar to London’s law, where the self-field supercurrent flows within a thin surface layer with a thickness of the London penetration depth, λ, and the surface is a superconductor-vacuum surface). An alternative interpretation is that δ represents the characteristic length of the exponential decay flux pinning potential from the dominant defects in Nb3Sn superconductors, which are grain boundaries.

Cell migration is essential for physiological, pathological and biomedical processes such as, in embryogenesis, wound healing, immune response, cancer metastasis, tumour invasion and inflammation. In light of this, quantifying mechanical properties during the process of cell migration is of great interest in experimental sciences, yet few theoretical approaches in this direction have been studied. In this work, we propose a theoretical and computational approach based on the optimal control of geometric partial differential equations to estimate cell membrane forces associated with cell polarisation during migration. Specifically, cell membrane forces are inferred or estimated by fitting a mathematical model to a sequence of images, allowing us to capture dynamics of the cell migration. Our approach offers a robust and potentially accurate framework to compute geometric mechanical membrane forces associated with cell polarisation during migration and also yields geometric information of independent interest, we illustrate one such example that involves quantifying cell proliferation levels which are associated with cell division, cell fusion or cell death.

This paper proposes a contact force controller for a constrained flexible manipulator in three-dimensional motion. This controller used the conversion formula obtained empirically and experimental results showed the effectiveness of the proposed contact force controller. First, the manipulator was operated with the tip of the second link restrained, then, time response of the root strain, joint angles and contact force were used to derive the relational between the three quantities. The effectiveness of the relational expression was verified by conducting a target contact force tracking experiment by inputting the angle from the relational expression. The contact force control using the strain feedback method was proposed with the strain amount estimated from the target contact force as the target value, and its effectiveness was verified by experiments. From the results obtained, controller using the strain feedback method was designed for the purpose of controlling the contact force at the tip of a flexible manipulator with two links and three degrees of freedom that performs three-dimensional spatial motion, and its effectiveness was shown by comparison with the contact force feedback method.

Background: The rate of force development (RFD) plays a pivotal role not only in preventing falls but also in ensuring successful completion of many functional tasks that demand swift muscle power rather than prolonged strength. Despite its importance, there is limited compre-hensive research on the relationship between RFD and walking speed, especially in older adults with Sarcopenic Obesity (SO). Objective: to investigate the influence of obesity on neuromuscular markers in older adults with SO and to assess the relationship between neuromuscular markers and gait speed in older adults with SO. Methods: a cohort of 42 participants was categorized based on their BMI into two groups: the sarcopenic non-obese group (CG, n=22; age=81.13±4.02; BMI=25.13±3.35) and the sarcopenic obese group (SOG, n=20; age=77.71±2.95; BMI=34.46±3.25). Gait speed was measured using a 10-meter test. Additionally, the isometric strength of the plantar flexor muscles was assessed during maximal voluntary contractions. Absolute Peak force (aPeak, N) were documented at intervals of 50 ms (a50, N), 100 ms (a100, N), and 200 ms (a200, N), subsequently normalized to body mass (r50, r100, r200, N). The RFD was derived in two phases: from the start of the contraction to 50 ms (RFD50-100) and from 100 to 200 ms (RFD100-200) and calculated from the linear slop of the force – time curve (Δ force/Δ time). Conclusion: Obesity negatively impacts neuromuscular markers in older adults. Notably, RFD emerges as the dominant factor influencing gait speed, accounting for an impressive 51% of its variability, far surpassing the impact of relative peak force. This underscores the imperative of evaluating neuromuscular health in older adults with SO to provide insights into mobility out-comes.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating degenerative joint disease that results in chronic pain and inflammation due to progressive mechanical and proteolytic cartilage degradation. Articular chondrocytes, the main cell type present in cartilage, are responsible for the deposition and maintenance of the cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM). However, following damage and inflammation, chondrocytes undergo hypertrophy, apoptosis, and contribute to inflammation and ECM degradation. NF-κB signaling is known to be dysregulated in OA. TRAPPC9, a vesicle trafficking protein, is known to directly activate NF-κB signaling in neuronal and bone cells, however, the biological significance of this protein in chondrocytes has yet to be elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that TRAPPC9 enhances pro-inflammatory gene and protein expression in murine primary articular chondrocytes. Furthermore, we show that TRAPPC9 elicits these responses via phosphorylation of P-100 that activates non-canonical NF-κB signaling. Taken together, these findings suggest TRAPPC9 may be a potential therapeutic target to decrease inflammation and matrix degradation during OA pathology.

