The paper presents a new type of hydraulic clutch operating with magnetorheological (MR) fluids and the results achieved from both theoretical analysis and experimental measurement. The hy-draulic clutch system of its own design with MR working fluid and a rotating magnetic field lo-cated is designed. The principle of this clutch is to use a rotating magnetic field created by an al-ternating current electromagnet to set the MR fluid in motion. In the tests of the hydraulic clutch with a rotating magnetic field, MR fluid produced on their own, consisting of solid iron particles of various diameters mixed with a silicone oil, are used as working fluids. The rheological properties of MR fluids are assessed on the basis of tests carried out with a Brookfield DV2T rheometer equipped with a magnetic device for generating the magnetic field of its own design. The char-acteristics of the hydraulic clutch with MR working fluid and the rotating magnetic field are tested on a specially built test stand. As a result of the research, it has been found that the torque transmitted by the clutch is the greater, the higher the rotational speed of the magnetic field and the lower the rotational speed of the beaker in which the working fluid is placed, and that the greatest torque occurs for the working fluid with the highest iron content. Based on the analysis of the structure and characteristics of the clutch in which the magnetic field is used, it has been shown that the design of the developed clutch is similar to that of an induction clutch, and its characteristics correspond to the characteristics of the eddy current clutch. Therefore, the proposed new clutch working with MR fluid and the rotating magnetic field can be applied to stationary power transmission system similarly to an eddy current clutch.

The oscillating heat pipe (OHP) is a new member in the family of heat pipes, and it has great potential applications in energy conservation. However, the fluid flow and heat transfer in the OHP as well as the fundamental effects of inner diameter on them have not been fully understood, which are essential to the design and optimization of the OHP in real applications. Therefore, by combining the high-speed visualization method and infrared thermal imaging technique, the fluid flow and thermal performance in the OHPs with inner diameters of 1, 2 and 3 mm are presented and analyzed. The results indicate that three fluid flow motions, including small oscillation, bulk oscillation and circulation, coexist or, respectively, exist alone with the increasing heating load under different inner diameters, with three flow patterns occurring in the OHPs, viz. bubbly flow, slug flow and annular flow. These fluid flow motions are closely correlated with the heat and mass transfer performance in the OHPs, which can be reflected by the characteristics of infrared thermal images of condensers. The decrease in the inner diameter increases the frictional flow resistance and capillary instability while restricting the nucleate boiling in OHPs, which leads to a smaller proportion of bubbly flow, a larger proportion of short slug flow, a poorer thermal performance, and easier dry-out of working fluid. In addition, when compared with the 2 mm OHP, the increasing role of gravity induces the thermosyphon effect and weakens the 'bubble pumping' action, which results in a little smaller and bigger thermal resistances of 3 mm OHP under small and bulk oscillation of working fluid, respectively.

Detecting and monitoring changes in soil salinity through remote sensing provides an opportunity for field assessment in regions where on-site measurements are limited. This investigation, carried out in Siwa Oasis, Egypt, aimed to assess the efficacy of several soil salinity indices derived from Landsat 5 and 7 satellite images. To achieve this, 56 on-site ground measurements were utilized for evaluation purposes. The study aimed to improve the correlation between EC and index values and explore the relationship between salinity and changes in land cover. Eleven spectral indices were calculated for nine scenes captured in different months from August to December. The first approach involved stacking the data to identify the index with the strongest correlation with ground EC values, without the need for complex analysis or EC value ranging. In the second approach, the ground EC measurements were classified into seven different salinity categories, and the correlation coefficient was calculated between each index and each salinity category. The third approach analyzed the data temporally, considering different salinity levels. Lastly, a spatial correlation analysis was conducted between EC and index values in the fourth scenario. The initial approach revealed a weak correlation due to substantial variation in EC values. However, the SI index demonstrated the highest correlation coefficient of 0.38. In the second scenario, the S2 index exhibited the highest correlation of 0.96 for moderate salinity samples. The third scenario showed that the S1 index achieved the highest correlation value of 0.99 for moderately saline areas. In the fourth scenario, the SI index exhibited the strongest correlation among all four ponds with correlation coefficients of 0.23, 0.23, 0.18, and 0.61. Notably, the correlations observed in the second and third scenarios demonstrated higher correlation coefficients compared to both the first and fourth scenarios. The study highlighted significant variations in EC levels related to land cover types and pond elevation. Additionally, remote sensing methods detected a 48% increase in total vegetated area over 17 years, showing the potential of remote sensing techniques in salinity monitoring for expanding agriculture and improving land management.

When the epipelic algae group growing on the concrete inclined side wall, which is typical of urban rivers and open diversion channels, enters the water flow, it will seriously affect the func-tion of the rivers or the channels. It is urgent to predict the transport capacity of epipelic algae group with water flow. However, the current research on the transport of pollutants is mostly based on mathematical models, and the study of the transport of flake epipelic algae group is extremely rare. A generalized hydrodynamic experimental model of a flume with sidewall epi-pelic algae group was established. Through a series of hydraulic experiments, the physical movement form and transport capacity of the suspended epipelic algae group on the side wall of the channel were studied qualitatively and quantitatively by taking the thickness, sheet size and flow rate of the epipelic algae group as the influencing factors. The key influencing factors of the suspension of epipelic algae are clarified, so as to quantitatively analyze the critical conditions of its suspension. Through flow scheduling, the probability of epipelic algae gathering some-where is increased. It provides a theoretical basis for realizing the long-distance migration of epipelic algae and optimizing the mathematical model.

The analysis and simulation of water quality in distribution networks is a complex issue of great concern today. The analysis of the evolution of water age, as a simple indicator of water quality in the network, is of great interest in both design and operation phases. Understanding the factors that have the strongest influence on water quality is key to developing adequate strategies aimed at preserving it. This paper firstly analyses the factors with biggest influence in the tanks water age, to support the selection of the most appropriate configuration from the point of view of water quality during design phases. Then, the main considerations when modelling tanks following the different mixing models considered in Epanet have been presented. Also, a real tank behaviour has been characterised through field measurements and Epanet simulations in order to determine the best fitted mixing model.

The construction industry has a notable negative impact on the environment; thus, the promotion of the use of timber structures is an alternative to mitigate its effects. The research develops an artificial intelligence-based decision approach in the calculation of timber structures focused on the enhancement of the sustainability of roof structures. Based on the optimization carried out through genetic algorithms and the framework established in Eurocode 5, a general set of equations has been proposed for a laminated timber roof structure. The tool, which determines the most suitable roof structure for each strength class of laminated timber, allows for the determination of the dimensions of beams and purlins and their respective separations in order to minimize wood consumption. The ultimate goal is to offer multiple solutions regarding strength classes and structural designs in order to foster informed sustainable choices that promote efficient use of resources in construction.

The main objective of this work is the assessment of the annual number of hospital admissions for respiratory disease (HARD) due to the exposure to in-healable particulate matter (PM10), within the greater Athens area (GAA), Greece. Towards this aim, the time series of the particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10μm (PM10) recorded in six monitoring stations located in the GAA, for a 13-year period 2001-2013, is used. Initially, a descriptive statistical treatment of PM10 concentrations took place. Furthermore, the AirQ2.2.3 software developed by the WHO was used to evaluate adverse health effects by PM10 in the GAA during the examined period. The results show that, during the examined period PM10 concentrations present a significant decreasing trend. Also, the mean annual HARD cases per 100,000 inhabitants ranged between 20 (suburban location) and 40 (city centre location). Approximately 70% of the annual HARD cases are due to city centre residents. In all examined locations, a declining trend in the annual number of HARD cases is appeared. Moreover, a strong relation between the annual number of HARD cases and the annual number of days exceeding the European Union daily PM10 threshold value was found.

This article utilizes the Canny edge extraction algorithm based on contour curvature and the cross-correlation template matching algorithm to extensively study the impact of high-repetition-rate CO2 pulsed Laser on the target extraction and tracking performance of the infrared imaging detector. It establishes a quantified dazzling pattern for lasers on infrared imaging systems. By conducting laser dazzling and damage experiments, a detailed analysis of the normalized correlation between target and dazzling images is performed to quantitatively describe laser dazzling effects. Simultaneously, an evaluation system, including target distance and laser power evaluation factors, is established to determine the dazzling level and whether the target is recognizable. The research results reveal that laser power and target position are crucial factors affecting the detection performance of infrared imaging-guided weapon systems under laser dazzling. Different laser powers are required to successfully interfere with the recognition algorithm of infrared imaging-guided weapons at different distances. And laser dazzling will produce a lot of false edge information, which seriously affects the performance of pattern recognition algorithm. In laser damage experiments, the detector experienced functional damage, with a quarter of the image displaying as completely black. The energy density threshold required for functional damage to the detector is approximately 3 J/cm2. The dazzling assessment conclusions also apply to evaluating damage results. Finally, the proposed evaluation formula aligns with experimental results, objectively reflecting the actual impact of laser dazzling on the target extraction and tracking performance of infrared imaging systems. This study provides an in-depth and accurate analysis for understanding the influence of lasers on the performance of infrared imaging-guided weapons.

The Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and the Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD) indices are used to assess the indoor environment in terms of human thermal comfort-discomfort. In this study, an experimental combined objective and subjective investigation of thermal comfort perception has been performed in students between 16-18 years old, in a non-air-conditioned school building. The objective approach included instrumentation measurements and data processing according to ISO 7730, whereas, the subjective one was based on answers collection following ISO 10551. The study is mainly devoted to the verification of Fanger’s approach in a building, in free running conditions, under a mild (moderate) climate.The comparison between instrumentation data and questionnaire results presented an underestimation of the mean vote, predicting a cooler sensation than the actual one.

Endoscopy has made a significant and noteworthy contribution to the field of medical science and technology. Nevertheless, its potential remains constrained due to the limited availability of rigid or flexible endoscopes. This paper introduces a novel hydraulic actuator based on electrorheological fluid (ERF) as a pivotal advancement in bridging the existing gap within the realm of endoscopy. Following a comprehensive introduction that briefly outlines the electrorheological effect, the subsequent section is dedicated to the elucidation of the actuator’s development process. Challenges arise, particularly in terms of miniaturization and the realization of a hydraulically sealed system with integrated valve electrodes. An internal electrorheological valve system consisting of four valves that are controlled using a pulse-width modulated high voltage was suitable for position control of the antagonistic hydraulic actuators. High-precision stereolithography (SLA) printing has proven practical for manufacturing the actuator components. For functional testing, a test bench was set up in which the actuator follows a setpoint through a PI control loop. The control deviation ranged from 0.6 to 1 degree, with a response time between 6 and 8 seconds. The experiments have demonstrated that, through the use of ERF and integrated valve electrodes, a miniaturized functional actuator can be constructed.

Currently, there is a tenacious need to find new ways to purify water by eliminating bacterial biofilms, textile dyes, and toxic water pollutants. These contaminants pose significant risks to both human health and the environment. To address this issue, in this study, we have developed an eco-friendly approach that involves synthesizing Cobalt-doped Cerium Iron Oxide (CCIO) nanocomposite (NC) using an aqueous extract of Gossypium arboreum L. stalks. The resulting nanoparticles can be used to effectively purify water and tackle the challenges associated with these harmful pollutants. Nanoparticles excel in water pollutant removal by providing high surface area for efficient adsorption, versatile design for simultaneous removal of multiple contaminants, catalytic properties for organic pollutant degradation, and magnetic features for easy separation, offering cost-effective and sustainable water treatment solutions. CCIO nanocomposite has been synthesized by green co-precipitation method due to biomolecules and co-enzymes present in the aqueous extract of Gossypium arboreum L. stalk; a single-step procedure completed in 5 h reaction time. Further, the synthesis of nanocomposites was confirmed by various characterization techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX). CCIO NCs were discovered to have a spherical shape and an average size of 40 nm. Based on DLS zeta potential analysis, CCIO NCs were found to be anionic. Also, CCIO NCs showed significant antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. Overall, considering the physical and chemical properties, the application of CCIO NCs in the adsorption of various dyes (~91 %) and water pollutants (chromium = ~ 60 %) has been considered since they exhibit great adsorption capacity owing to their microporous structure which can be a step forward in water purification.

Digital twins are an emerging technology that could be harnessed for the digitalization of the industry. Steel industry systems contain a large number of electro-hydraulic components, as proportional valves. An input-output model for a novel water proportional cartridge valve is derived from physical modelling based on fluid mechanics, dynamics, and electrical principles. The valve is a two-stage valve with two 2/2-way water proportional valves as the pilot stage and a marginally stable poppet-type cartridge valve as the main valve. The orifice equation, which is based on Bernoulli principles, is approximated by a polynomial which makes parameter estimation easier and makes modelling possible without measuring pressure of the varying control volume situated in the pilot stage part of the valve. Data were collected when the valve was operating as a component in a closed-loop system as part of a press-mill machine in a steel manufacturing plant. Parameter estimation was made by convex optimization with physical constraints to overcome problems caused by poor system excitation. For comparison, a simple linear model was derived and the least squares method used for parameter estimation. A thorough estimation of the parameters relative errors is presented. The model contains 5 parameters related to the design parameters of the valve. The modelled position output is in good agreement with experimental data for training and test data. The model can be used for real time monitoring of the valve’s status by the model parameters. One of the model parameters varies linearly with production cycles. Thus, aging of the valve can be monitored.

