Objectives: To assess the short-term impact of a single global stretching session on plantar pressures and lumbar range of motion (RoM) over one week in sedentary university students. Design: A randomised controlled trial with two parallel groups. Participants: Sixty-four university students were randomly assigned to a stretching group or control group. The stretching group received a single session of global stretching and the control group remained seated for the same length of time as the stretching session. Main outcome measures: Lumbar RoM and plantar pressures were assessed before, immediately after, 48 hours after, and 7 days after intervention. Results: Group-by-time interaction was significant for lumbar lateral flexion (p = 0.044), right maximal pressure (p = 0.003), left maximal pressure (p = 0.008), right mean pressure (p = 0.025), left mean pressure (p = 0.002), and maximal pressure minus mean pressure in right foot (p = 0.007). The model with plantar pressures showed a significant difference for group-by-time interaction (p = 0.010).Conclusion: Global stretching seems to counteract the ill-effects of prolonged sitting up to seven days with respect to plantar pressure in standing without improving lumbar ROM

Background: Since circa 1980, a model of neocortical interactions, Statistical Mechanics of Neocortical Interactions (SMNI) has been successful in calculating many experimental phenomena, including fits to electroencephalographic (EEG) data in attention tasks, using an importance-sampling code Adaptive Simulated Annealing (ASA). The SMNI model is developed in the context of classical path-integrals, which affords intuitive insights as well as direct numerical benefits, e.g., using the effective Action as a a cost/objective function for parameter fits to data. Objective: Previous authors have fit affective EEG data to neural-network models. This project seeks to use models based on physics and biology to fit this same data. Previous work showed improvements in fits to EEG for attention states; this project extends these methods to affective states. Method: Path integrals are used in both classical and quantum contexts. Classical path integrals are used to define a cost/objective function to fit data, and quantum path integrals are used to derive a closed-form analytic expression for Ca-ion waves in the presence of a magnetic vector potential which is generated by highly synchronous neuronal firings which give rise to EEG. ASA is used to fit EEG data. Results: The mathematical-physics and computer parts of the study are successful, in that cost/objective functions used to fit EEG data using these models are consistent with previous work published by other authors. However, since the SMNI model includes these quantum effects, this is another reason to continue examining these issues. The results here are consistent, not better, than previous work using neural-network models, albeit only one parameter was used here, instead of multiple filters and kernels used previously on such data. Conclusion: Although these quantum effects are highly speculative, explicit calculations have shown them to be consistent with experimental data, at least to date. The current supercomputer project extends this model to affective/emotion data. Results from several authors using neural-network approaches at individual electrode sites show some predictive capabilities; the results given here are consistent with these other results. However, since the SMNI model includes these quantum effects, this is another reason to continue examining these issues.

A major driver of declining biodiversity is landcover change leading to loss of habitat. Many studies have estimated large-scale declines in biodiversity, but loss of biodiversity at a local scale due to the immediate effects of development have been poorly studied. California, in particular, is a biodiversity hotspot and has rapidly developed; thus, it is important to understand the effects of development on wildlife. Here, we conducted reconnaissance surveys -- a type of survey often used by consulting biologists in support of environmental review of proposed projects -- to measure changes in relative abundance and richness of vertebrate species in response to urban development. We completed 2 reconnaissance surveys at each of 52 control sites that remained undeveloped at the times of both surveys, and at each of 26 impact sites that had been developed by the time of the second survey. We completed the surveys as part of a before-after, control-impact (BACI) experimental design. Our main interest was on the interaction effect between the before-after phases and control-impact treatment levels, or on the impact of development. We also tested for effects of survey duration, years intervening the surveys in the before and after phases, project area size, latitude, degree of connectedness to adjacent open space, and whether the site was a redevelopment site, infill or not infill. After development, the average number of vertebrate wildlife species we detected declined 48% within the project area, and 66% within the bounds of the project sites. Further, the average number of vertebrate animals we counted declined 90% within the project area, and 89% within the bounds of the project sites. Development impacts measured by the mean number of species detected per survey were greatest for amphibians (-100%), followed by mammals (-86%), grassland birds (-75%), raptors (-53%), special-status species (-49%), all birds as a group (-48%), non-native birds (-44%), and synanthropic birds (-28%). Our results indicated that urban development substantially reduced vertebrate species richness and numerical abundance, even after richness and abundance had likely already been depleted by the cumulative effects of loss, fragmentation, and degradation of habitat in the urbanizing environment. Cumulative effects monitoring is needed, and so are conservation measures to mitigate the effects of urbanization.

Static standing postural stability has been measured by multiscale entropy (MSE), which is used to measure complexity. In this study, we used the average entropy (AE) to measure the static standing postural stability, as AE is a good measure of disorder. The center of pressure (COP) trajectories were collected from 11 subjects under four kinds of balance situation, from stable to unstable: bipedal with open eyes, bipedal with closed eyes, unipedal with open eyes, and unipedal with closed eyes. The AE, entropy of entropy (EoE), and MSE methods were used to analyze these COP data, and EoE was found to be a good measure of complexity. The AE of the 11 subjects sequentially increased by 100%as the balance situations progressed from stable to unstable, but the results of EoE and MSE did not follow this trend. Therefore, AE, rather than EoE or MSE, is a good measure of static standing postural stability. Furthermore, the comparison of EoE and AE plots exhibited an inverted U curve, which is another example of a complexity versus disorder inverted U curve.

This study reports an empirical analysis of an all-electric, Net Zero Energy Housing (NZEH) development located in a mixed-humid climate zone (4A, Virginia, USA). Circuit-level energy monitors were used to measure energy consumption and energy production data (solar photovoltaic) at 1-hr intervals in six identical apartments over 24 months. The study employs a multi-step case study methodology to a) empirically evaluate energy consumption and production data, b) identify the temporal variability of energy consumption and production data at different time scales, c) understand the impact(s) of weather and human-building interaction on energy consumption and production, and d) synthesize the study’s “lessons learned” toward data-driven recommendations for future NZEH researchers and practitioners. The study found that the development’s net zero energy goal was achieved in three of six case units and that NZEH housing performance was more influenced by human-building interaction than weather variability. The analysis also found the solar photovoltaic (PV) performance to be reliable across the sampled units over the periods of measurement, suggesting that solar PV could be oversized as an approach to overcome verifiability in HBI and achieve NZEH performance goals.

Harmonic resonances are part of the Power Quality (PQ) problems of electrified railways and have serious consequences for the continuity of service and integrity of components in terms of overvoltage stress. The interaction between Traction Power Stations (TPSs) and trains that causes line resonances is briefly reviewed showing the dependence on infrastructure conditions. The objective is real-time monitoring of resonance conditions seen first of all from the onboard panto-graph interface, but it is equally applicable at TPS terminals. Voltage and current spectra, and de-rived impedance and power spectra, are analyzed proposing compact and efficient methods based on Short-Time Fourier Transform, suitable for real-time implementation with the hardware avail-able for energy metering and harmonic interference monitoring. The methods are tested by sweeping long recordings taken at some European railways, covering cases of longer and shorter supply sections, with a range of resonance frequencies of about one decade. They give insight into the spectral behavior of resonances, their dependency on position and change over time, and criteria to recognize genuine infrastructure resonances from rolling stock emissions.

Ultra-wide field optical coherence tomography (UWF-OCT) has been recently introduced into clinical ophthalmological practice. To date, there is little data on the reference values of retinal thickness (RT) and choroidal thickness (CT) measured with this technique. This study aimed to analyze the variance of RT and CT in healthy eyes with UWF-OCT tests performed with the largest available scan size of 23 x 20 mm. The data were analyzed with reference to the patients' age, gender, and the axial length of the eyeball. The results of UWF-OCT scanning enabled us to picture the shape of the retina and choroid in a large portion of the eyeball. Both anatomical entities become significantly thinner at the periphery. The peripheral CT is greater in the upper and temporal sectors; the RT is higher in the nasal compared to the temporal sectors. Both choroid and retina lose thickness with age, however, CT and RT do not show a statistically significant correlation with the axial length after adjusting for age and gender. Age-related variations in thickness are especially prominent in the choroid. The CT in UWF-OCT testing is significantly greater in females while the RT is greater in males. UWF-OCT testing provides additional information on the anatomical structure of the retina and choroid compared to standard-field OCT

In ref. [1], we pointed out that certain anomalies observed in the published data for ac magnetic susceptibility of a room temperature superconductor reported in Nature 586, 373 (2020) [2] would be cleared up once the measured raw data were made available. Part of the measured raw data were recently posted in arXiv:2111.15017 [3]. Here we report the results of our analysis of these raw data and our conclusion that they are incompatible with the published data. Implications of these results to the claim that the material is a room temperature superconductor are discussed.

The first hyperpolarizability of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) suspended in water was determined using the hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) technique. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of the HRS technique to characterize GQDs. Two commercial GQDs (Acqua-Cyan and Acqua-Green) with different compositions were studied. The HRS experiments were performed with an excitation laser at 1064 nm. The measured hyperpolarizabilities were (1.0±0.1) × 10^(-27) esu and (0.9±0.1) × 10^(-27) esu for Acqua-Cyan and Acqua-Green, respectively. The results were used to estimate the hyperpolarizability per nanosheet obtained by assuming that each GQDs has five nanosheets with 0.3 nm thickness. The two-level model, used to calculate the static hyperpolarizability per nanosheet, provides the values of (2.4±0.1) × 10^(-28) esu (Acqua-Cyan) and (0.5±0.1) × 10^(-28) esu (Aqua-Green). The origin of the nonlinearity is discussed on the basis of polarized resolved HRS experiments, and an electric quadrupolar behavior with a strong dependence on surface effects is found. The nontoxic characteristics and order of magnitude indicate that these GQDs may be useful for biological microscopy imaging.

The space gravitational wave detection and drag free control requires the micro-thruster to have very low thrust noise within 0.1mHz~100mHz, which poses a great challenge to the ground thrust test. The evaluation and decoupling of thermal noise are the difficulties in the application of torsion balance for most thrusters dissipate heat in the experiment. The research has adopted a calibration scheme of micro-Newton thrust torsion balance. On the basis of Lisa Pathfinder's former research and using ideas inspired from PID control and multi time scale (MTS) for reference, the paper proposes to expand the state space of temperature to be applied on thrust prediction based on fine tree regression (FTR), to subtract the thermal noise filtered by transfer function fitted with z-domain vector fitting (ZDVF). The results show that the thrust amplitude thrust density in diurnal temperature fluctuation is decoupled from 24μN/Hz1/2 to 4.9μN/Hz1/2 at 0.11mHz. And the 1μN square wave modulations of electrostatic fins (ESF) is extracted from the simultaneously ambiguous background of temperature for PTC's heating and cooling. The FTR method is well demonstrated in thermal noise decoupling and can guide the design of thermal control and be extended to other physical quantities for noise decoupling.

We propose an iterative scheme for feature-based positioning using a new weighted dissimilarity measure with the goal of reducing the impact of large errors among the measured or modeled features. The weights are computed from the location-dependent standard deviations of the features and stored as part of the reference fingerprint map (RFM). Spatial filtering and kernel smoothing of the kinematically collected raw data allow efficiently estimating the standard deviations during RFM generation. In the positioning stage, the weights control the contribution of each feature to the dissimilarity measure, which in turn quantifies the difference between the set of online measured features and the fingerprints stored in the RFM. Features with little variability contribute more to the estimated position than features with high variability. Iterations are necessary because the variability depends on the location, and the location is initially unknown when estimating the position. Using real WiFi signal strength data from extended test measurements with ground truth in an office building, we show that the standard deviations of these features vary considerably within the region of interest and are neither simple functions of the signal strength nor of the distances from the corresponding access points. This is the motivation to include the empirical standard deviations in the RFM. We then analyze the deviations of the estimated positions with and without the location-dependent weighting. In the present example the maximum radial positioning error from ground truth are reduced by 40% comparing to kNN without the weighted dissimilarity measure.