Allosteric modulators are ligands that bind to a site on the receptor that is spatially separated from the orthosteric binding site for the endogenous neurotransmitter. Allosteric modulators modulate the binding affinity, potency and efficacy of orthosteric ligands. Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors are prototypical allosterically-modulated G-protein-coupled receptors. They are a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of psychiatric, neurologic and internal diseases like schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington disease, type 2 diabetes or chronic pulmonary obstruction. Here we review progress made during the last decade in our understanding of their mechanisms of binding, allosteric modulation and in vivo actions of in order to understand the translational impact of studying this important class of pharmacological agents. We overview newly developed allosteric modulators of muscarinic receptors as well as new spin-off ideas like bitopic ligands combining allosteric and orthosteric moieties and photo-switchable ligands based on bitopic agents.

Deep learning has recently attracted much attention due to its excellent performance in processing audio, image, and video data. However, few studies are devoted to the field of automatic modulation classification (AMC). It is one of the most well-known research topics in communication signal recognition, which remains challenging for traditional methods due to the complex disturbance from other sources. This paper proposes a heterogeneous deep model fusion (HDMF) method to solve the problem in a unified framework. The contributions include: 1) The convolutional neural network (CNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) are combined by two different ways without prior knowledge involved; 2) A large database, including eleven types of single-carrier modulation signals with various noises as well as a fading channel, is collected with various signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) based on a real geographical environment; and 3) Experimental results demonstrate that HDMF is super capable of copping with the AMC problem, and achieves much better performance when compared with the independent network. The source code and the database will be publically available.

CO2 geological sequestration in coal seams can achieve the dual objectives of CO2 emission reduction and enhanced coalbed methane production, making it a highly promising carbon capture and storage technology. However, the injection of CO2 into coal reservoirs in the form of supercritical fluid (ScCO2) leads to complex physicochemical reactions with the coal seam, altering the properties of the coal reservoir and impacting the effectiveness of CO2 sequestration and methane production enhancement.In this paper, theoretical calculations based on ReaxFF-MD were conducted to study the interaction mechanism between ScCO2 and the macromolecular structure of both low-rank and high-rank coal, to address the limitations of experimental methods. The reaction of ScCO2 with low-rank coal and high-rank coal exhibits significant differences. At swelling stage, the low-rank coal experiences a decrease in aromatic structure and aliphatic structure, high-rank coal shows an increase in aromatic structure and a decrease in aliphatic structure, while swelling phenomenon is more pronounced in high-rank coal. At dissolution stage, low-rank coal is initially decomposed into two secondary molecular fragments, and then recombine to form new molecular structure, the aromatic structure increased and the aliphatic structure decreased. In contrast, high-rank coal occurs stretches-breakage-movement-reconnection, a reduction in aromatic structure and an increase in aliphatic structure.The primary reasons for these variations lie in distinct molecular structure compositions and the properties of ScCO2, leading to different reaction pathways of functional group and aromatic structure. The reaction pathways of functional groups and aromatic structures in coal can be summarized as follows: the breakage of the O-H bond in hydroxyl groups, the breakage of the C-OH bond in carboxyl groups, transformation of aliphatic structures into smaller hydrocarbon compounds or formation of long-chain alkenes, and various pathways involving broken, rearrangement, recombination of aromatic structures. In low-rank coal, there is a higher abundance of oxygen-containing functional groups and aliphatic structures. The breakage of O-H and C-OH chemical bonds results in the formation of free radical ions, while some aliphatic structures detach to produce hydrocarbons. Additionally, some of these aliphatic structures combine with carbonyl groups and free radical ions to generate new aromatic structures. Conversely, in high-rank coal, the lower content of oxygen-containing functional groups and aliphatic structures, along with stronger intramolecular forces, results in fewer chemical bond breakages and makes it less conducive to the formation of new aromatic structures.These results elucidate the specific deformations of different chemical groups, offering a molecular-level understanding of the interaction between CO2 and coal.