This paper presents a detailed description of three methodologies to electrify the rural households of small loads with reliable and economical method using solar energy as input source of power. It is observed that high DC voltage is better and economical solution rather than AC based solar systems and low voltage DC systems. In this paper, three methodologies were analysed to select the right combination of portable converters with low prices, which may further enhance the energy access and affordability to common people. The proposed three methodologies were tested through action research in collaboration with a team of scientists and technical experts of National Institute of Solar Energy. The comparative analysis is carried out on three different converters, various kind of house loads and types of power supply i.e. AC/DC. The performance, quality and economic evaluation has been carried out with the help of MATLAB SIMULINK and other measuring instruments specific for solar photovoltaic systems. The derived results were analysed and inferences made for use in village household loads and their income groups. Further, a three-step analytical framework on village-level power energy efficient power at affordable power preposition was presented. This study will help in the designing as well as in the performance and economic evaluation of converters based on solar photovoltaic systems of different technologies.

This article presents a new input device for spastic patients and others with similar symptoms. The sensor consists of a disc used to determine positions and can replace standard joysticks in medical devices such as electric-powered wheelchairs. Using a standard joystick while operating a powered wheelchair can result in dangerous situations when spastic movements occur and extremities cramp making them uncontrollable. To avoid this, a disc was developed that can be controlled with any body part. By shifting weight (x- and y-axis) the disc can tilt in any direction creating a proportional output signal and can also be pushed down in the center (z-axis) to open a menu on a screen for example. When spasms occur it is impossible for users to get stuck on the input device because the disc is flat and can be mounted within a control panel. Body parts coming into contact with the disc would merely slide across the disc without triggering unintentional actions. The sensor presented here is also adaptive and can be adjusted to fit a user’s strength and range of motion. This proposal aims to develop an input device that enables spastic patients to operate sensitive systems safely.

The weight coefficients of the diaphragm spring depend on experiences in the traditional optimization. However, this method not only cannot guarantee the optimal solution but it is also not universal. Therefore, a new optimization target function is proposed. The new function takes the minimum of average compress force changing of the spring and the minimum force of the separation as total objectives. Based on the optimization function, the result of the clutch diaphragm spring in a car is analyzed by the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) and the solution set of Pareto is obtained. The results show that the pressing force of the diaphragm spring is improved by 4.09%by the new algorithmand the steering separation force is improved by 6.55%, which has better stability and steering portability. The problem of the weight coefficient in the traditional empirical design is solved. The pressing force of the optimized diaphragm spring varied slightly during the abrasion range of the friction film, and the manipulation became remarkably light.

Due to urban sprawls, the arable land is shifting in the settlement areas and towns, while industrial development is making it more vulnerable. The current study was conducted to see the changes in land use and land cover in Kotri area, Pakistan from 1998 to 2020 to establish trends in recent land use development based on available land use data. In this regard, satellite images in the study area were acquired from USGS and processed using ArcMap 10.5 and Environmental for Visualizing Images (ENVI). Results show that; there was a change in the settlement pattern of Kotri city with 40% between 1998 and 2020, 77% decrease in Bare-land was observed in 2020. Natural vegetation in the study area has decreased significantly with 4.4 Sq/ km in 2020, surface water-bodies in 1998 were 1.3 sq/km and in 2020 there is 1.8 Sq/km indicating 32% increase in surface water bodies. It was further revealed that settlement in Kotri has increased due to its geographical location, nearness of the major city of Hyderabad, and the establishment of the industrial zone and educational city near Kotri. From the foregoing, the study concluded that Kotri City will have more changes in its land use and land cover as the expansion in the city is going on and on. It is therefore recommended that local government and provincial government should pay attention towards this development and put up an action plan towards proper provision for such expansion.

With the development of higher voltage power grid, the high and low voltage parallel loops are emerging, which lead to energy losses, even threaten the security and stability of power system. The multi-infeed HVDC configurations widely appearing in AC/DC interconnected power system make this situation even worse. Aimed at energy saving and system security, a decision optimization method for power grid operating condition with high and low voltage parallel loops is proposed in this paper. Firstly, considering hub substation distribution and power grid structure, parallel loop opening schemes are generated with GN algorithm. Then, candidate opening schemes are preliminarily selected from all these generated schemes based on a filtering index. Finally, with the influence on power system security, stability and operation economy in consideration, an evaluation model for candidate opening schemes is founded based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP). And a fuzzy evaluation algorithm is used to find the optimal scheme. Simulation results of New England 39-bus system and an actual power system validate the effectiveness and superiority of this proposed method.

In mining machines with friction discs, but also in multi-rope traction elevators, it is necessary to distribute the applied tensile load, generated by the weight of the cage and counterweight, evenly in all cross-sections of the load-bearing ropes. Hydraulic devices used for this purpose can operate on the principle of Pascal's law. The article presents a structural design, a 3D model and an implemented solution of a laboratory device capable of simulating a practical method of evenly distributing the total weight of the load into partial tensile forces of the same size acting on a selected number of load-bearing ropes. The laboratory equipment uses two pairs of three steel cables of finite length for the simulations. During the experimental measurements, tensile forces derived from the tractive force of the piston rods, pushed into the bodies of the hydraulic cylinders by the pressure of the hydraulic oil supplied through the pipeline under the pistons of the hydraulic cylinders, were detected. The resulting amount of hydraulic oil pressure in the hydraulic circuit influenced by different values of the hydraulic oil pressures in the hydraulic cylinders and by the pressure in the supply pipe was experimentally studied on the laboratory equipment. Simulations were also carried out in order to detect the hydraulic oil pressure in the hydraulic circuit caused by the change in the different magnitudes of the tensile forces in the ropes From the experiments carried out, it follows that with the appropriate choice of hydraulic elements and the design of the hydraulic circuit, the weight of the load, acting as the total pulling force in the ropes, can be evenly distributed (with a deviation of up to 5%) to all cross-sections of the load-bearing ropes. If the exact values of the hydraulic oil volumes under the pistons of all hydraulic cylinders are not known, it is not possible to calculate the pressure values in the hydraulic circuit when the valves of the hydraulic pipes are gradually opened.

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is the main genetic cause of iron overload and is regarded as metal-related human toxicosis. HH may result from HFE and non-HFE gene mutations causing hepcidin deficiency or hepcidin resistance. The disorder has a high biochemical penetrance, but a low clinical prevalence. Unfortunately, the majority of patients with HH remain undiagnosed at their disease-curable stage. The main aim of HH therapy is to prevent iron overload in the early-phase disease and elimination of excess iron from the body by phlebotomy in its late stage. Raising global awareness of HH among health professionals, their training to pay attention to early HH signs and symptoms, and strict patient monitoring are critical management strategies for preventing treatment delays, upgrading its efficacy, and improving patient prognosis.

With the advances in industry and commerce, passengers have become more accepting of environmental sustainability issues; thus, more people now choose to travel by bus. Government administration constitutes an important part of bus transportation services as the government gives the right-of-way to transportation companies allowing them to provide services. When these services are of poor quality, passengers may lodge complaints. The increase in consumer awareness and developments in wireless communication technologies have made it possible for passengers to easily and immediately submit complaints about transportation companies to government institutions, which has brought drastic changes to the supply-demand chain comprised of the public sector, transportation companies, and passengers. This study proposed the use of big data analysis technology including systematized case assignment and data visualization to improve management processes in the public sector and optimize customer complaint services. Taichung City, Taiwan was selected as the research area. There, the customer complaint management process in public sector was improved, effectively solving such issues as station-skipping, allowing the public sector to fully grasp the service level of transportation companies, improving the sustainability of bus operations, and supporting the sustainable development of the public sector-transportation company-passenger supply chain.

In this paper, we present the design, manufacturing and characterization of a soft textile-based clutch (TBC) that switches between locking and unlocking of its linear displacement by exploiting vacuum stimulation. The applied vacuum locks the relative sliding motion between two elaborated textile webbings covered by an elastic silicone rubber bag. Based on different fabrication techniques, such as silicone casting on textile, melt embossing for direct fabrication of miniature patterns on textile and sewing, we developed three groups of TBC samples based on friction and interlocking principles and we compared their performance in blocking configuration. The clutch with interlocking mechanism presented the highest withstanding force (150 N) respect to the one (54 N) recorded for the friction-based clutch. The simple and compact structure of the proposed clutch, together with the intrinsic adaptability of fabric with other clothing and soft materials, make it a proper solution for applications in soft wearable robotics and generally as locking and variable stiffness solution for soft robotic applications.

Using pumps operating as turbines (PATs) offers the possibility of increasing the sustainability of water and energy systems by recovering the excess of energy that would be otherwise lost in pressure reducing valves or head loss chambers. In on-grid applications, there are many research works and implementations of PATs. However, there is still limited research for the optimization of efficiency and stability of PATs operating in off-grid systems. This work contributes to the development of stable direct current (DC) off-grid electric systems based on PATs, by optimizing and analysing the energy efficiency and stability for a wide range of operation. A self-excited induction generator (SEIG) coupled to the PAT is provided to cover the conventional type of electric ma-chines typically coupled to the hydraulic pumps. In this context, a methodology is proposed, based on the hydraulic, mechanical and electric subsystems, to define the PAT-SEIG operational area, to maximize energy conversion and the system efficiency. This will guarantee stable electric output quantities when operating in a DC off-grid system. In addition, an analytical model is proposed to estimate the PAT-SEIG operation under specific conditions. With this, water managers are suitable to design and optimize an off-grid PAT-SEIG system and to define the best hydraulic machines, electronic equipment, and all different control elements to maximize energy conversion within the target of operational limits. To develop and verify this new methodology, two micro PAT-SEIG setups were implemented in the hydraulic laboratory of IST/CERIS under typical operating conditions. The proposed solution proved to be resilient under a variable load regime. The system's maximum efficiency can be adapted using different capacitor values for the excitation of the SEIG, and the operational range is limited to the electric components. Considering the nominal efficiencies of the system’s components, the maximum p.u. efficiency obtained for each PAT-SEIG system were between 0.7 and 0.8 p.u.

The evolution of human societal dynamics over the course of decades and centuries has led to an ever-increasingly complex digital modern life, one of the hallmark of which is the need for multi-tasking, inclusive of that with media. Is there an empirical mapping between this macroscopic (digital) evolution of the human societal dynamics (in terms of multi-tasking) and the microscopic evolution of the functional molecular units within cells (i.e., proteins) and their manifold cross-talks? Multi-tasking requires a certain degree of intrinsic or adapted flexibility which is as true at the bio-molecular level. Evolutionary diversification of structure-function relationship in proteins emphasizes the functional importance of intrinsically disordered entities (IDPs/IDRs) which are highly dynamic biological soft matters. Multi-functionality is favorably supported by their fluid-like shapes and other new malleable members of the protein family. The new wealth of knowledge coming from recent research on protein intrinsic disorder, fold-switching, moonlighting, hub proteins etc. has given us new insights into protein structure – functional relationship. This has led to a paradigm shift in protein science, clearly diverging from the traditional 'one structure – one function' model applicable to enzyme classes to a more complex understanding of protein functionality. This paradigm shift has caused scientists to delve deeper into the subject, exploring various evolutionary toys and tools to fit the cumulative multi-functional demands in higher organisms. This commentary covers the different evolutionary arsenals to achieve the growing multi-functionality and argues in favor of protein intrinsic disorder as probably the sharpest weapon of all.

Wood is poised to become a material of choice for future construction. When appropriately managed, it is a renewable material with unique mechanical properties. Beyond its inherent sustainability, the use of wood has a crucial role in addressing climate change concerns due a significantly lower energy consumption and emissions during manufacturing and transportation, while simultaneously acting as a carbon sink. Thus, there has been a growing demand for hardwoods for structural applications, including Castanea sativa Mill., the focal point of this investigation. Albeit in a limited capacity, Eurocode 5-2 offers friction coefficients for softwoods, but it falls short for hardwoods which it is a gap to bridge with this research. These coefficients play a critical role in numerical simulations involving friction, enabling the optimization of joints and, by extension, the overall structural integrity. Test samples were evaluated at 18% moisture content, which is typical of Service Class 2, for various orientations of timber-to-timber and timber-to-steel friction. Considering previous friction coefficients at 12% moisture content, the linear variation was evaluated at an intermediate value of 15%. The results provide an experimental database for numerical simulations and highlight the influence of moisture content on the coefficients, which increase linearly along moisture percentages.

