The present work offers a contemporary synthesis of the application of the Oxford Nanopore^® MinION^™ within the context of cultural heritage biodeterioration investigations, while also providing a comprehensive discussion of possible future perspectives for their utilization in this research field. Owing to the distinctive characteristics of this device, the past few years have witnessed the consistent increase on the application of this system in a variety of cultural heritage materials. In fact, the technique has been useful to understand microbial biodeteriogens diversity and some of their metabolic and biodeteriogenic features. Considering the immense potential for application of this system, this manuscript explores and discusses further possibilities of the technique, focusing on helping understand critical questions on the cultural heritage biodeterioration area. Its application in various differential contexts, has opened doors for prospective applications on other interesting sub-areas of research meriting future investigations, including: biodeteriogens genome and transcriptome analysis, metatranscriptomics, biodeteriorative metabolism studies, inter and intra kingdom interactions analysis, resistome profiling, object history and context studies, in situ applications, bioprospecting and biotechnology.

Botswana is developing its eHealth capacity using a National eHealth Strategy. However, that Strategy overlooks telemedicine, a potential solution for many healthcare challenges. For telemedicine to benefit Botswana, a telemedicine-specific strategy is required. While establishing a national strategy is a sovereign responsibility, guidance and recommendations can be provided. Using published resources specific to Botswana, key health-related issues were identified. These issues were matched with suitable telemedicine activities and delivery approaches. Recommendations were then derived from these for use in an effective telemedicine-specific strategy for Botswana. From 28 health-related issues, six were prioritised. Three telemedicine activities were identified (clinical services, education, and behaviour change), and one delivery approach was chosen (store-and-forward) because they align well with current needs, infrastructure, and mobile phone user capabilities. Since telemedicine has been proven to be effective, efficient, and cost-effective when implemented correctly this knowledge and experience, plus a recognised strategy development framework, has led to evidence-based recommendations. Specific telemedicine options were identified as examples. As confidence grows, telemedicine options can be expanded to address additional clinical needs and explore alternative activities and delivery options. The recommendations can help the Government develop a telemedicine-specific strategy that aligns with the National eHealth Strategy while actively promoting and supporting the adoption and system integration of straightforward telemedicine interventions. This foundation will facilitate the future expansion of telemedicine initiatives for the benefit of all Batswana.

The majority of E-commerce transactions reveal private information such as customers' identities, order contents, and payment information during the transaction. Other personal information such as health conditions, religion, and even ethnicity may be also deduced. Even when deploying electronic cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, anonymity cannot be fully guaranteed. Also, many anonymous payment schemes suffer from possible double spending circumstances. E-commerce privacy is basically a difficult problem as it involves parties with concurring interests. Three major e-commerce requirements are highly difficult to resolve: anonymous purchase, anonymous delivery, and anonymous payment. This work presents a possible e-commerce system addressing all three anonymity requirements for electronic-items business on open networks. The system offers anonymous entities authentication mechanisms up to completing a fair anonymous e-commerce transaction. The system is based on deploying a physically clone-resistant hardware token for each relevant involved party. The tokens are made clone-resistant by accommodating a Secret Unknown Cipher (SUC) in each hardware-token as a digital PUF-like identity. A set of novel generic system-setups for units, protocols and e-commerce schemes is introduced. The proposed anonymization is basically attained by virtually-replacing relevant e-commerce entities by low-cost, unique and clone-resistant tokens/units using SUCs. The units act as trustable anonymous, authenticated and non-replaceable entities monitored by their acting users.

This work is devoted to the construction and study of commutative gates for a two-qubit quantum system. Using four-dimensional algebra developed by the Kazakh mathematician Abenov M.M. all groups of commutative gates have been constructed, and among all states of a two-qubit quantum system, unitary states with which a specific gate is connected have been identified. An explicit type of gate is described that transfers a quantum system from one unitary state to another unitary state. The proposed approach opens up new possibilities for the design of quantum algorithms not only for two-qubit quantum systems, but also for $n$-qubit quantum systems.

Dust storms play a crucial role in the climate system and the space environment of Mars and have a great impact on human’s Mars exploration activities. The Martian dust storms exhibit significant regional, seasonal and interannual variations due to various controlling factors such as the large-scale atmospheric circulation, varying solar radiation forcing, and Martial orbital and rotational motions and their coupling to the atmospheric dynamics. This paper focuses on the review of cur-rent understandings on Martian dust storms. This paper begins by elucidating the basic properties of dust storms, and their driving mechanisms and impacts on atmospheric dynamics, atmospheric electric property, space environment, topography, and Mars explorations. Then it introduces the observation methods on different platforms including orbiters and landers/rovers, and the da-tasets constructed based on these historical observations for Martian dust storms. Finally, we pro-posed the dust storm monitoring and forecasting for the upcoming Chinese Tianwen-3 Mars sam-pling returning mission. It concludes by depicting the future research topics to systematically un-derstand the Martian dust storms.

Worldwide initiatives currently aim to reduce free sugar intakes, but success will depend on consumer attitudes towards sugar and the alternatives. This work aimed to explore attitudes towards sugar, sweeteners and sweet-tasting foods in the general public of the UK, including attitudes towards personal consumption and related policies. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with 34 adults (7 males, ages: 18-65 years). Thematic analysis identified six themes: ‘Value’ (e.g. pleasure, emotions), ‘Angle’ (e.g. disinterest), ‘Personal Relevance’ (to be concerned and/or change one’s own behaviour), ‘Personal Responsibility’ (one has an active relationship with these food items), ‘Understanding’ (the acquisition, comprehension and application of information surrounding these food items) and ‘It’s Not Up to Me’ (a passive approach towards these food items, because intake is subjected to other factors). Both positive and negative attitudes towards sugar, sweeteners and sweet-tasting foods were expressed in all themes, largely dependent on the individual. Potential strategies for reducing free sugar intakes were also reported, but differences in likely value were suggested by different individuals. Future work should assess associations between attitudes and intakes. For greatest population benefit, evidence of the dominant attitudes in those in greatest need of reduced free sugar intakes would be of value.

