Effects of oxygen content on microstructure and creep property of FGH96 superalloy were investigated. When oxygen content increased from 135ppm to 341ppm, prior particle boundary (PPB) rose from degree 2 to degree 3, and the size of γ′ phase on PPB enlarged from 1.07μm to 1.27μm, and MC carbide size grew from 77.4nm to 104.0nm. Meanwhile, the steady creep rate accelerated form 4.34×10-3 h-1 to 1.87×10-2 h-1, and the creep rupture life shortened from 176h to 94h, and the creep rupture mode transferred from intergranular and transgranular mixed fracture to along PPB fracture. During creep, the micro-twins formation and gliding will be restrained by ∑3 boundaries. FGH96 superalloy with higher oxygen content contains less ∑3 boundaries and its micro-twins cross slipped instead of single direction slip in lower oxygen content superalloy. Consequently, specimen with higher oxygen content creeped faster and raptured earlier.

Dermal injections of hyaluronic acid gel for aesthetic skin rejuvenation are increasingly popular nowadays. Although these products are classified as medical devices, the regulations on their administration by licensed practitioners are still weak, whereas their manufacturers increasingly highlight and advertise the cellular effects that underpin the efficacy of these injections. In this re-view, we discuss all current knowledge on the mode of action of dermally injected hyaluronic acid and the potential toxicological implications especially from crosslinked gels in conjunction with the current global regulations. We conclude that dermal injections of hyaluronic acid have several therapeutic implications that warrant further research, and that strict regulations must be applied on their manufacture/quality control and the required qualifications of licensed aesthetic injectors.

The human-readable simplicity with which the CSV format was devised, together with the absence of a standard that strictly defines this format, has allowed the proliferation of several variants in the dialects with which these files are written. The latter has meant that the exchange of information between data management systems, or between countries and regions, requires human intervention during the data mining and cleansing process. This has led to the development of various computational tools that aim to accurately determine the dialects of CSV files, in order to avoid data loss at data loading stage in a given system. However, the dialect detection is a complex problem and current systems have limitations or make assumptions that need to be improved and/or extended. This paper proposes a method for determining CSV file dialects through table uniformity, a statistical approach based on table consistency and records dispersion measurement along with the detection of data type over each field. The new method has a 100\% accuracy on a dataset with 148 CSV files composed of samples coming from a data load testing framework and some others added as verification of the parsing routines. In tests on truly messy data, the proposed solution outperforms the state-of-the-art tool by achieving an improvement of about 10\% in the accuracy with which dialects are detected. Furthermore, the proposed method is accurate enough to determine dialects by reading only ten records, requiring more data to disambiguate those cases where the first records do not contain the necessary information to conclude with a dialect determination.

The paper delves into the critical issue of damage detection within the guy cable of a truss steel mast, a pivotal component in structural integrity. It introduces a model wherein damage manifests as a localized cross-section reduction in a single element of the cable. Employing Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), a pioneering methodology, the study scrutinizes the behavior of the affected elements through static structural analyses. Signal decomposition via the Mallat pyramid algorithm facilitates comprehensive examination. Static displacements at the connection point between the cable and the truss mast serve as the measured variables. Through systematic investigation, the paper evaluates the impact of damage size and location, external loading force, and cable tension force on the efficacy of the proposed approach. Utilizing data derived from Finite Element Method (FEM) computations for wavelet analysis the authors substantiate the findings with numerical examples, thus offering valuable insights into damage detection strategies for structural health monitoring and engineering applications.

Fingerprints are essential for human identification and are valuable tools in criminal investigations. The pursuit of new materials for digital printing is expanding, with increasing interest in natural compounds such as bixin, sourced from annatto seeds. Despite its traditional use as a natural dye with medicinal properties, the potential of bixin in papilloscopy remains largely untapped. In this study, we meticulously extracted bixin from annatto seeds and meticulously developed composites incorporating zinc carbonate (bixin/ZnCO3) and kaolinite (bixin/kaolinite). UV-visible spectroscopy was used for characterization, and the extracted bixin showed absorption peaks at 429, 453, and 481 nm, which were very similar to standard peaks at 429, 457, and 487 nm. The two samples also had the same retention times (7.07 min) according to further liquid chromatography analysis. Sweat pores were easier to detect thanks to the effectiveness of the bixin/ZnCO3 and bixin/kaolinite composites in creating high contrast sebaceous and natural latent fingerprints. These results highlight the composites’ potential as novel and fascinating instruments for papilloscopy applications, which might also improve forensic investigations.

Prompt removal of misfolded membrane proteins and misassembled membrane protein complexes is essential for membrane homeostasis. However, the elimination of these toxic proteins from the hydrophobic membrane environment has high energetic barriers. Transmembrane FtsH is the only known ATP-dependent protease responsible for this task, unlike other well-studied soluble ATP-dependent proteases. The mechanisms by which FtsH recognizes, unfolds, translocates, and proteolyzes its substrates remain unclear. Here, we report the crystal structures of the Thermotoga maritima FtsH periplasmic domain (PD) in an associative trimeric state at a 1.5-1.95 Å resolution. We also describe the pH-dependent oligomerization states of the isolated PD using dynamic light scattering. These observations help us understand how FtsH recognizes membrane-anchored misfolded proteins.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in adopting novel sensing technologies for the continuous monitoring of structural systems. In this respect, Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) sensors are widely used in several applications, including Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). Thanks to their significantly lower cost, ease of installation on the structure, and lower power consumption, they enable extensive, pervasive, and battery-less monitoring systems. This paper presents an innovative high-performance device for SHM applications, based on a low-noise triaxial MEMS accelerometer, providing a guideline and insightful results about the opportunities and capabilities of these devices. Sensor nodes have been designed, developed, and calibrated to meet structural vibration monitoring and modal identification requirements. These components include a protocol for reliable command dissemination through the network and data collection, and improvements to software components for data pipelining, jitter control, and high-frequency sampling. Devices were tested in the lab using shaker excitation. Results demonstrate that MEMS-based accelerometers are a feasible solution to replace expensive piezo-based accelerometers. Deploying MEMS is promising to minimize sensor node energy consumption. Time and frequency domain analysis show that MEMS can correctly detect modal frequencies, useful parameters for damage detection. The acquired data from the test bed were used to examine the functioning of the network, data transmission, and data quality. The proposed architecture has been successfully deployed in a real case study to monitor the structural health of the Marcus Aurelius Exedra Hall within the Capitoline Museum of Rome. The performance robustness was demonstrated and the results showed that the wired sensor network provides dense and accurate vibration data for structural continuous monitoring.

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

Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations are employed to investigate the spatiotemporal evolution of vesicles (polymersomes) by the self-assembly of randomly distributed amphiphilic BAB triblock copolymers with hydrophilic A and hydrophobic B blocks in an aqueous solution. The vesiculation pathway consists of several intermediate structures, such as an interconnected network of copolymer aggregates, a cage of cylindrical micelles and a lamellar cage. The cage-to-vesicle transition occurs at a constant aggregation number and practically eliminates the hydrophobic interfacial area between the B block and solvent. Molecular reorganization under-lying the sequence of morphology transitions from a cage-like aggregate to a vesicle is nearly isentropic. The end-to-end distances of isolated copolymer chains in solution and those within a vesicular assembly follow log normal probability distributions. This is attributed to the pre-ponderance of folded chain configurations in which the two hydrophobic end groups of a given chain stay close to each other. However, the probability distribution of end-to-end distances is broader for chains within the vesicle as compared to that of a single chain. This is due to the swelling of the folded configurations within the hydrophobic bilayer. Increasing the hydropho-bicity of the B block reduces the vesiculation time without qualitatively altering the self-assembly pathway.

The aim of this study was to examine the oxidation of human serum albumin (HSA) caused by oxidative stress after an exhaustive exercise such as ultra-marathon race. Thus, blood samples from 12 adult runners who underwent a 103 km mountain ultra-marathon race were collected pre- and 24, 48 and 72 h post race. HSA was partially purified using affinity chromatography and then was subjected to Western blot analysis for disulfide dimers determination, indicating oxidation. The results were correlated with those from a previous study in which the same samples were analyzed using different oxidative stress markers and a good correlation with protein carbonyls (PC) at all time points was observed. Moreover there was a significant correlation with static oxidation-reduction potential (sORP) at 24 h, and a negative correlation with capacity oxidation-reduction potential (cORP) at 24 and 48 h. In addition, an individual analysis of albumin dimers exhibited great inter-individual differences. This inter-individual variability in the oxidation of HSA may suggest different interventions (e.g. through diet) in order to confront the effects on athletes’ organism after a strenuous exercise. In conclusion, this study supported the importance of the assessment of albumin dimers as a predictive marker for exercise-induced oxidative stress.

The article reveals distinctive features of the interaction between architectural and structural solutions for the design of tall buildings as well as spotlights the most distinctive cases of expression. In the contemporary world, interaction is turning into the antithesis of the formerly dominant utilitarian attitude and standardization of tall buildings architectural solutions. Meanwhile, the search for rational structural solutions leads to new possibilities of architectural expression. This necessitates the transformation of a structural solution and its adaptation to the need of a modern architect to be exceptional and noticed. Interaction covers the current as well as retrospective and perspective periods. SWOT analysis was used by the authors of the article to assess the interaction between architectural and structural solutions in tall buildings design, select the most important criteria that could be used searching for rational architectural and structural solutions in future by applying multi-criteria decision making methods.

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

It is shown that structuring at the microlevel is the intrinsic property of water and aqueous solutions. At room conditions water (including "ultrapure" one) and aqueous solutions are dispersed systems in which microcrystals of NaCl, surrounded by a layer of hydrated water (average diameter - 10-15 microns), are "elementary microparticles", which form the basis of the dispersed phase. Possible ways of formation of these microparticles and their evolution in the process of evaporation of unstructured part of water - dispersion medium - are considered. It is shown, in particular, that they are present in the air as aerosol contaminants. When the ionic strength of the solution increases, the water-salt particles coagulate, forming a new phase - coacervates, remaining on the substrate after evaporation of the liquid part of the water. The aggregates of coacervate structures, formed in a liquid medium, are disordered during heating, which can cause a change in a number of physicochemical properties of water at the temperatures of 50°-60°C range that have not been correctly explained in the framework of atomic-molecular concepts.

Use of MS Excel as a platform for teaching simple iterative solution of partial differential equations runs into issues of reliability of the computation because of the large number of calculations required. This article documents the problem and an empirical solution. The cause of this unreliability was found by detailed examination of the numerical results from three simultaneous iterations. Computers of several types from different manufacturers were found to fail occasionally in updating variables in the numerical iteration. A simple work-around is suggested and was tested on several platforms.