In this study, we evaluated chlorophyll fluorescence (CF) under two extreme illumination conditions at plant scale with a passive spectroradiometer. Fluorescence (F) was estimated by reading directly from radiance spectra of a variety of plants illuminated with light-emitting diode (LED) grow lights in the laboratory. Solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) was estimated from spectral measurements of the same plants under sunlight using the Fraunhofer Line Depth (FLD) method. Chlorophyll fluorescence yield (F_yield) and solar-induced fluorescence yield (SIF_yield) were calculated by normalizing F and SIF with absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR). Two approaches to estimating APAR were compared: utilizing white reference spectra and reflected spectra versus white reference spectra combined with the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fPAR) derived from literature. Average F and SIF were different by a factor of approximately twenty-four (F = 0.110 ± 0.038 Wm⁻²μm⁻¹sr⁻¹ versus SIF = 2.60 ± 1.87 Wm⁻²μm⁻¹sr⁻¹). In contrast, the average normalized values F_yield and SIF_yield were within the margin of error of one another (F_yield = 0.022 ± 0.008 μm⁻¹sr⁻¹ and SIF_yield = 0.030 ± 0.020 μm⁻¹sr⁻¹). This study highlights the influence of APAR on CF and the importance of properly accounting for it when estimating yield and demonstrates the ability of two simple and portable experimental setups with a passive instrument to obtain fluorescence metrics.

While studies that examined risk perceptions in various environments have been previously conducted, the relationship between risk perceptions measured in such environments had not been examined. Such a relationship, if found, may indicate that when one learns to identify risks in one environment, they may identify risks more easily and quickly in another.This study examined the relationship between measures of risk perception in several separate environments. The findings suggest that when learning to identify and assess risks in a particular environment, one may better identify and assess risks in a similar environment – for example, learning to identify and assess risks while driving makes it easier to identify and assess risks when crossing a road. Conversely, the findings also indicate that learning to identify and assess risks in one environment does not make it possible to better identify and assess risks in a disparate environment – for example, learning to identify and assess risks while driving does not make it easier to identify and assess risks in a workplace environment. This may also suggest that while disparate environments such as the road environment and the workplace environment are perceived as two separate environments, the road environment is experienced as one single environment by both drivers and pedestrians.

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of supplementation of inorganic sources of manganese (MnO, MnSO4), zinc (ZnO, ZnSO4) and copper (CuSO4) at different levels (0.06%DM for Mn, 0.05%DM for Zn; and 0.01 and 0.05%DM for Cu) on in vitro rumen fermentation, solubility and bioavailability. Fermentation activity was measured by total gas production (TGP) and dry matter degradability after 70hrs of fermentation (dDM%). Trace-mineral (TM) solubility was estimated by the TM concentration in the supernatant of the final fermentation medium (SOL) and TM bioavailability by the TM concentration in a bacterial enriched fraction (BACT). Mn (regardless of source) and ZnO tended (p<0.10) to decrease, while Cu showed no significant effect on TGP. The addition of inorganic Mn and of ZnO tended (p<0.10) to decrease, ZnSO4 tended to increase (p<0.10), whilst Cu showed no effect on dDM%. Concerning solubility, Mn (MnO and MnSO4), ZnSO4 and CuSO4 significantly (p<0.05, p<0.001 and p<0.01) increased, while ZnO did not affect TM content of the SOL. These results indicate that MnSO4, ZnSO4 and CuSO4 are highly soluble, MnO is quite soluble, while ZnO has a low solubility in the rumen. Based on the TM content of BACT, MnO, MnS4 and CuSO4 have a high bioavailability, while ZnO is poorly assimilated by rumen bacteria. However, the lack of clear inhibition or improvement of fermentations suggests that the rumen microbiota has low requirement for TM supplementation.

It has been recently demonstrated that inelastic helium-atom scattering from conducting surfaces can provide a direct measurement of the surface electron-phonon coupling constant (mass-enhancement factor ) via the temperature- or the incident-energy-dependence of the Debye-Waller exponent. The analysis of previous published as well as unpublished helium atom scattering diffraction data from the vicinal surfaces of copper (Cu(11),  = 3,5,7) and aluminium (Al(221) and Al(332)) permits to extract  for this class of surfaces, suggesting an enhancement with respect to the corresponding data for the low-index surfaces (111) and (001) above a possible roughening transition temperature. The specific role of steps as compared to that of terraces is briefly discussed.

This paper describe a procedure to measure experimentally the power coefficient, Cp, of winged seeds, and apply this technique to seeds from the Norway maple (Acer platanoides). We measure Cp=56.9±2% at a tip speed ratio of 3.21±0.06. Our results are in agreement with previously published CFD simulations that indicate that these seeds – operating in low-Reynolds number conditions – approach the Betz limit (Cp=59.3%) the maximum possible efficiency for a wind turbine. In addition, this result is not consistent with the recent theoretical work of Okulov & Sørensen, which suggests that a single-bladed turbine with a tip-speed ratio of 3.2 can achieve a power efficiency of no more than 30%.

In 2014, McCulloch showed, in a new and interesting way, how to derive a gravity theory from Heisenberg's uncertainty principle that is equivalent to Newtonian gravity. McCulloch utilizes the Planck mass in his derivation and obtains a gravitational constant of hbar*c/m_p^2. This is a composite constant, which is equivalent in value to Newton's gravitational constant. However, McCulloch has pointed out that his approach requires an assumption on the value of G, and that this involves some circular reasoning. This is in line with the view that the Planck mass is a derived constant from Newton's gravitational constant, while big G is a universal fundamental constant. Here we will show that we can go straight from the McCulloch derivation to measuring the Planck mass without any knowledge of the gravitational constant. From this perspective, there are no circular problems with his method. This means that we can measure the Planck mass without Newton's gravitational constant, and shows that the McCulloch derivation is a theory of quantum gravity that stands on its own. Even more importantly, we show that we can easily measure the Schwarzschild radius of a mass without knowing its mass, or Newton's gravitational constant, or the Planck constant. The very essence of gravity is linked to the Planck length and the speed of light, but here we will claim that we do not need to know the Planck length itself. Our conclusion is that Newton's gravitational constant is a universal constant, but it is a composite constant of the form G=l_p^2*c^3/hbar where the Planck length and the speed of light are the keys to gravity. This could be an important step towards the development of a full theory of quantum gravity.

The UV/Vis absorption energies (νmax) of different solvatochromic probes measured in co-solvent/water mixtures are analysed as a function of the average molar concentration (Nav) of the solvent composition. Nav is discussed in terms of the underlying average molar mass (mol average or mass average) of the mixture. ET(30) of Reichardt`s dye B30 is the focus of the analysis. Methanol, ethanol, 1,2-ethanediol, 2-propanol, 2-methyl-2-propanol, 2-butoxyethanol, formamide, N-methylformamide (NMF), dimethylformamide (DMF), N-formylmorpholine (NFM), 1,4-dioxane and DMSO were used as co-solvents. Significant linear dependencies of ET(30) as a function of Nav can be demonstrated for formamide/water, 1,2-ethanediol/water, NMF/water and DMSO/water mixtures over the whole composition range. These mixtures belong to the group of solvents that do not enhance the water structure according to the Marcus classification. The specifics of the 1,4-dioxane/water mixtures are discussed. For alcohol/water mixtures with enhanced water structure, the influence of the solvent microstructure on ET(30) is particularly evident.

This paper provides an open dataset of measured energy use, solar energy production, and building air leakage data from a 328 m² (3,531 ft²) all-electric, zero energy commercial building in Virginia, USA. Over two years of energy use data were collected at 1-hour intervals using circuit-level energy monitors. Over six years of solar energy production data were measured at 1-hour intervals by 56 microinverters. The building air leakage data was measured post-construction per ASTM-E779 Standard Test Method for Determining Air Leakage Rate by Fan Pressurization and the United States Army Corps (USACE) Building Enclosure Testing procedure; both pressurization and depressurization results are provided. The architectural and engineering (AE) documents are provided to aid researchers and practitioners in reliable modelling of building performance. The paper describes the data collection methods, cleaning, and convergence with weather data. This dataset can be employed to predict, benchmark, and calibrate operational outcomes in zero energy commercial buildings.

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a conserved “stress hormone” in unicellular organisms, plants and animals. In mammals, ABA and its receptors LANCL1 and LANCL2 stimulate insulin-independent cell glucose uptake and oxidative metabolism: overexpression of LANCL1/2 increases, and their si-lencing conversely reduces, mitochondrial number, respiration and proton gradient dissipation in muscle cells and in brown adipocytes. We hypothesized that the ABA/LANCL hor-mone/receptors system could be involved in thermogenesis. Heat production by LANCL1/2-overexpressing vs. double-silenced cells was compared in rat H9c2 cardiomyocytes with two different methods: differential temperature measurements using sensitive thermistor probes, and differential isothermal calorimetry. Results indicate that overexpressing cells generate an approx. double amount of thermal power compared with double-silenced cells, and that addition of ABA further doubles heat production in overexpressing cells. With the temperature probes, we find a time-scale of approx. 4 min for thermogenesis to “turn on” after nutrient addition. These results identify the ABA/LANCL hormone receptors system as a hitherto unknown regu-lator of cell thermogenesis. Pharmacologic means of increasing metabolic energy dissipation are considered a promising strategy to reduce oxidative stress and lipid accumulation at a cellular and organismic level: from this study, LANCL1-2 proteins emerge as targetable controllers of ther-mogenesis through their natural ligand ABA.

Background and Objectives Transpulmonary thermodilution has gained interest in recent years. It measures cardiac output (CO), stroke volume (SV), but also calculates global end diastolic indexed volume (GEDVI), and global ejection fraction (GEF). GEDVI is a static variable of cardiac preload. GEF provides information regarding cardiac function. GEF algorithm depends on SV and GEDVI. Therefore, in hypovolemic patients with decreased preload, SV or GEDVI could be decreased, and lead to altered GEF. The aim of our work was to evaluate whether impairment in GEDVI and SV may constitute a limitation for the interpretation of GEF in hypovolemic patients. A secondary objective was to determine factors independently associated with impaired GEF. Materials and Methods A retrospective study was conducted. Statistical analysis was performed by means of Mann Whitney and student t test. To determine correlation between GEF with SV, or GEF with GEDVI Pearson's coefficient was used. To determine factors independently associated with the presence of impaired GEF, binary logistic regression was performed. Results We included 113 patients with shock. Differences in mortality were detected in GEF (21[16-28] survivors versus 18 in non survivors[11-26]; p= 0.01). 38(34%) patients had hypovolemia. 44(39%) of them had depressed GEF values. Hypovolemic patients had lower GEF values than non-hypovolemic patients (16 [12-22] vs 20 [15-27]; p=0.01). Both SV and GEDVI had a statistically significant correlation with GEF (SV (Pearson's r 0.74; (p=0.00)) and GEDVI (Pearson's r -0.25; (p=0.00)). The only factors independently associated with low GEF were low SV and low GEDVI. Conclusion Hypovolemic patients frequently show low GEF values. We found correlation between SV and GEDVI with GEF. Low SV and low GEDVI were associated with low GEF. This could constitute a limitation in the interpretation of GEF and cardiac pump function. Hypovolemic patients could have low GEF without implying disorders in cardiac contractility.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical changes of the cornea after wearing soft contact lenses (CLs) in healthy myopic patients measured with the Corvis ST® analyzer. This prospective, cross-sectional, single-center study was performed in twenty-two Caucasian patients aged between 19 and 24 years (20.64 ± 1.21 years) range). Five device-specific biomechanical parameters, central corneal thickness and intraocular pressure were measured prior to fitting and one month after CLs wear. Differences between the means of the DA Ratio and the standard deviation of the DA Ratio pre- and post-CLs wear were found to be significant (p value=0.002 in both cases). Significant differences were found between pre- and post-CLs wear values in CCT (p value=0.013). For all other biomechanical measures, no significant differences were observed before and after treatment. A significant association was found between changes in bIOP and classification according to changes in Int. Radius (p value = 0.047) and SSI (p value = 0.026) standard deviations. The corneal biomechanical indices provided by CST demonstrate that fitting of soft CLs is a safe optical compensation method for the stability of corneal stiffness. No significant differences were found pre- and post-CLs wear in the assessment of bIOP.