Studying the two famous old problems that why the moon can move around the Sun and why the orbit of the Moon around the Earth cannot be broken off by the Sun under the condition that calculating with F=GMm/R^2, the attractive force of the Sun on the Moon is almost 2.2 times that of the Earth. We found that the planet and moon are unified as one single gravitational unit which results in that the Sun cannot have the force of F=GMm/R^2 on the moon. The moon is moved by the gravitational unit orbiting around the Sun. It could indicate that the gravitational field of the moon is limited inside the unit and the gravitational fields of both the planet and moon is unified as one single field interacting with the Sun. The findings are further clarified by reestablishing Newton’s repulsive gravity.

A crewed mission to and from Mars may include an exciting array of enabling biotechnologies that leverage inherent mass, power, and volume advantages over traditional abiotic approaches. In this perspective, we articulate the scientific and engineering goals and constraints, along with example systems, that guide the design of a surface biomanufactory. Extending past arguments for exploiting stand-alone elements of biology, we argue for an integrated biomanufacturing plant replete with modules for microbial \textit{in situ} resource utilization, production, and recycling of food, pharmaceuticals, and biomaterials required for sustaining future intrepid astronauts. We also discuss aspirational technology trends in each of these target areas in the context of human and robotic exploration missions in the coming century.

What is the potential for synthetic biology as a way of engineering, on a large scale, complex ecosystems? Can it be used to change endangered ecological communities and rescue them to prevent their collapse? What are the best strategies for such ecological engineering paths to succeed? Is it possible to create stable, diverse synthetic ecosystems capable of persisting in closed environments? Can synthetic communities be created to thrive on planets different from ours? These and other questions pervade major future developments within synthetic biology. The goal of engineering ecosystems is plagued with all kinds of technological, scientific and ethic problems. In this paper we consider the requirements for Terraformation, i. e. for changing a given environment to make it hospitable to some given class of life forms. Although the standard use of this term involved strategies for planetary terraformation, it has been recently suggested that this approach could be applied to a very different context: ecological communities within our own planet. As discussed here, this includes multiple scales, from the gut microbiome to the entire biosphere.

The Anthropocene has emerged as the dominant conceptualization of the current geological epoch and, more significantly, of Humanity’s relation to nature. By its proponents the Anthropocene is espoused as a “solution formulation,” an analytical tool which clarifies Humanity’s multifarious impacts on nature and nature’s subsequent crises; and further as a conceptual apparatus from which to launch mitigation and adaption strategies, promising deliverance from or at least engagement with ecological crises. However, the Anthropocene is not a neutral concept, merely illuminating transition within ecological conditions and connections between human activities and nature; rather, it is a particular prism from which to understand humanity’s relation to nature. And, as the Anthropocene becomes ascendant both analytically and politically, it becomes vital to question its imaginary, how it constructs nature and Humanity, how it influences and constrains responses to ecological crises, and what the long-term implications of operating within this imaginary are. I argue that the Anthropocene as a political/analytical prism rests upon flawed conceptions of nature, history, and humanity, rending it an impotent construct from which to respond to ecological crises; offering only partial and presumptive “solutions” in the form of intensified governmental regulation and the application of manifold technological “fixes” through the geoengineering of Earth’s systems, in an attempt to address isolated aspects of ecological destruction.

Hundreds of millions of people on the planet are affected by malnourishment. This contributes to the vulnerability of large swaths of the population, especially children under five years old extremely vulnerable to diseases and even death in the least developed countries. Today, by providing a substantial share of global protein intake, as well as fatty acids and micronutrients, fisheries contribute to global food security. As fish stocks in the upper sea levels have already been over-exploited, there might not be enough in supplying food security, deep-sea fisheries have been increasingly discussed to address this problem. Some mesopelagic fishes show the potential to provide important nutrients. Another way of supplying food security might be through using mesopelagic fish as fish feed. However, fishing in the mesopelagic zone could lead to severe ecological problems and the impact on the biological carbon pump is uncertain. This paper highlights and juxtaposes different perspectives regarding exploitation pathways of the fish riches of deep seas and reviews best practice model projects that deal with uncertainties related to fishery management in the mesopelagic zone.

Space missions have always assumed that the risk of spacecraft malfunction far outweighs the risk of human system failure. This assumption breaks down for longer duration exploration missions and exposes vulnerabilities in space medical system. Space agencies can no longer buy down the majority of human system risk through the crew member selection process and emergency re-supply or evacuation. No mature medical solutions exist to close the risk gap. With recent advances in biotechnology, there is promise in augmenting a space pharmacy with a biologically-based space foundry for on-demand manufacturing of high-value medical products. Here we review the challenges and opportunities of molecular pharming, the production of pharmaceuticals in plants, as the basis of a space medical foundry to close the risk gap in current space medical systems. Plants have long been considered an important life support object in space and can now also be viewed as programmable factories in space. Advances in molecular pharming-based space foundries will have widespread application in promoting simple and accessible pharmaceutical manufacturing on Earth.

Prunus dulcis is one of the most widely cultivated species in the world. Its fruit (almond) is rich in various nutritious and bioactive compounds that exert several beneficial effects. The aim of this study was to determine the chemical profile and evaluate the biological potential in vitro of almond shell extracts. The chemical analysis of shell extracts led to the identification of 15 com-pounds by HPLC-DAD of which 11 were first detected in the almond plant. Twenty-six volatile compounds were identified by the GC-MS technique, among them; seven were firstly detected in the studied plant. For the biological activities, the extracts demonstrated moderate inhibition potential against the antioxidant, antidiabetic, and cytotoxic activities. The methanol extract at 50 µg/mL showed the highest antioxidant (45%) and antidiabetic activities (45% against alpha-glucosidase and 31% against alpha-amylase extracts), while the cyclohexane and dichloromethane at 50 µg/mL showed the highest cytotoxic activity towards Hela (32.2% with cyclohexane), and RAW 264-7 (45% with dichloromethane). Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential of almond shell extracts as a source of bioactive compounds that could be applied in the pharmaceutical and medical fields.