By introducing environmental mediator, for avoiding randomness in selecting indicators and subjectivity in deciding interaction path coefficients to reveal interaction mechanism among forest industry, ecology and environmental capacity, structural Pressure–State–Impact–Response (PSIR) and quantitative Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) are utilized with data on thirty–one provinces of China. We can find that: (i) forest industry has a negative influence on ecology, whereas ecology has a positive influence on industry; (ii) the destructive influence that industry has on ecology is much greater than the positive effect ecology has on industry; and (iii) environmental capacity plays a partial mediating role between industry and ecology. According to these results we can conclude that: (i) forest industry and ecology are not in a symbiotic relationship and have not reached a level of ecological security; (ii) the interaction between industry and ecology is in a period of transition from antagonistic to beneficial; and (iii) industry dominates ecology. However, we prospect the following advice: (i) methods of forest industry should be changed; (ii) new modes of industrial integration and circular economy should be developed; and (iii) the ability of the environment to sustain itself should be enhanced. The level of forest ecological security to discuss the symbiotic mechanism of industry and ecology will propose to be measured in future.

A method for accurately determining the chemical composition of deposits at the bottom of pores during the electrocoloring (e-coloring) of aluminum anodic oxide (AAO) layers in tin-based solutions is developed. The aluminum samples were AC e-colored after DC sulfuric anodization. Free-standing, tin e-colored aluminum oxide film was obtained by selective dissolution of the metallic aluminum from the AAO in copper chloride solution to access the deposit directly at the bottom of the pore. This allowed us to take XPS analysis directly from the deposits at pore bottoms without any interference from the base material or insulating barrier layer. The results revealed the presence of a mixture of tin oxide and metal in the deposits, which were richer in oxide content. Furthermore, a cyclic voltammetry experiment mimicking real polarization conditions during AC conditions was optimized and used to gain a deeper understanding of the electrochemical reactions that occur during AC electrocoloring. The comparison of CV results in tin-free and tin-containing electrolytes indicated that the tin deposited during a cathodic cycle is oxidized in the anodic cycle. The formation of tin based deposits radically changed the CV behavior. The XPS and cyclic voltammetry results consistently show that the deposits formed during e-coloring comprised a mixture of metallic and oxidic tin species richer in oxide content.

In recent years, cerium dioxide (CeO2) has attracted considerable attention owing to its remarkable performance in various applications, including photocatalysis, fuel cells, and catalysis. This study explores the effect of nickel (Ni) doping on the structural, thermal, and chemical properties of CeO2 nanorods, particularly focusing on oxygen vacancy-related phenomena. Utilizing X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), alterations in crystal structure and peak shifts were observed, indicating successful Ni doping and the formation of Ni2O3 at higher doping levels, likely due to non-equilibrium reactions. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed changes in oxygen release mechanisms, with increasing Ni doping resulting in the release of lattice oxygen at lower temperatures. Raman spectroscopy corroborated these findings by identifying characteristic peaks associated with oxygen vacancies, facilitating the assessment of Ni doping levels. Overall, this study underscores the substantial impact of Ni doping on CeO2 nanorods, shedding light on tailored catalytic applications through modulation of oxygen vacancies while preserving the nanorod morphology.

This paper introduces an innovative energy circuit that challenges conventional understandings of energy conservation, marking a significant departure from traditional frameworks. Seeking to enhance energy generation within existing paradigms, this innovation holds promise for addressing pressing global issues such as the energy crisis and environmental sustainability, while also stimulating scientific inquiry. In contrast to prevalent misconceptions rooted in philosophical and scientific constraints, this study refutes the notion of generating energy from nothing and questions the viability of perpetual motion machines as conceptual models. Instead, it proposes a novel circuit design derived from an unconventional electrical short circuit, which is shown to disrupt the established principles of energy conservation. This circuit offers a transformative approach with diverse applications, including self-recharging capabilities for electric vehicles, bolstering microgrid infrastructure, and facilitating the integration of renewable energy sources. Transcending conventional scientific boundaries, this paper prompts philosophical reflections on the evolving nature of scientific exploration. Ultimately, the energy circuit represents a pivotal step towards mitigating the global energy crisis by reducing reliance on finite resources and fostering sustainability. The paper concludes by illustrating the circuit's potential to revolutionize energy systems and contribute to a more resilient and sustainable future.

Managing Water, Energy, and Food (WEF) resources within socio-environmental systems demands innovative strategies that provide decision-makers with actionable insights. This article explores the challenges and potential solutions of employing Focus Maps and choremes as a novel approach for assessing anthropogenic impacts and enhancing the visualization of the WEF Nexus in specific geographic areas. By integrating geospatial data, multi-criteria analysis, and involving stakeholders, our research aims to develop Choreomatic Focus Maps (CFMs) that offer a comprehensive spatial representation of the WEF Nexus, facilitating better-informed decision-making at the community level. Our current work outlines visualization of WEF Nexus, as an initial stages of creating CFMs through a detailed step-by-step process. This includes identifying the main drivers for WEF nexus, such as anthropogenic activities and their distribution, evaluating environmental factors, linking anthropogenic impact with environmental indicators over time, and conducting on-site validation. Our focus is on advancing through these crucial steps, particularly emphasizing field validation within the Local Decision-Makers Tools, visualized here by using Focus Maps. This phase is vital for ensuring our approach is grounded in reality and meets the needs of the communities within the Danube Delta region. By doing so, we aim to provide a visual summary of the WEF Nexus that not only captures the complexity of this fragile ecosystem but also incorporates local insights and priorities, identifying key areas where human activities have significant impacts.

In this paper, we consider a fourth-order suspension bridge equation with nonlinear damping term |u_t|^m-2u_t and source term |u|^p-2u. We give necessary and sufficient condition for global existence and energy decay results without considering the relation between m and p. Moreover, when p>m, we give sufficient condition for finite time blow-up of solutions. The lower bound of the blow-up time T_max is also established. It worth to mention that our obtained results extend the recent results of Wang (J. Math. Anal. Appl., 2014) to the nonlinear damping case.

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.

The study of the tribological behavior of the braking system in auto vehicles requires knowing the characteristics of the material in contact and, in the work process, for the friction pair, brake disc-pads. Materials structural analysis is necessary because the wear process depends on the friction pair chemical composition, and brake disk-pads, respectively on the work process parameters (pressing force, rotational speed, traffic conditions, etc.). The material of the brake discs is generally the same gray cast iron, but the brake pads can be semi-metallic (particles of steel, copper, brass, and graphite, all united with a special resin), organic materials (particles of rubber, glass, and kevlar all joined with the help of a resin), composite materials that contain different constituents and ceramic materials (rarely have small copper particles). Therefore, the purpose of the paper is to know the crystalline structure and the mechanical properties of the brake pad materials, through specific studies and analyses, with important implications on the friction and wear behavior.

In this paper, we study a one-dimensional Bresse-Cattaneo system with infinite memories and time-dependent delay term (the coefficient of which is not necessarily positive) in the internal feedbacks. First, it is proved that the system is well-posed by means of the Hille-Yosida theorem under suitable assumptions on the relaxation functions. Then, without any restriction on the speeds of wave propagations, we establish the exponential or general decay result by introducing suitable energy and Lyapunov functionals.

Leishmaniasis are neglected diseases that affect regions such as South Asia, South Africa and Latin America, less developed regions. Current treatment, for cutaneous, mucocutaneous and visceral leishmaniosis, which are the main forms of the disease, is based on the administration of pentavalent antimonial and amphotericin B. However, these drugs have low efficacy and high toxicity. For this reason, the search for new treatments for this disease is necessary, based on studies of new molecules and their conformations. The research proposed the conformational study of brominated guanidine compounds with potential antileishmanial activity using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The present study involves the bro-minated molecules, LQOF-G2, LQOF-G30, LQOF-G35 and LQOF-G35-Br. The later was synthesized by the reaction of LQOF-G35 with NBS under IR irradiation at 120 Watts of potency and dichloro-methane as solvent by 12-h of exposition. The obtained results demonstrated the efficiency of the bromination method, since two bromines atoms entered the molecule. Furthermore, NMR analysis showed the occurrence of a conformational change from Z to E when compound LQOF-G35 was brominated to LQOF-G35-Br. This feature was well confirmed by comparative DRX study of the LQOF-G35 and LQOF-G35-Br compounds. The antileishmanial activity of LQOF-G2 e LQOF-G35 motivated the synthesis of new brominated compounds LQOF-G30 e LQOF-G35-Br.

This paper details the comprehensive activities conducted in a laboratory setting to assess the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of prefabricated building envelopes. Aimed at enhancing the structural evaluation of buildings, the focus of this research lies in employing nondestructive sensors for SHM with the objective to advance in the understanding and assessment of facade conditions. The paper outlines the methodologies employed, starting with a modal analysis to define the structural vibration's modal frequency. Subsequently, tests were defined and executed to validate building envelope compliance in case of stress typical of high-rise building. Throughout these tests, continuous monitoring of the façade was conducted using both conventional (accelerometers, extensimeter washers) and non-conventional sensors (Fiber Optic Sensing) The gathered data underwent thorough processing and analysis to provide an overall perspective on the structure's behavior during the stress test. The investigation aimed to identify whether specific physical phenomena correlate with distinct signals and to evaluate if continuous façade monitoring over the building's lifespan aids in preventing potential structural damage. Moreover, two modal analyses were conducted to compare final data and frequencies with earlier data, enabling the detection of any structural alterations. The results from compliance testing and structural analysis yielded noteworthy insights contributing to the evolving field of structural health monitoring, offering valuable findings that advance our ability to proactively manage and maintain the integrity of building structures.

In this paper we introduce a computational model for the simulation of hypervelocity impact (HVI) phenomena which is based on the Discrete Element Method (DEM). Our paper constitutes the first application of DEM to the modeling and simulating of impact events for velocities beyond 5 kms⁻¹. We present here the results of a systematic numerical study on HVI of solids. For modeling the solids, we use discrete spherical particles that interact with each other via potentials. In our numerical investigations we are particularly interested in the dynamics of material fragmentation upon impact. We model a typical HVI experiment configuration where a sphere strikes a thin plate and investigate the properties of the resulting debris cloud. We provide a quantitative computational analysis of the resulting debris cloud caused by impact and a comprehensive parameter study by varying key parameters of our model. We compare our findings from the simulations with recent HVI experiments performed at our institute. Our findings are that the DEM method leads to very stable, energy–conserving simulations of HVI scenarios that map the experimental setup where a sphere strikes a thin plate at hypervelocity speed. Our chosen interaction model works particularly well in the velocity range where the local stresses caused by impact shock waves markedly exceed the ultimate material strength.

By using Modified simple equation method, we study the Cahn Allen equation which arises in many scientific applications such as mathematical biology, quantum mechanics and plasma physics. As a result, the existence of solitary wave solutions of the Cahn Allen equation is obtained. Exact explicit solutions interms of hyperbolic solutions of the associated Cahn Allen equation are characterized with some free parameters. Finally, the variety of structure and graphical representation make the dynamics of the equations visible and provides the mathematical foundation in mathematical biology, quantum mechanics and plasma physics.

Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) can help to achieve multiple Water-Ecosystem-Food Nexus Do-main Objectives & Nexus Resilience Qualities, facilitating the transition to more resilient agrifood systems and providing an evidence base for a broader Nexus policy dialogue. This paper de-scribes the stepwise methodology developed in the EU-funded LENSES project to carry out a comprehensive analysis of NBSs in 6 pilot areas in 5 Mediterranean countries, and presents the results of NBSs implementation in 4 pilot areas, highlighting obstacles and opportunities. The methodology includes the development of an analytical evaluation framework and of a com-prehensive catalogue of Nexus-related NBSs, whose suitability needs to be assessed at the local level to achieve better use of protected/natural ecosystems, increase the sustainability and mul-tifunctionality of managed ecosystems and design and manage novel ecosystems. Subsequently, in a collective learning process which supported the operationalisation of the WEF Nexus, NBSs were identified that address specific contextual vulnerabilities, improve water distribution and enhance food security, while preserving ecosystems and supporting adaptation to climate change. The added value of the proposed methodology lies in the multi-stakeholder participatory approach to gain in-depth knowledge of local agri-food systems, including their main WEF-related challenges, and to facilitate overcoming barriers to NBS implementation.

Polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs), which contained cellulose tri-acetate used as a polymer base, a plasticizer in the form of o-NPOE, and meso-tetra methyl tetrakis-[methyl-2-(4-acetlphenoxy)] calix[4]pyrrole (KP) used as a carrier, were prepared and tested for the effective purification of aqueous solutions of methylene blue dye. The scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) were used to define the microstructure and surface of PIMs. Experimental results showed that with the increased concentration of methylene blue in an aqueous solution, the removal percentage also increased. Further observation also showed that the flux increased with the rise of the source phase pH values from 3 to 10. The carrier and plasticizer content in the membrane significantly influenced the membrane’s transport properties. The optimal composition of the membrane in per cent by weight was for KP: 74% plasticizer; 18% support; 8% carrier. It was shown that the membrane with optimal composition showed good reusability and enabled the easy and spontaneous separation of methylene blue from aqueous solutions.

In the conservation of monumental heritage, the collection and utilization of information are of primary importance. The Heritage Building Information Modeling (HBIM) procedure harnesses the potential of three-dimensional models, offering significant advantages in accessing documentation, interoperability, multidimensionality of intervention design, cost evaluation and maintenance management. Attention here is focused on the Certosa di Pisa, a large historical complex built in the 14th century as a monastery of the Carthusian order, currently in a state of deterioration and in need of restoration and re-functionalization. The multifaceted nature of this monumental complex, with its intricate interplay of architectural elements spanning different historical periods and featuring diverse techniques, poses a significant challenge for structural safety assessment. This case study presents an opportunity to explore an HBIM approach to streamline the diagnostic process and facilitate the intervention design phase. The goal is achieved by utilizing an accurate 3D model enriched with data from multiple sources and automating certain operations for structural assessment. The usefulness of the HBIM methodology is highlighted as a valuable tool in the realm of Cultural Heritage structures for both technicians and scholars alike.

Chitosan (CS) nanoparticles are under investigation for a wide range of applications in nanomedicine. The structural, molecular and physicochemical properties of chitosan nanoparticles have a direct bearing on their efficacy in drug conjugation and delivery, gene delivery, and tissue engineering. Herein we report on the structural, morphological and molecular properties of chitosan nanoparticles synthesized using the ionic gelation method with the intended purpose of being used for drug delivery. The chitosan nanoparticles (CS-NPs) were prepared in the 0.25 to 1.0% w/v concentration range, whereas separate samples of the 1.0% w/v CS-NPs were also functionalized with polyethylene oxide (PEO) alone and with a diblock copolymer of PEO and polypropylene glycol (PPG). The average size of the CS-NPs was determined from TEM imaging to be in the range of 11.3 to 14.8 nm. The XRD and TEM analyses show that the CS-NPs have semi-crystalline structure with the degree of crystallinity depending upon the nature of synthesis. Our results show that functionalizing the 1.0% w/v CS-NPs with PEO increases the degree of crystallinity whereas functionalizing with the diblock copolymer PEO - PPG results in a significant increase in their degree crystallinity. The CS/TPP concentration (CS:TPP fixed at 1:1 ratio) had no apparent effect on the degree of crystallinity of the CS-NPs. The results from the FTIR analysis confirm incorporation of TPP with CS in the CS-NPs. Additionally, FTIR analysis shows an enhancement of hydrogen bonding that is consistent with the increase in the degree of crystallinity of the CS-NPs.

Expansion tube is ideal energy absorber which dissipates kinetic energy through plastic deformation and friction. There is an urgent need to understand the influence of key parameter, e.g. semi angle, tube material, and friction coefficient, on the mechanical response and energy absorption characteristics of expansion tube. In the present work, the material properties of the tubes were tested under quasi-static loading condition, and the numerical simulations were carried out by using commercial software ABAQUS. Based on the validated finite element simulation, all the semi angle, tube material, and friction have significant effects on the energy absorption capacity of expansion tube. The expansion tube with high tensile stress of parent material have high energy absorption capacity, while the specific energy absorption is linear with the tensile stress/density of tube material. This work would give a guidance to the structural design and parent materials selection for expansion tubes.

A new class of nano-cube core-shell heterostructures containing Ag coating on the top of WO₃ was fabricated. Physical vapor deposition was used to produce WO₃ based nano-heterostructures. All kind of wet toxic chemical process was avoided to make the process simple and contaminant free. Sputtering of WO₃ and a subsequent thermal annealing process was done to create nano-cubes of WO₃. After that, sputtering of Ag was performed to form the Ag-WO₃ core-shell nano-heterostructures (CSNH). The CSNHs were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and UV-vis spectroscopy. The morphologies, elemental analysis, interfaces, crystallinity, phases, and chemical compositions were analyzed. The bottom-up growth of WO₃ nanocubes was studied using different time periods at 900°C. Ag coating was also studied before and after annealing. Finally, an optical property (band gap) was also analyzed using Tauc plot derive from absorption spectra. The tailoring the band gap of WO₃ from ~2.9eV to ~ 2.45 eV was observed while Ag-WO₃ CSNH formed.

Structural deformations are one of the most significant factor that affects machine tool (MT) positioning accuracy. These induced errors are complex to be represented by a model, nevertheless they need to be evaluated and predicted in order to increase the machining performance. This paper presents a novel approach to calibrate a machine tool in real-time, analyzing the thermo-mechanical errors through Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors embedded in the MT frame. The proposed configuration consists of an adaptronic structure of passive materials, Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRP), equipped by FBG sensors that are able to measure in real-time the deformed conditions of the frame. By using a proper thermo-mechanical kinematic model, the displacement of the end effector may be predicted and corrected when it is subjected to external undesired factors. By starting from a set of FE simulations to develop a model able to describe the MT structure stresses, a prototype has been fabricated and tested. The scope was to compare the numerical model with the experimental tests using FBG sensors. The experimental campaign has been performed varying the structure temperature over time and measuring the tool tip point (TTP) positions. The obtained results showed a substantial matching between the real and the predicted position of TTP confirming the effectiveness of the proposed calibration system.

Innovative tissue engineering biomimetic hydrogels based on hydrophilic polymers have been investigated for their physical and mechanical properties. 5% to 25% by volume loading PHEMA-nanosilica glassy hybrid samples were equilibrated at 37°C in aqueous physiological isotonic and hypotonic saline solutions (0.15 and 0.05 M NaCl) simulating two limiting possible compositions of physiological extracellular fluids. The glassy and hydrated hybrid materials were characterized both for dynamo-mechanical properties and equilibrium absorptions in the two physiological-like aqueous solutions. Mechanical and the morphological modifications occurring in the samples have been described. The 5% volume nanosilica loading hybrid nanocomposite composition showed mechanical characteristics in the dry and hydrated states that were comparable to those of cortical bone and articular cartilage, respectively, and then chosen for further sorption kinetics characterization. Sorption and swelling kinetics were monitored up to equilibrium. Changes in water activities and osmotic pressures in the water-hybrid systems equilibrated at the two limiting solute molarities of the physiological solutions have been related to the observed anomalous sorption modes using the Flory-Huggins interaction parameter approach. The bulk modulus of the dry and glassy PHEMA-5% nanosilica hybrid at 37°C has been observed to be comparable with the values of the osmotic pressures generated from the sorption of isotonic and hypotonic solutions. The anomalous sorption modes and swelling rates are coherent with the difference between osmotic swelling pressures and hybrid glassy nano-composite bulk modulus: the lower the differences the higher the swelling rate and equilibrium solution uptakes. Bone tissue engineering benefits of use of tuneable biomimetic scaffold biomaterials that can be “designed” to act as biocompatible and biomechanically active hybrid interfaces are discussed.

The paper discusses the mechanism of montmorillonite structure alteration and bentonites properties modification (on the example of samples from clay deposit Taganka, Kazakhstan) due to the thermochemical treatment (treatment with inorganic acid solutions at different temperatures, concentrations and reaction times). With the use of the suit of methods certain processes were distinguished: transformation of montmorillonite structure, which appears in the leaching of interlayer and octahedral cations, protonation of the interlayer and OH groups at octahedral sheets. Changes in the structure of the 2:1 layer of montmorillonite and its interlayer result in significant changes in the properties – reduction of cation exchange capacity and an increase of specific surface area. The results of the work showed that bentonite clays retain a significant portion of its adsorption properties even after the long term and intense thermochemical treatment (6M HNO3, 60°C, 108 hours)

Urbanization and climate change have increased the need for stormwater management and nature-based solutions. Decisions made at project level impact the emergence of systemic traits of the stormwater network and the functionality of the catchment areas in urban planning. To that end, it is vital to introduce the decision-making tools for analyzing both the utilities and amenities of nature-based solutions (NBS) to increase their adoption to reduce the peak loads in the stormwater system, and to that end, mitigate the impacts of climate change. This paper demonstrates a workflow using drone-based photogrammetry, 3D modeling, and simulation software to generate visual and functional models assisting in informed decision-making in the design of stormwater systems as functional landscape architecture. Using aerial data from drones and modeled design solutions, the proposed workflow simulates rain events, infiltration, evaporation, water flow, and accumulation of stormwater in a way that allows the visual and quantified analysis of detailed landscape architecture designs. The paper provides an example of a rooftop site simulation demonstrating the infiltration and flow of water to the drainage. The visual decision-making method provided can aid in investment decisions for functional landscape design in support of stormwater management.

Waste glycerol can be subjected to various processing operations, including purification and re-fining, to obtain glycerol of appropriate purity. In addition, alternative methods of utilising waste glycerol are also being sought, e.g. by converting it into other valuable chemical products or biofuels. Therefore, various technologies are being developed to utilise this type of waste effectively and sustainably. The production of value-added products from waste glycerol is an important issue that determines the improvement of the economic viability of biofuel production and corresponds to the model of a waste-free and emission-free circular economy. This paper characterised the mechanisms and evaluated the efficiency of existing methods of microbiological utilisation of waste glycerol into liquid biofuels, including biodiesel, bioethanol and biobutanol, and identified further directions for the production of value-added products. In addition, a bibliographical analysis of publications re-lated to the production of liquid fuels and economically valuable products from glycerol was carried out, the progress of research and application work was assessed and directions for future research were identified.