This work examines the effects of two problematic trends in diesel passenger car emissions – increasing NO2/NOx ratio by conversion of NO into NO2 in catalysts and a disparity between the emission limit and the actual emissions in everyday driving – on ambient air quality in Prague. NO2 concentrations were measured by 104 membrane-closed Palmes passive samplers at 65 locations in Prague in March-April and September-October of 2019. NO2 concentrations measured by city stations during those periods were comparable with the 2016-2019. The average measured NO2 concentrations at the selected locations, after correcting for the 18.5% positive bias of samplers co-located with a monitoring station, were 36 µg/m3 (range 16-69 µg/m3, median 35.3 µg/m3), with the EU annual limit of 40 µg/m3 exceeded at 32% of locations. The NO2 concentrations have correlated well (R2=0.76) with the 2019 average daily vehicle counts, corrected for additional emissions due to uphill travel and intersections. In addition to expected “hot-spots” at busy intersections in the city center, new ones were identified, i.e. along a six-lane road V Holešovičkách. Comparison of data from six monitoring stations during March 15-April 30, 2020 travel restrictions with the same period in 2016-2019 revealed an overall reduction of NO2 and even a larger reduction of NO. The spatial analysis of data from passive samplers and time analysis of data during the travel restrictions both demonstrate a consistent positive correlation between traffic intensity and NO2 concentrations along/near the travel path. The slow pace of NO2 reductions in Prague suggests that stricter vehicle NOx emission limits, introduced in the last decade or two, have so far failed to sufficiently reduce the ambient NO2 concentrations, and there is no clear sign of remedy of Dieselgate NOx excess emissions.

Multicriteria decision aid requires a database as a decision matrix, in which two or more alternatives are evaluated according to two or more variables selected as decision criteria. Several problems of this nature use measures by Likert scales. Depending on the method, parameters from these data (e.g. means, modes or medians) are required for calculations. This parameterization of data in ordinal scales has fueled controversy for decades between authors who favor mathematical/statistical rigor and argue against the procedure, stating that ordinal scales should not be parameterized, and scientists from other areas who have shown gains from the process that compensate for this relaxation. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the advantages of the Composition of Probabilistic Preferences (CPP) method in multicriteria problems with data from Likert scales. The CPP is capable of allaying the protests raised and obtaining more accurate results than descriptive statistics or parametric models can bring. The proposed algorithm in R-code involves the use of CPP with empirical distributions and fitting histograms of data measured by Likert scales. Two case studies with simulated datasets having peculiar characteristics and a real case illustrate the advantages of the CPP.

Quantification of physical activity (PA) depends on the type of measurement and analysis method making it difficult to compare adherence to PA guidelines. Therefore, test-retest reliability, criterion validity, and stability for self-reported (i.e. questionnaire and diary) and device-based measured (i.e. accelerometry with 10/60 second epochs) PA was compared in 32 adults and 32 children from the SMARTFAMILY study to examine if differences in these measurement tools are systematic. PA was collected during two separate measurement weeks and the relationship for each quality criteria was analyzed using Spearman correlation. Results showed the highest PA values for questionnaires followed by 10-second and 60-second epochs measured by accelerometers. Levels of PA were lowest when measured by diary. Only accelerometry demonstrated reliable, valid, and stable results for the two measurement weeks, the questionnaire yielded mixed results and the diary showed only few significant correlations. Overall, higher correlations for the quality criteria were found for moderate than for vigorous PA and the results differed between children and adults. Since the differences were not found to be systematic, the choice of measurement tools should be carefully considered by anyone working with PA outcomes, especially if vigorous PA is the parameter of interest.

Room temperature superconductivity has recently been reported for a carbonaceous sulfur hydride (CSH) under high pressure by Snider et al [1]. The paper reports sharp drops in magnetic susceptibility as a function of temperature for five different pressures, that are interpreted as signaling a superconducting transition. Here I question the validity and faithfulness of the magnetic susceptibility data presented in the paper by comparison with the measured raw data reported by two of the authors of ref. [2]. This invalidates the assertion of the paper [1] that the susceptibility measurements support the case for superconductivity in this compound.

Only by understanding the ability to take third-person perspective can we begin to elucidate the neural processes responsible for one’s inimitable conscious experience. The current study examined differences in hemispheric laterality during a first-person perspective (1PP) and third-person perspective (3PP) taking task, when using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Participants were asked to take either the 1PP or 3PP when identifying the number of spheres in a virtual scene. During this task, single-pulse TMS was delivered to the motor cortex of both the left and right hemispheres of 10 healthy volunteers. Measures of TMS-induced motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) of the contralateral abductor pollicis brevis (APB) were employed as an indicator of lateralized cortical activation. The data suggest that the right hemisphere is more important in discriminating between 1PP and 3PP. These data add a novel method for determining perspective taking and add to the literature supporting the role of the right hemisphere in meta representation.

We report a large third-order nonlinear optical response of palladium diselenide (PdSe₂) films – a two-dimensional (2D) noble metal dichalcogenide material. Both open-aperture (OA) and closed-aperture (CA) Z-scan measurements are performed with a femtosecond pulsed laser at 800 nm to investigate the nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction, respectively. In the OA experiment, we observe optical limiting behaviour originating from large two photo absorption (TPA) in the PdSe₂ film of β = 3.26 ×10^-8 m/W. In the CA experiment, we measure a peak-valley response corresponding to a large and negative Kerr nonlinearity of n₂ = -1.33×10^-15 m²/W – two orders of magnitude larger than bulk silicon. We also characterize the variation of n₂ as a function of laser intensity, observing that n₂ decreases in magnitude with incident laser intensity, becoming saturated at n₂ = -9.96×10^-16 m²/W at high intensities. These results verify the large third-order nonlinear optical response of 2D PdSe₂ as well as its strong potential for high performance nonlinear photonic devices.

Spiral galaxies and their rotation curves have key characteristics of differentially spinning objects. Oblate spheroid shapes are a consequence of spin and reasonably describe galaxies, indicating that their matter is distributed in gravitationally interacting homeoidal shells. Previously published equations describing differentially spinning oblate spheroids with radially varying density are here applied to 51 galaxies, mostly spirals. A constant volumetric density (rho, kg m-3) is assumed for each thin homeoid in these formulae, after Newton, which is consistent with RC being reported simply as a function of equatorial radius r. We construct parameter-free inverse models that uniquely specify mass inside any given r, and thus directly constrain rho vs. r solely from velocity v(r) and galactic aspect ratios (assumed as 1:10 when data are unavailable). Except for their innermost zones, rho is proven to be closely proportional to rn, where n for all 36 spirals studied equals -1.80±0.40. Our values for interior densities compare closely with independently measured baryon density in appropriate astronomical environments: for example, calculated rho at galactic edges agrees with estimated rho of intergalactic media (IGM). Our finding that central densities increase with galaxy size is consistent with behavior exhibited by diverse self-gravitating entities. Our calculated mass distributions are consistent with visible luminosity and require no non-baryonic component. Empirical luminosity-velocity relationships for galaxies, such as the Tully-Fisher rule, originate in Newtonian physics.

Undisturbed ground temperature (UGT), thermal conductivity (TC) and heat capacity (HC) are essential parameters for the design of borehole heat exchanger (BHE) and borehole thermal energy storage systems. However, field methods to assess the thermal state and properties of the sub-surface are costly and time consuming. Moreover, HC is often not evaluated but arbitrarily selected from literature considering the geological materials intercepted by boreholes. Therefore, this work aims at proposing a field heat tracing method to infer the thermal diffusivity (TD) and HC with assumption of natural transient heat conduction in the subsurface. Empirical equations were developed to reproduce a UGT profile measured along a BHE. Experimental coefficients are found with a non-linear least square solver optimization and used to calculate the damping depth and TD. Subsequently, the TD is used to evaluate HC considering TC obtained from a thermal response test (TRT). Results from this proposed heat tracing method were verified and validated against a set of TRT results and oscillatory TRT analysis using a field dual probe concept to infer HC. The example here described highlights the advantages and novelty of this fast and simple field method relying only on a single UGT profile measured before a TRT.

Observation of the ambient aerosol surface area concentrations is important to understand the aerosol toxicity because an increased surface area may be able to act as an enhanced reaction interface for certain reactions between aerosol particles and biological cells, as well as an augmented carrier surface for co-pollutants. In this study, the concentration of aerosol surface area was measured from April 2015 to March 2016 in Fukuoka, Japan. We investigated the monthly and diurnal variations in the correlations between the aerosol surface area and black carbon (BC) and sulfate concentrations. Throughout the year, aerosol surface area concentration was strongly correlated with the concentrations of BC, which has relatively large surface area since BC particles are usually submicron agglomerates consisting of much smaller (tens of nanometers) sized primary soot particles. The slopes of the regression between the aerosol surface area and BC concentrations was highest in August and September 2015. This appears to have been the results of an increase in the proportion of the airmass that originated on the main islands of Japan. This may enhance the introduction of the BC from the main islands of Japan that is relatively fresh (or “uncoated”), thereby maintaining its larger surface area.

Snow-covered regions are the main source of reflection of incident shortwave radiation (ISR) on Earth’s surface. The deposition of light-absorbing particles (LAPs) on these regions increases the capacity of snow to absorb ISR and decreases surface snow albedo (SSA), which intensifies the radiative forcing leading to accelerated snowmelt and modifications of the hydrologic cycle. In this work we investigate changes in SSA and radiative forcing (RF) induced by LAPs in the Upper Aconcagua River Basin (Chilean central Andes) using remote sensing satellite data (MODIS), in-situ spectral SSA measurements, and the ISR (Chilean Solar Explorer platform) during the austral-winter months (May to August) for the 2004-2016 period. To estimate the changes in SSA and RF, we define two spectral ranges: i) an enclosed range (Ecr) between 841-876 nm, which isolates effects of Black-Carbon, an important LAP derived from anthropogenic activities, and ii) a broadband range (Bbr) between 300-2500 nm. Our results show that percent variations in SSA in the Ecr are higher than in the Bbr, regardless of the total amount of radiation received, which may be attributed to the presence of LAPs as these particles have a greater impact on SSA at wavelengths in the Ecr band than in the Bbr band.