On the basis of the force and safety factor analysis of traditional retaining wall, a new analytical method of force and displacement of slope is suggested, the numerical theoretical solution of the stress distribution of the sliding body can be obtained under the conditions, which the stresses distribution are satisfied with the differential equilibrium equations, the boundary conditions, the compatibility equation and the macroscopic equilibrium equations. The interface stresses between the sliding body and the retaining wall are continuous, the theoretical solution of retaining wall stress distributions can be gotten, while the stress differential equilibrium equation, the compatibility equation, macroscopic force and moment balance equations are satisfied. The strain and displacement solutions can be obtained by using Duncan Chang and Hooke constitutive equations for the slope and the retaining wall respectively. The transfer station of landfill in the Guandukou Town of Badong County is taken as an example, the results of the sliding body and retaining wall analysis show: The stress and strain solutions of a slope and a retaining wall can be obtained by the proposed method, the forces between the retaining wall and the sliding body include shear stress and normal stress, and the stress distributions change with the deformation of the sliding body, the shape and material of retaining wall can be optimized according to the calculation results，it is feasible for the proposed analysis method of slope with retaining wall design to be run many years.

This paper first explains the theory of the origin of force from a new perspective, explaining that the origin of all forces is caused by the "missing of energy in the time dimension" (non-conservation in a certain period of time), and constructs a unified theory of force on this basis. Then, through the unified theory of force, the following phenomena are reinterpreted: (1) The common origin of the inverse square law of gravitation and electromagnetic force; (2) The origin of the repulsive force of electrons and protons at small distances; (3) The mystery of the rotation curve of galaxies and the new explanation of "dark matter"; (4) explain the origin of the magnetic field; (5) Predict that moving magnets have the same radiation effect as charged particles (electron magnetic moments also have radiation effects); (6) Reinterpret Maxwell's displacement current; (7) Reinterpret synchrotron radiation and bremsstrahlung; (8) Explain that the strong and weak forces are short-range forces; (9) Predict the true structure of black holes and the origin of gravitational waves;(10) Possible explanation for the origin of the speed of light.

This paper investigates the dynamic properties of artificial neural networks using differential equations and explores the influence of parameters on stability and neural oscillations. By analyzing the equilibrium point of the differential equations, we identify conditions for asymptotic stability and criteria for oscillation in artificial neural networks. Furthermore, we demonstrate how adjusting synaptic weights between neurons can effectively control stability and oscillation. The proposed model offers potential insights into the malfunctioning mechanisms of biological neural networks implicated in neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease tremors and epilepsy seizures, which are characterized by abnormal oscillations.

Particle-mediated elasticity/viscoelasticity imaging has potential to expand the elasticity imaging field, as it can provide accurate and local tissue elastic properties as well as density, Poisson’s ratio, and viscosity. Here, we investigated elasticity imaging based on the use of small particles located within the tissue and at the tissue interface exposed to a static and dynamic external load. First, we discuss elasticity/viscoelasticity imaging methods based on the use of particles (bubbles and rigid spheres) located within the tissue. Elasticity/viscoelasticity imaging techniques based on the use of particles (bubbles, rigid and soft spheres) located at the tissue interface are then presented. Based on new advances, we updated some of the models for the responses of the particles located within the tissue and at the tissue interface available in the literature. Finally, we compared the mathematical models for the particles located within the tissue and at the tissue interface and evaluated the elasticity/viscoelasticity imaging methods based on the use of small particles. Therefore, instead of the use of the term elasticity imaging, we suggest the use of the term viscoelasticity imaging.

The availability of current land cover and land use (LCLU) information for monitoring the status of land resources has considerable value in ensuring sustainable land use planning. Similarly, the need to provide updated information on the extent of LCLU change in West Africa has become apparent, given the increasing demand for land resources driven by the rapid population growth in the sub-region. SERVIR West Africa, a regional consortium jointly supported by USAID and NASA to foster the use of geospatial and earth observation data and science for decision-making on critical environmental and food security challenges, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is building technical capacity in the sub-region to develop and implement harmonized regional land cover classification system for LULC change monitoring in West Africa, based on the Land Cover Meta Language (LCML-ISO 19144-2). This article focuses on the process, potential opportunities, outputs of this collaboration, exemplary use cases, and recommendations for the next steps.