Abstract: A. baumannii exhibits resilience in harsh environments and progressively develops resistance to diverse antibacterial agents over time. This adaptability poses a significant challenge in treating an infection caused by this bacterium within healthcare settings. The presence of peptidoglycan, a crucial precursor for cell wall synthesis, contributes to this challenge. Peptidoglycan serves not only as a structural support in bacterial cells but also provides protection against adverse environmental conditions. The synthesis of the peptidoglycan layer involves a group of substrates such as N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc), within a three-partitioned process occurring in the membrane, periplasmic space, and cytoplasm of each bacterium. Initiated in the cytoplasm and extending to the inner cell membrane, this synthesis starts with the production of nucleotide precursors. The first step involves the synthesis of UDP-GlcNAc, orchestrated by Glm (GlmS, GlmM, and GlmU) enzymes using fructose-6-phosphate. Subsequently, enzymes from the Mur family, namely MurB, MurA, MurD, MurC, MurI, MurF, and MurE, synthesize UDP-N-acetylmuramyl-pentapeptide (UDP-Mpp) from UDP-GlcNAc. Concurrently, on the cytosolic side, the production of membrane-surrounded undecaprenyl phosphate occurs, involving membrane-side proteins MraY and MurG in the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan. This review emphasizes updated information on Mur family proteins, encompassing physicochemical properties, nature of binding site, number and type of binding site residues, functional domain details, three-dimensional structural aspects, and their functions within bacterial cells. Special attention is directed towards their enzymatic role in peptidoglycan biosynthesis due to the limited availability of precursors in the market. Additionally, the review provides a comprehensive summary of existing inhibitors and ongoing efforts in identifying new targeted inhibitors, recognizing these enzymes as potential candidates for antibacterial drug design and discovery.

Various vaccines have been developed in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, and the safety of vaccines has become an important issue. COVID-19 vaccines-related central nervous system inflammatory demyelinating diseases (CNS IDDs) have been reported recently. We present one case of AstraZeneca vaccine-related myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-associated disease and literature review another 78 patients published from January 2020 to October 2022. Patients were divided into three vaccine groups (viral vector, mRNA and inactivated vaccines) for further analyses. Among 79 patients with COVID-19 vaccines-related CNS IDDs, 49 (62%) cases received viral vector vaccines, 20 (25.3%) received mRNA vaccines and 10 (12.7%) received inactivated vaccines. Twenty-seven cases (34.2%) were confirmed with autoantibodies, including 15 patients (19%) with anti-MOG, 11 (13.9%) with anti-aquaporin 4 (AQP4), and one (1.3%) with both antibodies. Significantly, more males developed CNS IDDs post viral vector vaccines compared to mRNA and inactivated vaccines. Patients receiving mRNA vaccines were older than other groups. Furthermore, mRNA and inactivated vaccines correlated more with anti-AQP4 antibodies, while viral vector vaccines showed higher MOG positivity. The research suggests potential associations between COVID-19 vaccines-related CNS IDDs and gender, age, and autoantibodies, contingent on vaccine types. Protein sequence analysis implies similarities between the S protein and AQP4/MOG. Further studies may elucidate the mechanisms of CNS IDDs, aiding vaccine selection for specific groups.

The study of rare diseases is important not only for the individuals affected but also for the advancement of medical knowledge and a deeper understanding of human biology and genetics. The wide repertoire of structural information now available from reliable and accurate prediction methods provides the opportunity to investigate the molecular origins of most of the rare diseases reviewed in the Orpha.net database. Thus, it has been possible to analyze the topology of the missense mutations found in the 2,535 proteins involved in Mendelian rare diseases (MRD), which form the database for our structural bioinformatics study. The amino acid substitutions responsible for MRD show different mutation site distributions at different three-dimensional protein depths. We then predicted the depth-dependent effects of mutations for the 20,248 pathogenic variants that are present in our database. The results of this structural bioinformatics investigation are relevant, as they provide additional clues to mitigate the damage caused by MRD.

This paper presents a study about the integration of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Systems (PE-EHS) in building envelopes for powering Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors, enabling efficient and low-consumption monitoring with the objective to leverage Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). The research includes preliminary tests conducted in a real environment to validate the PE-EHS when fully integrated into the façade, capturing mechanical vibrations generated mainly by wind loads. Based on these activities, the final configuration of PE-EHS is defined to provide a complete system for façade monitoring. This integrated system includes the Piezoelectric Generator (PEG), Supercapacitor (SC), Power Conditioner Circuit (PCC), Fibre Optic Sensing (FOS) Interrogator, and the IoT Gateway trans-mitting measurement data within an Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring platform. This configuration is tailored to address the challenges related to the structural integrity of building envelopes. Results demonstrate a potential for a stand-alone solution in the façade sector, but, raising issues for certain limitations, requiring further investigation. In particular, the study emphasizes constraints related to the energy production of PE-EHS for façade integration. It highlights the necessity to carefully consider these limitations within the broader context of their applicability, providing insights for the informed deployment of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting technology in building envelope monitoring.

Corrugated board is a composite material characterized by strong orthotropy in both the elastic and plastic phases. Additionally, due to its layered structure, which consists of alternately arranged flat and wavy layers of paper, its mechanics becomes complicated. Therefore, a precisely selected set of laboratory tests is needed to correctly identify all the necessary material parameters of cardboard. The work attempts to define a full set of laboratory tests in order to determine material parameters describing the linear-elastic, orthotropic behavior of cardboard and the basic parameters defining popular plasticity criteria, such as the asymmetric orthotropic Hoffman criterion. For this purpose, sensitivity analysis and numerical models of several selected basic laboratory tests were used. Since the aim of the work is to choose appropriate laboratory tests necessary to correctly determine the material parameters of corrugated board (not its individual layers), the numerical models do not contain detailed cardboard geometry, but only its homogenized representation in the form of the flat shell models. All numerical models are based on the nonlinear finite element method and constitutive modelling in the form of UMAT subroutines implemented in the ABAQUS software. Based on the analyses, appropriate measurements and laboratory tests were indicated that are most sensitive to the material parameters sought.

This paper investigates women’s empowerment and their active involvement in governance aimed at promoting sustainable development. The study focuses on examining the roles and processes of co-creation of nature-based solutions (NBS) for water management in Milan. Three research directions were explored: 1) to determine gender-based roles within local governance; 2) to detect semantic groups of NBS based on stakeholders' gender; c) to analyze gender-based linguistic and conceptual patterns of NBS. To achieve our objectives, we converted a sample of audio-video interviews of local stakeholders into textual data along with metadata indicating speakers' roles and gender. Descriptive statistics were applied to explore the governance's roles. We employed a combination of textual analysis and network analysis to identify thematic groups of NBS, and applied a word embedding approach to uncover linguistic patterns indicative of semantic sub-structures. The findings revealed significant demographic diversity. Male stakeholders perceive sustainable development as a process driven by the circular economy and the coordination of territorial authorities, while female stakeholders envision a transformative approach rooted in science, culture, and collaboration. The semantic sub-structure analysis highlighted a tendency among male governance to emphasize specialized skills, whereas female governance placed greater emphasis on problem definition rather than resolution.

In this study, we address the formidable challenge of solving large-scale Max-Cut problems (MCP). We introduce a rapid computational procedure utilizing a hybrid 1-flip/r-flip local search heuristic. This innovative strategy significantly reduces the computational time required for MCP problems while consistently generating solutions of exceptional quality. The paper presents substantial computational insights, showcasing the effectiveness of our approach on very-large-scale Max-Cut instances with varying densities. Our proposed heuristic is rigorously evaluated by comparing its performance against a quantum annealing solver, leveraging a multi-start Tabu Search framework. The results underscore the potency of this unique combination as an efficient and effective solution for large-scale QUBO problems. Notably, our hybrid heuristic consistently delivers high-quality solutions within the stringent CPU time limits of 600 seconds, demonstrating its efficacy across Max-Cut instances ranging from 10,000 to 40,000 variables. This research contributes to advancing the state-of-the-art in large-scale QUBO problem-solving, offering a powerful and time-efficient approach with broad applicability.

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

Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γ (RORγ) is a transcription factor regulating the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-17 in human T helper 17 (Th17) cells. Activating RORγ can induce multiple IL-17-mediated autoimmune diseases but may also be useful for anticancer therapy. Its deep immunological functions make RORɣ an attractive drug target. Over 100 crystal structures have been published describing atomic interactions between RORɣ and agonists and inverse agonists. In this review, we focus on the role of dynamic properties and plasticity of the RORɣ orthosteric and allosteric binding sites by examining structural information from crystal structures and simulated models. We discuss the possible influences of allosteric ligands on the orthosteric binding site. We find that high structural plasticity favors the druggability of RORɣ, especially for allosteric ligands.

In addition to the canonical loss-of-function mutations, mutations in proteins may additionally result in gain-of-function through the binary activation of cryptic ‘structural capacitance elements’. Our previous bioinformatic analysis allowed us to propose a new mechanism of protein evolution - structural capacitance – that arises via the generation of new elements of microstructure upon mutations that cause a disorder-to-order (DO) transition in previously disordered regions of proteins. Here we propose that the DO transition is a necessary follow-on from expected early codon-anticodon and tRNA acceptor stem-amino acid usage, via the accumulation of structural capacitance elements - reservoirs of disorder in proteins. We develop this argument further to posit that structural capacitance is an inherent consequence of the evolution of the genetic code.

Fingerprint recognition systems have achieved widespread integration into various technological devices, including cell phones, computers, door locks, and time attendance machines. Nevertheless, individuals with worn fingerprints encounter challenges when attempting to unlock original fingerprint systems, resulting in disruptions to their daily activities. This study explores two distinct methods for fingerprint backup: traditional fingerprint impression and 3D printing technologies. Unlocking tests were conducted on commonly available optical fingerprint lock-equipped cell phones to assess the efficacy of these methods, particularly in unlocking worn fingerprints. The research findings indicated that traditional fingerprint impression method exhibited high fidelity in reproducing fingerprint patterns, achieving an impressive unlocking success rate of 97.8% for imprinting unworn fingerprints. However, when dealing with worn fingerprints, traditional fingerprint impression technique showed a reduced unlocking success rate, progressively decreasing with increasing degrees of finger wear. In contrast, 3D printed backup fingerprints, with image processing and optimization of ridge height, mitigated the impact of fingerprint wear on unlocking capability, resulting in an unlocking success rate of 84.4% or higher. Thus, the utilization of 3D printing technology proves advantageous for individuals with severely worn or incomplete fingerprints, providing a viable solution for unforeseen circumstances.

With the interest and attention that the Blockchain and the Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) have recently demanded, the technology is advancing at a very high rate. With investors and applications in a wide variety of fields, a lot of funding and efforts are being driven into bringing the technology to everyday use. The community and companies are coming up with new ways to collaborate, which makes the blockchain ecosystem evolve at full tilt. Consequently, this paper’s aim is to review the academic and grey literature and to provide readers with information about the evolution, benefits and challenges of the Public Distributed Ledger Technologies and to discuss the latest solutions, which are being developed for bringing decentralization closer to the mainstream. The paper reviews the Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) structured distributed ledgers with focus on the Hedera Hashgraph, a novelty DLT bringing a unique consensus algorithm with new use-cases enabled by new cryptoeconomic mechanisms as well as vital services, such as Solidity smart contracts and distributed file storage. Lastly, we are going to explore second-layer network protocols, a major topic for solving the scalability issues, empower Bitcoin and DLTs and also disrupt cryptocurrency exchanges focusing on the Lightning Network.