Background: We aimed to determine the splenic stiffness (SS) values in healthy individuals as measured by 3 Tesla magnetic resonance elastography (3T MRE) and to investigate the possible effects of parameters such as age, sex, spleen volume, diameter, and parenchyma thickness on SS.Methods: A total of 54 healthy volunteers were included in this cross-sectional study. Participants' age and sex information were recorded, in addition to spleen craniocaudal and anteroposterior diameter, cortical thickness, spleen volume, and SS, which were measured using 3T magnetic resonance imaging and MRE. Results: Twenty-nine male and 25 female subjects with a mean age of 54.78±15.40 years were included in the study. Mean cradiocaudal diameter was 10.46±1.16 cm, anteroposterior diameter was 9.88±1.29 cm, parenchyma thickness was 4.08±0.67 cm, SS was 3721.94±709.69 Pascal (Pa), and median spleen volume was 292.54 (239.40-311.00) cm³. A significant positive correlation was observed between age and SS (r=0.779, p<0.001). The SS values were not associated with sex, craniocaudal diameter, anteroposterior diameter, parenchymal thickness, or volume.Conclusion:Age should be considered when using SS in the diagnosis and staging of relevant diseases such as portal hypertension and esophageal varices. Our results should be confirmed by future studies using 3T MRE in larger populations.

Background: We aimed to determine the splenic stiffness (SS) values in healthy individuals as measured by 3 Tesla magnetic resonance elastography (3T MRE) and to investigate the possible effects of parameters such as age, sex, spleen volume, diameter, and parenchyma thickness on SS. Methods: A total of 54 healthy volunteers were included in this cross-sectional study. Participants' age and sex information were recorded, in addition to spleen craniocaudal and anteroposterior diameter, cortical thickness, spleen volume, and SS, which were measured using 3T magnetic resonance imaging and MRE. Results: Twenty-nine male and 25 female subjects with a mean age of 54.78±15.40 years were included in the study. Mean cradiocaudal diameter was 10.46±1.16 cm, anteroposterior diameter was 9.88±1.29 cm, parenchyma thickness was 4.08±0.67 cm, SS was 3721.94±709.69 Pascal (Pa), and median spleen volume was 292.54 (239.40-311.00) cm3. A significant positive correlation was observed between age and SS (r=0.779, p<0.001). The SS values were not associated with sex, craniocaudal diameter, anteroposterior diameter, parenchymal thickness, or volume Conclusion:Age should be considered when using SS in the diagnosis and staging of relevant diseases such as portal hypertension and esophageal varices. Our results should be confirmed by future studies using 3T MRE in larger populations.

In surveying engineering tasks, close-range photogrammetry belongs to leading technology considering different aspects like the achievable accuracy, availability of hardware and software, accessibility to measured objects, or the economy. Hence, constant studies on photogrammetric data processing are desirable. Especially in industrial applications, the control points for close-range photogrammetry are usually measured using total stations. In the case of small objects, more precise positions of control points can be obtained by deploying and adjusting a three-dimensional linear network set up on the object. The article analyzes the accuracy of the proposed method, based on the measurement of the linear network using a tape with a precision of ±1 mm. The experiment shows that the adjusted positions of the network control points can be determined with high, one-millimeter accuracy. The photogrammetric 3D model derived referring to such control points and stereo-images captured with a non-metric camera is also characterized by the highest possible precision, which qualifies the presented method to accurate measurements used in surveying engineering. The authors prove that the distance between two randomly optional points derived from the 3D model of a dimensioned object is equal to the actual distance measured directly on it with one-millimeter accuracy.

Chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients have very high cardiovascular risk. Acute vascular changes during dialysis mediated by factors of the endothelium may have a crucial role in this. Aim: To study acute vascular changes during HD. In 29 consecutive chronic HD patients (age: 65.6±10.4 years) pre-, mid-, and post-HD plasma syndecan-1 (SDC-1) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels were measured. Applanation tonometry was performed before HD. SDC-1 levels increased during HD (p=0.004). Males had higher ET-1 levels. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on pulse wave velocity (PWV): PWV≥12 m/s and PWV<12 m/s. Pre-HD and mid-HD SDC-1 levels were higher in the group with PWV≥12 m/s (10.174±2.568 vs. 7.928±1.794 ng/ml, p=0.013, and 10.319±3.482 vs. 8.248±1.793 ng/ml, p=0.044, respectively). Post-HD ET-1 levels were higher in the patient group having PWV≥12 m/s (10.88±3.00 vs. 8.05±3.48 pg/l, p=0.027). Patients having PWV≥12 m/s had higher pre-HD peripheral and aortic systolic blood pressure (p<0.05). Total cholesterol correlated with the SDC-1 decrease during HD (r=0.539; p=0.008). Pre-, mid-, and post-HD SDC-1 correlated with the ultrafiltration (r=0.432, p=0.019; r=0.377, p=0.044; and r=0.401, p=0.012, respectively). SDC-1 and ET-1 contribute to vascular changes observed during HD, and they have correlations with some cardiovascular risk factors.

This research is focused on two key areas. The first is mapping the 2022 flood in the Red River of the North near Grafton, North Dakota, US, and the second is evaluating the scour potential of the Grafton Bridge. Local scour of bridge piers can cause hydraulic structures such as bridge piers and abutments to fail during floods, making it a crucial area of investigation. To collect bathymetry and discharge data during low and high flow conditions, including a flood event with a 16.5-year return period in 2022, an Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) incorporated with LiDAR DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data obtained from the US Geological Survey (USGS) National Map was used. Flood mapping and evaluation of local scour around the bridge pier were conducted using the HEC-RAS 6.0.0 software, which utilizes the Colorado State University method as a default equation. This research demonstrates the potential of ASVs in collecting critical data and LiDAR DEM data is an efficient method for flood mapping and determining scour potential, as it integrates bathymetry, flow velocity, and flood prediction.

The impact of large atmospheric attenuation events on data quality and availability is a critical aspect for future altimetry missions based on Ka-band altimetry. The SARAL/AltiKa mission and its Ka-band nadir altimeter offer a unique opportunity to assess this impact. Previous publications (Tournadre et al. 2009, 2015) already analyzed the impact of rain on the waveforms at Ka-band and proposed a definition of an elaborate rain flag. This notion tends to give a simpler black and white view of the atmospheric attenuation when the effect on the altimeter measurement is intense. But in practice, there is continuum of measurements that may be partially distorted or corrupted by rain events. The present study proposes a wider point of view , the ACECAL approach providing statistics on rain cells occurrences as well as their amplitude and their size, as guidelines for future Ka-band missions concerning the impact of the atmosphere. At global scale, 1 % of the measurements are affected by an attenuation larger than 23 dB and 10 % of the atmospheric attenuation events have a size larger than 40 km. This study demonstrates that the data quality and availability over some regions of particular interest for oceanography as Gulf Stream, North Pacific and Brazil currents could be affected compared to global statistics. It also opens some perspectives on the benefits that the community could be drawn from the systematic distribution of the rain cells parameters as secondary products of altimetry missions.

This paper describes a case study of ventilation as well as measured and perceived indoor air quality (IAQ) in a Finnish comprehensive school with a hybrid ventilation system and reported IAQ problems. An operational error was found when investigating the ventilation system that prevented air from coming into classrooms, except for short periods of high carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations. However, results indicated that hybrid ventilation system was able to provide adequate ventilation and sufficient IAQ once properly designed and maintained. After ventilation operation was improved, occupants reported less unpleasant odors and stuffy air. The amount of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and some single volatile organic compounds (VOCs) decreased. Indoor mycobiota was observed in settled dust in the classrooms, from which ventilation improvement eliminated the dominant, opportunistic human pathogen species Trichoderma citrinoviride found before improvement.

It is unknown whether postprandial plasma glucose measured from blood taken between 4 and 7.9 h (PPG4-7.9h) is associated with mortality from hypertension, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study aimed to investigate these associations in 4,896 US adults who attended the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of PPG4-7.9h for mortality. This cohort was followed up for 106,300 person-years (mean follow-up, 21.7 years). A 1-natural-log-unit increase in PPG4-7.9h was associated with a higher risk of mortality from hypertension (HR, 3.50; 95% CI, 2.34-5.24), diabetes (HR, 11.7; 95% CI, 6.85-20.0), and CVD (HR, 2.76; 95% CI, 2.08-3.68) after adjustment for all the tested confounders except hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). After further adjustment for HbA1c, PPG4-7.9h remained positively associated with mortality from hypertension (HR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.13-4.08) and CVD (HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.05-2.51), but was no longer associated with diabetes mortality. Subgroup analyses showed that similar results were obtained in the sub-cohort of participants without a prior diagnosis of myocardial infarction or stroke. In conclusion, PPG4-7.9h predicts mortality from hypertension and CVD independent of HbA1c.

Background: Some studies have shown that an increase in visceral fat is associated with postoperative clinical and oncologic outcomes. However, no studies have used bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to determine the effects of visceral fat on the oncologic outcomes of colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aimed to investigate the relationship between visceral fat area (VFA) and clinical, and oncologic outcomes in CRC. Methods: This study included 203 patients who underwent anthropometric measurements by BIA before surgical treatment for CRC between January 2016 and June 2020. Results: According to the cutoff level of VFA by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, 85 (40.5%) patients had a low VFA, and 119 (59.5%) had a high VFA. Multivariate analysis found that preoperative CRP (hazard ratio [HR], 3.882; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.001–15.051; p=0.050) and nodal stage (HR, 7.996; 95% CI, 1.414–45.209; p=0.019) were independent prognostic factors for overall survival, while sex (HR, 0.110; 95% CI, 0.013–0.905; p=0.040), lymphovascular invasion (HR, 3.560; 95% CI, 1.098–11.544; p=0.034), and VFA (HR, 4.263; 95% CI, 1.280–14.196; p=0.040) were independent prognostic factors for disease-free survival (DFS). Conclusion: High VFA preoperatively measured by BIA was associated with inflammations and was an independent prognostic factor for DFS.

The interleukin 6 (IL-6) receptor blocking antibody tocilizumab was repurposed in the coronavirus pandemic with the intention of blocking the excess inflammatory activation associated with severe disease. We retrospectively evaluated the response to tocilizumab based on measured levels of IL-6 as well as other inflammatory markers. In the sample of 41 patients with measured levels, 16 received tocilizumab. In patients who received tocilizumab, there was a statistically significant relationship between both higher IL-6 levels and measured acute phase reactants with mortality, but not in those who did not. Additionally, an improved mortality after tocilizumab was suggested with those with higher IL-6 measurements, but not in those with lower levels, but this finding failed to achieve statistical significance (p=0.14). Though this study is limited by a small sample size and retrospective design, an association is suggested between higher IL-6 levels and improved mortality after tocilizumab.

Freezing of gait (FOG), a debilitating symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD), can be safely studied using the stepping in place (SIP) task. However, clinical, visual identification of FOG during SIP is subjective and time consuming, and automatic FOG detection during SIP currently requires measuring center of pressure on dual force plates. This study examines whether FOG elicited during SIP in 10 individuals with PD could be reliably detected using kinematic data measured from wearable inertial measurement unit sensors (IMUs). A general, logistic regression model (AUC = 0.81) determined that three gait parameters together were overall the most robust predictors of FOG during SIP: arrhythmicity, swing time coefficient of variation, and swing angular range. Participant-specific models revealed varying sets of gait parameters that best predicted FOG for each participant, highlighting variable FOG behaviors, and demonstrated equal or better performance for 6 out of the 10 participants, suggesting the opportunity for model personalization. The results of this study demonstrated that gait parameters measured from wearable IMUs reliably detected FOG during SIP, and the general and participant-specific gait parameters allude to variable FOG behaviors that could inform more personalized approaches for treatment of FOG and gait impairment in PD.