Drug resistance has become an extremely serious problem worldwide. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) entering the environment with wastewaters promote replenishment of the resistome of natural microbioms. Distribution of several clinically significant ARGs in wastewaters of Rostov-on-Don (Southern Russia), lower reaches of the Don River and natural waters of the neighboring region was investigated. Metagenomic DNA samples isolated from 250 ml of wastewaters or natural waters and 200 mg of surface sediments were used for the study. Identification of the ARGs was carried out with end-point detection PCR. Presence of NDM, OXA-48, CTX-M, VanA, VanB, ErmB, and TetM/TetO genes was detected in urban wastewaters. Samples of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) sewage were enriched with ARGs in contrast to non-treated wastewaters from the sewage collector. NDM, VanA, ErmB, TetM/TetO genes were found only in wastewaters and were absent in samples of natural waters and surface sediments. Only OXA-48, VanB and CTXM genes were found in natural waters and surface sediments. The described ARGs are quite typical for urban and hospital wastewaters. The target ARGs were detected in the samples connected to the anthropogenous sources of pollution such as Rostov municipal WWTP or livestock enterprise effluents.

Background: Pediatric obesity treatment is based on high-intensity lifestyle counseling. However, high dropout rates and low effectiveness have been reported even in specialized centers. Mobile health technologies have been used in research settings to overcome these limits with contrasting results. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a six-month intervention with a mobile app for the treatment of pediatric obesity at 6 and 12 months of follow-up. Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to standard care or standard care plus mobile app (2:1). The mobile app delivered high-intensity lifestyle counseling for diet and physical activity. Results: Seventy-five subjects were prospectively enrolled. At six months of follow-up, the m-app group showed significantly lower dropout rates compared to standard care(p=0.01). The risk of dropout was significantly higher in controls compared to the intervention group (OR 3.86,95%C.I. 1.39-10.42,p=0.01). After one year of follow-up, we observed lower albeit non statistically significant dropout rates in the m-app compared to the standard care group(p=0.24). No differences were observed in terms of z-score BMI and percentage of BMI reduction between the two groups. Conclusion: our findings suggest that mobile app might help in the clinical management of children and adolescents with obesity in terms of dropout reduction.

The successful 2020 launch and 2021 landing of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Perseverance Mars rover initiated the first phase of the NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign. The goal of the MSR campaign is to collect scientifically interesting samples from the Martian surface and return them to Earth for further study in terrestrial laboratories. The MSR campaign consists of three major spacecraft components to accomplish this objective: the Perseverance Mars rover, the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) and the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO). Onboard the ERO spacecraft is the Capture, Containment and Return System (CCRS). CCRS will capture, process and return to Earth the samples that have been collected after they are launched into Mars orbit by the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), which is delivered to Mars onboard the SRL. To facilitate the processing of the orbiting sample (OS) by CCRS we have designed and developed a vision system to determine the OS capture orientation. The vision system is comprised of two cameras sensitive to the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and two illumination modules constructed from broadband light emitting diodes (LED). Vision system laboratory tests and physics-based optical simulations predict CCRS ground processing will be able to correctly identify the OS post-capture orientation using only a single vision system image that is transmitted to Earth from Mars orbit.

Wearable computing is a fast evolving segment of computing that includes smart watches, head mounted wearables such as Magic Leap headsets, Microsoft Hololens, and VR goggles from various vendors. In this report, we present ideas for a smart wearable device that also doubles as a virus protection device. Instead of using the filtering approach that is predominantly used by virus protection equipments such as face masks, we propose to use a computational approach where the device maintains an awareness of the real-time virus spread and use that information to steer the wearer away from the virus. As the wearable has a head enclosing design, viral infection can only happen through the air that is inhaled by the wearer. The objective of the smart wearable is to maintain a repository for clean air and switch the operating modes between stored and fresh air modes depending on the environmental conditions. It can augment this basic operating procedure by recycling the exhaled air to maximize it operating capacity (i.e., time duration for which it could supply the wearer with safe air) and by cleaning the stored air using UVC to further reduces the chance of infection. To maintain an awareness of the virus spread in the environment, the smart wearable will rely on an edge computing framework that will be distributed to cover areas frequented by people. The smart wearable will have modular design so that it can be reconfigured to add or subtract functionality that the wearer wants for a particular situation so that the design remains relevant even after the virus threat recedes.

Soft pneumatic actuators/robotics have received significant interest in the medical and health fields, due to their intrinsic elasticity and simple control strategies enabling desired interaction. However, current soft hand pneumatic exoskeletons often exhibit uniform deformation, mismatch the profile of the interacted objects, and seldom quantify the assistive effects during activities of daily life (ADL), such as extension angle and joint stiffness predicted. The lack of quantification poses challenges to the effective and sustainable advancement of rehabilitation technology. This paper introduces the design, modeling, and testing of pneumatic bioinspired Segmented Composite Proprioceptive Bending Actuators (SCPBAs) for hand rehabilitation in ADL tasks. The actuator’s soft-joint/rigid-bone segmented structure, inspired by the human finger anatomy, provides a superior fit compared to traditional continuous structures. A quasi-static model is established to predict the bending angles based on geometrical parameters. The SCPBAs also include a quantitative evaluation of joint stiffness and extension angle utilizing proprioceptive bending information. Additionally, a soft under-actuated hand exoskeleton equipped with SCPBAs demonstrates its potential in ADL rehabilitation scenarios.