Gliomas are central nervous system (CNS) derived tumors that originate from glial cells and affect six per 100,000 people in the United States. They are the most common form of CNS neoplasm and are highly diffusely infiltrative to surrounding brain tissue. Gliomas of diffusive nature are classified into different subcategories: astrocytomas, oligodendrogliomas, and ependymomas. Computed tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are used to determine tumor category and spread which may dictate treatment options. This paper focuses on emerging treatments of chemotherapy management with temozolomide and Avastin as well as emerging immune modulation treatment with vaccinations, manipulation of cellular checkpoints CTLA-4 and PD-1, co-receptor modulation of neuropilin-1, CAR-T cell therapy, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. The employment of TMZ and BEV has been supported in the literature, however, more research is necessitated to fully optimize regimens and to avoid immune- and toxicity-related effects of these drugs. Moreover, an even closer consideration is warranted for current immunotherapies as they are in their infancy compared to TMZ and BEV. Thus, although promising emerging treatment options, therapies involving cancer vaccines, ICIs, immune modulation of neuropilin-1, CAR-T, and CRISPR-Cas9 technology require further investigation into their long-term efficacy and utility in treating gliomas.

Bovine respiratory disease is still a major concern in feedlots and has major economic impact. Another consequence of respiratory infections is the use of antimicrobial molecules to control bacterial pathogens. This can participate to the emergence and shedding of antimicrobial re-sistance that can threaten animal as well as human health. Appeasing pheromones with their capacity to reduce stress and thus their ability to preserve the functions of the immune system have been proposed to reduce the use of antimicrobial substances. In the current report we as-sessed the effect of appeasing pheromone administration on bovine health and performance during the fattening period. Zootechnical and health parameters as well as whole blood immune transcript expressions were measured over weeks in young bulls to determine the effect of the pheromone. We observed a reduction of clinical signs at day 30 in young bulls who received the pheromone and a higher expression of interleukin 8 transcripts in this group than in the control group. Our results are in line with previous reports in bovine and other mammals and ask for further studies to shed more light on the beneficial impact of appeasing pheromones and to de-cipher their exact mechanisms of action.

Recently scientific research began to shift their focus on looking at both the gut and the skin microbiota as having a reciprocal and integral relationship with one another, rather than assessing them as separate and unrelated fields. In the past five years, the field of microbial endocrinology emerged, which examines how our gut microbiota influences and modulates hormones. We’ve known for decades that hormones greatly affect the condition of the skin, and many skin conditions are often treated with oral hormonal therapy as means to internally treat skin conditions visible on the dermis. Now, a growing body research and discourse examining this triad of biological spheres – gut microbiota, skin microbiota, and the endocrine system – as interconnected rather than binary and unrelated. While there is ample research established and being conducted examining the gut-skin axis, the gut-brain axis, and the gut-hormone axis, through this paper I will review and synthesize some of the significant advancements in this emerging and inclusive field of science to suggest that the fields need to expand the axis and their modality for researching these fields as a connected whole in order to better understand the role of the microbiota in disease prevention as a whole.

Rehabilitation from musculoskeletal injuries focuses on reestablishing and monitoring muscle activation patterns to accurately produce force. The aim of this study is to explore the use of a novel low-powered wearable distributed Simultaneous Musculoskeletal Assessment with Real-Time Ultrasound (SMART-US) device to predict force during an isometric squat task. Participants (N=5) performed maximum isometric squats under two medical imaging techniques; clinical musculoskeletal motion mode (m-mode) ultrasound on the dominant vastus lateralis and SMART-US sensors placed on the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, medial hamstring, and vastus medialis. Ultrasound features were extracted, and a linear ridge regression model was used to predict ground reaction force. The performance of ultrasound features to predict measured force was tested using either the Clinical M-mode, SMART-US sensors on the vastus lateralis (SMART-US: VL), rectus femoris (SMART-US: RF), medial hamstring (SMART-US: MH), and vastus medialis (SMART-US: VMO) or utilized all four SMART-US sensors (Distributed SMART-US). Model training showed that the Clinical M-mode and the Distributed SMART-US model were both significantly different from the SMART-US: VL, SMART-US: MH, SMART-US:RF, and SMART-US:VMO models (p<0.05). Model validation showed that the Distributed SMART-US model had an R² of 0.80 ±0.04 and was significantly different from SMART-US: VL but not from the Clinical M-mode model. In conclusion, a novel wearable distributed SMART-US system can predict ground reaction force using machine learning, demonstrating the feasibility of wearable ultrasound imaging for ground reaction force estimation.