The aim of this study was to identify the differences in functional fitness and quality of life among women over 60 years of age depending on their level of objectively measured physical activity (PA) according to Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for health. The study used cross-sectional design with 213 volunteered women over 60 years of age. Physical activity was monitored for 7 days of the week using Actigraph Gt3x monitor. The Senior Fitness Test battery and Hand-grip strength tests were performed to assess functional fitness. Quality of life was self-reported using short version of WHOQOL-brief questionnaire. Women who met the PA recommendations achieved slightly better results in most functional tests and all domain of quality of life. The significant differences were found in upper body strength, dynamic balance and social relationships domain of quality of life. Physical activity programs developed on the basis of WHO recommendations have the potential to improve functional capacity and quality of life. However, further experimental studies in this area are required.

Large quantities of real-time particle data are becoming available from low-cost particle monitors. However, it is crucial to determine the quality of these measurements. The largest network of monitors in the United States is maintained by the PurpleAir company, which offers two monitors: PA-I and PA-II. PA-I monitors have a single sensor (PMS1003) and PA-II monitors employ two independent PMS5003 sensors. We determine a new calibration factor for the PA-I monitor and revise a previously published calibration algorithm for PA-II monitors (ALT-CF3). From the PurpleAir API site, we downloaded 83 million hourly average PM2.5 values in the PurpleAir database from Washington, Oregon, and California between January 1, 2017 and September 8, 2021. Daily outdoor PM2.5 means from 194 PA-II monitors were compared to daily means from 47 nearby Federal regulatory sites using gravimetric Federal Reference Methods (FRM). We find a revised calibration factor of 3.4 for the PA-II monitors. For the PA-I monitors, we determined a new calibration factor (also 3.4) by comparing 26 outdoor PA-I sites to 117 nearby outdoor PA-II sites. These results show that PurpleAir PM2.5 measurements can agree well with regulatory monitors when an optimum calibration factor is found.

Evidence shows that weightloss improves insulin sensitivity but few studies have examined the effect of macronutrient composition independently of weight loss on direct measures of insulin sensitivity. We randomised 89 overweight or obese women to either a standard diet (StdD) that was intended to be low in fat and relatively high in carbohydrate (n=42) or to a relatively high protein (up to 30% of energy), relatively high fibre (>30g/day) diet (HPHFib) (n=47) for 10 weeks. Advice regarding strict adherence to energy intake goals was not given. Insulin sensitivity and secretion was assessed by a novel method - the Dynamic Insulin Sensitivity and Secretion Test (DISST). Although there were significant improvements in body composition and most cardiometabolic risk factors on HPHFib, insulin sensitivity was reduced by 19.3% (95% CI: 31.8, 4.5%; p=0.013) in comparison with StdD. We conclude that the reduction in insulin sensitivity after a diet relatively high in both protein and fibre, despite cardiometabolic improvements, suggests insulin sensitivity may reflect metabolic adaptations to dietary composition for maintenance of glucose homeostasis, rather than impaired metabolism.

The purpose of this work was to evaluate a novel methodology developed by Digital Blood Corporation (DBC) to calculate critical blood values using four non-invasive measured values as input. The values obtained using a point-of-care testing (POCT) device were utilized for comparison and reference. Radial arterial blood was collected for the POCT comparator analysis using the Abbott i-STAT^® device. The non-invasive methodology from DBC requires four parameters to be directly measured: temperature, hemoglobin, pO2, and pCO2. Subsequently, sodium, potassium, chloride, ionized calcium, total carbon dioxide, pH, bicarbonate, and oxygen saturation are calculated using an algorithm. The agreement between the POCT and DBC’s methodology was analyzed using Bland-Altman difference plots. For a second data set, pO2 and pCO2 values collected with the POCT were used as input for DBC’s algorithm to test its robustness. Data from 37 healthy ambulatory individuals, mean age: 42.4 + 13 years; range: 18-64 years, were included in the primary analysis. In the case of the non-invasive gained four input values the greatest variation between POCT and DBC’s approach was observed for pO2 and consequently for algorithm values that depend upon pO2 precision. Replacing transcutaneous pO2 and pCO2 with POCT values demonstrates the principal ability of DBC’s algorithm to predict the additional 8 blood values in sufficient agreement with a standard POCT device in healthy patients. The algorithm developed by DBC appears to be robust in the case of healthy patients but does need the four measured input values with preciseness comparable to a POCT device to give reliable and clinically relevant results. The present study thus serves as a proof of concept to facilitate future study and further development of this methodology into a non-invasive device.

Slow-roll inflation may simultaneously solve the horizon problem and generate a near scale-free fluctuation spectrum $P(k)$. These two processes are intimately connected via the initiation and duration of the inflationary phase. But a recent study based on the latest {\it Planck} release suggests that $P(k)$ has a hard cutoff, $k_{\rm min}\not=0$, inconsistent with this conventional picture. Here we demonstrate quantitatively that most---perhaps all---slow-roll inflationary models fail to accommodate this minimum cutoff. We show that the small parameter $\epsilon$ must be $\gtrsim 0.9$ throughout the inflationary period to comply with the data, seriously violating the slow-roll approximation. Models with such an $\epsilon$ predict extremely red spectral indices, at odds with the measured value. We also consider extensions to the basic picture (suggested by several earlier workers) by adding a kinetic-dominated or radiation-dominated phase preceding the slow-roll expansion. Our approach differs from previously published treatments principally because we require these modifications to---not only fit the measured fluctuation spectrum, but to simultaneously also---fix the horizon problem. We show, however, that even such measures preclude a joint resolution of the horizon problem and the missing correlations at large angles.

The interlaminar shear behavior of a [±45°] laminated carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) specimen was investigated utilizing microscale strain mapping in a wide field of view. A three-point bending device was developed under a laser scanning microscope, and the full-field strain distributions including normal, shear and principal strains of CFRP in a three-point bending test were measured using a developed sampling Moire technique. The microscale shear strain concentrations at interfaces between each two adjacent layers were successfully detected and found to be positive-negative alternately distributed before damage occurrence. The 45° layers slipped to the right relative to the -45° layers, visualized from the revised Moire phases and shear strain distributions of the angle-ply CFRP under different loads. The absolute values of the shear strain at interfaces gradually rose with the increase of the bending load, and the sudden decrease of the shear strain peak value implied the occurrence of interlaminar damage. The evolution of the shear strain concentrations is useful in the quantitative evaluation of the potential interlaminar shear failure.

Background and objectives: Smoking leads to autonomic dysfunction. However, the clinical methods for diagnosing this dysfunction are not sufficient. Since exogenous hypoxia leads to changes in the autonomic cardiac control, the aim of our study was to compare the activity of the autonomic nervous system via heart rate variability (HRV) in young “healthy” smokers and non-smokers before, during and after a short-term exogenous hypoxic exposure. Methods: Twenty-one healthy non-smoking males aged 28.0±7.4 (mean±SD) and fourteen healthy smoking males aged 28.1±4.3 with 9.2±5.6 pack-years were subjected to one-hour hypoxic exposure (FiО2=12.3±1.5%) via hypoxicator (AltiPro 8850 Summit+, Altitude Tech, Canada) with simultaneous recording of electrocardiography and pulse oximetry. HRV data was derived via specific software (Kubios HRV, Finland) by analyzing the pre-hypoxic, hypoxic and post-hypoxic periods. Results: Standard deviation of the intervals between normal beats (SDNN) was higher in non-smokers in the pre-hypoxic period (62.0±32.1 vs 40.3±16.2, p=0.013) but not in hypoxia (75.7±34.8 vs 57.9±18.3, p=0.167). When comparing intragroup HRV changes of shifting from hypoxic to post-hypoxic (normoxic) conditions we found that there is a significant increase in the root mean square of successive RR interval differences (RMSSD) (65.9±40.2 vs 75.1±45.9, p=0.011) and in the high frequency (lnHF) (6.8±1.4 vs 7.2±1.3, p=0.014) and a decrease in LF/HF (3.0±2.3 vs 1.9±1.5, p<0.001), but these changes were observed only in the group of non-smokers. Conclusions: Smoking likely impairs autonomic regulation in young healthy males and may lead to a decreased HRV even before subjective clinical signs and symptoms. Hypoxic exposure test could be applied in clinical practice for early detection of autonomic dysfunction in smokers, because their parasympathetic reactivation is blunted when shifting from hypoxic to normoxic ambient conditions measured by HRV.

Upper limb paresis is very common after stroke. An important tool to assess motor recovery is to use marker-based motion capture systems to measure the kinematic characteristics of patients’ movements in ecological scenarios. These systems are, however, very expensive and, as such, not readily available for many rehabilitation units. Here, we explored whether the markerless hand motion capabilities of the cost-effective Oculus Quest head-mounted display could be used to provide clinically meaningful measures. 14 stroke patients executed ecologically relevant upper limb tasks in an immersive virtual environment. During task execution, we recorded their hand movements simultaneously by means of the Oculus Quest’s and a marker-based motion capture system. Our results showed that the markerless estimates of the hand position and peak velocity provided by the Oculus Quest were in very close agreement with those provided by a marker-based commercial system with their regression line having a slope close to 1. Furthermore, the Oculus Quest had virtually the same sensitivity as that of a commercial system in distinguishing healthy from pathological kinematic measures. The Oculus Quest was as accurate as a commercial marker-based system in measuring clinically meaningful upper limb kinematic parameters in stroke patients.

In this study, we aimed to identify the features of indeterminate choroidal melanocytic lesions visualized on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and to identify predictors of growth. We retrospectively evaluated 86 patients with indeterminate lesions treated at our cen-tre from 2016 to 2021. Clinical management involved active surveillance followed by brachy-therapy if growth was detected. The lesions were classified into two groups according to wheth-er they grew (small melanomas) or remained stable (choroidal nevi). Growth was detected in 19 (22.1%) lesions. All patients underwent OCTA at baseline. These images were compared to iden-tify possible predictors of growth. Significant between-group differences were observed in thickness (p=0.00), greatest basal diameter (p=0.00), number of risk factors (p=0.00), symptoms (p=0.001; relative risk [RR]: 4.3), orange pigment (p=0.00; RR: 6.02), and ultrasonographic hol-lowness (Kappa sign); p=0.000; RR: 5.3). The melanomas had significantly more vessels with a diameter ≥ 76.3 µm (p=0.02; RR: 2.46). The time to growth in these lesions was significantly shorter (p=0.05) than in lesions with smaller vessels. These findings show that vessel diameter quantified by OCTA can differentiate between choroidal nevi and small melanomas, especially when considered together with clinical risk factors.

Urban areas have very complex spatial structures. These spatial structures are primarily composed of a complex network of built environments, which evolve rapidly as the cities expand to meet the growing population’s demand and economic development. Therefore, studying the impact of spatial structures on urban heat patterns is extremely important for sustainable urban planning and growth. We investigated the relationship between surface temperature obtained by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER, at 90 m spatial resolution) on the current EOS-Terra platform and different urban components based on the classification of high-resolution QuickBird imagery. We further investigated the relationships between surface temperature and building footprint and land use information acquired from the New York City (NYC) Department of City Planning. The ASTER image reveals fine-scale urban heat patterns in the NYC metropolitan region. The dark and medium-dark impervious surfaces, along with bright surfaces, generate higher surface temperatures. Even with highly reflective urban materials, the presence of impervious materials leads to an increased surface temperature. At the same time, trees and shadows are effective in reducing urban heat. The data aggregated to the census tract reveals high-temperature clusters in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx region of NYC. These clusters are associated with industrial and manufacturing areas and multi-family walk-up buildings as dominant land use. The census tracts with more trees and higher building height variability generate lower surface temperatures, consistent with shadow cast by high-rise buildings and trees. The results of this study can be valuable for urban heat island modeling on the effects of building heights variability and tree shadows on small-scale surface temperature patterns. It can also help identify the risk areas during extreme heat events to protect public health.