Peptides, both natural and synthetic, are well suited for a wide range of purposes and offer versa-tile applications in different fields such as biocatalysts, injectable hydrogels, tumor treatment, and drug delivery. The rising prominence of therapeutic peptides encompasses anticancer, antiviral, antimicrobial, and anti-neurodegenerative properties. The metals Na, K, Mg, Ca, Fe, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, and Mo are ten of the twenty elements that are considered essential for life. Crucial for under-standing the biological role of metals is the exploration of metal-bound proteins and peptides. Aside from essential metals, there are other, non-essential metals that also interact biologically, exhibiting either therapeutic or toxic effects. Irregularities in metal binding contribute to diseases like Alzheimer’s, neurodegenerative disorders, Wilson's, and Menkes disease. Certain metal com-plexes have potential applications as radiopharmaceuticals. The examination of these complexes was done by preforming UV-Vis, IR, EPR, NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray analysis.

Background: MR image classification in datasets collected from multiple sources is complicated by inconsistent and missing DICOM metadata. Therefore, we aimed to establish a method for the efficient automatic classification of MR brain sequences. Methods: Deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN) were trained as one-vs-all classifiers to differentiate between six classes, T1 weighted (w), contrast-enhanced T1w, T2w, T2w-FLAIR, ADC, and SWI. Each classifier yields a probability, allowing threshold-based and relative probability assignment while excluding images with low probability (label: unknown, open-set recognition problem). Data from three high-grade glioma (HGG) cohorts was assessed; C1 (320 patients, 20101 MRI images) was used for training, while C2 (197, 11333) and C3 (256, 3522) were for testing. Two raters manually checked images through an interactive labeling tool. Finally, MR-Class' added value was evaluated via radiomics models' performance for progression-free survival (PFS) prediction in C2, utilizing the concordance index (C-I). Results: Approximately 10% of annotation errors were observed in each cohort between the DICOM series descriptions and the derived labels. MR-Class accuracy was 96.7% [95%-Cl: 95.8, 97.3] for C2 and 94.4% [93.6, 96.1] for C3. 620 images were misclassified; Manual assessment of those frequently showed motion artifacts or alterations of anatomy by large tumors. Implementation of MR-Class increased on average the PFS model C-I by 14.6% compared to a model trained without MR-Class. Conclusions: We provide a DCNN-based method for sequence classification of brain MR images and demonstrate its usability in two independent HGG datasets.

Sustainable continuous cover forestry is defined and analyzed in several ways. The differential equation representing growth of the basal areas of individual trees, motivated by fundamental biological production theory by Lohmander (2017a), is analyzed and extended in different directions. From the solution of the differential equation, the basal area and the tree diameter are obtained as explicit functions of time. The diameter is a strictly increasing function of time. In the absence of competitors, the diameter increment is shown to be a strictly decreasing function of time. Hence, the diameter increment can also be interpreted as a strictly decreasing function of the diameter. Alternative forms of adjustment of the differential equation, with consideration of competition, are defined. If the competition is strong, with large trees in the vicinity of a particular tree, then the basal area increment, and the diameter increment, are reduced. The growth of a large tree is less sensitive than the growth of a small tree, to competition from other trees. Under strong competition, the basal area increment, and the diameter increment, are strictly concave functions of the size of the tree. The unique maximum of the diameter increment occurs at a higher diameter, if the competition increases. In dynamic equilibrium, the tree size frequency distribution is stationary. If natural tree mortality can be avoided via the harvest strategy, the tree size frequency distribution is a function of the size and competition dependent growth function, and the harvest strategy. Empirical tree size frequency data are used to simultaneously estimate parameters of a size and competition dependent growth function and the applied harvest strategy, via nonlinear optimization. The properties of the estimated growth function are consistent with the corresponding properties of the production theoretically motivated hypothetical function, and the properties of the estimated harvest strategy confirm the corresponding hypotheses. The R2 of the nonlinear regression exceeds 0.97. With access to an empirically estimated equilibrium tree size distribution, it is possible to: 1. Estimate size frequency relevant parameters of tree size and competition dependent growth functions for individual trees. 2. Estimate the applied harvest strategy. 3. Explain and reproduce the empirically estimated tree size equilibrium distribution.

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

We propose a generalized, practitioner-oriented operating leverage model for predicting operating income using Standard and Poor’s Compustat items: SALE (net sales), COGS (cost of sales), DP (total depreciation and amortization), XSGA (selling, general, and administrative expenses), and OIADP (operating income after depreciation and amortization). Prior research finds that OIADP = SALE - COGS - DP - XSGA; hence, our model includes all aggregate revenues and expenses comprising OIADP. Also, prior research finds COGS is “much less” sticky than DP and XSGA; hence, we use COGS as a proxy for total variable costs and DP and XSGA as proxies for sticky fixed costs. We introduce a new adjustment to the textbook operating leverage model so that SALE-to-COGS remains constant for the reference and forecast periods. Also, inspired by prior research, we introduce adjustments to DP and XSGA for cost stickiness. We find our generalized operating leverage model improves estimates of changes in next-quarter and next-year OIADP compared to textbook operating leverage predictions, which are special cases of our model.

The use of renewable fuels for internal combustion engines marks a significant stride towards sustainability in transportation and power generation. Ensuring the compatibility of these fuels with existing diesel engines and infrastructure is paramount for a smooth transition. Diesel engines ca-pable of harnessing the advantages of alternative fuels without extensive modifications offer a pragmatic approach to sustainable power for vehicles and industries. This article investigates the impact of carbon neutral renewable fuel types (HVOs and biodiesel) on the operation of the high-pressure injection pump, focusing on rotational speed and delivery pressure as key parame-ters. Investigations, based on pump operating cycle analysis and volumetric efficiency measure-ments, reveals that while speed dependence is moderate, fuel type significantly influences pump performance. Hydrogenated carbon-neutral fluids (HVOs) demonstrate adequate capabilities compared to conventional fossil fuels, offering promising prospects for reducing environmental impact. The findings underscore the importance of considering fuel properties, particularly com-pressibility modulus. These insights provide valuable guidance for the advancement of sustainable transportation and industrial systems.

In this study, the focus is on the drop test simulation of an MR (Magnetorheological) damper-based main landing gear (MRMLG), aiming to explore multi-degree-of-freedom (DOF) dynamic models during aircraft landing. Three different 6-DOF dynamic models are proposed in this work and their drop performances are compared with results achieved one of commercial softwares. The proposed models include a nonlinear aircraft model (NLAM), a linearized approximated aircraft model (LAAM) linearizing from the nonlinear equations of motion in NLAM, and a fully approximated aircraft model (FAAM) which linearizes the MRMLG's strut force model. In order to evaluate drop performance of the aircraft landing gear system with MR dampers, a 7-DOF aircraft model incorporating the nonlinear MRMLG is formulated using RecurDyn. The principal comparative param-eters are the coefficient of determination (R2) for system response of each model with Re-curDyn model and root mean square error (RMSE) which is the ensembles of CG dis-placement data for each model. In addition, the ensemble of time series data is created for diverse drop scenarios, providing valuable insights into the performance of the proposed drop test models of the aircraft landing gear system featuring MR dampers.

The oncogenes that are expressed in gliomas reprogram particular pathways of glucose, amino acid, and fatty acid metabolism. Mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase genes (IDH1/2) in diffuse gliomas are associated with abnormally high levels of 2-hydroxyglutarate (2-HG) levels. The aim of this study was to determine whether metabolic reprogramming associated with IDH mutant gliomas leads to additional 1H MRS-detectable differences between IDH1 and IDH2 mutations and to identify metabolites correlated with 2-HG. A total of 21 glioma patients (age= 3711, 13 males) were recruited for MRS using a Semi-localization by adiabatic selective refocusing pulse sequence at ultra-high-field (7T). Tumour mutation subtype was confirmed by immunohistochemistry and DNA sequencing. LCModel analysis was applied for metabolite quantification. A two-sample t-test was used for metabolite comparisons between IDH1 (n=15) and IDH2 (n=5) mutant gliomas. The Pearson correlation coefficients between 2-HG and associated metabolites were calculated. A Bonferroni correction was applied for multiple comparison. IDH2 mutant gliomas have a higher level of 2-HG/tCho (total choline=phosphocholine+glycerylphosphorylcholine) (2.481.01vs.0.720.38, Pc<0.001) and myo-Inositol/tCho (2.700.90vs.1.460.51, Pc=0.011) compared to IDH1 mutation gliomas. Associated metabolites, myo-Inositol and glucose+taurine were correlated with 2-HG levels. These results show improved characterization of the metabolic pathways in IDH1 and IDH2 gliomas for precision medicine.

Eutrophication, a global concern, impacts water quality, ecosystems, and human health. It’s crucial to monitor algal blooms in freshwater reservoirs, as they indicate the trophic condition of a waterbody through Chlorophyll-a (Chla) concentration. Traditional monitoring methods, however, are expen-sive and time-consuming. Addressing this hindrance, we developed models using remotely sensed data from the Sentinel-2 satellite for large-scale coverage, including its bands and spectral indexes, to estimate the Chla concentration on 149 freshwater reservoirs in Ceará, Brazil. Several machine learning models were trained and tested, including k-nearest neighbours, random forests, extreme gradient boosting, the least absolute shrinkage, group method of data handling (GMDH), and sup-port vector machine models. A stepwise approach determined the best subset of input parameters. Using a 70/30 split for the training and testing datasets, the best-performing model was the GMDH, achieving an R2 of 0.91, MAPE of 102.34%, and RMSE of 20.38 g/L, which are values consistent with the ones found in the literature. Nevertheless, the predicted Chla concentration values were most sensitive to the red, green, and near infra-red bands.

The main objective of this work is to investigate the temporal variation of PM10 concentrations within the urban area of Athens during the years 2001-2015. For this purpose, the time series of the particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10μm (PM10) is recorded for a 15-year period (2001-2015) in two different monitoring stations located in the urban area of Athens. The results show a totally different behavior of PM10 concentrations between the Athens city center and the suburban areas. It seems that in the city center the main sources of PM10 are traffic and heating systems especially during the cold period of the year. Furthermore, in the city center a significant seasonal variation was found with high concentrations during the cold period of the year and lower concentrations during the warm period of the year. Moreover, it was found that during the weekends, there is a decrease in PM10 concentrations probably due to the fact that majority of people do not use their vehicles. Finally, for both locations a significant temporal decreasing trend of the mean annual PM10 concentrations was found which indicates that during the last years, there have been improvements towards a better air quality.

This study presents a novel approach for quantifying the dynamics of monthly hydraulic geometry relationships in the Jingjiang reach of the Yangtze River by integrating leaf area index (LAI) data as an indicator of riparian vegetation. A comprehensive system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) couples traditional power-law hydraulic geometry equations with LAI, capturing the influence of erosion control on channel morphology. The periodic delayed response theory and automatic differentiation techniques are employed to enhance the modeling framework's capabilities. Calibration and verification demonstrate the models' effectiveness in capturing overall trends in discharge, width, and depth dynamics, outperforming traditional constant-parameter approaches. However, model predictive abilities are limited under extreme climate conditions due to training on normal climate data. Key assumptions, including the periodic delayed response theory's neglect of peak discharges, simplified representation of artificial cut-offs, and reliance on remotely sensed data with limited local validation, introduce uncertainties. The proposed modeling framework shows potential for broader application to other river systems with appropriate adjustments. Future research could incorporate additional environmental factors, integrate models across scales, couple with advanced simulation techniques, and expand stability assessments beyond the riverbed index. By addressing related challenges, this integrated approach lays a foundation for enhancing understanding of river morphodynamics and channel stability.

A positive fluid balance may evolve to fluid overload and associate with organ dysfunctions, weaning difficulties, and increased mortality in ICU patients. We explored whether individualized fluid management, assessing fluid-responsiveness via passive leg-raising maneuver (PLR) before spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) associated with less extubation failure in ventilated patients with high fluid balance, admitted to the ICU after liver transplantation (LT). We recruited 15 LT patients in 2023. Postoperative fluid balance was +4476 [3697,5722] mL. PLRs were conducted at ICU admission (T1) and pre-SBT (T2). Cardiac index (CI) changes were recorded before and after SBT (T3). Seven patients were fluid responsive at T1, and 12 at T2. No significant differences occurred in hemodynamic, respiratory, and perfusion parameters between fluid-responsive and fluid-unresponsive patients at any time. Fluid-responsive patients at T1 and T2 increased their CI during SBT from 3.1 [2.8,3.7] to 3.7 [3.4,4.1] mL/min/m2 (p= 0.045). All fluid-responsive patients at T2 were extubated after SBT and consolidated extubation. Two out of three of fluid-unresponsive patients experienced weaning difficulties. We concluded that fluid-responsive patients post-LT may start weaning earlier and achieve successful extubation despite high postoperative fluid balance. This highlights the profound impact of personalized assessment of cardiovascular state on critical surgical patients.