This paper describes the design and development of an active device that was applied to shoulder rotation rehabilitation. It implements a force control in a similar way to the haptic devices that reflect a force on the user’s hand according to the rehabilitation parameters. This device was tested with patients, combining clinician manipulation and programmed exercises. The results were excellent, given that the range of movement of the shoulder increased in most of the pa-tients. The results of the Usability Scale questionnaire were also promising.

The second law of thermodynamics states the increase of entropy, ΔS > 0, for real processes from state A to state B at constant energy from chemistry over biological life and engines to cosmic events. The connection of entropy to information, phase-space and heat is helpful, but does not immediately convince observers of the validity and basis of the second law. This gave grounds for finding a rigorous, but more easily acceptable reformulation. Here we show using statistical mechanics that this principle is equivalent to a force law ⟨⟨f⟩⟩> 0 in systems where mass centres and forces can be identified. The sign of this net force - the average mean force along a path from A to B - determines the direction of the process. The force law applies to a wide range of processes from machines to chemical reactions. The explanation of irreversibility by a driving force appears more plausible than the traditional formulation as it emphasizes the cause instead of the effect of motions.

Through a modern derivation of Planck's formula for the entropy of an arbitrary beam of photons we derive a general expression for the entropy production due to the irreversible process of the absorption of an arbitrary incident photon spectrum in material and its dissipation into an infrared-shifted grey-body emitted spectrum, the rest being reflected or transmitted. Employing the framework of Classical Irreversible Thermodynamic theory, we define the generalized thermodynamic flow as the flow of photons from the incident beam into the material and the generalized thermodynamic force is then just the entropy production divided by the photon flow which is the entropy production per unit photon at a given wavelength. We compare the entropy production under sunlight of different inorganic and organic materials (water, desert, leaves and forests) and show that organic materials are the greater entropy producing materials. Intriguingly, plant and phytoplankton pigments (including chlorophyll) have peak absorption exactly where entropy production through photon dissipation is maximal for our solar spectrum $430<\lambda<550$ nm, while photosynthetic efficiency is maximal between 600 and 700 nm. These results suggest that the evolution of pigments, plants and ecosystems has been towards optimizing entropy production rather than photosynthesis. We propose using the wavelength dependence of global entropy production as a biosignature for discovering life on planets of other stars.

This paper presents a novel method for automatic modulation classification (AMC) for cognitive radio (CR) networks based on a simple classifier that is trained with high-order cumulant. The proposed method focuses on the statistical behavior of modulated signals and includes analog modulation and digital schemes, which received less attention in the literature. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through simulation results using high-quality generated signals under different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and channel conditions. The classification performance achieved by the proposed method is superior to that of the more complex deep learning methods, making it well-suited for deployment in end units of CR networks, particularly in military and emergency service applications. The proposed method offers a cost-effective, high-quality solution for AMC that meets the stringent requirements of these critical applications.

We successfully created a composite photonic structure out of porous silicon (PSi) microcavities doped by the photochromic protein, photoactive yellow protein (PYP). Massive incorporation of the protein molecules into the pores was substantiated by a 30-nm shift of the resonance dip upon functionalization, and light-induced reflectance changes of the device due to the protein photocycle were recorded. Model calculations for the photonic properties of the device were consistent with earlier results on the nonlinear optical properties of the protein, whose degree of incorporation into the PSi structure was also estimated. The successful proof-of-concept results are discussed in light of possible practical applications in the future.