A multicenter, prospective cohort study conducted in 5 physiotherapy clinics in the UAE from January 2021 to March 2023 to assess coronal lumbar spine radiographic parameters as a predictor of conservative therapy outcomes in patients suffering from low back and leg pain due to lumbar disc herniation (HNP). Ninety patients (mean age 44 yrs., 54% male) with lumbar HNP underwent conservative therapy. All participants received lumbar spine MRI and radiography to assess spine alignment. Interventions included specific exercises, diathermy, traction, education, a home-based exercise pro-gram, and medications. Detailed demographic data was collected. Follow-up was 6-months after discharge. A successful outcome was based on a minimum of the following four outcomes: (1) reduction of pain by 17.5 points (0–100 NRS); (2) fatigue reduction by 7.5 points; (3) distress reduction by 5 points; and (4) interference reduction by 9.5 points. At 6-month follow-up it was found that patient age, education, and radio-graphic determined lumbosacral angle measures significantly affected the odds of a successful outcome. Increasing age 1-year significantly decreased the odds of success of improving pain, fatigue (OR = 0.85, p = 0.016) and interference scores (OR = 0.89, p = 0.042) by 15%, 15%, and 11% respectively. Lower education significantly increased the odds of success for improving pain, fatigue, and interference by 26.18, 26.18, and 7.5 (p = 0.006, = 0.006, and = 0.029 respectively). Increasing (worsening) the radiographic lumbosacral angle by each 1° significantly reduced the odds of success for improving pain, fatigue, distress, and interference by 3.52, 3.52, 27.99, and 2.55, respectively (p < 0.001, < 0.001, = 0.003, = 0.001). Our findings indicate that younger age, less education, and better coronal radiological lumbar spine alignment all had a substantial impact on the likelihood of success of 6-month outcomes in patients suffering from chronic lower back pain and radiculopathy due to HNP.

Detecting gear rim fatigue cracks using vibration signal analysis is often a challenging task, which typically requires a series of signal processing steps to detect and enhance fault features. This task becomes even harder in helicopter planetary gearboxes due to the complex interactions between different gear sets, and the presence of vibration from sources other than the planetary gear set. In this paper, we propose an effectual processing algorithm to isolate and enhance rim crack features and to trend crack growth in planet gears. The algorithm is based on using cepstrum editing (or liftering) of the hunting tooth synchronous averaged signals (angular domain) to extract harmonics and sidebands of the planet gears, and low-pass filtering and minimum entropy deconvolution (MED) to enhance extracted fault features. The algorithm has been successfully applied to a vibration dataset collected from a planet gear rim crack propagation test undertaken in the Helicopter Transmission Test Facility (HTTF) at DSTG Melbourne. In this test, a seeded notch generated by an electric discharge machine (EDM) was used to initiate a fatigue crack that propagated through the gear rim body over 94 load cycles. The proposed algorithm demonstrated a successful isolation of incipient fault features and provided a reliable trending capability to monitor crack progression. Results of a comparative analysis showed that the proposed algorithm outperformed the traditional signal processing approach.

The ocean of the planet Earth, which is as thin as a cicada's wings, play a role of catalyst to the evolving of the ancient plates. The ocean and the ancient plates of the planet Earth formed a magic Whirlpool of the Cross “十” shape with double whirl arms. The central core of the Cross “十” shape Ocean-Plate Whirlpool is the Hint Black Hole (HBH) located at the Northwestern Pacific Ocean floor which is decorated with invisible geological age distribution of clam shell. The double whirl arms of ancient plates are distinguished to be left and right at Bering Strait and just formed the ring of fire of the Pacific Ocean.The Cross “十” shape Ocean-Plate Whirlpool of the planet Earth was born at the equatorial area about 66 Ma ago and is rotating anticlockwise and drifting northward by a mini footprint of spiral at s speed of as slow as a snail moves. Obviously, it would come to an end at the North Pole about 100 Ma in the future. So, the lifespan of the Cross “十” shape Ocean-Plate Whirlpool would be about 166 Ma, from birth to death on the planet Earth.What is hidden behind of the evolving of the oceans and the ancient plates is the golden law of geometrical progression of ladder pagoda of attributes evolving of them, which is “1➨2➨4➨2➨1”, including upgrading and downgrading process. It seems to hint that what is happening on the planet Earth, including the top-level species of human race, is actually unique in the Milky Way galaxy in essence.The property roles of expanding and shrinking are existing in the Cross “十” shape Ocean-Plate Whirlpool by face to face and the exchange of property roles took place tens of millions of years ago. And that situation would happen again tens of millions of years in the future. It seems a giant circle of evolving of the exchange of property roles would be drawn by the Cross “十” shape Ocean-Plate Whirlpool in her lifetime.

Summary Genome assembly projects have grown exponentially due to breakthroughs in sequencing technologies and assembly algorithms. Evaluating the quality of genome assemblies is critical to ensure the reliability of downstream analysis and interpretation. To fulfil this task, we have developed the AssemblyQC pipeline that performs file-format validation, contaminant checking, contiguity measurement, gene- and repeat-space completeness quantification, telomere inspection, taxonomic assignment, synteny alignment, scaffold examination through Hi-C contact-map visualisation, and assessments of completeness, consensus quality and phasing through K-mer analysis. It produces a comprehensive HTML report with method descriptions, tables, and visualisations. Availability and Implementation The pipeline uses NextFlow for workflow orchestration and adheres to the best-practice established by the nf-core community. This pipeline offers a reproducible, scalable, and portable method to assess the quality of genome assemblies – the code is available online.GitHub: https://github.com/Plant-Food-Research-Open/assemblyqc Supplementary information Pipeline usage documentation, parameter descriptions and example outputs are available on GitHub: https://github.com/Plant-Food-Research-Open/assemblyqc/tree/main/docs. A preview report is also hosted online: https://plant-food-research-open.github.io/assemblyqc