This study focuses on the optimal deployment problem, and determines the optimal size of a military force to send to the battle field. The decision is optimized, based on an objective function, that considers the cost of deployment, the cost of the time it takes to win the battle, and the costs of killed and wounded soldiers with equipment. The cost of deployment is modeled as an explicit function of the number of deployed troops and the value of a victory with access to a free territory, is modeled as a function of the length of the time it takes to win the battle. The cost of lost troops and equipment, is a function of the size of the reduction of these lives and resources. An objective function, based on these values and costs, is optimized, under different parameter assumptions. The battle dynamics is modeled via the Lanchester differential equation system based on the principles of directed fire. First, the deterministic problem is solved analytically, via derivations and comparative statics analysis. General mathematical results are reported, including the directions of changes of the optimal deployment decisions, under the influence of alternative types of parameter changes. Then, the first order optimum condition from the analytical model, in combination with numerically specified parameter values, is used to determine optimal values of the levels of deployment in different situations. A concrete numerical case, based on documented facts from the Battle of Iwo Jima, during WW II, is analyzed, and the optimal US deployment decisions are determined under different assumptions. The known attrition coefficients of both armies, from USA and Japan, and the initial size of the Japanese force, are parameters. The analysis is also based on some parameters without empirical documentation, that are necessary to include to make optimization possible. These parameter values are motivated in the text. The optimal solutions are found via Newton- Raphson iteration. Finally, a stochastic version of the optimal deployment problem is defined. The attrition parameters are considered as stochastic, before the deployment decisions have been made. The attrition parameters of the two armies have the same expected values as in the deterministic analysis, are independent of each other, have correlation zero, and have relative standard deviations of 20%. All possible deployment decisions, with 5000 units intervals, from 0 to 150000 troops, are investigated, and the optimal decisions are selected. The analytical, and the two numerical, methods, all show that the optimal deployment level is a decreasing function of the marginal deployment cost, an increasing function of the marginal cost of the time to win the battle, an increasing function of the marginal cost of killed and wounded soldiers and lost equipment, an increasing function of the initial size of the opposing army, an increasing function of the efficiency of the soldiers in the opposing army and a decreasing function of the efficiency of the soldiers in the deployed army. With stochastic attrition parameters, the stochastic model also shows that the probability to win the battle is an increasing function of the size of the deployed army. When the optimal deployment level is selected, the probability of a victory is usually less than 100%, since it would be too expensive to guarantee a victory with 100% probability. Some of many results of relevance to the Battle of Iwo Jima, are the following: In the deterministic Case 0 analysis, the optimal US deployment level is 66200, the time to win the battle is 30 days and 14000 US soldiers are killed or wounded. If the marginal cost of the time it takes to win a victory doubles, the optimal deployment increases to 75400, the time to win a victory is reduced to 26 days, and less than 12000 soldiers are killed or wounded. In the stochastic Case 0 analysis, the optimal US deployment level is 65000, the expected time to win the battle is 46 days and almost 25000 US soldiers are expected to be killed or wounded. If the cost per killed or wounded soldier increases from 0 to 5 M $US, the optimal deployment level increases to 75000. Then, the victory is expected to appear after 35 days and 19900 US soldiers are expected to be killed or wounded.

The ongoing challenge to ensure a sustainable and affordable energy supply forces industrial companies to implement appropriate measures. These measures typically lead to an increased system complexity, which has to be addressed during operation. Whereas existing approaches from the field of supervisory and optimal control appear to be capable of mastering this issue, these are still not adopted in industry. Therefore, this work presents a procedure model for the systematic development of application-oriented operating strategies for industrial energy supply systems. The procedure model combines research approaches from the fields of sequencing control and approximate MPC to extract rule-based operating strategies. By splitting the procedure model into five phases, expert knowledge can be integrated in a target-oriented manner. Subsequently to the description, the procedure model is exemplary applied to the example of an industrial heating supply system. Throughout an optimization study, the developed operating strategy is compared to a MPC strategy as well as a baseline strategy. Whereas the conventional MPC approach is the upper bound with regard to optimality, the developed operating strategy is able to generate comparable results. Compared to the baseline strategy, a relative reduction in operating expenses of 5.4 % to 37.0 % are achieved in this specific use case.

The most important plastic resins used for wire coating are Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Nylon, Polysulfone and Low-high density polyethylene (LDPE / HDPE). In this article,the coating process is performed using elastic-viscous fluid as a coating material for wire coating in a pressure type coating die. The elastic-viscous fluid is electrically conducted in the presence of an applied magnetic field. The governing non-linear equations are modeled and then solved analytically by utilizing an Adomian decomposition method (ADM). The convergence of the series solution is established. The results are also verified by Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method (OHAM). The effect of different emerging parameters such as non-Newtonian parameters α and β, magnetic parameter M and the Brinkman number Br on solutions (velocity and temperature profiles) are discussed through several graphs. Additionally, the current result also compares with the published work already available in the literature.

Systemic inflammation and coronary microvascular endothelial dysfunction are essential pathophysiological factors in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) that support the use of statins. The pleiotropic properties of statins, such as anti-inflammatory, antihypertrophic, antifibrotic, and antioxidant effects, are generally accepted and may be beneficial in HF, especially in HFpEF. Numerous observational clinical trials have consistently shown a beneficial prognostic effect of statins in patients with HFpEF, while the results of two larger trials in patients with HFrEF have been controversial. Such differences may be related to a more pronounced impact of the pleiotropic properties of statins on the pathophysiology of HFpEF and pro-inflammatory comorbidities (arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, chronic kidney disease) that are more common in HFpEF. This review discusses the potential mechanisms of statin action that may be beneficial for patients with HFpEF, as well as clinical trials that have evaluated the statin effects on left ventricular diastolic function and clinical outcomes in patients with HFpEF.

The present manuscript describes the use of natural fibers as natural and sustainable reinforcement agents for advanced biobased composite materials for strategic sectors, such as construction. The characterization carried up have shown the potential of both hemp and linseed natural fibers and their composites to be used as insulation materials. Nevertheless, linseed shows better mechanical performance and hemp a higher fire resistance. Demonstrating that although natural fibers have similar properties each of them should be used specifically for a purpose. Besides the work also evaluates the use of bio matrixes in composites, demonstrating their feasibility and how they impact the properties of the final material, our bio resin enhances fire resistance and decrease the water absorption capacity of the natural fibers. Enabling the use of such composites as a final product. Therefore, it has been demonstrated that it is possible to manufacture a biocomposite with non woven natural fibers. In fact, for properties such as thermal conductivity, they are able to compete with current materials. Proving that biomaterials are a suitable solution for developing sustainable products fulfilling the requirements of the end user applications.

Objectives: To explore the potential of Radiomics alone and in combination with diffusion-weighted derived quantitative parameter namely apparent diffusion co-efficient (ADC) using supervised classification algorithms in predicting outcomes and prognosis. Materials and Methods: Retrospective evaluation of the imaging was done for a study cohort of uterine cervical cancer, candidates for radical treatment with chemo radiation. ADC values were calculated from the darkest part of the tumor, both before (labeled preADC) and post treatment (labeled postADC) with chemo radiation. Post extraction of 851 Radiomics features and feature selection by taking the union of the features which had Pearson correlation >0.35 for recurrence, >0.49 for lymph node and >0.40 for metastasis, analysis was done to predict clinical outcomes. Results: The study enrolled 52 patients who presented with variable FIGO stages and age range 28–79 (Median = 53 years) with median follow-up of 26.5 months (range, 7–76 months). Disease recurrence occurred in 12 patients (23%). Metastasis occurred in 15 patients (28%). A model generated with 24 radiomics features and preADC using a monotone multi-layer perceptron neural network to predict the recurrence yields AUC of 0.80 and kappa value as 0.55 and shows that addition of radiomics features on ADC values improves the statistical metrics by 40% approximately for AUC and 223% approximately for Kappa. Similarly, neural network model for prediction of metastasis re-turns AUC of 0.84 and kappa value as 0.65 over performs by 25% for AUC and 140% for Kappa approximately. There was a significant input of GLSZM features (SALGLE and LGLZE) and GLDM features (SDLGLE and DE) correlation with clinical outcomes of recurrence and metastasis. Conclusions: The study is an effort to bridge the unmet need of translational predictive biomarkers in stratification of uterine cervical cancer patients based on prognosis.

Lesion studies are crucial in establishing brain-behavior relationships, and accurately segmenting the lesion represents the first step in achieving this. Manual lesion segmentation is the gold standard for chronic strokes. However, it is labor-intensive, subject to bias, and limits sample size. Therefore, our objective is to develop an automatic segmentation algorithm for chronic stroke lesions on T1-weighted MR images. Methods: To train our model, we utilized an open-source dataset: ATLAS v2.0 (Anatomical Tracings of Lesions After Stroke). We partitioned the dataset of 655 T1 images with manual segmentation labels into five subsets and performed a 5-fold cross-validation to avoid overfitting of the model. We used a deep neural network (DNN) architecture for model training. Results: To evaluate the model performance, we used three metrics that pertain to diverse aspects of volumetric segmentation including shape, location, and size. The Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) compares the spatial overlap between manual and machine segmentation. The average DSC was 0.65 (0.61- 0.67; 95% bootstrapped CI). Average symmetric surface distance (ASSD) measures contour distances between the two segmentations. ASSD between manual and automatic segmentation was 12mm. Finally, we compared the total lesion volumes and the Pearson correlation coefficient (ρ) between the manual and automatically segmented lesion volumes, which was 0.97(p-value &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: We present the first automated segmentation model trained on a large multicentric dataset. This model will enable automated on-demand processing of MRI scans and quantitative chronic stroke lesion assessment.

Introduction: The trophoblast derived angiogenic factors are considered to play an important role in the pathophysiology of various complications of pregnancy. The aim of this study was to establish relationship between concentrations of soluble Human Leukocyte Antigen-G (sHLA-G) in maternal serum and amniotic fluid at 16-22 weeks of gestation and the sonographic measurements of the fetal and placental growth. Materials and methods: sHLA-G in serum and amniotic fluid, as well as fetal biometric data and placental volume and perfusion indices were determined in 41 uncomplicated singleton pregnancies. Results: The sHLA-G levels were unchanged both in amniotic fluid and in serum during mid-pregnancy. The sHLA-G level in serum correlated positively with amniotic sHLA-G level (β=0.63, p<0.01). Significant correlation was found between serum sHLA-G level and abdominal measurement (β=0.41, p<0.05) and estimated fetal weight (β=0.41, p<0.05). The amniotic sHLA-G level and placental perfusion (VI: β = -0.34, p<0.01 and VFI: β = -0.44, p<0.01, respectively) were negatively interrelated. A low amniotic sHLA-G level was significantly associated with nuchal translucency (r = -0.102, p<0.05). Conclusions: sHLA-G assayed in amniotic fluid might be a potential indicator for placental function, whereas the sHLA-G level in serum can be a prognostic modality for feto-placental insufficiency.

This article investigates hydraulic percolation in saturated porous media, focusing on containment systems using sheet pile walls and gravity concrete dams. The Laplace equation, which governs hydraulic flow in porous media, is solved using the Finite Element Method through the ANSYS software. The modeling of the porous media employs a planar quadratic element called Plane 55, originally used for thermal problems, composed of four nodes and one hydraulic degree of freedom per node. The numerical results of the water pressure acting on the hydraulic structure, flow rate, and hydraulic gradient at the outlet of the porous media are compared with results obtained in the technical-scientific literature using flow nets. Two different methodologies are used to obtain the rate of seepage: by using the average hydraulic velocity or by calculating the integral of the hydraulic gradient perpendicular to the flow area. Both methodologies are compared and validated in the numerical simulations. This work also demonstrates the importance of mesh refinement for obtaining the flow rate in the studied hydraulic systems.

(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 large industrial plants, the trend is to move the position of the human to the area of service and diagnostics, in medium and smaller plants the trend is different and is mainly directed to the sphere of close cooperation between the human and the robotic system. This paper deals with the implementation of human-cooperating robots in manufacturing processes. The analytical part of the paper deals with theoretical knowledge, taking into account the latest trends in the subject area. To achieve a successful implementation of cobots based on the above-mentioned operating systems in manufacturing systems, it is necessary to pay attention specifically to the interfacing of the robotic operating system with the control systems of the manufacturing systems at the process level of the enterprise. Within the practical part, an algorithm with well-defined steps towards the successful implementation of cobots in holonic manufacturing processes is proposed. By setting up an experimental workstation in the laboratory, the proposed procedures are verified at the end of the paper. In the context of the implementation of collaborative robots in enterprises, the paper also discusses cloud computing. The creation of a design for the implementation of a collaborative robot with a human represents the missing link in the whole chain of commercial applications of the latest trends from the field of robotic systems in the industrial sphere.