Research on titanium oxo complexes (TOCs) are usually focused on their structure and photocatalytic properties. Findings from these investigations spurred our interest in exploring also their potential biological activities. In this study, we focused on the synthesis and structure of a compound with the general formula [Ti8O2(OiPr)20(man)4] (1), which was isolated from the reaction mixture of titanium(IV) isopropoxide with mandelic acid (Hman) in a molar ratio of 4:1. The structure (1) was determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, while spectroscopic studies provided insights into its physicochemical properties. To assess the potential practical applications of (1), its microcrystals were incorporated into a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) matrix, yielding composite materials of the type PMMA + (1) (2 wt.%, 5 wt.%, 10 wt.%, and 20 wt.%). The next stage of our research involved the antimicrobial activity evaluation of the obtained materials. Investigations carried out demonstrated antimicrobial activity of pure (1) and its composites (PMMA + (1)) against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains. Furthermore, MTT tests conducted on the L929 murine fibroblast cell line confirmed the lack of cytotoxicity of these composites. Our study identified (1) as a promising antimicrobial agent, also for producing composite coatings.

Shoulder tendinopathies produce pain and reduce functionality. The aim of this randomized clinical trial was to analyze the effects of Percutaneous electrolysis (PE), Percutaneous peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) and eccentric exercise (EE), on pain (NPRS), strength, electromyographic activity, ultrasound characteristics of the tendon (echogenicity, thickness and hypervascularization) and functionality (DASH and SPADI) on individuals with supraspinatus tendinopathy. Participants (n=50) were divided into two groups, they received 4 treatment sessions, one per week, of PE and PNS (n=25) or 10 treatment sessions of TENS and US (n=25). Both groups performed EE program consisted of 3 sets of 10 repetitions of each of the 3 exercises, twice a day, during the 4 weeks. Follow-up was carried out at 4, 12 and 24 weeks after the start of the intervention. There are statistically significant differences in the analysis between groups (p&lt;0.001) in the post-treatment and follow-up measurements favorable to the PE+PNS+EE treatment on pain (NPRS), strength, supraspinatus electromyographic amplitude, ultrasound characteristics of the tendon (echogenicity, thickness and hypervascularization) and DASH and SPADI questionnaires. The combined treatment PE, PNS and EE is an effective option in the clinical management of tendinopathies, with positive results in the short and long term on the variables studied.

In this study, we aim to evaluate how cyclodextrin molecules affect the hydrophilicity and selec-tivity of PVDF membrane. Herein, we prepared PVDF-PVP(1-x) β-CDx membranes, with x rang-ing from 0 to 1 wt%. The membranes were deeply characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR-IR), Raman spectroscopies, Thermal gravimet-ric analysis (TGA), Contact angle measurement (CA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The study unequivocally demonstrates the effectiveness of the addition of β-CD molecules on membranes' structural, morphological, and dielectric properties. Adding 0.25wt% β-CD enhanced hydrophilicity, with CA decreasing from 72.6° to 56° and roughness decreasing from 81 to 29 nm. The PVDF-PVP(1-x) β-CDx membranes were then fully characterized using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to determine their dielectric properties, which clearly showed that the presence of β-CD induced polarization of the mem-brane. The separation of various dyes with different sizes and charges was utilized. These dyes included methylene blue (MB, positive, 0.504 nm), methyl red (MR, neutral, 0.487 nm), rose Bengal (RB, negative, 0.588 nm), and brilliant blue (BB, negative, 0.798 nm). Based on our re-search, we found that the membrane's selectivity is determined by both exclusion factors (such as size and dielectric properties) and inclusion inside the β-CD cage. We found that using alpha-CD instead of beta-CD led to the disappearance of dye inclusion. These findings strongly sug-gest that β-CD molecules can be a viable solution for dye removal from wastewater.

Hydrogen has a leading role in accomplishing a net zero green-house gas emission future. Today’s challenge is producing green hydrogen to cover the fuel demand of transportation and industry, to gain independence from fossil fuels. This review’s goal is to demonstrate critically the existing methods of biomass treatment and assess their ability to scale up. Biomass is an excellent hydrogen carrier and biomass-derived processes are the main target for hydrogen production as it is an innovative pathway to green hydrogen production. Comparing the existing processes, thermochemical treatment is found to be far more evolved than biological or electrochemical treatment especially with regard to scaling prospects.

C. auris is a newly emerging yeast, raising public health concerns due to its outbreak potential, lack of protocols for decontamination and isolation of patients or contacts, increased resistance to common antifungals and associated high mortality. This research aimed to describe the challenges related to identifying the outbreak, limiting further contamination, and treating affected individuals. We retrospectively analysed all cases of C. auris detected between October 2022 and August 2023, but our investigation focused on a three-month-long outbreak in the department of cardio-vascular surgery and the related intensive care unit. Along with isolated cases in different wards, we identified 13 patients who became infected or colonized in the same area and time, even though the epidemiological link could be traced only in 10 patients, according to the epidemiological investigation. In conclusion, our study emphasizes the substantial challenge encountered in clinical practice when attempting to diagnose and limit the spread of an outbreak. Therefore, it is crucial to promptly apply contact precaution measures and appropriate environmental cleaning, from the first case detected positive.

Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles contribute significantly to the global warming through their immense quantity of CO2 emissions and are on the way to be replaced by zero emission alternative solutions. Several replacement techniques with scientifically sound performances are proposed for the propulsion equipment including the related supply chains from renewable sources, but they often cannot fulfill the huge demand quantitatively. The paper discusses the quantitative aspects of the real demand with the example of the actual automotive park in Switzerland and analyses different alternatives like conventional EV’s, fuel-cell vehicles or energetic chains based on sustainable fuels like e-methanol or synthetic solar fuels. The analysis comprises energy efficiency considerations.

This review article is devoted to the colloidal properties of fullerene solutions. According to generally accepted understanding, all solvents in relations to fullerenes are divided into “good” (or “strong” or “high-solubility” ones), “poor” (usually polar) and “reactive”. Water occupies a special place, close to “poor” solvents. We have consistently considered and discussed the state of fullerenes in these systems. In "good", predominantly non-polar aromatic solvents and CS2, nonequilibrium dissolution methods lead to the formation of colloidal aggregates, whereas utilization of equilibrium methods results in the formation of molecular solutions. The latter, however, have some unusual properties; new results confirm previously expressed ideas about colloidal properties of these solutions. Both experimental and theoretical methods devoted to such systems are considered. In “poor” (polar) solvents, typical lyophobic colloidal systems appear. Both “bottom-up” and “top-down” methods of preparation are now well documented in the literature. However, some of these polar solvents dissolve fullerenes rather easily and with less energy consumption. In addition to N-methylpyrrolidin-2-one, which has been well studied for fullerenes, DMSO and DMF have now been described. These solvents can be considered a subset of poor solvents that have some features of being “reactive” at the expense of basic (“cationophilic”) properties. Room temperature ionic liquids are also used to dissolve fullerenes, but there is little experimental research. Hydrosols and aqueous suspensions of fullerenes are typical hydrophobic colloids that obey the Schulze–Hardy rule and other regularities in the presence of electrolytes. New experimental data confirm the previously obtained results. Organosols in acetonitrile and methanol are much less stable with respect to electrolytes; the difference in critical coagulation concentrations of electrolytes reaches two to three orders of magnitude. This allows us to conclude that there is an additional, so-called non-DLVO, stabilizing factor in the hydrosols. Accordingly, the value of the Hamaker constant of fullerene-fullerene interaction may be higher than that derived from coagulation data in water. Contrary to the mentioned “poor” polar solvents, the stability of fullerene sols in DMSO is even higher than in water. These results, as well as data obtained with DMF demonstrate strong solvation of fullerenes with basic solvents.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has showcased the implications of using virtual private networks (VPNs) as home-working is now common. Establishing the current state of knowledge on VPNs and their processes is vital. This corroborates an up to date understanding on the fundamentals of VPNs and their usage in today’s society; it informs on how to better use VPNs too. Insight into the security issues VPNs face and possible solutions to these allows for the identification of gaps for potential future research. Addressing these gaps would then indicate how to further improve VPNs, making sure VPNs are indeed beneficial to users.

Digital health research is an emerging discipline that requires easy-to-understand theoretical frameworks and implementation models for digital health providers in health and social care settings. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened demand for digital health discipline-specific instruction on ‘how to’ manage evidence-based digital health transformation. Access to the use of these models guarantees that digital health providers can investigate phenomena using safe and suitable approaches and methods to conduct research and identify answers to challenges and problems that arise in health and social care settings. The COMPASS theory is designed to aid transformation of health and social care environments. A navigational rose of primary quadrants is divided by four main compass points, with person-centred care being central to the philosophy. Two axes produce Cartesian planes that intersect to form a box plot, which can be used to discover human and physical resource weightings to augment digital health research design and implementation. A third continuum highlights stakeholders' capabilities, critical for any multidisciplinary study. The COMPASS mnemonic guides end-users through the process of design, development, implementation, evaluation, and communication of digital health transformations. The theory's foundations are presented and explained in context of the 'new normal' of health and social care delivery.

Background Oil palm (OP), Elaeis guineensis , is by far the most important global oil crop, supplying about 40% of total traded vegetable oil. Palm oils are key dietary components consumed daily by over three billion people, mostly in Asia, and also have a wide range of important non-food uses including in cleansing and sanitising products. Main body Oil palm is a perennial crop with a >25-year life cycle and an exceptionally small land footprint compared to annual oilseed crops. Oil palm crops globally produce an annual 81 million tonnes (Mt) of oil from about 19 million hectares (Mha). In contrast, the second and third largest vegetable oil crops, soybean and rapeseed, yield a combined 84 Mt oil but occupy over 163 Mha of increasingly scarce arable land. Despite this advantage, oil palm has acquired a poor environmental reputation, especially in Europe and North America, although soybean planting is now responsible for more deforestation. Oil palm crops face other challenges in the 2020s. On the demand side, these include changing consumer purchasing habits, threats to global trade systems, and diminishing demand for liquid fuels as transport systems become increasingly electrified. On the supply side, major issues include stagnant yields in ageing plantations, sluggish replanting of improved varieties, labour shortages, diseases and climatic/ environmental threats. The latter include the increasing incidence of new and existing pests/diseases and a general lack of climatic resilience, especially relating to elevated temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall patterns. This review surveys the oil palm sector in the 2020s and beyond, its major challenges and options for future progress. Conclusions Oil palm crops face many future challenges, including emerging threats from climate change and new pests and diseases, that require more effective international collaboration. Nevertheless, new breeding technologies are providing the promise of improvements, such as much higher yielding varieties, improved oil profiles, enhanced disease resistance and modified crop architecture to enable harvesting mechanisation. The industry also needs to redouble its efforts to engage with global consumers in a constructive dialogue aimed at addressing its image problem and explaining the many benefits of its products.