Hazelnuts are one of the most valuable nuts in the world due to their unique organoleptic properties and nutritional characteristics. This work was intended to analyze some physical and chemical properties of various hazelnut cultivars grown in Zakataly (Azerbaijan), namely Ata-baba, Elbari, Topqara, Firovan, Nasimi, Qalib, Mirzebeyli, Tala, Dash findiq, Barli, Azeri and Sachaqli. In general, the results showed statistically significant differences between the studied cultivars. The density of kernels, depending on the hazelnut cultivars, varied from 0.71 g/cm³ (Azeri) up to 1. 03 g/sm³ (Sachaqli). The peeled fruits of Dash findiq were heavier on average (1.64±0.34 g), and the peeled fruits of Nasimi, Qalib, Mirzebeyli and Sachaqli were lighter on average (0.8±0.23 g, 0.8±0.31 g, 0.8±0.20 g and 0.80±0.09 g, respectively. In the unpeeled form, Dash findiq nuts were the heaviest (3.70±0.34 g), and Nasimi and Qalib nuts were the lightest of all cultivars (2.0 ±0.48 g and 2.0 ±0.36 g, respectively). Ata-baba nuts account for 49 masses per kernel. %, in other studied cultivars - 33.3- 45.3 wt. %. Nasimi nuts are rounded (in the equatorial zone); Tala, Ata-baba, Firovan and Azeri - rounded-oblong; Topqara, Barli and Dash findiq – oblong; Elbari, Qalib, Mirzebeyli and Sachaqli - elongated. Firovan, Tala and Topqara have thicker shells. Ata-baba is significantly ahead of other varieties in the yield of kernels (490 kg / 1 ton of nuts), Tala is in second place in this indicator (453 kg / 1 ton of nuts), Topqara is in third (433 kg/ 1 ton of nuts). According to the maximum fat content, the cultivars Mirzebeyli (77.00±2.20 g/100 g of kernels) and Firovan (75.0±3.08 u/100 kernels), protein - Sachaqli (16.02±0.50 u/100 kernels) and Ata-baba (15.92±0.48 g/100 g of kernels) were distinguished. The results of this study help to better understand the differences between some varieties of hazelnuts grown in Azerbaijan, which provides important clues for all players involved in this sector.

The Upper Hunter Valley is a major coal mining area in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Due to the ongoing increase of mining activities, PM10 (air-borne particle with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 micrometres) pollution has become a major air quality concern in local communities. The early part of this study identified two air quality subregions in the valley. This paper aims to provide a holistic summarisation of the relationships between elevated PM10 pollution in two subregions and the local- and synoptic-scale meteorological conditions for spring and summer, when PM10 pollution is relatively high. A catalogue of twelve synoptic types and a set of six local meteorological patterns have been quantitatively derived and linked to each other using the self-organising map (SOM) technique. The complex meteorology-air pollution relationships have been visualised/interpretated on the SOM planes for two representative locations. It was found that the influence of local meteorological patterns differed significantly for mean PM10 levels vs the occurrence of elevated pollution events and between air quality subregions. In contrast, synoptic types showed generally similar relationships with mean vs elevated PM10 pollution in the valley. Two local meteorological patterns, the hot-dry-northwesterly wind conditions and the hot-dry-calm conditions, were found most PM10 pollution conducive in the valley when combined with a set of synoptic counterparts. These synoptic types are featured with the influence of eastward migrating continental high pressure system and westerly troughs, or a ridge extending northwest towards coastal northern NSW or southern Queensland from the Tasman Sea. The method and results can be used in air quality research for other locations of NSW, or similar regions elsewhere.

In the near future, the next generation of space travel will be revealed and people are going to live on multiple planets. As a result, because having enough oxygen for human survival is mandatory, in this research article, we are going to find out an appropriate method for producing oxygen on another planet by considering the accessible resources and their limitations.

We currently face several, interlinked environmental crises, including climate change, habitat destruction and biodiversity loss. However, many governments seem unwilling to take strong and immediate action to address these threats, preferring to promote neoliberal approaches to allow consumers and the general public to make environmentally friendly choices. This is despite neoliberal approaches being much less likely to be successful than government leadership, taxation, subsidies, and legislation in addressing environmental issues. In this study, we examine public perception of environmental threats and solutions to these threats, in a survey, mainly completed in the UK. Climate change is seen as the biggest issue, likely due to recent activist campaigns and subsequent media attention on the issue. Neoliberal attitudes, such as green consumer choices to environmental concerns, do still dominate in a series of possible presented solutions, and score more highly than lifestyle changes such as changing diet. However, when questioned specifically about plastic pollution, government intervention to ban all unnecessary plastic scored very strongly, indicating a shift from a consumer driven response. Furthermore, most participants think they are at best only partly ‘doing their bit’ to protect the environment. The results demonstrate that the public are aware that not enough is happening to protect the environment and provide evidence that there is willingness for stronger government intervention to address environmental issues, although there is potential resistance to major lifestyle changes.

Background: Existing human cell immortalization methods made the cells obtain oncogenesis phenotype and/or caused the cells gain and/or lose chromosomes. Immortalized normal human T cells lines provide critical in vitro models for basic research and therapeutic products development.Methods: We utilized a CRISPR/Cas9 system to replace a single copy of the exon 2 of the cell cycle inhibitor gene CDKN2A (encoding p16 and p14 proteins) with a single copy of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) to immortalize human primary CD8⁺ T cells (hCD8⁺T-TERT). By using Cas9 protein and low donor DNA copies/cell, we successfully immortalized hCD8⁺T cells with a single copy of hTERT transgene, which also avoided uncontrolled insertion of Cas9 gene and guide RNA vector.Results: Human primary CD8+ cells were immortalized and expanded more than 2.6 × 10⁷ times. Characterization of the cells revealed that the immortalized CD8⁺ T-TERT cells retained most of the cell surface markers and normal karyotype. The CD8⁺ T-TERT cells also retained the dependence of IL-2 and CD3/CD28 activator for survival and expansion.Conclusion: we established a stable immortalized CD8⁺ T cell line that had a phenotype consistent with T cells and will be a useful research model.