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are membrane proteins that convey extracellular signals to the cellular milieu. They represent a target for more than 30 % of currently marketed drugs. Here we review the effects of membrane cholesterol on the function of GPCRs of Class A. We review both the specific effects of cholesterol mediated via its direct high-affinity binding to the receptor and non-specific effects mediated by cholesterol-induced changes in the properties of the membrane. Cholesterol binds to many GPCRs at both canonical and non-canonical binding sites. It allosterically affects ligand binding to and activation of GPCRs. Also, it changes the oligomerization state of GPCRs. In this review, we consider a perspective of the potential for the development of new therapies that are targeted at manipulating the level of membrane cholesterol or modulating cholesterol binding sites on to GPCRs.

While the mortality rates of cancer are generally declining, pancreatic cancer persists to be an exception with a 5-year-survival rate of less than 7%. Late diagnosis and resistance to conventional therapies contribute to high mortality rates in spite of the remarkable recent advances in cancer management and research. Consequently, there is an urgent need to find new and unconventional therapeutic targets to improve prognosis and survival of pancreatic cancer patients. In this review, we discuss the transcriptional effects of the most widely used epigenetic inhibitors in pancreatic cancer focusing on Bromodomain and Extraterminal domain (BET) and Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, which are currently highly promising therapeutic options. We suggest that these inhibitors can be better utilized at lower doses which exploit their transcriptional modulatory effects on pancreatic cancer transcriptional programs directed by specific factors such as MYC and FOXA1, rather than simply based on their anti-proliferative effects. This approach can potentially help avoid the intolerable adverse events frequently elicited by the use of these treatments at higher doses. In particular, we underscore the crucial role of distal regulatory elements in mediating the specific effects of these epigenetic inhibitors and propose using them in a more selective and prudent manner.

Forensic anthropologists play a key role in skeletal trauma analysis and commonly use macroscopic features to distinguish between trauma types. However, this approach can be challenging, particularly in cases of highly comminuted or incompletely recovered fractures. Histological analysis of microscopic fracture characteristics in fractured bones may thus help provide additional information on trauma type and bone fracture biomechanics in general. This study analysed the extent of microcrack damage to osteons in long bones with blunt force trauma (BFT) and gunshot trauma (GST), from both traumatic death cases and post-mortem experimental fractures. We identified four types of osteonal damage (OD). In traumatic death cases, OD affecting the inside of the osteon and compromising the Haversian canal (type 1) was found to be indicative of BFT. Moreover, OD affecting the cement line (type 3) and interstitial lamellae (type 4) was more common in the GST samples. OD affecting the inside of the osteon without compromising the Haversian canal (type 2) was not found to be indicative of either trauma type. In cases of experimental fractures, our study revealed that post-mortem fractures in dry bone samples featured the highest amount of OD, particularly of type 4. This study also found that the experimentally produced GST featured similar OD pattern to GST death cases. These findings support our hypothesis that there are distinct osteonal damage patterns in human long bones with BFT and GST, which are of relevant value for trauma analysis in forensic anthropology.

The bipolar mitotic spindle drives accurate chromosome segregation by capturing the kinetochore and pulling each set of sister chromatids to the opposite poles. In this review, we describe recent findings on the multiple pathways leading to bipolar spindle formation in fission yeast and discuss these results from a broader perspective. Roles of four mitotic kinesins (Kinesin-5, Kinesin-6, Kinesin-12 and Kinesin-14) in spindle assembly are depicted, and how a group of microtubule-associated proteins, sister chromatid cohesion and the kinetochore collaborates with these motors is shown. We have paid special attention to the molecular pathways that render otherwise essential Kinesin-5 to become non-essential: how cells build bipolar mitotic spindles without the need for Kinesin-5 and where the alternate forces come from are considered. We highlight the force balance for bipolar spindle assembly and explain how outward and inward forces are generated by various ways, in which the proper fine-tuning of microtubule dynamics plays a crucial role. Overall, these new pathways have illuminated remarkable plasticity and adaptability of spindle mechanics. Kinesin molecules are regarded as prospective targets for cancer chemotherapy and many specific inhibitors have been developed. However, several hurdles have arisen against their clinical implementation. This review provides insight into possible strategies to overcome these challenges.