We analyze the transformation of a very broad class of metrics that can be put in terms of static coordinates. Starting from a general ansatz, we obtain a relation for the parameters in which one can impose further symmetries, or restrictions. One of the simplest restrictions leads to FLRW cases, while transforming from the initial static to other static-type coordinates can lead to near horizon coordinates, Wheeler-Regge, isotropic coordinates, among others. As less restrictive cases, we show an indirect route for obtaining Kruskal-Szekeres within this approach, as well as Lema\^{\i}tre coordinates. We use Schwarzschild spacetime as prototype for testing the procedure in individual cases. However, application to other spacetimes, such as de-Sitter, Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m or Schwarzschild de Sitter, can be readily generalized.

It is expected that scholars will continue to strengthen the depth and breadth of theoretical research on RIS, so as to provide a higher theoretical upper bound for the engineering application of RIS. While making breakthroughs in academic research, great progress has been made in engineering application research and industrialization promotion. This article will provide an overview of RIS engineering applications, mainly including the typical features, typical classifications, and typical deployment scenarios of RIS. Then the challenges and candidate solutions of the RIS are systematically and deeply analyzed, involving the cascade channel decoupling for solving the RIS beamforming, the influences and solutions of RIS regulation constraints, RIS system architecture of network controlled mode, the integrated channel regulation and information modulation, TDD mechanism used for RIS. Future trends and challenges are also provided.

Vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) or briefly V2X communications are the one of hot topics in automotive industry. Therefore, this situation is providing many advantages of connected vehicles and infrastructures which bring to human life. For instance, vehicles and road infrastructures which shares information with each other, provides a neat flow regulation, more ordered traffic flow and therefore jammed traffic dependent accident’s percentage will be decreased. On the other hand, security is the most important issue for these systems because the operation of V2X networks is completely dependent on uninterrupted and accurate information sharing. In the light of these information, in this paper we review security issues and current solution architectures. We also propose some open problems in this lively field.

In this paper we establish information theoretical bridges between 1) Thermal Heisenberg uncertainties $\Delta x \Delta p$ (at temperature $T$), and 2) LMC structural quantifiers. After having achieved such purpose, we determine to what an extent our bridges can be extended to both the semi classical and classical realms. Also, we find a strict bound relating a special LMC structural quantifier to quantum uncertainties.

Hepatotoxic microcystins (MCs) are the most widespread class of cyanotoxins and the one that has most often been implicated in cyanobacterial toxicosis. One of the main challenges in studying and monitoring MCs is the great structural diversity within the class. The full chemical structure of the first MC was elucidated in the early 1980s and since then the number of reported structural analogues has grown steadily and continues to do so, thanks largely to advances in analytical methodology. The structures of some of these analogues have been definitively elucidated after chemical isolation using a combination of techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance, amino acid analysis and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Others have only been tentatively identified using liquid chromatography-MS/MS without chemical isolation. An understanding of the structural diversity of MCs, the genetic and environmental controls for this diversity and the impact of structure on toxicity are all essential to the ongoing study of MCs across several scientific disciplines. However, because of the diversity of MCs and the range of approaches that have been taken for characterizing them, comprehensive information on the state of knowledge in each of these areas can be challenging to gather. We have conducted an in-depth review of the literature surrounding the identification and toxicity of known MCs and present here a concise review of these topics. At present, at least 269 MCs have been reported. Among these, about 20% (54 of 269) appear to be the result of chemical or biochemical transformations of MCs that can occur in the environment or during sample handling and extraction of cyanobacterial, including oxidation products, methyl esters, or post-biosynthetic metabolites. The toxicity of many MCs has also been studied using a range of different approaches and a great deal of variability can be observed between reported toxicities, even for the same congener. This review will help clarify the current state of knowledge on the structural diversity of MCs as a class and the impacts of structure on toxicity, as well as to identify gaps in knowledge that should be addressed in future research.

This paper investigates a range of popular differential evolution (DE) configurations to identify components responsible for emergence of structural bias – a recently identified tendency of algorithms to prefer some regions of search space over others, for reasons unrelated to objective function values. Previous work has explored this tendency for genetic algorithms (GA) and particle swarm optimisation (PSO), finding a relationship between population size and extent of structural bias, hence highlighting potential weaknesses of those algorithms. In current article, we focus on DE, extend the investigation to include consideration of an algorithmic component that is often overlooked – constraint handling mechanism. Towards this end, a wide range of DE configurations was tested here. Results suggest that DE is generally robust to structural bias. Unlike the case with GA and PSO, population size seems to have no influence on DE structural bias. Only one of variants studied – DE/current-to-best/1/bin – shows clear signs of bias, however, we show that this effect is mitigated by a judicious choice of constraint handling technique. These findings contribute towards explaining widespread success of DE variants in algorithm comparison studies; its robustness to structural bias represents the absence of a factor that may confound other algorithms.

NiV2O6 thin films were grown on glass slides with varying thicknesses using the nebulizer spray pyrolysis. The impact of thickness on the thin films' optical, structural, morphological, and electrical characteristics was systematically investigated. The X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman analysis confirmed the formation of the triclinic NiV2O6 system. Surface morphology and roughness variations in the as-deposited NiV2O6 films were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a profilometer. Optical properties, including optical band gap (Eg), extinction coefficient (k), absorption coefficient (α), and refractive index (n), were determined through optical reflectance and transmittance measurements. The optical energy gap of the as-deposited NiV2O6 films decreased from 2.3 eV to 1.9 eV with increased layer thickness. Furthermore, the photo-detectivity of the films demonstrated an enhancement corresponding to the prolonged spray time. The sensitivity values obtained for visible irradiation are 328, 511, and 433 for samples S1, S2, and S3, respectively. The obtained results are imputed to the specific porous microstructure.

The purpose of this original study is to critically analyze the emergence and development of the national models of financial regulation; international standards and codes; regional and national financial regulation and supervision (the case of UK, USA, Sweden, EU and Finland). The research raises both academic and regulatory concerns. It aims at shaping changes (innovations) in the supervisory practices of national and international regulators in response to new developments in FinTech markets, digital products, financial instruments and risks. Secondly, it will stimulate more systematic work on regulatory databases, registration and reporting procedures in various economies in different financial markets. The author identifies five main systems of national financial regulatory markets: the multi-tiered, multi-agency US system; the Twin Peaks model (UK); the mega-regulatory model (Sweden). There is a thorough review of international standards and institutions that work for the stability of financial systems. The analysis of regional and national systems of financial regulation and supervision is based on the examples of the EU and Finnish institutions. National macro and microeconomic regulation and supervision have been examined with a focus on the US Federal Reserve and the US Treasury. National and international regulatory institutions have been evolving along several lines. First, minimum capital and credit risk requirements for banks (80s of the 20th century) are complemented in the 21st century by buffer reserves, liquidity and leverage standards. Second, regulation focuses on ensuring the sustainability of the national economy. The regulatory focus is on ensuring the sustainability of national and global financial systems. Third, there is an increase in the number of supervised institutions. Fourth, there is a division of functions between central banks (macroeconomic regulation) and one or two mega-regulators (microeconomic regulation and supervision). Fifth, there is a division of labour between the international financial institutions (BIS, IMF, WB) and national regulators. Sixth, the focus is on protecting consumers and investors, and countering money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Seventh, there is an understanding for a common approach by central banks to new financial technologies and cybersecurity.

Carbohydrate and menthol mouth-swilling have been used to enhance exercise performance in the heat. However, these strategies differ in mechanism and subjective experience. Participants (n=12) sat for 60 min in hot conditions (35°C; 15±2%), following a 15 min control period, participants undertook three 15 min testing blocks. A randomised swill (Carbohydrate; Menthol; Water) was administered per testing block (one swill every three minutes within each block). Heart rate, tympanic temperature, thermal comfort, thermal sensation and thirst were recorded every three minutes. Data were analysed by ANOVA, with carbohydrate intake controlled for via ANCOVA. Small elevations in heart rate were observed after carbohydrate (ES: 0.22 ± 90% CI: -0.09 to 0.52) and water swilling (0.26; -0.04 to 0.54). Menthol showed small improvements in thermal comfort relative to carbohydrate (-0.33; -0.63 to 0.03) and water (-0.40; -0.70 to -0.10), and induced moderate reductions in thermal sensation (-0.71; -1.01 to -0.40 and -0.66; -0.97 to -0.35, respectively). Menthol reduced thirst by a small to moderate extent. These effects persisted when controlling for dietary carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrate and water may elevate heart rate, whereas menthol elicits small improvements in thermal comfort, moderately improves thermal sensation and may mitigate thirst; these effects persist when dietary carbohydrate intake is controlled for.

We provide a detailed analysis of the electronic properties of graphene-like materials with charge carriers living on a curved substrate, focusing in particular on constant negative-curvature spacetime. An explicit parametrization is also worked out in the remarkable case of Beltrami geometry, with an analytic solution for the pseudoparticles modes living on the curved bidimensional surface. We will then exploit the correspondent massless Dirac description, to determine how it affects the sample local density of states.

In ultra-relativistic collisions of heavy ions, the strongly interacting Quark Gluon Plasma (sQGP) is created. The fluid nature of the sQGP was one of the important discoveries of high energy heavy ion physics in the last decades. Henceforth the explosion of this matter may be described by hydrodynamical models. Besides numerical simulations, it is important to study the analytic solutions of the equations of hydrodynamics, as these enable us to understand the connection of the final and initial states better. In this paper we present a perturbative, accelerating solution of relativistic hydrodynamics, on top of a known class of solutions describing Hubble-expansion. We describe the properties of this class of perturbative solutions, and investigate a few selected solutions in detail.

Insulin icodec of Novo Nordisk is a novel long-acting insulin analogue that exhibits an extended duration of action, providing a promising treatment option for individuals with diabetes. It has been reported that the incorporation of fatty acid moieties into insulin icodec plays a crucial role in its prolonged action, as these fatty acid chains facilitate the formation of stable hexameric structures, thereby delaying insulin absorption and promoting sustained release. Yet, the underlying biophysics still is elusive of the roles of the three site-specific mutations (Y14A\_E, Y37B\_H, F46B\_H) of insulin icodec in its prolonged activity. Thus, through a comprehensive structural and biophysical analysis of the insulin (both native and icodec) structures bound to its receptor, this article delves deep into the biophysics underlying the molecular design of insulin icodec, and identified a delicate biophysical mechanism through which two missense mutations of insulin icodec (Y37B\_H and F46B\_H) contribute to its prolonged duration of action. Overall, this structural and biophysical investigation provides valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying the relationship between three site-specific mutations and prolonged duration of action of insulin icodec, while understanding these modifications at a structural and biophysical level can aid in the rational design of future long-acting insulin analogues, offering further enhanced therapeutic options for diabetic patients.

UAVs are becoming a crucial tool in modern warfare, primarily due to their cost-effectiveness, risk reduction, and ability to perform a wider range of activities. The use of autonomous UAVs to conduct strike missions against highly valuable targets is the focus of this research. Due to developments in ledger technology, smart contracts, and machine learning, such activities formerly carried out by professionals or remotely flown UAVs are now feasible. Our study provides the first in-depth analysis of challenges and potential solutions for successful implementation of an autonomous UAV mission.