Objective: Subclinical left ventricular disfunction (LVD) is common in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Many patients with diabetes have an impaired diastolic and systolic function. With preserved ejection fraction LV (EFLV), the latter is defined as reduced global longitudinal strain (GLS), detected using the speckle-tracking echocardiography. This study is aimed to define the long-term structural and functional disorders of the LV myocardium in patients with T2D without CVD. Methods: Of the 120 patients with and without T2D of both sexes aged from 45 to 75 years (57.11±7.9 years), included in the study in 2012-2013, only 57 responded to the follow-up study. The patients were divided into two groups: one with T2D (n=29), the other without it, control (n=28). All patients underwent transthoracic two-dimensional echocardiography with assessment of standard indicators of systolic and diastolic cardiac function, as well as GLS. In addition, all participants underwent laboratory diagnostics of carbohydrate metabolism disorders markers, NT-proBNP and CRP. The median follow-up duration was 7.2 [7.0-7.8] years. Results: During the follow-up, a statistically significant increase in the incidence of diastolic dysfunction (DD) in the type 2 diabetes group was found from 53% to 61% (p = 0.004); no significant dynamics were noted in the control group (p = 0.48). The presence of T2D significantly increases the risk of developing DD (p=0.04). The presence of T2D, increased fasting glucose levels, and an increased HOMA index were independent predictors of the development of DD. Impairment of LVEF was not observed in both groups. At the same time, the proportion of patients with reduced GLS (< -18%) increased in the T2D group (p = 0.036). A significant difference in the frequency of decreased GLS depending on T2D was demonstrated. The presence of obesity, an increase in the HOMA index and an increase in CRP levels are independent predictors of impaired GLS. Conclusions: T2D is an independent risk factor for the worsening of subclinical left ventricular dysfunction in asymptomatic patients with T2D without CVD over 7-year follow-up. Diastolic dysfunction is represented by delayed relaxation of the LV myocardium; with preserved LVEF, reduced 2D GLS identifies systolic dysfunction. The tight control of glycemia, lipidemia, blood pressure and body weight is associated with the absence of poor clinical outcomes.

Recently, a large number of Transformer-based solutions have emerged for the trajectory prediction task, but there are shortcomings in the effectiveness of Transformers in trajectory prediction. Specifically, while position encoding preserves some of the ordering information, the self-attention mechanism at the core of the Transformer has its alignment invariance that leads to the loss of temporal information, which is crucial for trajectory prediction. For this reason, we design a simple and efficient strategy for temporal information extraction and prediction of trajectory sequences using the self-attention mechanism and linear layers. Experimental results show that the strategy we designed can effectively combine the advantages of the linear layer and self-attention mechanisms, compensating for the shortcomings of the Transformer. Additionally, we conducted an empirical study to explore the effectiveness of the linear layer and sparse self-attention mechanisms in trajectory prediction.

Water scarcity, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, poses a significant challenge to crop production, with drought being a prevalent factor limiting grain production globally. Enhancing agricultural water use efficiency is crucial for managing water resources effectively in these areas. Water resource management involves planning, developing, distributing, and optimizing the use of water resources. Water use efficiency management is also essential for crop growth in arid regions. Various agronomic and irrigation strategies can improve crop water use efficiency and drought tolerance. The primary goal of these strategies is to maximize irrigation efficiencies by applying the precise amount of water needed to restore soil moisture to the desired level. These sustainable practices not only reduce the cost of water and labor for farmers through reduced irrigation but also optimize the use of soil moisture storage. This review paper explores practical techniques to improve water use efficiency, highlighting the role of nutrients in enhancing water use efficiency in crop plants.

Pit craters, and pit crater chains, are now recognised as being an important part of the surface morphology and structure of many planetary bodies, and are particularly remarkable on Mars. Pit craters do not possess the elevated rims, ejecta deposits, or other features that are typically associated with impact craters. They are thought to arise from the drainage/collapse of a relatively weak surficial material into an open (or widening) void in a much stronger material below. The creation of such voids has been suggested to be due to extensional fracturing/dilational faulting, shallow dike intrusion, lava tube collapse amongst other hypotheses. These craters have a very distinctive expression, often presenting funnel, cone, or bowl-shaped geometries. Analogue models of pit crater formation provide a map-view picture of their initiation and evolution but give little insight into their internal structure or geometry, but produce pits that typically have steep, nearly conical cross sections. Numerical modelling studies of their formation have been limited and have produced some quite interesting, but nonetheless puzzling, results whereby the simulated pit craters had generally convex (steepening downward) slope profiles with no distinct rim; quite unlike many of those observed on Earth or on Mars. To address these issues, I present here a high-resolution, 2D discrete element model of weak cover (regolith) collapse into either a static or a widening underlying void. I use frictional and frictional-cohesive discrete elements to represent a range of probable cover rheologies. Under Martian gravitational conditions, frictional-cohesive and frictional materials produce cone, bowl and scoop-shaped pit craters. For a given cover thickness, the specific crater shape depends on the amount of underlying void space created for drainage. When void space is small relative to cover thickness, craters have bowl or scoop-shaped geometries. In contrast, when void space is large relative to cover thickness, craters have cone-shaped geometries with essentially planar (nearing angle of repose) slope profiles. Frictional-cohesive materials exhibit more distinct rims than simple frictional materials and thus may reveal some stratigraphic layering on the pit crater walls. In the limit, when drainage from the overlying cover is insufficient to fill the underlying void, ´skylights´ into the deeper structure are created. Implications of these results for the interpretation of pit craters on Earth, Mars, other planets and moons are discussed.