Background: We considered a problem of inference in epidemiology when cumulative exposure is the true dose metric for disease, but investigators are only able to measure its duration on each subject. Methods: We undertook theoretical analysis of the problem in the context of a continuous response caused by cumulative exposure, when duration and intensity of exposure follow log-normal distributions, such that analysis by linear regression is natural. We present a Bayesian method to adjust duration-only analysis to incorporate partial knowledge about the relationship between duration and intensity of exposure and illustrate this method in the context of association of smoking and lung function. Results: We derive equations that (a) describe under what circumstances bias arises when duration of exposure is used as a proxy of cumulative exposure, (b) quantify the degree of such bias and loss of precision, and (c) describe how knowledge about relationship of duration and intensity of exposure can be used to recover an estimate of the effect of cumulative exposure when only duration was observed on every subject. Conclusions: Under our assumptions, when duration and intensity of exposure are either independent or positively correlated, we can be more confident in qualitatively interpreting the direction of effects that arise from use of duration of exposure per se. To make reliable inference about the magnitude of effect of cumulative exposure on the outcome, we can use external information on the relationship between duration and intensity of exposure even if intensity of exposure is not available at the individual level.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship of lamina cribrosa displacement to corneal biomechanical properties and visual function after mitomycin C-augmented trabeculectomy. Method: Eighty-one primary open angle eyes were imaged before and after trabeculectomy using an enhanced depth spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT). Corneal biomechanical properties were measured with the Ocular Response Analyser before the surgery. The anterior lamina cribrosa (LC) was marked at several points in each of six radial scans to evaluate LC displacement in response to Intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction. A Humphrey visual field test (HVF) was performed before the surgery as well as three and six months postoperatively. Results: Factors associated with a deeper baseline anterior lamina cribrosa depth (ALD) were cup-disc ratio (P=0.04), baseline IOP (P= 0.01), corneal hysteresis (P= 0.001), and corneal resistance factor (P= 0.001). After the surgery, the position of LC became more anterior (negative), posterior (positive) or remained unchanged. The mean LC displacement was -42 μm (P= 0.001) and was positively correlated with the magnitude of IOP reduction (regression coefficient: 0.251, P=0.02), and negatively correlated with age (regression coefficient: - 0.224, P= 0.04) as well as baseline cup-disk ratio (Regression coefficient: -0.212,P= 0.05) Eyes with a larger negative LC displacement were more likely to experience an HVF improvement of more than 3 dB gain in mean deviation (P= 0.002). Conclusion: A lower SDOCT cup-disc ratio, younger age, and a larger IOP reduction were correlated with a larger negative LC displacement and improving HVF. Corneal biomechanics did not predict LC displacement.

To maintain a healthy lifestyle, adults rely on their ability to walk while simultaneously managing multiple tasks that challenge their coordination. This study investigates the impact of cognitive dual-task on lower limb muscle activities in 21 healthy young adults during both gait initiation and steady-state gait. We utilized wireless electromyography sensors to measure muscle activities, along with a 3D motion capture system and force plates to detect the phases of gait initiation and steady-state gait. Participants were asked to walk at their self-selected pace, and we compared single-task and dual-task conditions. We analyzed mean muscle activation and co-contraction in the biceps femoris, vastus lateralis, gastrocnemius, and tibialis anterior muscles. The findings revealed that during gait initiation with the dual-task condition, there was a decrease in mean muscle activation and an increase in mean muscle c-contraction between the swing and stance limb compared to the single-task condition. In steady-state gait, there was also a decrease in mean muscle activation in the dual-task condition compared to the single-task condition. When participants performed dual-task activities during gait initiation, early indicators of reduced balance capability were observed. Additionally, during dual-task steady-state gait, knee stabilizer muscles exhibited signs of altered activation, contributing to balance instability.

Adequate energy intake is critical for the healthy longevity of older adults, and the estimated energy requirement is determined by total energy expenditure (TEE). We aimed to identify the relationship between measured aerobic capacity and TEE, activity energy expenditure (AEE) or physical activity level (PAL) with the doubly labeled water (DLW) methods in the advanced older adults. A total of 12 physically independent older adults (10 males and 2 females) aged between 81 to 94 years participated in this study. Aerobic capacity was evaluated according to the lactate threshold (LT). TEE under free-living conditions was assessed using the DLW method, and self-reported physical activity was obtained through the Japanese version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). LT was significantly positively correlated with TEE, AEE, and PAL after adjustment for age and sex (ρ= 0.77 (P<0.01), 0.86 (p<0.01), and 0.86 (p<0.01), respectively). We found the LT as an aerobic capacity is positively and independently correlated with TEE, AEE or PAL. The present results suggest that maintaining aerobic capacity is an important factor for preventing frailty, although further research is needed to multisite studies and many samples.

Non-Linear Simulation by Harmonic Balance Techniques of Load Modulated Power Amplifier Driven by Random Modulated Signals. Comparison with measured results.

The air pollutant NO2 is derived largely from transportation sources and is known to cause respiratory disease. A substantial reduction in transport and industrial processes around the globe from the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and subsequent pandemic resulted in sharp declines in emissions, including for NO2. Additionally, the COVID-19 disease that results from the coronavirus may present in its most severe form in those who have been exposed to high levels of air pollution. To explore these links, we compared ground-based NO2 sensor data from 11 US cities from a two-month window (March-April) over the previous five years versus the same window during 2020 shutdowns. NO2 declined roughly 12-41% in the 11 cities. This decreased coincided with a sharp drop in vehicular traffic from shutdown-related travel restrictions. To explore this link more closely, we gathered more detailed traffic count data in one city, Indianapolis, Indiana, and found a strong correlation between traffic counts/classification and vehicle miles travelled, and a moderate correlation between NO2 and traffic related data. This finding indicates that we can use such analysis in targeting reduction in pollutants like NO2 by examining and manipulating traffic patterns, thus potentially leading to more population-level health resilience in the future.

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

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by abnormal amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau in the brain. Aβ plaques precede cognitive impairments and can be detected through amyloid-PET or in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Assessing the plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio seems promising for non-invasive and cost-effective detection of brain Aβ accumulation. This approach involves some challenges, including the accuracy of blood-based biomarker measurements and the establishment of clear, standardized thresholds to categorize the risk of developing brain amyloid pathology. Plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio was measured in 277 volunteers without dementia, 70 AD patients and 18 non-AD patients using single-molecule array. Patients (n=88) and some volunteers (n=66) were subject to evaluation of amyloid status by CSF Aβ quantification or PET analysis. Thresholds of plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio were determined based on a Gaussian mixture model, a decision tree, and the Youden index. The 0.0472 threshold, the one with the highest sensitivity, was retained for general population without dementia screening, and the 0.0450 threshold was retained for research and clinical trials recruitment, aiming to minimize the need for CSF or PET analyses to identify amyloid-positive individuals. These findings offer a promising step towards a cost-effective method for identifying individuals at risk of developing AD.

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

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

Background: Fertility is a crucial component of population maintenance and growth. A declin-ing fertility trend has been observed over the past two decades, and it continues. Objective: The aim of this research was to examine the level of fertility knowledge, factors in-fluencing fertility knowledge, and the relationship between fertility knowledge and the decision to have a child. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of mothers in five hospitals on the Adriatic coast of the Republic of Croatia, involving 1541 mothers from September 2021 to De-cember 2023. The Cardiff Fertility Knowledge Scale was used for the research. Results: The participants were divided into two groups based on fertility status in women, spe-cifically the period of declining fertility in women. Group 1 included participants aged 18-31 with sustained fertility, and Group 2 included participants aged 32 and older experiencing de-clining fertility. Fertility knowledge was 58.9%. Women with higher educational status showed better results (62.3%). The most common sources of fertility knowledge were the healthcare sys-tem and the internet. Factors associated with the level of fertility knowledge included higher education, marital status, and higher economic status. Conclusion: The research results reveal a lack of fertility knowledge among participants, as well as an intention to have a child in later stages of life. The lack of formal education on this topic leads to information gathering from unreliable sources.

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

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

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

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

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

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder, and continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) is the most effective treatment. Poor adherence is one of the major challenges in CPAP therapy. The recent boom of wearable optical sensors measuring oxygen saturation makes the at-home multiple-night CPAP titrations possible, which may essentially improve the adherence of CPAP therapy by optimizing its pressure in a real-life setting economically. We tested whether the oxygen desaturations (OD) measured in the arm muscle (arm_OD) by gold-standard frequency-domain multi-distance near-infrared spectroscopy (FDMD-NIRS) changes with titrated CPAP pressures in OSA patients together with polysomnography. We found that the arm_OD (2.08 ± 1.23%, mean ± standard deviation) was significantly smaller (P-value &lt;0.0001) than the fingertip OD (finger_OD) (4.46 ± 2.37%) measured by polysomnography pulse oximeter. Linear mixed-effects models suggested that CPAP pressure was a significant predictor for finger_OD but not for arm_OD. Since FDMD-NIRS measures a mixture of arterial and venous OD, whereas fingertip pulse oximeter measures arterial OD, our results of no association between arm_OD and finger_OD indicate that the arm_OD mainly represented venous desaturation. Arm_OD measured by near-infrared optical sensors may be not a suitable indicator of the effectiveness of CPAP titration.

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

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

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

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

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

To conduct high-precision and high-resolution numerical simulation of complex flow structures in turbomachinery, a high-order finite volume weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for the large eddy simulation (LES) is improved and embedded into the three-dimensional viscous unsteady CFD solver NUAA-Turbo. Firstly, the spectral characteristics and unsteady convergence of the improved WENO scheme are studied. Compared with the classical WENO scheme, the improved WENO scheme has better dissipation and dispersion characteristics and faster convergence speed. Then, the coefficient CW of the Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity (WALE) model is calibrated by decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence (DHIT) test case. Finally, the scheme is applied to conduct high-precision LES calculations of turbulent boundary layer flow, supersonic compression corner flow, and low-pressure turbine cascade separation flow. The numerical simulation results show that this WENO scheme has excellent shock wave capture ability and turbulence resolution and can capture more flow field details with less mesh size, greatly reducing the computational cost and laying a foundation for large-scale engineering application of LES.

To secure logic circuits against the illegal copying the insertion of the so-called key bit inputs using XOR/XNOR gates has been proposed in . The inserted gates modify (lock) the behavior of the original circuit and only the correct choice of the secret key bits guarantees the equivalent behaviour of the locked circuit to the original circuit. To break this kind of security, i.e. to find the secret key bits, there was a SAT solver based attack proposed in . The aim of this work is to experimentally verify this attack on several locked circuits with various number of primary inputs and outputs and with various number of gates. Except for the random placement of the key gates we evaluate also the positioning with chaining elimination. The obtained and presented results show that we were able to unlock 10 of 11 circuits within few minutes on a common PC.