Background: Music evokes positive emotions and reduces stress and anxiety. Operating Room (OR) staff face various challenges which can lead to high levels of stress. The aim of the study is to assess whether listening to music during intraoperative phases improves the work environment by reducing anxiety and stress in the entire surgical team. Methods. A prospective observational study was conducted from February to September 2023, involving medical personnel, nursing staff, and nursing students. They were divided into two groups: Group 1 with music during surgical procedures, and Group 2 without music. Participants were administered two validated instruments: the Zung Anxiety Self-Assessment Scale (SAS) to measure anxiety, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule to assess emotions generating stress. Additional items were included for demographics, job satisfaction, and the organization method. Results. Music did not impact anxiety but increased positive emotions while reducing negative ones. Music had an ancillary effect, highlighting the need for significant organizational interventions aimed at increasing operator satisfaction, including voluntary rather than mandatory assignments for nursing staff. Conclusions. Music appears to reduce stress in the intraoperative team when supported by a positive work environment in which assigned operators have chosen to work in the OR.

In order to coordinate the damping performance and energy regenerative performance of energy regenerative suspension, this paper proposes a structure of vehicle semi-active energy regenerative suspension with electro-hydraulic actuator (EHA). In light of the proposed concept, a specific energy regenerative scheme is designed and the mechanical properties test is carried out. Based on the test results, the parameter identification for the system model is conducted using recursive least squares algorithm. On the basis of system principle, the nonlinear model of the semi-active energy regenerative suspension with EHA is built. Meanwhile, LQG control strategy of the system is designed. And then the influence of the main parameters of EHA on the damping performance and energy regenerative performance of suspension is analyzed. Finally, the main parameters of EHA actuator are optimized via genetic algorithm. The test results show that when sinusoidal is input at the frequency of 2Hz and the amplitude of 30mm, the spring mass acceleration RMS value of optimized EHA semi-active energy regenerative suspension is reduced by 22.23% and energy regenerative power RMS value is increased by 40.51%, which means while meeting the requirements of certain vehicle ride comfort and driving safety, energy regenerative performance is improved significantly.

Approximately 20% of the world's population resides in coastal areas at risk of rising sea levels due to climate change. This could lead to severe weather events and ecological impact on critical infrastructure. To combat the effects of water-based environmental forces on the land, hard engineering methods such as seawalls have been utilized. However, a more sustainable solution is emerging in nature-based engineering, which involves growing vegetation. This approach can help extend the lifespan of existing technology and provide climate change adaptation and resilience for coastal and riverine communities. The following paper will review seaweed farms as an advanced nature-based mitigation approach. The paper also outlines the findings of experiments at RWTH Aachen University's hydraulic laboratory. These tests involved using seaweed as a natural solution to dampen waves in a model system to test a hypothesis. One result involving a system with two lines of seaweed revealed 15 percent wave damping. Using seaweed as a nature-based solution, a gentle engineering approach to designing future vegetated protection systems can extend the design life of existing coastal infrastructure. This can also provide protection against climate-induced sea level rise, promote coastal risk mitigation, restore ecosystems, and foster blue bio-economic development.

The recent growing attention to energy saving and environmental protection issues has brought to attention the possibility of exploiting syngas from gasification of biomass and coal for the firing of industrial plants included the so called Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle ones. In order to improve the knowledge about the employ of syngas in lean premixed turbulent flames, a large scale swirl stabilized gas-turbine burner has been operated with a simplified model of H₂ enriched syngas from coal gasification. The experimental campaign has been performed at atmospheric pressure with operating conditions derived from scaling the real gas turbines ones. The results are here reported and consist of OH-PLIF measurements carried out at decreasing air equivalence ratio conditions and are analysed together with the mean aerodynamic characterisation of the burner flowfield in isothermal condition. The OH concentration distributions have been analysed statistically in order to obtain information about the location of the most reactive zones and an algorithm has been applied to the data in order to identify the flame fronts. In addition, the flame front locations have been successively interpreted statistically in order to obtain information about their main features and about their dependence on the air to fuel ratio behaviour.

Many studies on magnetorheological fluid (MRF) have been carried out over last three decades several salient advantages such as fast phase change, easy control of the yield stress and so forth. Especially, several review articles of MRF technology have been reported for last two decades summarizing the development of MRFs and their applications. As specific examples, the review articles including the optimization of the particles and carrier liquid to achieve minimum off-state viscosity and maximum yield stress at on-state, the formulation of many constitutive models in-cluding Casson model and Herschel-Bulkley (H-B) model, the sedimentation enhancement using additives and nanosized particles, many types of dampers for automotive suspension and civil structures, medical and rehabilitation devices, MRF polishing technology, the methods of mag-netic circuit design, and the synthesis of various controllers have been published. More recently, the effect of the temperature and thermal conductivity on the properties of MRFs and application systems are actively being investigated by several works. However, there is no review article on this issue so far despite of that the thermal problem is one of crucial factors to be seriously con-sidered for the development of advanced MRFs and commercial products of application systems. In this work, studies on the thermal conductivity and temperature in MRFs themselves and tem-perature-dependent application systems are reviewed, respectively, and principal results are summarized emphasizing on the followings: how to reduce the temperature effect on the field-dependent properties of MRFs and how to design application system to minimize the thermal effect. It is noted here that the review summary is organized in a chronological format using tables.

Manual interpretation of these huge amounts of image volumes are susceptible to inter-reader variability and human error. Thus, accurate automated CAD scheme is highly desirable in clinical pathological diagnosis. In this research, plethora of machine learning paradigms (e.g. feature extraction, dimensionality reduction and supervised classification methods) were explored, evaluated, compared and analyzed to identify the optimal pathway for brain MR images (normal vs neoplastic) binary classification task. External validation dataset was used to test the generalizability of the optimal predictive models implemented. Relevant and informative features were selected to construct cross-validated decision tree and eventually simple rule set was built based on the decision tree. The experimental results show that almost all pattern recognition paradigms achieve high accuracy with careful selection of number of attributes. LDA+ELM with 55 features are the optimal pipelines which achieve perfect classification when training and test data are of same source; and achieving (accuracy=97.5%, AUC=0.989, sensitivity=95% and specificity=100%) under balanced test dataset; (accuracy=99.5%, AUC=0.988, sensitivity=95% and specificity=100%). Cross-validated decision tree model also shows comparable performance: accuracy=98.8%, AUC=99.1%, sensitivity=99.6% and specificity=98.2%. Three highly relevant and robust attributes are visualized and selected for construction of decision tree models and finally a rule sets are read directly off the decision tree. This rule sets can potentially serve as fast and accurate classification algorithm.

Soil hydraulic properties are often derived indirectly, i.e. computed from easily available soil properties with pedotransfer functions (PTFs), when those are needed for catchment, regional or continental scale applications. When predicted soil hydraulic parameters are used for the modelling of the state and flux of water in soils, uncertainty of the computed values can provide more detailed information when drawing conclusions. The aim of this study was to update the previously published European PTFs (Tóth et al., 2015, euptf v1.4.0) by providing prediction uncertainty calculation built into the transfer functions. The new set of algorithms was derived for point predictions of soil water content at saturation (0 cm matric potential head), field capacity (both -100 and -330 cm matric potential head), wilting point (-15.000 cm matric potential head), plant available water, and saturated hydraulic conductivity, as well as the Mualem-van Genuchten model parameters of the moisture retention and hydraulic conductivity curve. The minimum set of input properties for the prediction is soil depth and sand, silt and clay content. The effect of including additional information like soil organic carbon content, bulk density, calcium carbonate content, pH and cation exchange capacity were extensively analysed. The PTFs were derived adopting the random forest method. The advantage of the new PTFs is that they i) provide information about prediction uncertainty, ii) are significantly more accurate than the euptfv1, iii) can be applied for more predictor variable combinations than the euptfv1, 32 instead of 5, and iv) are now also derived for the prediction of water content at -100 cm matric potential head and plant available water content.

In this paper, ground tire rubber (GTR) was mechano-chemically modified with road bitumen 160/220 and subsequently treated using a microwave radiation. The combined impact of bitumen 160/220 content and microwave treatment on short-term devulcanization of GTR were studied by thermal camera, wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (WD-XRF), static headspace and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SHS-GC-MS), thermogravimetric analysis combined with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TGA-FTIR), oscillating disc rheometer and static mechanical properties measurements. The obtained results showed that bitumen plasticizer prevent oxidation of GTR during microwave treatment and simultaneously improves processing and thermal stability of obtained reclaimed rubber.

We will apply Pascal’s hydrostatic pressure law to black holes and also to the Hubble sphere. Haug has recently demonstrated how hydrostatic pressure in water can be utilized to determine the Planck length. One can conceptualize the energy in the Hubble sphere as a type of superfluid, and if this is correct, then Blaise Pascal’s hydrostatic pressure formula may also be applicable to such a superfluid, even within the Hubble sphere. By employing the same method on the Hubble sphere and considering it as a Schwarzschild black hole with the critical Friedmann mass, we can estimate the Planck length based on its hypothetical hydrostatic pressure.

Diversity as well as temporal and spatial changes of the proportional abundances of different antibiotics (cycling, mixing or combinations thereof) have been hypothesised to be an effective administrative control strategy in hospitals to reduce the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens in nosocomial or community-acquired infections. However, a rigorous assessment of the efficacy of these control strategies is lacking. The main purpose here is to present a mathematical framework for the assessment of control stategies from a processual stance. To this end, we adopt diverse measures of heterogeneity and diversity of proportional abundances based on the concept of entropy from other fields and adapt them to the needs in assessing the impact of variations in antibiotic consumption on antibiotic resistance. Thereby, we derive a family of diversity measures whose members exhibit different degrees of complexity. Most important, we extent these measures such that they account for the assessment of temporal changes in heterogeneity including otherwise undetected diversity-invariant permutations of antibiotics consumption and prevalence of resistant pathogens. We apply a correlation analysis for the assessment of associations between changes of heterogeneities on the antibiotics and on the pathogen side. As a showcase, which serves as a proof-of-principle, we apply the derived methods to records of antibiotic consumption and prevalence of antibiotic-resistant germs from University Hospital Dresden. Besides the quantification of heterogeneities of antibiotics consumption and antibiotic resistance, we show that a reduction of prevalence of antibiotic-resistant germs correlates with a temporal change of similarity with respect to the first observation of antibiotics consumption, although heterogeneity remains approximately constant. Although an interventional study is pending, our mathematical framework turns out to be a viable concept for the assessment and optimisation of control strategies intended to reduce antibiotic resistance.

The main focus when developing software is to improve the reliability and stability of a software system. When software systems are introduced, these systems are used in field environments that are the same as or close to those used in the development-testing environment; however, they may also be used in many different locations that may differ from the environment in which they were developed and tested. In this paper, we propose a new software reliability model that takes into account the uncertainty of operating environments. The explicit mean value function solution for the proposed model is presented. Examples are presented to illustrate the goodness-of-fit of the proposed model and several existing non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) models and confidence intervals of all models based on two sets of failure data collected from software applications. The results show that the proposed model fits the data more closely than other existing NHPP models to a significant extent.

This paper puts forward an alteration for Tensor Calculus utliized in a coordinate system which is under a dynamic distortion drawing inspiration from similar fields such as the Calculus of Moving Surfaces (CMS). The paper establishes transformation laws for Tensors within these regions and establishes Operators such as the Tensorial Field Derivative which enforce a Tensorial Transformation on Tensors defined within a Dynamically Moving coordinate system. This variation of Tensor Calculus can be utilized to observe how disciplines such as QFT and Continuum Mechanics would change to accomodate for a distorting coordinate system and can be utliized to develop new theoretical models which account for this temporal distortion particularly within Biological Settings.

The article considers a way to compare large bulks of experimental data with theoretical calculations, in which the quality of theoretical models is clearly demonstrated graphically. Published theoretical data of the three-fluid dynamic model (3FD) applied to the experimental data from heavy-ion collisions at the energy range \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 2.7 - 63 GeV are used as example of application of the developed methodology. When analyzing the results, the quantum nature of the fireball, created at heavy ion collisions, was taken into account.

The hydraulic fracturing is studied by using dimensional analysis. A universal scaling law of the hydraulic fracturing is obtained. This simple relation has not been seen in the literature.

Spray technology is widely used in various industries, including medicine, food production, mechanical engineering, and nanopowder manufacturing. Achieving high dispersion and a narrow particle size distribution is crucial for many applications. Ultrasonic spraying is commonly used to achieve this. On other hand, hydraulic nozzles provide high atomization performance. Combining these two technologies promises to offer significant benefits, but the complex processes that occur simultaneously in such a device require careful study. This work proposes a fundamental design for an acoustic-hydraulic nozzle and investigates the physical processes when a liquid is sprayed using this nozzle, both theoretically and experimentally. The study identifies the critical modes of spraying and confirms that the simultaneous use of ultrasound and hydraulic pressure can produce a fine spray (droplet size less than 50 μm) with high productivity (5-10 ml/s). This approach has significant potential for modern industries and technologies.