Space exploration presents vast prospects for scientific, industrial, and economic progress. This paper introduces the MeSat mission as a pioneering approach to Mars exploration. MeSat aims to deepen our understanding of Martian conditions and resources by employing an optimized Earth-to-Mars trajectory, enabling a comprehensive study of the Martian atmosphere and surface. The mission comprises a Cargo Microsatellite hosting three 6U CubeSats and two 3U CubeSats, deployed into four separate Mars orbits forming a constellation. Each CubeSat carries distinct payloads: a THz radiometer for water detection, a high-resolution surface camera, a top-tier spectrometer, and a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) for wind speed readings. This paper focuses on two pivotal innovations: the development of a 183GHz radiometer payload for detecting water on Mars and a optimal mission design algorithm that analyzes a fuel-efficient low-thrust trajectory from Earth to Mars. Regarding the THz payload for water detection, a subharmonic Schottky diode-based mixer is meticulously designed to efficiently down-convert radio signals. The down-converted signals are carefully analyzed using a customized Do-It-Yourself (DIY) spectrum meter, which facilitated the capture and processing of acquired data. To provide the necessary Local Oscillator signals for the mixer, a Tripler employing three-anode Schottky diodes is developed. Additionally, the Tripler requires a signal generator for its entry frequency, which is addressed by developing a DIY signal generator. Together, these components, comprising the Schottky diode mixer, Tripler, and DIY circuits, collectively form the complete THz payload, demonstrating exceptional power efficiency with a total consumption of only 3.7W. The study employs a dual-step hybrid optimization algorithm (PSO-Homotopy) to analyze fuel-efficient low-thrust trajectories from Earth to Mars, incorporating the Ephemeris dynamics model to account for gravitational perturbations in the entire solar system. In practical mission design, crucial factors like hyperbolic excess velocity, diverse opportunities for Earth launch and Mars rendezvous, varied propulsion systems, and Time of Flight (TOF) play vital roles in trajectory optimization.

The oral microbiome, studied by sampling the saliva or oral rinse, has been long thought to have diagnostic capacity for head and neck cancers (HNC). However, previous reports on the HNC oral microbiome provide inconsistent results. The aim of this study is to consolidate these datasets and determine the oral microbial composition between HNC patients to healthy and premalignant individuals. We analyzed 16 published head and neck cancer (HNC) short-read 16S rRNA sequencing datasets, specifically targeting the V3V4, V4 and V4V5 regions. These datasets included saliva and oral rinse samples from donors with HNC, as well as from healthy and premalignant donors. Differences in diversities and microbial abundance were determined. HNC saliva displayed lower alpha diversity than healthy donors. In contrast, the opposite trend was observed for oral rinse samples. Beta diversity were largely similar across different patient types. Similar oral phyla were detected for all samples, but proportions were largely dependent on sample type (i.e. saliva or oral rinse) and primer set utilised for 16S rRNA sequencing. Neisseria, Leptotrichia and Megasphaera were elevated in healthy saliva, while Mycoplasma was elevated in HNC saliva. Oral rinse and saliva displayed similar enrichment for Fusobacterium, while Veillonella, Alloprevotella, and Campylobacter had conflicting results. The sparse partial least squares discriminant analysis model performed effectively in discriminating HNC from healthy or premalignant patients using V3V4 saliva (AUC = 0.888), and V3V4 oral rinse (AUC = 0.928), while poor discriminative capacity was observed for V4 saliva (AUC = 0.688). In conclusion, our meta-analysis highlighted the limitations of 16S rRNA sequencing, particularly due to variations across study batches, primer sets (i.e. V3V4, V4), and sample types. Hence, caution should be exercised when interpreting 16S rRNA sequencing results across studies, especially when different primer sets and sample types are used.

Regardless of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic containment, it remains paramount to comprehensively understand its underlying mechanisms to mitigate potential future health and economic impacts, comparable to those experienced throughout the course of the pandemic. The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) provide anchorage for SARS-CoV-2 binding, thus implicating that ACE and ACE2 might contribute to the variability in infection severity. This study aimed to elucidate predisposing factors influencing the disease course among people infected by SARS-CoV-2, focusing on angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and ACE2 polymorphisms. Notably, despite similar demographics and comorbidities, COVID-19 patients exhibit substantial differences in prognosis. Genetic polymorphisms in ACE and ACE2 have been implicated in disease progression, prompting our investigation into their role in COVID-19 evolution. Using next-generation sequencing (NGS), we analyzed ACE and ACE2 genes in a sample group comprising six subjects infected by SARS-CoV-2. Our findings revealed a correlation between specific polymorphisms and COVID-19 outcomes. Specifically, ACE and ACE2 intronic deletions were observed in all deceased patients, suggesting a potential association with mortality. These results highlight the significance of genetic factors in shaping the clinical course of COVID-19, emphasizing the importance of further research into the impact of genetic variations on COVID-19 severity.

In this article, we describe a simple procedure for evaluating the sterility of nutrient media using a shear-horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH-SAW) biosensor. We used the SH-SAW biosensor platform to monitor the time-dependent phase responses of the material for the media that binds to a monolayer of 3-mercaptopropanyl-N-hydroxy succinimide on the biosensor surface. Increases in the phase shift less than 50% of the starting phase shift recorded 180 minutes after the sterilization indicate a successful sterility test of the media. Our devices were then applied to sterility testing using a viable Escherichia coli (E. coli) K-12 solution to confirm our hypothesis. Filtered LB Broth was the negative control, and a 24-hour culture of E. coli was the positive control. Before testing, the cell solution was pelleted, the media decanted, and then replaced with a 1x phosphate-buffered saline solution (1x PBS). Since we know that the N-hydroxysuccinimide residues will bind to amine groups, only in cases where microbial species are present will the surface binding increase greater than 50%. We confirmed our hypothesis using SH-SAW biosensors and overnight E. coli cultures. The sensitivity for our 250 MHz quartz SH-SAW sensors was calculated based on the response from the E. coli K-12 solution over the linear dynamic range, which appears to be 2x10^4 – 2x10^7 CFU per ml and has a sensitivity of S = 1.655x10^5 o m2 Kg-1. The limit of detection (LOD) for these sensors was calculated to be approximately 2x10^-9 grams (g), which is estimated to be approximately 2,000 Escherichia coli (E. coli) K-12 cells. However, the sensitivity and insertion loss remained approximately unchanged before and after coating the sensor with 3,3'-Dithiobis(succinimidyl) Propionate (DSP).