Intermetallic compounds are increasingly being expected to utilize in tribological environments, but to date the works are hindered by insufficient ductility at low and medium temperature. This paper presents a novel multiphase intermetallic alloy with the chemical composition of Mo-40Ni-13Si (at.%). Microstructure characterization reveals that a certain amount of ductile Mo phases formed during the solidification process of ternary Mo-Ni-Si alloy melt, which is undoubtedly beneficial to the ductility improvement of intermetallic alloy. Tribological properties of the designed alloy, including wear resistance, friction coefficient and metallic tribological compatibility, were evaluated under dry sliding wear test conditions at room temperature. Results suggested that the multiphase alloy possesses an excellent property for room-temperature wear applications, which is attributed to the unique microstructural features and thereby good combination in hardness and ductility. The corresponding wear mechanism is also reported by observing the worn surface, subsurface and wear debris of alloy, which to be found is soft abrasive wear.

With the integrated development of the Internet, wireless sensor technology, cloud computing, and mobile Internet, there has been a lot of attention given to research about and applications of the Internet of Things. A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is one of the important information technologies in the Internet of Things; it integrates multi-technology to detect and gather information in a network environment by mutual cooperation, using a variety of methods to process and analyze data, implement awareness, and perform tests. This paper mainly researches the localization algorithm of sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network. Firstly, a multi-granularity region partition is proposed to divide the location region. In the range-based method, the RSSI (Received Signal Strength indicator, RSSI) is used to estimate distance. The optimal RSSI value is computed by the Gaussian fitting method. Furthermore, a Voronoi diagram is characterized by the use of dividing region. Rach anchor node is regarded as the center of each region; the whole position region is divided into several regions and the sub-region of neighboring nodes is combined into triangles while the unknown node is locked in the ultimate area. Secondly, the multi-granularity regional division and Lagrange multiplier method are used to calculate the final coordinates. Because nodes are influenced by many factors in the practical application, two kinds of positioning methods are designed: the unknown node is in the positioning unit or not. When the unknown node is on the side of the positioning unit, we use the method of vector similarity. Moreover, we use the centroid algorithm to calculate the ultimate coordinates of unknown node. When the unknown node is not on the side of the positioning unit, we establish a Lagrange equation containing the constraint condition to calculate the first coordinates. Furthermore, we use the Taylor expansion formula to correct the coordinates of the unknown node. In addition, this localization method has been validated by establishing the real environment.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a record of brain activity. Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology formed by the EEG signal has become one of the hotspots at present. How to extract the feature signal of EEG is the most basic research of BCI technology. In this paper, A new method of recognizing fatigue, conscious, concentrated state of human brain is proposed by the combination of discrete wavelet transform and the neural network based on EEG signal. First of all, the law signal is preprocessed by the wavelet denoising method because the law EEG signal contains a large number of high frequency noise, which is decomposed into multi-layer high frequency signal and low frequency signal. thus, δ wave, θ wave, α wave, β wave are obtained by the wavelet transform. And then, frequency band energy of the different wave is regards as the feature signal of EEG. In the experiment, the feature signal is classified by radial basic function (RBF) and annealed chaotic competitive learning network (ACCLN). RBF and ACCLN networks are trained with 500 sets of sample data and are tested by 100 sets of samples in different mental states. The experimental results show that the average accuracy of RBF network under three conditions are 88.75%, 88.25%, 88.5%, respectively, and the correct rate of ACCLN network is 97%, 98%, 98%, respectively.

Early discharge after childbirth has led to a rise in neonatal readmission, becoming a major concern in recent decades. Our research aimed to identify the risk factors and incidence of neonatal readmission, as well as explore preventive measures. Our study at the Clinical Hospital of Pediatrics in Ploiești, Romania included 108 neonates admitted during the neonatal period. This accounted for 2.06% of all admissions (5226). The most prevalent cases were malnutrition (25%), fever (20.3%) and bronchiolitis (17.5%). Diarrhea and infectious gastroenteritis were also observed (14.8%), along with acute rhinoconjunctivitis (9.2%) and late onset sepsis (3.7%). No deaths were recorded. The most significant characteristics identified were number of children (p&lt;0.001) and age at maternity discharge (p&lt;0.001). By following the prevention rules, malnutrition, feeding errors, and infections can be avoided. This includes practicing proper hand hygiene for both mothers and medical staff, as well as educating and demonstrating to mothers the benefits of breastfeeding. In addition, all newborns discharged from the maternity ward should benefit from follow-up at 7-10 days of life. Our results confirm the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary team and endorse promoting breastfeeding. Implementing quality control measures and regularly evaluating the surveillance program will help improve its effectiveness.

Wearable technology has been proposed as a potential tool to change the way of human life, such as the smart bracelet and the Google Glass. In the wearable technology, the inertial sensor has great significance in tracking the object movements. The paper focused on detecting the movements of user’s finger based on the inertial sensor to give the control signals. Firstly, the attitude matrix, which represented the transformation relation of carrier coordinate system and the navigation coordinate system, was obtained. Secondly, the attitude matrix was expressed based on the quaternions. Thirdly, the finger gesture was processed by the attitude matrix to get the attitude angle. Finally, the robot was controlled by attitude angle to make the moving action. The experimental results showed the detection of the finger movement is effective.

Two interesting compounds such as quaternary ammonium lignin(QAL) and 2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (P507) were synthesized as ionic liquids(QP-ILs) for the extraction of metal ions. The extraction behavior of Co(II) and Ni(II) from chloride solution was compared between QP-ILs and P507. The results showed that the extraction rates of Co(II) and Ni(II) in the two solutions varied with the extraction conditions, but QP-ILs has stronger extractability for cobalt than P507, while Ni is on the contrary. Under the same conditions, the Co/Ni separation performance(βCo/Ni) in QP-ILs is superior to that in p507. At pH4.0, 55℃, concentration of 20%, extraction time of 10 minutes, the βCo/Ni of QP-ILs reached to 2703, while that of P507 was only 164. In conclusion, QP-ILs was more efficient than P507 for separating Co from mixed solutions.

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

In this paper, we study the semilinear pseudo-parabolic equations $\displaystyle u_{t} - \triangle_{\mathbb{B}}u - \triangle_{\mathbb{B}}u_{t} = \left|u\right|^{p-1}u$ on a manifold with conical singularity, where $\triangle _{\mathbb{B}}$ is Fuchsian type Laplace operator investigated with totally characteristic degeneracy on the boundary $x_{1} = 0$. Firstly, we discuss the invariant sets and the vacuum isolating behavior of solutions with the help of a family of potential wells. Then, we derive a threshold result of existence and nonexistence of global weak solution: for the low initial energy $J(u_{0})<d$, the solution is global in time with $I(u_{0}) >0$ or $\displaystyle\Vert \nabla_{\mathbb{B}}u_{0}\Vert_{L_{2}^{\frac{n}{2}}(\mathbb{B})} = 0$ and blows up in finite time with $I(u_{0}) < 0$; for the critical initial energy $J(u_{0}) = d$, the solution is global in time with $I(u_{0}) \geq0$ and blows up in finite time with $I(u_{0}) < 0$. The decay estimate of the energy functional for the global solution and the estimates of the lifespan of local solution are also given.

Multimodal remote sensing data classification can enhance the model’s ability to distinguish land features through multimodal data fusion. In this context, how to help models understand the relationship between multimodal data and target tasks is the focus of researchers. Inspired by human feedback learning mechanisms, causal reasoning mechanisms, and knowledge induction mechanisms, this paper integrates causal learning, reinforcement learning, and meta learning into a unified remote sensing data classification framework and proposed the causal meta-reinforcement learning (CMRL). First, based on feedback learning mechanisms, we have overcome the limitations of traditional implicit optimization of fusion features and customized a reinforcement learning environment for multimodal remote sensing data classification tasks. Through feedback interactive learning between agents and the environment, we help them understand the complex relationships between multimodal data and labels, thereby achieving full mining of multimodal complementary information. Second, based on the causal inference mechanism we designed causal distribution prediction action, classification reward, and causal intervention reward, capturing pure causal factors in multimodal data and cutting off false statistical associations between non-causal factors and class labels. Finally, based on the knowledge induction mechanism, we designed a bi-layer optimization mechanism based on meta-learning. By constructing a meta training task and meta validation task simulation model in the generalization scenario of unseen data, we helped the model induce cross-task shared knowledge, thereby improving its generalization ability for unseen multimodal data. The experimental results on multiple sets of multimodal datasets show that the proposed method achieved state-of-the-art performance in multimodal remote sensing data classification tasks.

Moso bamboo is famous for fast growing and biomass accumulation, as well as high annual output for timber and bamboo shoots. These high outputs require high nutrient inputs to maintain and improve stand productivity. Soil nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are important micronutrients for plant growth and productivity. Due to high variability of soils, analysing spatial patterns of soil N, P and K stocks is necessary for scientific nutrient management in Moso bamboo forests. In this study, soils were sampled from 138 locations across Yong’an City and ordinary kriging was applied for spatial interpolation of soil N, P and K stocks. Soil N stock showed a strong spatial dependence while soil N and P stocks presented a moderate spatial dependence, indicating soil N was mainly controlled by intrinsic factors while soil N and P stocks were controlled by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Different spatial patterns were observed for soil N, P and K stocks across the whole study area, indicating that fertilizations with different ratios of N:P:K should be applied for different sites to maintain and improve stand productivity. The total soil N, P and K stocks within 0-60 cm were 0.624, 0.020 and 0.583 Tg, respectively.

With the increasing concern of environment, the energy-efficiency scheduling of manufacturing industry is becoming urgent and popular. In turning processes, both spindle speed and processing time can affect the final energy consumption and thus the spindle speed and scheduling scheme need to be optimized simultaneously. Since the turning workshop can be regarded as the flexible flow shop, this paper formulates a mixed integer linear programming model for energy-efficient scheduling of flexible flow shop. Accordingly, a new decoding method is developed by considering of the optimization of spindle speed and scheduling scheme simultaneously, and an estimation of distribution algorithm adopting the new decoding method is proposed to solve large-size problems. The parameters of this algorithm are determined by statistical technique with a simplified practical case. In order to validate the proposed method, a case from practical factories is studied, in which the makespan can be shortened by 25.22%, and the consumed energy can be saved by 5.48%. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical model and algorithm.