With the daily increasing demands for higher-quality services, mobile Internet of Things (MIoT) are facing various challenges, such as communication security, availability, scalability, etc. Its changing topology features bring a lot of trouble when solving the above problems. Though the evolved cellular network is expected to bring promising solutions, some inherent problems in traditional MIoTs may keep hindering its development. Thus, to overcome above problems, we propose a software-defined MIoTs-based model providing communication security and privacy protection under emergencies. In our scheme, the control plane is responsible to compute routes for online learning devices (OLDs), and forward entries for switches. Taking use of information that OLDs and facilities collect, controller is able to coordinate the overall situation. To ensure the authenticity and reliability of messages sent by OLDs, signature and authentication should be provided. We also introduce an emergency-dealing system. It transplants the multicast technology into software-defined MIoTs to generate a Steiner Tree among impacted nodes, so that OLDs will be informed as soon as emergency happening. The security analysis proves that our scheme is able to ensure the communication security in software-defined MIoTs. The evaluation of performance indicates that our scheme outperforms other existing schemes.

In this work we introduce a novel approach to generate lower and upper L2 estimates for solution derivatives of arbitrary order to a general class of dissipative systems in the case that such estimates are available for the solutions themselves. Our method also works in reverse order: from the L2 estimates of solution derivatives of some (arbitrary) order we can derive lower and upper L2 estimates for the solutions and then to their derivatives of any order. This procedure is based on very simple monotonicity properties combined with standard energy estimates in physical space, following previous ideas of Kreiss, Hagstrom, Lorenz and Zingano. For simplicity, it is applied here in the context of algebraic rates, but the method can be used in other contexts as well (exponential, logarithm, and so forth).

Using an original method for measuring weak radiothermal electromagnetic signals, experimental data were obtained on the analysis of dispersions of noise attractors of the radiobrightness temperature of aqueous solutions of NaCl, Al (NO₃)₃ at dilutions C1 (1:100) – C12 (12:100). The values of dispersions of noise attractors significantly differ from those for the control experiment with water. On the basis of the changed values of the noise attractors of the radiobrightness temperature, the values of the absorption coefficients of the solutions are calculated. The difference between the values of the solutions absorption coefficients and those for water is shown with a successive increase in their values with an increase in the degree of dilution. The difference between the values of the absorption coefficients of solutions of high dilutions and those for water is interpreted as a mechanism of cooperative interaction of ions with water molecules located outside the first hydration shell. A network of water molecules perturbed by ions contributes to the dielectric permittivity was obtained due to new properties at supramolecular interactions on the basis of dispersion interaction.

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are one of the most rapidly evolving types of solvents, appearing in a broad range of applications such as nanotechnology, electrochemistry, biomass transformation, pharmaceuticals, membrane technology, biocomposite development, modern 3D-printing, and many others. The range of their applicability continues to expand, which demands the development of new DESs with improved properties. To do so requires an understanding of the fundamental relationship between the structure and properties of DESs. Computer simulation and machine learning techniques provide a fruitful approach as they can provide predictions, reveal physical mechanisms and readily be linked to experiments. This review is devoted to the computational research of DESs and describes technical features of DES simulations and the corresponding perspectives on various DES applications. The aim is to demonstrate the current frontiers of computational research of DESs and discuss future perspectives.

This article investigates whether the weather has any role in terms of spread and vulnerability of COVID-19 and how that knowledge can be used to arrest this fast spreading disease. It highlights that temperature and humidity both are important for transmitting the virus- temperature being the stronger factor. A dry, cool environment is the most favourable state for the spread of the virus. In fact, high temperature environment significantly reduces the risk from the virus. Warm places and countries are likely to be less vulnerable. Only regulating temperature level can provide drastic results to stop and arrest the outbreak. Some urgent solutions are proposed based on that knowledge. The novelty of such approach is- it can be applied overnight and implemented immediately across the globe. It is very cost effective and practically without side effects. No vast amount of funding is required to adopt these solutions. Apart from existing guidelines, these additional measures are likely to reduce the spread of the disease dramatically. Following the scientific discussion, such solutions may be thought of implementing worldwide, especially to vulnerable countries, as an emergency basis.

Tree-killing bark beetles are the most economically important insects in conifer forests worldwide. Yet despite >200 years of research, the drivers of population eruptions or crashes are still not fully understood, precluding reliable predictions of the effects of global change on beetle population dynamics and impacts on ecosystems and humans. We critically analyze potential biotic and abiotic drivers of population dynamics of the European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) and present a novel ecological framework that integrates the multiple drivers governing this bark beetle system. We call for large-scale collaborative research efforts to improve our understanding of the population dynamics of this important pest; an approach that might serve as a blueprint for other eruptive forest insects.

This paper secures the analytical soliton solutions of the perturbed NLSE gives to (1). The existence criteria have been demonstrated and the wave speed of the soliton befall out. To achieve all the results obtained we used the mathematical technique. In view of the results obtained, some new additional one have been reported in left-handed metamaterials.

With challenged early detection came the collapse of a school roof, initiating a storm of public mistrust and hundreds of schools under investigation in the United Kingdom. The culprit is a poorly understood material heavily used in the 1950s to mid-1990s, reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). As a lightweight material with excellent insulation, RAAC was mainly used in roof and floor panels in many parts of the world. However, RAAC has a comparatively weak compressive strength, poor reinforcement anchorage, and high permeability and susceptibility to creep. The uniqueness of RAAC properties is exacerbated by poor manufacturing, negligent construction and maintenance as well as structural deviations from original design intent. Current guidance lacks in specifying RAAC management strategies beyond recommendations for periodic surveying. This paper delivers a state-of-the-art review of the material properties and structural performance of RAAC to recommend improved measures characterised by non-destructive testing methods and digital asset management. The reviewed literature targets understanding the influence of variable environmental exposure conditions, reinforcement condition, operational loading variations, structural deficiencies, and ageing, to predict their effect on the mechanism of RAAC failure. The established risk factors of RAAC are examined to inform of feasible response strategies against specific issues encountered in affected RAAC structures such as inadequate bearings, compromised transverse reinforcement, and environmental conditions.

The BH 25 railway bridge, located in Indonesia, consists of three spans: 9.5 m (span-1 girder type), 21.9 m (span-2 truss type), and 9.6 m (span-3 girder type). Despite the initial plan for camber, it was not achieved, leading to the installation of temporary support on span-2. To assess the level of damage and determine the necessary steps, static and dynamic tests were conducted using a CC206 locomotive. The maximum deflection was recorded at -4.60 mm for span-1, -11.30 mm for span-2, and -3.42 mm for span-3. The dominant frequency in the vertical direction of span-2 was found to be 14.65 Hz. Due to the inability to achieve the planned camber and the subsequent removal of temporary support, external prestressing will be implemented, resulting in a camber of 11.82 mm. This change in prestressing also affects the dominant frequency of span-2, which becomes 17.07 Hz.

We evaluate performance of Isogeometric analysis (IGA) for structural deformation and automobile crash. In automobile crash analysis, ensuring the accuracy of the acceleration, velocity and load in time series as well as the deformation behavior is important. To maintain the aforementioned consistency, accurately reproducing the bending and buckling of structural members is indispensable. In this study, we firstly compute the bending and buckling of structural members using IGA and validate its performance by comparing the results with conventional finite element analysis and experiments. In addition, we utilize IGA for the crash analysis of an automobile body.

TmMgB5O10 spontaneous crystals were synthesized via flux-growth technique from a K2Mo3O10-based solvent. The crystal structure of the compound was solved and refined within the space group P21/n. The first principles calculations of the electronic structure reveal that TmMg-pentaborate is an insulator with an indirect energy band gap of approximately 6.37 eV. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements and powder X-ray diffraction studies of heat-treated solids show that TmMgB5O10 is an incongruent melting compound. A characteristic band of Tm3+ cation corresponding to the 3H6 → 1D2 transition is observed in the photoluminescence excitation spectra of TmMg-borate. The as-obtained crystals exhibit intense blue emission with the emission peaks centered at 455, 479, 667 and 753 nm. The most intensive band corresponds to the 1D2 3F4 transition.

Supramolecular structures are of great interest due to their applicability in various scientific and industrial fields. These fields of scientific action include promising applications i biomedical areas, in sensing, and in conductive and electrical phases. The sensible definition of supramolecular molecules is being set by investigators, who, because of the different sensitivities of their methods and observational timescales, may have different views as to what constitute these supramolecular structures. Besides, diverse polymers can be found to offer unique avenues for multifunctional systems with properties in medicine industrial applications. Aspects of this review provide different conceptual strategies to address molecular design, properties, and potential applications of self-assembly materials and the use of metal coordination as a feasible and useful strategy for constructing complex supramolecular structures. In this order of appreciations and ideas order, it is that this review report involves classic topics such as hydrogels that range from their relationship with drug delivery systems, to metallo-supramolecular materials, through applications in ophthalmic systems, in applications that require adhesiveness and electrically conductive hydrogels. This review also addresses systems that are largely based on hydrogel chemistry and the enormous opportunities to design very specific structures for applications that demand enormous specificity.

Whether there is any inclination between structures and functions of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is a mystery yet to be unraveled. AMPs have various structures associated with many different antimicrobial functions, including antibacterial, anticancer, antifungal, antiparasitic and antiviral activities. However, none has yet reported any antimicrobial functional tendency within a specific category of protein/peptide structures nor any structural tendency of a specific antimicrobial function with respect to AMPs. Here we examine the relationships between structures categorized by three structural classification methods (CATH, SCOP and TM) and seven antimicrobial functions with respect to AMPs using an enrichment analysis. The results show that antifungal activities of AMPs were tightly related to two-layer sandwich structure of CATH, knottin fold of SCOP, and the first structural cluster of TM. The associations with knottin and TM cluster 1 even sustained through the AMPs with a low sequence identity. Besides, another significant mutual enrichment was observed between the third cluster of TM and anti-gram-positive-bacterial/anti-gram-negative-bacterial activities. The findings of the structure-function inclination further our understanding of AMPs and could help us design or discover new therapeutic potential AMPs.

The outbreak of a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) associated with acute respiratory disease called COVID-19 marked the introduction of the third spillover of an animal CoV to humans in the last 2 decades. The SARS-CoV2 genome analysis with various bioinformatics tools revealed that it belongs to beta CoVs genera, with highly similar genome as bat coronavirus and receptor binding domain (RBD) of spike glycoprotein as Malayan pangolin coronavirus. Based on its genetic proximity, SARS-CoV2 is likely to be originated from bat derived CoV and transmitted to humans via an unknown intermediate mammalian host, probably Malayan pangolin. Further spike protein S1/S2 cleavage site of SARS-CoV2 has acquired polybasic furin cleavage site which is absent in bat and pangolin suggesting natural selection either in an animal host before zoonotic transfer or in humans following zoonotic transfer. In the current review, we recapitulate a preliminary opinion about the disease, origin and life cycle of SARS-CoV2, roles of virus proteins in pathogenesis, commonalities and differences between different corona viruses. We have also highlighted the evidences regarding the potential drugs and vaccine candidates with their modes of action to cope with this viral outbreak. Our review provides comprehensive up-dated information on molecular aspects of the SARS-CoV2.