Introduction: The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of a daily-adaptive MR-guided SBRT on 1.5 T MR-linac in patients affected by lymphnode oligometastases from PCa. Materials and Methods: The present study is a prospective observational study conducted in a single institution (protocol n°: MRI / LINAC n. 23748). Patients with oligometastatic lymphnodes from PCa treated with daily-adaptive MR-guided SBRT on 1.5T MR-linac were included in the study. Minimum required follow-up of 3 months after SBRT. Primary end-point was local progression-free survival (LPFS). Secondary end-points were: nodal progression-free survival (NPFS), and progression-free survival (PFS), and toxicity. Results: 118 lymphnode oligometastases from PCa were treated with daily-adaptive 1.5T MR-guided SBRT in 63 oligometastatic patients. 63.5% patients were oligoprogressive and 36.5% oligoprogressive. Two-year LPFS was 94.5%. Median NPFS was 22.3 months, and the 2-year NPFS was 46.5%. Having received hormone therapy before SBRT was correlated with lower NPFS at the multivariate analysis (1-y NPFS 87.1% versus 42.8%; p= 0.002 - HR 0.199, 95% CI 0.073-0.549). Furthermore, the oligorecurrent state during ADT was correlated with a lower NPFS than the oligoprogressive state. Median PFS was 10.3 months, the 2-year PFS was 32.4%. Patients treated with hormone therapy before SBRT had a significantly lower 1-year PFS the others (28% versus 70.4%; p= 0.01 - HR 0.259, 95% CI 0.117-0.574). No acute and late toxicities occurred during treatment. Conclusion: the present is the largest prospective study of 1.5T lymphnode SBRT on MR-linac in patients with PCa. Lymphnode SBRT by 1.5T MR-linac provides high local control rates with an excellent toxicity profile.

Degenerative spinal cord (SC) compression is a frequent pathological condition with increasing prevalence throughout aging. Initial non-myelopathic cervical SC compression (NMDC) might progress over time into potentially irreversible degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). While quantitative MRI (qMRI) techniques demonstrated the ability to depict intrinsic tissue properties, longitudinal in-vivo biomarkers to identify NMDC patients who will eventually develop DCM are still missing. Thus, we aim to review the ability of qMRI techniques (such as diffusion MRI, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), magnetization transfer (MT) imaging, magnetic resonance spec-troscopy (1H-MRS)) to serve as prognostic markers in NMDC. While DTI in NMDC patients con-sistently detected lower fractional anisotropy and higher mean diffusivity at compressed levels caused by demyelination and axonal injury, MT and 1H-MRS along with advanced and tract-specific diffusion MRI recently revealed microstructural alterations also rostrally pointing to Wallerian degeneration. Recent studies also disclosed significant relationship between micro-structural damage and functional deficits, assessed by qMRI and electrophysiology, respectively. Thus, tract-specific qMRI in combination with electrophysiology critically extend our under-standing of the underlying pathophysiology of degenerative SC compression and may provide predictive markers of DCM development for accurate patient management. However, the prog-nostic value must be validated in longitudinal studies.

Regular regimes of oil and oil products pipelines are studied. The problem is to develop an algorithm of effective pipeline system control that ensures the fulfillment of specified boundary conditions at the system boundaries. The product is pumped in batches, the flow is characterized by a change in temperature and pressure flow parameters over time. The developed solution method uses the principle of decomposition in the sense that each computational iteration is im-plemented in 3 stages, in three nested loops. The inner cycle is connected with the material bal-ance relations, at the next cycle the flow equations are introduced and the fulfillment of the 2nd Kirchhoff's law is monitored. If the flow process is significantly affected by temperature, then an external cycle is also implemented, correcting the solution so that the energy conservation equa-tion is satisfied. In the calculation procedure, some computational difficulties may arise, which consist in choosing an appropriate optimization method. On a specific example, the possibility of using various library programs to solve the problem was checked. The developed method is suita-ble for the analysis of systems of arbitrary topology. Since the method is not time-consuming, it can be recommended for online control of oil and oil products supply systems. The paper opens a new direction in the theory of hydraulic circuits. It uses both traditional methods of continuum mechanics and stochastic models.

The key links of face recognition are digital image preprocessing, facial feature extraction and pattern recognition, this article aimed at the current problem of slow speed and low recognition accuracy of face recognition , from the above three key links, on the basic of analyzing the therories of Fractional Differential Masks Operator (FDMO), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Support Vector Machine (SVM), design a kind of FDMO+PVA+SVM coupling algorithm that applies to face recognition to improve the speed and accuracy of it. To realize FDMO+PCA+SVM coupling algorithm, first, we should apply FDMO to face image processing binary marginalization, the purpose is getting face contour; Then, we apply PCA to get the feature of face image which is disposed by binary marainalization. At last, we can apply One-Against All of the SVM classifier and LibSVM software package to realize face recognition. Beside, the article with nine different coupling algorithm design four groups of experimental reaults on the ORL face database verified by comparative analysic FDMO+PCA+SVM coupling algorithm in the superiority of face recognition accuracy and speed.

This paper outlines the detection procedure of intrusion as provided by Tripwire tool along-with the enhancement to be made in design and implementation to achieve the optimum performance level of Tripwire. It operates on effective and swift performance mechanism in order to report the system admin about the possible intrusion detected in the system with security assurance in cutting edge computer structures, which is very important in order to provide the integrity and reliability of information. In order to deal with this emerging issue in the historical research, the basic level of security is provided in the system by making enhancement in the existing tripwire tool for UNIX file system. The proposed methodological working of tripwire makes it more effective by adopting reliable and instantaneous mechanism to deal with specifically anomalies and unwanted access in the UNIX file system.

In this paper, we first discuss the research status and application progress of the finite element method and the smoothed particle method. By analyzing the advantages of the smoothed particle method and the finite element method, a new coupling algorithm, namely FEM-SPH algorithm, is proposed. By the method of comparison, it shows that finite element method and SPH method in the simulation of large deformation problems each have advantages and disadvantages, the finite element method smoothed particle coupling algorithm is effective to achieve the performance of high computational efficiency and can naturally simulate large deformation problems across. In the process of calculation, the large deformation unit can be freely into an algorithm to facilitate the calculation accuracy and efficiency of three methods of numerical simulation. Through the study found, FEM-SPH algorithm not only overcome the defect of smooth particle tensile instability, but also overcomes the problem of low efficiency of finite element computation. To further test the FEM-SPH algorithm has advantages in the practical engineering, we have carried out the actual test to the example of the super high speed collision, concluded that, since the target of most of the computational domain is always finite element, smoothed particle focused only in contact with the projectile and target of local area, particle number is not much, the whole calculation process just ten minutes, computational efficiency has been greatly improved, at the same time in the simulation of large deformation, the advantage is very obvious .This provides a criterion for the actual project, depending on the specific material deformation mode and choose a more appropriate conversion algorithm.

Instead of simplified steady-state models, with modern computers, one can solve the complete aero-thermodynamics happening in gas turbine engines. In the present article, we describe a mathematical model and numerical procedure to represent the transient response of a PT6A gas turbine engine operating at off-design conditions. The aero-thermal model consists of a set of algebraic and ordinary differential equations that arise from the application of the mass, linear momentum, angular momentum, and energy balances in each engine's component. The solution code has been developed in Matlab-Simulink using a block-oriented approach. Transient simulations of the PT6A engine start-up have been carried out by changing the original Jet-A1 fuel with biodiesel blends. Time plots of the main thermodynamic variables are shown, especially those regarding the structural integrity of the burner. Numerical results have been validated against reported experimental measurements and GasTurb simulations. The computer model has been capable to predict acceptable fuel blends, such that the real PT6A engine can be substituted to avoid the risk of damaging it.

This paper investigates the effects of air void topology on hydraulic conductivity in asphalt mixtures with porosity in the range 14%-31%. Virtual asphalt pore networks were generated using the Intersected Stacked Air voids (ISA) method, with its parameters being automatically adjusted by the means of a differential evolution optimisation algorithm, and then 3D printed using transparent resin. Permeability tests were conducted on the resin samples to understand the effects of pore topology on hydraulic conductivity. Moreover, the pore networks generated virtually were compared to real asphalt pore networks captured via X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) scans. The optimised ISA method was able to generate realistic 3D pore networks corresponding to those seen in asphalt mixtures in term of visual, topological, statistical and air void shape properties. It was found that, in the range of porous asphalt materials investigated in this research, the high dispersion in hydraulic conductivity at constant air void content is a function of the average air void diameter. Finally, the relationship between average void diameter and the maximum aggregate size and gradation in porous asphalt materials was investigated.

This retrospective study examines 248 test-bolus examinations preceding contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) to extract clinically relevant data for critical limb ischemia (CLI) management. Methods involved a retrospective review of test-bolus exams, analysing 60 graphs for time-to-peak (TTP), full-width half-maximum (FWHM) time, and time to continual rise in signal intensity. These values were correlated with heart function parameters (ejection fraction, ASA-Classification, Lee-Index, and MET-Score). Results indicate a mean TTP of 31.2 ± 7.3s, showing a correlation between ejection fraction and ASA classification. Patients with atrial fibrillation exhibited prolonged TTP compared to those without. Despite population heterogeneity, findings facilitate risk stratification for limb-saving interventions in CLI. TTP emerges as a potential clinical cardiovascular parameter and a risk factor for vascular interventions. Given the variation in injection protocols across centres, this study underscores the importance of precise bolus arrival time documentation for future multicentre studies.

Stagnation is the transient state of a solar thermal system under high solar irradiation where the useful solar gain is zero. Both flat-plate collectors with selective absorber coatings and vacuum-tube collectors exhibit stagnation temperatures far above the saturation temperature of the glycol-based heat carriers within the range of typical system pressures. Therefore, stagnation is always associated with vaporization and propagation of vapor into the pipes of the solar circuit. It is therefore essential to design the system in such a way that vapor never reaches components that cannot withstand high temperatures. In this article, a thermal-hydraulic model based on the integral form of a two-phase mixture model and a drift-flux correlation is presented. The model is applicable to solar thermal flat-plate collectors with meander-shaped absorber tubes and selective absorber coatings. Experimental data from stagnation experiments on two systems, which are identical except for the optical properties of the absorber coating, allowed comparison with simulations carried out under the same boundary conditions. The absorber of one system features a conventional highly selective coating, while the absorber of the other system features a thermochromic coating, which exhibits a significantly lower stagnation temperature. Comparison of simulation results and experimental data show good conformity. This model is implemented into an open-source software tool called “THD” for the thermal-hydraulic dimensioning of solar systems. The latest version of THD, updated by the results of this article, enables planners to achieve cost-optimal design of solar thermal systems and to ensure failsafe operation by predicting the steam range under the initial and boundary conditions of worst-case scenarios.

Sweat rate and electrolyte losses have a large inter-individual variability, a personalized approach to hydration can overcome this issue to meet an individual’s needs. This study aimed to investigate the effects of personalized hydration strategy (PHS) on fluid balance and intermittent exercise performance. Twelve participants conducted 11 laboratory visits including a VO2max test and two 5-day trial arms under normothermic (NOR) or hyperthermic (HYP) environmental conditions. Each arm began with 3-day of familiarization exercise following by two random exercise trials with a either PHS or control (CON). Then, participants crossed-over to the second arm for: NOR+PHS, NOR+CON, HYP+PHS, and HYP+CON. The PHS was prescribed according to participants’ fluid and sweat sodium losses. CON drank ad-libitum of commercially-available electrolyte solution. Exercise trials consisted of two phases: 1) 45min constant workload; 2) high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIT) until exhaustion. PHS had a significantly greater fluid intake compared to CON. HYP+CON produced the lowest sweat sodium concentration. HYP+PHS had a lower thirst perception and a longer HIIT compared to HYP+CON. Thus, PHS reinforces fluid intake and successfully optimizes hydration status, regardless of environmental conditions. PHS may be or is an important factor to preventing negative physiological consequences during high-intensity exercise in the heat.

One of the main causes of the dismal prognosis in patients who survive the initial bleeding after aneurysmal subarachnoidal hemorrhage is the delayed cerebral ischaemia caused by vasospasm. Studies suggest that cerebral magnesium and pH may potentially play a role in the pathophysiology of this adverse event. Using phosphorous magnetic resonance spectrocopy (31P-MRS) we calculated the cerebral magnesium (Mg) and pH level in 13 patients who suffered aSAH. The values between the group that developed clinically significant vasospasm (n=7) and the group that did not (n=6) were compared. The results of this study showed significantly lower cerebral Mg levels (p=0.019) and higher pH (p&lt;0.001) in cumulative group (all brain voxels together) in patients who developed clinically significant vasospasm. Further clinical studies on a larger group of carefully selected patients are needed in order to predict clinically significant vasospasm.