Lignocellulosic biomass, an abundant and renewable resource, serves as a crucial raw material for the production of biofuels, biochemicals, and various value-added products. This paper aims to develop and optimize a mild alkaline treatment of sawdust assisted by ultrasound, along with enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated material. The sonochemical pretreatment with alkali emerged as the optimal approach to enhance the susceptibility of cellulose to subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis, thereby increasing the yield of reducing sugars. A comparative study was performed using various ultrasonic applicators (horn and bath) and conventional assisted alkaline pretreatment. The ultrasonic assisted pretreatment revealed a higher delignification as 68% (horn) and 57% (bath) comparing with conventional pretreatment. Processes were optimized using a statistical analysis based on a 23 factorial design. The ratio between sawdust and alkanine solution (RSL = 0.5–1.5 g/100 mL), US amplitude (A = 20–60%), and working temperature (t = 30–50 °C) were selected as process factors. The optimal operating conditions to maximize the reducing sugar yield (138.15 mg GE /gsubstrate) were found as following: solid/liquid ratio RSL,opt = 1.25 g/100 mL, US amplitude Aopt = 60%, and and pretreatment temperature topt = 50 °C. The overall outcomes clearly confirmed the intensification of delignification by ultrasound assisted alkaline pretreatment

At 12:28 UTC (8:28 PM, local time) on 15 January 2023, a shallow, moderate earthquake with a magnitude (Mw) of 4.7 and a depth of one (1) kilometer shook the northern part of Leyte Island in the central part of the Philippines. The ground shaking was felt at PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale (PEIS) VI, (very strong) equivalent to Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) VI in areas along the strike of the Leyte segment of the Philippine Fault. Even though this earthquake is classified as moderate in size, significant geologic, structural, and socio-economic impacts were documented. Most of the earthquake impacts that include surface rupture, liquefaction, and mass movements are limited near the epicentral area. The earthquake produced an 8-km-long surface rupture, the first documented rupture generated by a magnitude &lt;6 along the Philippine Fault, and is unusual in other surface rupturing earthquakes worldwide. It injured 18 persons and damaged 434 residential buildings and 26 public infrastructures which amounts to about 500 thousand US dollars. Structural damages were caused by surface rupture and/or poor engineering construction practices. Analysis of the seismic waveform and recorded peak ground acceleration (PGA) suggests that the subsurface geology influenced the ground motion amplification in an area near the epicenter. Based on the hypocenter, focal mechanism solution, aftershock distribution, and actual field observation, the causative fault for this event is the northern end of the Philippine Fault – Leyte segment. Moderate in size, this earthquake emphasizes the need and importance of documenting moderate-sized earthquakes as a tool and guide for medium and long-term earthquake risk assessment and resiliency.

Background: The bacterium Capnocytophaga spp. is a part of the oral microbiome of dogs, which has zoonotic potential. This study aimed to assess factors that influence the prevalence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi and Capnocytophaga canimorsus in Wrocaw’s dog population. Methods: Molecular detection (PCR) involved 105 swabs, examining parameters such as oral cavity condition, underlying health issues, recent antibiotics, age, medications, material collection, and dog chews. Results: The study highlighted significant associations between the presence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi and oral cavity condition, material collection method, and use of dog’s chews. Conclusions: Correlations obtained in this study between the oral health of Wroclaw's dog population and the presence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi suggest its significance in the oral microbiome of dogs. Limitations, including the small sample size, highlight the need for more research to comprehensively understand additional factors that affect the prevalence of Capnocytophaga spp. in dogs

A simple design of an ultrathin six-band polarization-insensitive terahertz perfect metamaterial absorber (PMMA) composed of a metal cross-cave-patch resonator (CCPR) placed over a ground plane was proposed and investigated numerically. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the average absorption peaks are up to 95% at six resonance frequencies with high quality-factors (>65). In addition, the absorption properties can be kept stability for both normal incident transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) waves. The physical mechanism behind the observed high level absorption is illustrated by the electric and power loss density distributions. The different absorption mainly originates from the higher order multipolar and multipolar plasmon resonance of the structure, which are sharp different to the most previous studies of the PMMAs. Furthermore, the resonance absorption of the PMMA can be tunable by varying the geometric parameters of the unit cell.

A simple design of an ultrathin six-band polarization-insensitive terahertz perfect metamaterial absorber (PMMA) composed of a metal cross-cave-patch resonator (CCPR) placed over a ground plane was proposed and investigated numerically. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the average absorption peaks are up to 95% at six resonance frequencies with high quality-factors (>65). In addition, the absorption properties can be kept stability for both normal incident transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) waves. The physical mechanism behind the observed high level absorption is illustrated by the electric and power loss density distributions. The different absorption mainly originates from the higher order multipolar and multipolar plasmon resonance of the structure, which are sharp different to the most previous studies of the PMMAs. Furthermore, the resonance absorption of the PMMA can be tunable by varying the geometric parameters of the unit cell.

The assortment of low-cost 3D printers for “in-practice” use, e.g., for clear aligner therapies, is ever increasing. To address concerns about the accuracy of orthodontic models produced on such printers when cost efficient modes of 3D printing are employed, this study examined the effect of print model body type and print angulation on accuracy. Six printing-configuration groups were included: 2 model types (solid or hollow shell) combined with 3 print angles (0°, 70°, or 90°) with 10 models/group; all models were printed with 100-µm layer thickness using a digital light processing-based 3-dimensional printer. Eleven selected structures and distances were measured on the printed models with a digital microscope and compared to the same measures on a digitized master model. The clinically-acceptability range was set at ±0.25 mm difference from the master model for single tooth measurements (intra-tooth) and ±0.5 mm for cross-arch measurements (inter-tooth). For individual measurements across all models, 98% fell within clinical acceptability. For mean measurements within each model group, only canine height for the shell-0° model had a mean difference (0.26 mm ± 0.03) outside the clinically acceptable range for intra-tooth measurements. Standard deviations for all intra-tooth measurements were within 0.07 mm. While none of the mean inter-tooth measurements exceeded the acceptability range, the standard deviations were larger (0.04 to 0.30 mm). Accuracy of orthodontic models for clear aligner therapies was not impacted beyond the clinically acceptable range when altering model body type and print angulation to improve efficiency of 3D printing. These findings suggest greater flexibility of the practitioner to alter print settings to address time and cost efficiency in various clinical scenarios and still maintain clinically acceptable model accuracy.

Background: Alfalfa, the most economically important forage legume worldwide, features modest genetic progress due to long selection cycles and large extent of non-additive genetic variance associated with its autotetraploid genome. Methods: To improve the efficiency of genomic selection in alfalfa, we explored the effects of genome parametrization (as autotetraploid and diploid dosage, plus allele ratios) and SNP marker subsetting (all available SNPs; only genic regions; only non-genic regions) on genomic regressions, together with various levels of filtering on reading depth and missing rates. We used Genotyping by Sequencing-generated data and focused on traits of different genetic complexity, i.e., dry biomass yield in moisture-favorable (FE) and drought stress (SE) environments, leaf size, and onset of flowering, assessed on 143 genotyped plants from a genetically-broad European reference population and their phenotyped half-sib progenies. Results: On average, allele ratio improved the predictive ability compared with other genome parametrizations (+7.9% vs. tetraploid dosage, +12.6% vs. diploid dosage), SNP subsetting offered an advantage compared with any tested subsettings (+3.7% vs. genic regions, +7.6% vs. non-genic regions). However, when focusing on specific traits, different combinations of genome parametrization and subsetting reached better performances. We also released Legpipe2, a SNP calling pipeline tailored for reduced representation (GBS, RAD) medium-sized genotyping experiments.

Climate change is challenging the agricultural sector worldwide. The pressure exerted by the altered thermal conditions drives the zonal shift for various cultivations. This study presents the multiyear analysis of the Growing Degree Days (GDD) index over the Northern Mediterranean Basin (NMB), focused on the high-value vine cultivation derived from the E-OBS dataset. To handle this extensive environmental dataset, R-language scripts and packages were applied, along with the capabilities of the GIS software. The investigated time period spans from 1969 to 2018, and the performed analysis indicates a broad shift/expansion in areas of GDD exceeding 2000 heat units. The extracted results specify the viticultural areas where the GDD index surpasses the suitable values for vine cultivation, owing to the increase of the thermal stress risk. In addition to mapping areas with GDD ≥ 2000, spatial calculations of the surface of areas meeting this criterion per country in the study area were made. In the northern parts of the NMB, the rise of the GDD index values indicates the establishment of vine plantations in the future.

In this article, we describe a simple procedure for evaluating the sterility of nutrient media using a shear-horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH-SAW) biosensor. We used the SH-SAW biosensor platform to monitor the time-dependent phase responses of the material for the media that binds to a monolayer of 3-mercaptopropanyl-N-hydroxy succinimide on the biosensor surface. Increases in the phase shift less than 50% of the starting phase shift recorded 180 minutes after the sterilization indicate a successful sterility test of the media. Our devices were then applied to sterility testing using a viable Escherichia coli (E. coli) K-12 solution to confirm our hypothesis. Filtered LB Broth was the negative control, and a 24-hour culture of E. coli was the positive control. Before testing, the cell solution was pelleted, the media decanted and then replaced with a 1x phosphate-buffered saline solution (1x PBS). Since we know that the N-hydroxysuccinimide residues will bind to amine groups, only in cases where microbial species are present will the surface binding increase greater than 50%. We confirmed our hypothesis using SH-SAW biosensors and overnight E. coli cultures. The sensitivity for our 250 MHz quartz SH-SAW sensors was calculated based on the response from the E. coli K-12 solution over the linear dynamic range, which appears to be 2x104 – 2x107 CFU per ml and has a sensitivity of S = 1.655x105 o m2 Kg-1. The limit of detection (LOD) for these sensors was calculated to be approximately 2x10-9 grams (g) which is estimated to be approximately 2,000 Escherichia coli (E. coli) K-12 cells. However, the sensitivity and insertion loss remained approximately unchanged before and after coating the sensor with 3,3'-Dithiobis(succinimidyl) Propionate (DSP).

Regeneration of lost tail is of great importance to lizards. Anolis carolinensis, a green lizard, is capable of regenerating its tail efficiently after autotomy. Hence, it is considered as a model organism in regeneration study. A. carolinensis shed its tail in order to distract the predator’s attention and thus makes a way to escape. Restoring of the amputated tail takes several days and the mechanism is currently clearly understood. Although save its life, tail regeneration is associated with the impairment of several vital functions in Anoles. In addition, various differences have been observed between original and regenerated tail in terms of mechanism and structure. To date, very little work has been conducted on tail autotomy and regeneration at molecular and genetic level. The genes responsible for regeneration in anoles are identified recently. These genes are evolutionarily conserved through all tetrapod vertebrates. They are, however, in a state of ‘switched-off’ in other vertebrates including humans. Consequently, a throughout study of these so called ‘switched-off’ genes may provide a way of restoring lost organs in human, and thus could revolutionize the modern medical science.

The strong competition in the automotive industry has required manufacturers to implement lean production, both with methods and techniques specific to Industry 4.0. At the same time, universities must provide graduates with specific skills for applying these new production methods and techniques. In this context, a Lean Learning Factory was developed in the Pitesti University Center, which allows students to learn, experiment, and research, in an environment similar to that of enterprises, the new Lean Manufacturing methods and techniques, and Industry 4.0. The research presented in this study had as its objective identifying the minimum number of repetitions necessary to train operators who serve two differently organized workstations, one classic, the other including digital techniques, but on which the same assembly operation is performed. Several indicators were considered in the analysis, such as the number of errors, the number of stops, the effective duration of the work cycle, and the percentage ratio between the standard duration of cyclical activities and the effective duration of the work cycle. The evolution of these indicators was mathematically modelled by regression functions, using the least squares method. The obtained results also highlight the usefulness of applying the DOJO method as a Lean manufacturing-specific learning technique and the efficiency of implementing digital techniques in work organization.

Classifying network flow subsequences in an Industrial IoT gateway is an effective method for identifying Industrial IoT faults. This paper proposes a subsequence classification algorithm SSGBUL-IKNN based on unsupervised learning encoding to address the problem of low classification accuracy. Firstly, we built a network module based on unsupervised learning to encode the flow sequence of the Industrial IoT gateway. In the encoding module, a subsequence calibration algorithm controls the increasing error during the coding process. Then, the specific fault type is obtained through an improved KNN classification algorithm based on the indication distance source from the integrated coding sequences converted by multi-dimensional network flow sequences. The test result on three Industrial IoT datasets of a sewage treatment plant shows that the accuracy of SSGBUL-IKNN in this paper exceeds 92%, significantly higher than the algorithm DTW and TSF. It reaches the classification requirements of Industrial IoT fault diagnosis.