In this paper, we propose and evaluate two mechanisms aimed at improving the communication reliability of IEEE 802.15g SUN (Smart Utility Networks) in industrial scenarios: RTS (Re-Transmission Shaping), which uses acknowledgements to track channel conditions and dynamically adapt the number of re-transmissions per packet, and AMS (Adaptive Modulation Selection), which makes use of reinforcement learning based on MAB (Multi-Armed Bandits) to choose the modulation that provides the best reliability for each packet re-transmission. The evaluation of both mechanisms is performed through computer simulations using a dataset obtained from a real-world deployment and two widely used metrics, the PDR (Packet Delivery Ratio) and the RNP (Required Number of Packet transmissions). The PDR measures the ratio between received and transmitted packets, whereas the RNP is the number of packet repetitions before a successful transmission. The results show that both mechanisms allow to increase the communication reliability while not jeopardizing the battery life-time constraints of end devices. For example, when three re-transmissions per packet are allowed, the PDR reaches 98/96\% with a RNP of 2.03/1.32 using RTS and AMS, respectively. Additionally, the combination of both proposed mechanisms allows to reach a 99% PDR with a RNP of 1.7, making IEEE 802.15.4g SUN compliant with the stringent data delivery requirements of industrial applications.

Modern imaging strategies are paramount to studying living systems such as cells, bacteria, and fungi and their response to pathogens, toxicants, and nanomaterials as modulated by exposure and environmental factors. The need to understand the processes and mechanisms of damage, healing and cell survivability of living systems continues to motivate the development of alternative imaging strategies. Of particular interest is the use of label-free techniques that minimize interference of biological processes by foreign marking substances and reduce intense light exposure and potential photo-toxicity effects. This review focus on the potential synergic capabilities of atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a well-developed and robust imaging strategy with demonstrated applications to unravel intimate details in biomedical applications, with the label-free, fast, and enduring Holotomographic Microscopy (HT) strategy. We first review the operating principles that form the basis for the complementary details provided by these techniques regarding the surface and internal information provided by HT and AFM is essential and complimentary for the development of several biomedical areas studying the interaction mechanisms of nanomaterials with living organisms. First, AFM can provide superb resolution on surface morphology and biomechanical characterization. Second, the quantitative phase capabilities of HT enable superb modeling and quantification of the volume, surface area, protein content, and mass density of the main components of cells and microorganisms, including morphology of cells in microbiological systems. These capabilities result from directly quantifying refractive index changes without requiring fluorescent markers or chemicals. As such, HT is ideally suited for long-term monitoring of living organisms in conditions close to their natural settings. We present a case-based review of the principal uses of both techniques and their essential contributions to nanomedicine and nanotoxicology, emphasizing cancer and infectious disease control. The synergic impact of the sequential use of these complementary strategies provides a clear drive for adopting these techniques as interdependent fundamental tools.

We present a summary of our protocol for employment of small-molecule circadian rhythm modulators. The abilities of compounds to affect oscillations have received significant attention. We outline assessments of circadian changes using indirubin-3’-oxime (IO), 5-iodo-indirubin-3’-oxime (5I-IO), and 5-sulfonic acid-indirubin-3’-oxime (5SA-IO), analyzing effects on Bmal1 and Per2 oscillations and oncogenic features.

Although evolutionary theory has yet to furnish a comprehensive rationale for the underlying mechanism of natural selection, it is pertinent to note that the phenomenon transcends the confines of biological systems, exhibiting analogous patterns in physical systems as well. Specifically, isolated and closed systems tend to evolve towards states of progressively increasing entropy. In scenarios where multiple paths for entropy increase are accessible, such systems tend to favor combinations of paths that exhibit the most rapid entropy increase rates. Among the various processes in nature, life activities constitute a salient means of achieving entropy increase. Genetic variation within organisms generates individuals that vary in their rates of entropy increase. As these organisms interact, compete and combine, they form diverse combinations of entropy-increasing pathways. Nature, in turn, selects among these combinations, favoring those that culminate in the fastest entropy increase, thereby propelling the evolution of life. Essentially, the evolution of life is an ongoing exploration of diverse combinations of pathways that maximize entropy increase across various energy pools. Amidst continuous genetic variation and the selective pressure imposed by nature for maximum entropy production rates, information accumulates, leading to a corresponding acceleration in the rate of entropy increase. This natural selection, which favors maximizing the entropy at the fastest possible rate, serves as the ultimate driving force for the origin and evolution of life.