A proportion of osteoarthritis (OA) patients are unsatisfied with post-operative outcomes following total joint replacement surgery (TJR), with insufficient pain relief or poor functional improvement. Predicting those will have poor outcomes would be beneficial for patients and clinicians. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between baseline anthropometric data and the concentration of pre-operative serum and peri-operative synovial fluid (SF) cytokines with 7-month post-operative outcomes in a cohort of knee and hip OA patients. 160 OA patients were recruited who were scheduled for TJR. The concentration of 24 cytokines were measured in blood and SF by multiplex assay. EQ5Dindex health status was assessed pre-operatively and at 7-months post-operatively. 13% of patients were identified as non-responders based on EQ5Dindex. Compared to responders, non-responders were of higher BMI, had greater waist and hip circumference and had higher levels of SF leptin but lower levels of SF Resistin (p&lt;0.05). Linear regression analysis found a significant relationship between pre-operative body weight and post-operative response (ΔEQ5Dindex; r=0.222, p=0.049). The combination of body weight with SF amphiregulin and SF IL-6 provided an improved predictive model of post-operative response (r=0.470, p=0.035).

Basaltic activity is the most common class of volcanism on Earth, characterized by magmas of sufficiently low viscosities such that bubbles can move independently of the melt. Following exsolution, spherical bubbles can then expand and/or coalesce to generate larger bubbles of spherical-cap or Taylor bubble (slug) morphologies. Puffing and strombolian explosive activity are driven by bursting of these larger bubbles at the surface. Here, we present the first combined model classification of spherical-cap and Taylor bubble driven puffing and strombolian activity modes on volcanoes. We furthermore incorporate the possibility that neighboring bubbles might coalesce, leading to elevated strombolian explosivity. The model categorizes behavior in terms of the temporal separation between the arrival of successive bubbles at the surface and bubble gas volume or length, with the output presented on visually intuitive two-dimensional plots. The categorized behavior is grouped into the following regimes: puffing from a) cap bubbles; and b) non-overpressurised Taylor bubbles; and c) Taylor bubble driven strombolian explosions; each of these regimes is further subdivided into scenarios whereby inter-bubble interaction does/doesn't occur. The model performance is corroborated using field data from Stromboli (Aeolian Islands, Italy), Etna (Sicily, Italy) and Yasur (Vanuatu), representing one of the very first studies, focused on combining high temporal resolution degassing data with fluid dynamics, as a means of deepening our understanding of the processes which drive basaltic volcanism.

Analyzing synovial fluid from joints affected by the pathological process of psoriatic arthritis is part of the overall patient examination, since it may have differential diagnostic significance. The purpose of this study was to assess the presence of crystals in the synovial fluid of psoriatic arthritis patients as biomarkers for disease activity. Materials and methods: The synovial fluid of 156 patients with proven PSA diagnosis (patients covered CASPAR criteria) was analyzed over 24 months and compared to 50 patients with activated gonarthrosis. The Leica DM4500P polarization microscope (Leica Microsystems, Germany) was used for crystal detection. Pain and disease activity measures were also evaluated (PSA VAS for pain, DAPSA, PASDAI, mCPDAI, and HAQ-DI). The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 26 with a significance set at p < 0.05. Results: The macroscopic appearance of synovial fluid from patients with psoriatic arthritis was clear in 84.6% of the patients. Synovial fluid crystals were found in 23.71% of patients with psoriatic arthritis - predominantly monosodium urate (67.58%) but also calcium pyrophosphate (21.62%) and lipid drops (5.4%). The presence of monosodium urate crystals significantly correlates with all pain and disease activity measures – VAS for pain, DAPSA, PASDAI, mCPDAI, and HAQ-DI. In 67.56% of patients with established crystals treatment with an anti-TNF blocker was started at the discretion of the treating rheumatologist due to high levels of disease activity. Conclusion: Examining the synovial fluid in PSA patients is a necessary minimally invasive procedure in cases of joint effusion, since the presence of synovial fluid crystals is a significant indicator of disease severity. The current analyses demonstrate that the presence of synovial fluid crystals in PSA patients can be used as a biomarker for disease severity and the necessity to commence biological treatment (most often TNF-a-blocker).

The Landau damping effect was observed in collisionless plasma, as a microscopic resonant mechanism between electromagnetic radiation and the collective modes. In this paper we demonstrate the occurrence of the Landau damping at macroscopic scale in the interaction between water waves and anharmonic lattice of magnetic buoys. By coupling the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible fluid with the nonlinear dynamics of an anharmonic magnetic lattice we obtain a resonant transfer of momentum and energy between the two systems. The velocity of the flow is obtained in the Stokes approximation with Basset type of drag force. The dynamics of the buoys is calculated in the surfactant approximation for a specific frequency, then we use Fourier analysis to obtain the general time variable interaction. After involving an integral Dirichlet transform we obtain the time dependent expression of the drag force, the interaction waves-lattice with a new term in the form of a Caputo fractional derivative. We compare the results of the model with experiments performed in a wave tank with free floating magnetic buoys under the action of small amplitude gravitational waves. This configuration can be applied in studies for the attenuation with resonant damping of rogue waves, storms or tsunamis.

The present review paper aims at collecting and discussing the research work, numerical and experimental, carried out in the field of Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) in one-dimensional (1D) pressurized transient flow in the time-domain approach. Background theory and basic definitions are provided for the proper understanding of the assessed literature. A novel frame of reference is proposed for the classification of FSI models based on pipe degrees-of-freedom. Numerical research is organized according to this classification, while an extensive review on experimental research is presented by institution. Engineering applications of FSI models are described and historical accidents and post-accident analyses documented.

Track fasteners play a pivotal role in infrastructure inspection for high-speed rail. Yet, images taken by drones often capture shadows cast by electrical towers flanking the high-speed rail tracks. These shadows can hinder the visibility of the track fasteners, thereby impacting detection efficiency and accuracy considerably. The present paper introduces an end-to-end shadow removal algorithm, rooted in generative adversarial network training. The comprehensive network framework is segmented into three sub-networks: pseudo-mask generation, shadow removal, and result refinement. We have integrated a Fourier convolutional residual module to bolster the feature extraction capability of the generator network. This integration ensures the network retains a global receptive field, even in its more superficial layers. By employing an overall weighted loss function, we enhance the quality of the images produced without shadows. Further, a perceptual loss function has been incorporated to retain the structural information of objects, setting the stage for subsequent defect detection. Our results highlight that Pse-ShadowNet adeptly eradicates fastener shadows while maintaining vital visual features, including object position, structure, texture, edges, and other key visual elements. Consequently, the reconstructed images are detailed and showcase superior image quality.

New advances of nano-enabled weed management: using poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-based nanoherbicides. A review

Under the background that the international technological innovation environment VUCA has been intensifying and the innovation situation of Chinese manufacturing enterprises has been impacted, the innovation dilemma faced by enterprises has attracted increasing attention, while the innovation dilemma is also one of the important factors affecting the operation efficiency of enterprises. Based on the micro-data of China’s A-share manufacturing listed enterprises, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of innovation dilemmas faced by enterprises on operational efficiency (innovation dilemmas are measured by the difference when actual innovation performance is lower than expected innovation performance). The results show that the innovation dilemma of manufacturing enterprises significantly inhibits the operational efficiency of manufacturing enterprises by reducing their risk tolerance, development ability expectation and profitability. After using a series of tests, such as instrumental variable method, propensity score matching method, DID (Differences-in-Differences) and changing variable measure method, the conclusion is still robust. In addition, the inhibitory effect of innovation dilemma on enterprise operation efficiency is more obvious for private enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises, enterprises in the ascend or decline phase, high-tech enterprises and enterprises in the eastern region. Therefore, the government should strengthen the policy support for the manufacturing enterprises in the innovation dilemma, help the enterprises to overcome the innovation bottleneck. Manufacturing enterprises themselves should enhance their innovation capabilities and strive to get rid of the innovation dilemma in order to maintain a stable footing in the fierce market competition and improve the high-quality development of China’s manufacturing industry.

The classification of Trojans in modern analog microcircuits is considered. Using high-speed operational amplifiers (Op-Amps) as an example, the relationship between Op-Amp circuit design and the formation of undesirable states in typical switching circuits is shown. Circuit solutions are proposed to minimize the Trojan states of high-speed Op-Amps. These include limiting the maximum output currents of the input stages of the Op-Amp during the transient process and the use of differentiating transient correction circuits in the Op-Amp.

Thermal-based actuators are known for generating large force and displacement strokes at mesoscale (millimeter) regime. In particular, two-phase thermal actuators are found to benefit from the scaling laws of physics at mesoscale to offer large force and displacement strokes; but they have low thermal efficiencies. As an alternative, a combustion-based thermal actuator is proposed and its performance is studied in both open and closed cycle operations. Through a physics-based lumped-parameter model, we investigate the behavior and performance of the actuator using a spring-mass-damper analogy and taking an air standard cycle approach. Three observations are reported: (1) the mesoscale actuator can generate peak forces of up to 400 N and displacement strokes of about 16 cm suitable for practical applications; (2) an increase in heat input to the actuator results in increasing the thermal efficiency of the actuator for both open and closed cycles; and (3) for a specific heat input, both the open and closed cycle operations respond differently \textemdash different stroke lengths, peak pressures, and thermal efficiencies.

Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) after hyperselective embolization of tumor vessels (HETV) in a hybrid operating room (HOR) that combines traditional surgical equipment with advanced imaging technology, is a non-clamping surgical approach to treat localized kidney tumors that have shown promising short-term results. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term oncological and functional outcomes of this procedure. All consecutive patients treated for a localized kidney tumor by LPN after HETV between May 2015 and October 2022 in a single academic institution were included in the study. Clinical, pathological and biological data were collected prospectively in the uroCCR database. We evaluated perioperative data, postoperative complications, surgical margin and modification of renal function after surgery. We included 245 patients. Median tumor size was 3.2 (2.5-4.4) cm. The R.E.N.A.L. complexity was low, medium and high for 104 (43.5%), 109 (45.6%) and 26 (10.9%) patients, respectively. Median LPN time was 75 (65 -100) min and median blood loss was 100 (50-300) mL. Surgical postoperative complications occurred in 56 (22.9%) patients with 17 (5.7%) major complications. The median preoperative Glomerular Function Rate (GFR) was 90.5 (77-101.8) mL/min and the median GFR variation at 6 months was -7.5 (-15- -2) mL/min. Malignant tumors were present in 211 (86.1%) patients and 12 (4.9%) patients had positive surgical margins. After a median follow-up of 27 (8-49) months, 20 (8.2%) patients had a tumor recurrence and 4 (1.6%) died from cancer. The use of a HOR to perform LPN after HETV is a safe and efficient non-clamping approach to treat localized kidney tumors.

Pump-as-turbines (PAT) have been widely used during the last decade as one of the most interesting technologies in the field of energy recovery. A large number of studies and papers have been published in which the performance of the pumps in the turbine operating regime are analysed. Since horizontal single stage centrifugal norm pumps are most commonly used as PATs, their performances are analysed in this paper. Most of the research was related to individual pump aggregates or smaller groups and to obtaining their performance curves in turbine random mode. In this work, extensive experimental, numerical and theoretical investigations are conducted to obtain complete dimensionless performance characteristics of the single stage centrifugal norm pumps operating as turbines. The main goal of this research was to form a simple analytical expression that will, for this type of aggregate, map the pump operating characteristic to the appropriate turbine operating regime. By using the expressions obtained and presented in the work, engineers are enabled to make the appropriate choice of pump aggregate for operation in the turbine random mode for potential locations. This can allow us to quickly make selection of potential locations and to carry out appropriate techno-economic analyses and analyses of possible energy savings.

(1) Background: Mixed Reality is a technology that has gained attention due to its unique capabilities for accessing and visualizing information, becoming a valuable tool for medicine, particularly for the operating room and surgical learning; (2) Methods: A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines to answer the research questions established using the PICO framework; (3) Results: Although implementation of Mixed Reality applications in the operations room presents some challenges, when used appropriately, it can yield remarkable results. It can make learning easier, flatten the learning curve for several procedures, and facilitate various aspects of the surgical processes; (4) Conclusion: Technical complexity, equipment costs, and steep learning curves present significant obstacles to the widespread adoption of Mixed Reality and computer-assisted evaluation. The possibility of integration of distinct medical imaging modalities and innovative functionalities holds promise for clinical applications. However, it is important to consider issues related to usability, bias, and statistical analyses need consideration. Mixed Reality offers significant benefits, but there are still open challenges such as ergonomic issues, limited field of view, and battery autonomy that must be addressed to ensure widespread acceptance.

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

Comparison between hydraulic and hydrologic computational methods is conducted in this study, regarding prismatic open channels under unsteady subcritical flow conditions. One-dimensional unsteady flow continuity and momentum equations are solved using explicit and implicit finite difference schemes for a symmetrical trapezoidal cross section, where the flow discharge and depth are the dependent variables. The results have been compared to those derived from Muskingum-Cunge hydraulic/hydrologic method as well as the commercial software HEC-RAS. The results from explicit and implicit code compare well to those from commercial software and hydraulic/hydrologic methods for long prismatic channels, thus directing the hydraulic engineer to quick preliminary design of prismatic open channels for unsteady flow with satisfactory accuracy.