Impressing discoveries in the field of the genetic code have been described by its researchers by means of the terminology borrowed from linguistics and the theory of communications. Leading experts on structural linguistics believe for a long time already that languages of human dialogue were formed not from an empty place, but they are continuation of genetic language or, anyhow, are closely connected with it, confirming the idea of information commonality of organisms. The aticle continues the theme about a connection of linquistic languages with the genetic language. It describes results of comparative study of long Russian literary texts (novels by L.Tolstoy, F.Dostoevsky, A.Pushkin, etc.) and long sequences of hydrogen bonds in double helixes of DNA of different organisms. Formalisms of quantum informatics are used in modeling some of these results taking into account thoughts of many researches about possible using principles of quantum informatics in organisation of living bodies.

The peptidyl-prolyl isomerases of the cyclophilin type are distributed throughout human cells, including eight found solely in the nucleus. Nuclear cyclophilins are involved in complexes that regulate chromatin modification, transcription, and pre-mRNA splicing. This review collects what is known about the eight human nuclear cyclophilins: PPIH, PPIE, PPIL1, PPIL2, PPIL3, PPIG, CWC27, and PPWD1. Each “spliceophilin” is evaluated in relation to the spliceosomal complex in which it has been studied, and current work studying the biological roles of these cyclophilins in the nucleus are discussed. All eight of the human splicing complexes available in the PDB are analyzed from the viewpoint of the human spliceophilins. Future directions in structural and cellular biology, and the importance of developing spliceophilin-specific inhibitors, are considered.

The synthesis of four samples of new polyurethanes was evaluated by changing the ratio of the diol monomers used, poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) and D-isosorbide, in the presence of aliphatic isocyanates such as the isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and 4,4′-methylenebis(cyclohexyl isocyanate) (HMDI). The thermal properties of the four polymers obtained were determined by DSC, exhibiting Tg values in the range 55-70 ºC, and their molecular structure characterized by FTIR, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopies. The diffusion coefficients of these polymers in solution were measured by the Pulse Gradient Spin Echo (PGSE) NMR method, enabling the calculation of the corresponding hydrodynamic radii in diluted solution (1.62–2.65 nm). The molecular weights were determined by GPC/SEC and compared with the values determined by quantitative 13C NMR analysis. Finally, the biocompatibility of the polyurethanes was assessed using the HaCaT keratinocyte cell line by the MTT reduction assay method showing values superior to 70% cell viability.

Spirit of science is one of the important components of science education theory. It not only directly affects the level of science education, but also indirectly affects the selection, education and evaluation of scientific researchers, and the development of science and technology in a country or region. Although more than a century ago, the researchers began to discuss the topic of spirit of science. However, to date, the research of the definition, attribute, structural model and its characteristics of the spirit of science has not yet made a breakthrough. Based on the detailed literature review, the related theoretical analysis and the research of the structural model of the spirit of science, this paper puts forward the new definition, the attribute and the establishment of the structural model of the spirit of science, and analyzes the match the situation from new structural model of the spirit of science and the scientific nature published by the American Society for the Advancement of Science. The results of this study are of great significance for raising the level of scientific education and cultivating future scientific researchers, enhancing their motivation and skills in innovation in scientific research and promoting the development of future scientific undertakings.

Manned missions to Mars and other deep space exploration targets are expected to take place in the next 20 years. These missions will involve prolonged crew exposure to the unique space environment, increasing the risk that astronauts will experience additional physical and psychological health conditions beyond those that would be expected through normal aging on Earth. Thus, there is an acute need to develop therapeutic solutions that can withstand the harsh space environment, while maintaining astronaut health and maximizing crew capabilities to foster successful exploration-class missions. This review covers the nuanced and interdisciplinary challenge that is providing safe and effective pharmaceuticals for future deep space missions. First, the limitations of current pharmaceutical solutions are discussed; the impacts of the space environment on human health and chemical compound stability are covered, along with an evaluation of astronaut medication use on similar missions. Second, potential pharmaceutical solutions and concepts are presented for consideration. Future research should prioritize these and other potential innovations to ensure that our space programs are well equipped to maximize crew safety as astronauts explore deep space objectives.

In this study, we focus on an abstract form of summation equations, which can be regarded as a particular class of nonlinear difference equations. We investigate sufficient conditions for the existence of discrete almost automorphic solutions by appealing to the fixed point theory and establish a linkage between the existence of discrete almost automorphic solutions and the existence of bounded solutions for the nonlinear difference equations in the spotlight. Consequentially, we propose a discrete counterpart of the Bohr-Neugebauer theorem for the qualitative theory of difference equations.

The paper examines rational Darboux-Crum transforms (RDCTs) of the Jacobi-reference (JRef) potential on the line, with an emphasis on the transformations using only normalizable seed solutions. The Cooper-Ginocchio-Khare (CGK) potential constitutes the simplest example of this rich family of exactly solvable one-dimensional (1D) potentials. It was explicitly confirmed that that an arbitrary Darboux-Crum transformation (DCT) of the given Sturm-Liouville equation (SLE) can be represented as a chain of sequential Darboux deformations of the associated Liouville potentials. If the rational SLE (RSLE) under consideration is exactly solvable and the transformation function (TF) used at each step is nodeless then each RSLE constructed in such a way was proven being exactly solvable itself. The exact solvability of RDCTs of the JRef canonical SLE (CSLE) was also confirmed for the DCTs using pairs of juxtaposed eigenfunctions (an extension of the renowned Adler theorem to the RCSLEs of our interest). By re-expressing the reference polynomial fraction (RefPF) of the transformed CSLE in terms of the Krein determinant (KD), instead of Crum Wronskian (CW), it was shown that the eigenfunctions under consideration are expressible in terms of polynomial solutions of a generalized Heun equation with positions of the most poles dependent on the exponent parameters. The outlined technique was extended to two isospectral SUSY partners of the JRef potential (as well as to its third sibling with the inserted new lowest-energy level) which, by analogy with the CGK potential, are quantized by polynomial solutions of the 2-Heun equation with all four poles at some fixed positions on the real axis.

Medium polarity plays a crucial role in charge-transfer processes and electrochemistry. The added supporting electrolyte in electrochemical setups, essential for attaining the needed electrical conductivity, sets challenges for estimating medium polarity. Herein, we resort to Lippert–Mataga–Ooshika (LMO) formalism for estimating the Onsager polarity of electrolyte organic solutions pertinent to electrochemical analysis. An amine derivative of 1,8-naphthalimide proves to be an appropriate photoprobe for LMO analysis. An increase in electrolyte concentration enhances the polarity of the solutions. This effect becomes especially pronounced for low-polarity solvents. Measured refractive indexes provide a means for converting Onsager to Born polarity, which is essential for analyzing medium effects on electrochemical trends. This study demonstrates a robust optical means, encompassing steady-state spectroscopy and refractometry, for characterizing solution properties important for charge-transfer science and electrochemistry.

This work is developed over the question ”How to automatically create a good clustering on spatial dataset with high different local densities?” opened by previus work of Berzi [5]. To answer the main question, this work describe a approach of recursive clustering process based on a technique of finding ”vague-solution”, where the output is an hierarchical clustering of initial dataset. In particularly the the approach is developed and tested on DBSCAN algorithm [11] with large dataset gathered by Google Place in Metropolitan Area of Milan. The core solutions developed in this algorithm are condensed in the capacity of generation a Hierarchical Clustering with a recursive select the best solutions in according tothe our goals, previously dfined by some sets of rules. The algorithm described here, and developed in my Master Thesis, rosolve two problem: - When we use an algorithm of clustering that can create a set of differents clustering, but equally valid and don’t know exctly what we must have as good solution, we areled to ask ourselves: ”What are the better?” This obviously depends by our goals, sonow the question is: ”What are our goals?”; - The second problem is condensed in the sentence ”Not all clusters can be found in one-shot clustering process, more often we must reapply the process to some part of datataset”, so there we have a second question that this paper answering: ”How to create clustering of data with ad-hoc processing for each different part of input dataset?”; These questions are resolved by the approaches named in this work as: Space of Solutions, Vague-Solution, Vague-Solution finding Method and finaly Recursive Clustering. All of these approaches was drafted and tested in mine Master Thesis titled ”Geospatial data analysis for Urban informatics applications: the case of the Google Place of the City of Milan” [25].

In this paper, we consider the development of algorithms for the solution of first order initial value problems whose solution exhibits exponential behaviour. Method of interpolation and collocation of basis function to give system of nonlinear equations which is solved for the unknown parameters to give a continuous scheme. The discrete methods recovered from the continuous scheme are implemented in block form. The stability properties of the method is verified and numerical experiments show that our method is efficient in handling these problems

The use of acoustic and magnetic methods of non-destructive testing to detect zones of stable localization of deformation in order to assess and predict the performance of long-term equipment is of scientific and practical interest at present. A structural-mechanical criterion has been developed, that reflects the revealed relationships between the structural and substructural states, internal stress fields and stable localization of deformations with the characteristics of non-destructive tests in the metal of long-term equipment made of structural 0.2 С steel and heat-resistant 0,12C-1Cr-1Mo-1V steel. The values of the structural-mechanical criteria Ks.-m for structural 0.2 С steel and for heat-resistant 0,12C-1Cr-1Mo-1V steel, corresponding to the moment of stable localization of deformation, are established. At the same time, it is recommended to replace the checked equipment nodes due to the exhaustion of the resource. The proposed and justified approach to assessing and predicting the performance and residual life of long-term power equipment, based on the identified relationships between the structural and substructural states, internal stress fields and stable localization of deformations with the characteristics of non-destructive tests and the calculation of the structural-mechanical criterion, was applied at a number of power plants in the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass. A methodology has been developed for evaluating the residual life, based on the identification and use of relationships between structural and substructural states, internal stress fields and stable localization of deformations with the characteristics of non-destructive tests and the calculation of a structural-mechanical criterion.

The scientific community has long benefited from the opportunities provided by data reuse. Recognizing the need to identify the challenges and bottlenecks to reuse in the agricultural research community and propose solutions for them, the data reuse working group was started within the AgBioData consortium (https://www.agbiodata.org/) framework. Here, we identify the limitations of data standards, metadata deficiencies, data interoperability, data ownership, data availability, user skill level, resource availability, and equity issues, with a specific focus on agricultural genomics research. We propose possible solutions stakeholders could implement to mitigate and overcome these challenges and provide an optimistic perspective on the future of genomics and transcriptomics data reuse.

Second-level hospitals face peculiarities that hinder the implementation of the hearing rescreening protocol, which are not uncommon in other settings. This study analyzes the hearing rescreening process in this kind of hospital. A total of 1130 individuals were included. In this cohort, 61.07% were newborns in the hospital who failed their first otoemission test after birth (n=679) or were unable to have the test performed (n=11), then being referred to outpatient clinic. The remaining 38.93% were individuals who were born in another hospital with their first test conducted in the outpatient clinic (n=440). A high amount of rescreenings were made outside the recommended time frame, mainly in children referred from another hospital. There was a high rate of lost to follow-up especially with otolaryngologist referrals. Neonatal Hearing screening in second level hospitals is difficult because of the staffing and time constraints. This results in longer than recommended turnaround times and interferes with the timely detection of hearing loss. This is particularly serious in outpatients. Referral of children with impaired screening to out-of-town centers leads to unacceptable loss of follow-up. A legislative support for all these rescreening issues is necessary. We discuss these findings and propose some solutions.