Background and Objectives To compare navigator-gated three-dimensional T1-weighted gradient-echo sequences (NG-3D T1W-GRE) with standard breath-hold T1W-GRE (BH T1W-GRE) for the detection of HCC nodules in patients with chronic viral hepatitis which undergo at magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using gadoxetic acid. Methods and materials We evaluated 58 patients with hepatic nodules at least 1 cm in diameter detected by ultrasound who underwent liver MRI including NG-3D T1W-GRE sequences and breath hold T1-weighted gradient-echo sequences with different flip angles(FA) at 10-25-40° after contrast administration of gadoxetic acid at magnetic scanner operating at1.5 Tesla. Image quality and relative hepatic and nodular enhancement were evaluated by three blinded reviewers. Results In these patients, image quality of NG-3D T1W-GRE was assessed significantly better than quality of BHT1W- GRE (P < 0.005) and relative enhancement was significantly higher than that of BH- T1W-GRE ( P

Interferons were the original prototype cytokine system discovered in 20th-century research. As the name implies, they were originally thought to be synthesised and secreted between cells. Thanks to technological advances, the processes involved in protein secretion can be explained comparatively more clearly at both the genetic and biochemical levels. The discovery of interferon (IFN) occurred when genetic research was still in its infancy. Franklin and Wilkins discovered the structure and function of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) at the same time as Crick and Watson; however, Isaacs and Lindemann, two scientists, described the first IFN in 1957. Mutations can be caused by inherent genetic protein synthesis and during infection as well as within IFN regulation pathways affecting cell proliferation. This remains central to host cell IFN synthesis and effects through IFN protein receptor subunits defined by 6 protein domains. Type II IFN is key to immune cell function secreted by a variety of immune cells, mainly natural killer (NK) as well as T cells. Single–stranded and/or double–stranded RNA/DNA viruses, as well as bacterial infections (e.g., Escherichia coli) and fungal infections (e.g., Aspergillus), also affect IFN regulation. Pathogenic proteins utilise intra/extracellular proteins that sense foreign antigens like Toll–like Receptors (TLRs), affected by mutations within the human cellular IFN transduction pathways. Since the discovery of the third IFN type in 2003, when immune cell phenotypes were further characterised, questions remain about the immunological mechanisms contributing to the regulation of the innate and adaptive host immune system. Alterations in the synthesis of type I/II/III host IFNs can differentially and beneficially alter homeostatic cellular pathways in pathological disease, with type I IFN being synthesised in cancer as well as by homeostatic cells. Therefore, considered here are the overall IFN molecular, cell regulatory mechanisms in the context of immune cell research developments.

Small submersible drainage pumps discharge leaking water and rainwater in buildings. In an emergency (e.g., heavy rain or accident), monitoring the flow rate in advance is necessary to enable optimal operation, considering the point where the pump operates abnormally when the water level increases rapidly. In another, pump performance optimization is crucial for energy saving policy. Therefore, it is necessary to meet the challenges of submersible pump systems, including sustainability and pump efficiency. The final goal of this study is to develop an energy-saving, high-efficiency submersible drainage pump capable of responding to emergencies. In particular, this paper targeted the hydraulic performance improvement of a submersible drainage pump model. Before the development of driving mode-related technology capable of emergency response, we first tried to find a way to improve the performance characteristics of the existing submersible drainage pump. Rather than designing a new pump, we disassembled the current pump and reverse engineering. Then, numerical simulation was performed to analyze the flow characteristics and efficiency of the pump. Then, the pump test was carried out to obtain the performance and validated with numerical results. Results revealed that changing the cross-sectional shape of the impeller reduced the flow separation and enhanced velocity and pressure distributions. Also, it reduced the power and increased efficiency. Results also showed that the pump's efficiency increased to 5.56% at a discharge rate of 0.17 m3/min, and overall average efficiency increased to 6.53%. In addition, the submersible pump design method could be suitable for the optimized pump's impeller and casing numerically. This paper can provide insight and information on the design optimization of pumps.

Critical infrastructures are those that are essential. For this type of infrastructure, it is necessary to implement analytical methodologies that will allow us to quickly obtain the susceptibility or resilience and possible damage generated in extreme precipitation episodes, through a holistic perspective in which the factors linked to hydrological risk intervene. In particular, urban hydraulic infrastructures are analyzed considering the degree of criticality, defined as the number of interactions on the different activities of the population. For this purpose, a hydrological risk analysis methodology is required. This methodology is focused on an integral approach of the system indicators to be analyzed and linked to the hydrological threat. This work proposes to delimit and analyze those factors that involve risk using an analytical expression. This model will estimate the damage to these infrastructures breaking down the factors involved in the risk equation and analyzing their variability according to the intrinsic characteristics linked to them as well as the interaction with external factors.

Nowadays energy saving is a topical issue due to increasing fuel costs and this aspect is amplified by more stringent emissions regulations that impact on vehicle development. A recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy shows that about five percent of the U.S. energy consumption is transmitted by fluid power equipment. Nevertheless, this study also shows that the efficiency of fluid power averages 21 percent. This offers a huge opportunity to improve the current state-of-the-art of fluid power machines, in particular to improve the energy consumption of current applications. These facts dictate a continuous strive toward improvements and more efficient solutions: to accomplish this objective a strong reduction of hydraulic losses and better control strategies of the hydraulic systems are needed. In fluid power, there exist many techniques to reduce/recover energy losses of the conventional layouts, e.g. load sensing, electrohydraulic flow matching, independent metering, etc. One of the most efficient ways to analyze these different layouts and identify the best hydraulic solution is done through virtual simulations instead of prototyping, since the latter involves higher investment costs to deliver the product into the market. However, to build a fluid power machine virtual model, some problems arise relative to different aspects, for instance: loads on actuators (both linear and rotational) are not constant and pumps are driven by a real engine whose speed depends on required torque. Furthermore, it is important to achieve higher level of detail to simulate each component in the circuit: the greater detail, the better the machine behavior is portrayed, but it obviously entails heavy impact on simulation time and computational resources. Therefore, there is a need to create mathematical model of components and systems with sufficient level of detail to easily acquire all those phenomena necessary to correctly evaluate machine performance and make modifications to the fluid power component design. In this context, a hydraulic proportional valve PVG 32 by Danfoss is taken as an object of study, its performance is analyzed with suitable mathematical model and simulation is done to observe closeness of a model to the laboratory experiment.

In this paper we develop from first principles a unique law pertaining to the flow of fluids through closed conduits. This law, which we call “Quinn’s Law”, may be described as follows: When fluids are forced to flow through closed conduits under the driving force of a pressure gradient, there is a linear relationship between the normalized dimensionless pressure gradient, P_Q, and the normalized dimensionless fluid current, C_Q. The relationship is expressed mathematically as: P_Q = k₁ +k₂C_Q. This linear relationship remains the same whether the conduit is filled with or devoid of solid obstacles. The law differentiates, however, between a packed and an empty conduit by virtue of the tortuosity of the fluid path, which is seamlessly accommodated within the normalization framework of the law itself. When movement of the fluid is very close to being at rest, i.e., very slow, this relationship has the unique minimum constant value of k₁, and as the fluid acceleration increases, it varies with a slope of k₂ as a function of normalized fluid current. Quinn’s Law is validated herein by applying it to the data from published classical studies of measured permeability in both packed and empty conduits, as well as to the data generated by home grown experiments performed in the author’s own laboratory.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a protease-modulated chronic disorder with heterogenous clinical manifestations which may lead to an imprecise diagnosis. So far, there are no diagnostic protease tests for AD. We explored the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) protease profile of periodontally-healthy individuals with moderate/severe AD compared to healthy controls. An exploratory case-control study was conducted. Matching AD patients (n=6) and controls (n=6) were enrolled at the International Center for Clinical Studies, Santiago, Chile. Complete dermatological and periodontal evaluations (involving the collection of GCF samples) were made. The levels of 35 proteases were analyzed using a human protease antibody array. The GCF levels of zinc-binding ADAM8, ADAM9, MMP8 and Neprilysin/CD10, aspartyl-binding Cathepsin E, and serin-binding Protein convertase9 and uPA/Urokinase proteases were lower in moderate/severe AD patients compared to controls (p<0.05). No inter-group differences in the levels of the other 28 proteases were found. MMP8, Cathepsin E and ADAM9 were the biomarkers with the highest sensitivity and specificity regarding the detection of AD (p < 0.05). The area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for MMP-8+ADAMP-9 was 0.90. In conclusion, differences in the protease profile between AD and control patients associated with MMP8, Cathepsin E and ADAM9. MMP8, ADAM9 and Cathepsin E may be useful as combined diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers of moderate/severe AD.

All-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs) using argyrodite electrolyte materials have shown promise for applications in electric vehicles (EVs). However, understanding the effects of pro-cessing parameters on the ionic conductivity of these electrolytes is crucial for optimizing battery performance and manufacturing methods. This study investigates the influence of electrolyte op-erating temperature, electrolyte operating pressure, electrolyte pelletization pressure, and electro-lyte pelletizing temperature on the ionic conductivity of Li6PS5Cl0.5Br0.5 argyrodite electrolyte (AmpceraTM, D50=10 µm). A specially designed test cell is employed for the experimental meas-urements, allowing for controlled pelletization and testing within the same tooling. The results demonstrate the significant impact of the four parameters on the ionic conductivity of the argy-rodite electrolyte. The electrolyte operating temperature has a more pronounced effect than oper-ating pressure, and pelletizing temperature exerts a greater influence than pelletizing pressure. This study provides graphs that aid in understanding the interplay between these parameters and achieving desired conductivity values. It also establishes a baseline for the maximum pelletizing temperature before undesirable degradation of electrolyte occurs. By manipulating the pelletizing pressure, operating pressure, and pelletizing temperature, battery engineers can achieve the desired conductivity for specific applications. The findings emphasize the need to consider operating conditions to ensure satisfactory low-temperature performance, particularly for EVs. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into processing and operating conditions for ASSLBs utilizing Li6PS5Cl0.5Br0.5 argyrodite electrolyte.

In this study, the friction factor of turbulent pipe flow for dried rice malt extract solutions is reduced experimentally to that of a Newtonian fluid. The friction factor is measured for four types of solutions at different culture times and concentrations. The results indicate that the experimental data points of the test solutions diverge from the maximum drag reduction asymptote at and above Re√f ≅ 200 and align parallel to those of Newtonian fluids. This drag reduction phenomenon differs from that of artificial high molecular polymer solutions. It is classified as a Type B drag reduction phenomenon of biopolymer solutions and fine solid particle suspensions. The order of drag reduction corresponds approximately to that of 5–50 ppm xanthan-gum solutions reported previously. Furthermore, the velocity profile in a turbulent pipe flow was predicted using a semi-theoretical equation, in which the friction factors were determined using the difference between the experimental results of the tested solutions and Newtonian fluids. The results indicate a more considerable thickening of the viscous sublayer in the turbulent pipe flow of the test solutions than that of Newtonian fluids.

Sepsis is defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to an infection. Recent in-vitro studies have investigated the effects of CytoSorb hemoadsorption on endothelial function in sepsis showing a reduction in markers of endothelial dysfunction, but to this day there is a lack of clinical studies showing whether this approach could actually positively influence the disturbed vascular barrier function in septic conditions. We analyzed the data on administered fluid volumes and catecholamines to determine the potential benefit of CytoSorb hemoadsorption therapy on endothelial function in a clinical scenario. We performed a retrospective analysis of 124 septic shock patients who had undergone adjunctive treatment with CytoSorb hemadsorption therapy. We collected volume requirements, and calculated the volume balance within different time periods to obtain an assumption on the stability of the vascular barrier. We also calculated catecholamine requirements. With regard to the entire study cohort our findings revealed a significant reduction in fluid balance at 72 hours (T72) compared to both baseline (T0) and the 24-hour mark (T24). Fluid balances from T72 – T0 were significantly lower in hospital survivors compared to non-survivors. Patients who received a second catecholamine had a significantly lower in-hospital mortality. Our findings showed that use of hemoadsorption therapy results in a reduced positive fluid balance paralleled by reductions in vasopressor needs suggesting a positive effect on endothelial integrity. These results, derived from a large cohort of patients, provide valuable insights that may greatly improve our understanding of the multiple effects of hemoadsorption treatment in septic shock patients.

We characterize the performance of a system based on a magnetoresistor array. This instrument is developed to map the magnetic field, and to track a dipolar magnetic source in the presence of a static homogeneous field. The position and orientation of the magnetic source with respect to the sensor frame is retrieved together with the orientation of the frame with respect to the environmental field. A nonlinear best-fit procedure is used, and its precision, time performance, and reliability are analyzed. This analysis is performed in view of the practical application for which the system is designed that is an eye-tracking diagnostics and rehabilitative tool for medical purposes, which require high speed ($\ge 100$~Sa/s) and sub-millimetric spatial resolution. A throughout investigation on the results makes it possible to list several observations, suggestions, and hints, which will be useful in the design of similar setups.