Kynurenic acid (KYNA), a tryptophan metabolite, is believed to exert neuromodulatory and neuroprotective effects in the brain. The study aimed to examine the KYNA’s capacity to modify gene expression and the activity of cellular antioxidant enzymes in specific structures of the sheep brain. Anestrous sheep were infused intracerebroventricularly with two KYNA doses: lower (4×5 μg/60 μL/30 min, KYNA20) and higher (4×25 μg/60 μL/30 min, KYNA100) at 30min intervals. The abundance of superoxide dismutase (SOD2), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx1) mRNA, as well as enzyme activities (µM/µg of protein), were determined in the hypothalamic medial-basal (MBH) and preoptic (POA) areas, and in the hippocampal CA1 field. Both doses of KYNA caused a decrease (P&lt;0.01) in the expression of SOD2 and CAT mRNA in all structures examined compared to the control group (except for CAT in the POA at the KYNA100 dose). Furthermore, lower levels of SOD2 mRNA (P&lt;0.05) and CAT mRNA (P&lt;0.01) were found in the MBH and POA and in the POA and CA, respectively, in sheep administered with the KYNA20 dose. Different stimulatory effects on GPx1 mRNA expression were observed for both doses (P&lt;0.05-P&lt;0.01). KYNA exerted stimulatory, but dose-dependent effects on SOD2, CAT and GPx1 activities (P&lt;0.05-P&lt;0.01) in all brain tissues examined. The results indicate that KYNA may influence the level of oxidative stress in individual brain structures in sheep by modulating the expression of genes and activity of at least SOD2, CAT and GPx1. The present findings also expand the general knowledge about the potential neuroprotective properties of KYNA in the central nervous system.

The mechanisms underlying the establishment of asymmetric structures during development remain elusive. The wing of Drosophila is asymmetric along the Anterior-Posterior (AP) axis, despite that its growth signals that drive its growth are presumably symmetric. Here, we investigated the contribution of cell recruitment, a process that drives wing fate differentiation in Drosophila, to the asymmetric shape and pattern of the adult wing. Genetic impairment of cell recruitment results in a significant reduction in adult wing asymmetry, primarily affecting the region between longitudinal vein 5 and the wing margin (L5-M). Morphometric analysis reveals that the lack of cell recruitment results in a more symmetric wing with respect to the AP, suggesting a contribution of cell recruitment to the establishment of asymmetry in the adult wing. A close examination of the expression of the wing selector gene vestigial (vg) in wing disc does not support this hypothesis. However, the circularity of the Vg pattern significantly increase in recruitment-impaired wing disc, suggesting that while the decrease of the L5-M region in the adult wing may not be attributed to cell recruitment, it could contribute to the overall asymmetry of the adult wing. We conclude that cell recruitment, a widespread mechanism that participates in growth and patterning of several developing systems, could drive, at least partially, the asymmetric shape of the Drosophila wing.

The precise regulation of hinge moment and pitch angle driven by the pitch regulated mechanism is crucial for modulating thrust requirements and ensuring stable attitude control in Martian coaxial rotorcraft. Nonetheless, the aerodynamic hinge moment in rotorcraft presents time-dependent dynamic properties, posing significant challenges for accurate measurement and assessment for such characteristics. In this study, we delve into the detailed aerodynamic hinge moment characteristics associated with the pitch regulated mechanism of Mars rotorcraft under a spectrum of control strategies. A robust computational fluid dynamics model has been developed to simulate rotor’s aerodynamic loads, accompanied by a quantitative hinge moment characterization that takes into account the effects of varying rotor speeds and pitch angles. Our investigation has yielded a thorough understanding of the interplay between aerodynamic load behavior and rotor surface pressure distributions, leading to the creation of an empirical mapping model for hinge moments. To validate our findings, we engineered a specialized test apparatus capable of measuring the hinge moments of the pitch regulated mechanism, facilitating empirical assessments under replicated atmospheric conditions of both Earth and Mars. The result indicates aerodynamic hinge moments depend non-linearly on rotational speed, peaking at a 0° pitch angle and showing minimal sensitivity to pitch under 0°. Above 0°, hinge moments decrease, reaching a minimum at 15° before rising again. Simulation and experimental comparisons demonstrate that under Earth conditions, the aerodynamic performance and hinge moment errors are within 8.54% and 24.90%, respectively. For Mars conditions, errors remain below 11.62%, proving the CFD model’s reliability. This supports its application in the design and optimization of Mars rotorcraft systems, enhancing their flight control through accurate prediction of aerodynamic hinge moments across various pitch angles and speeds.

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

The state detection of power cable is very important to ensure the reliability of power supply. Traditional sensors are mostly based on electric field detection, the operation is complex, and its efficiency needs to be improved. This paper optimizes the design and development of the magnetic field detection sensor for AC power cables. Firstly, through the establishment of the magnetic field sensor model, it is determined that permalloy is the material of the magnetic core, the optimal aspect ratio of the magnetic core is 20, and the ratio of coil length to core length is 0.3. Secondly, the coil simulation model is established, and it is determined that the optimal number of turns of the coil is 11000 turns, the diameter of the enamelled copper wire is 0.08mm, and the equivalent magnetic field noise of the sensor is 0.06pT. Finally, the amplifying circuit based on negative magnetic flux feedback is designed and the sensor is assembled, and the experimental circuit is built for sensitivity test. the results show that the sensitivity of the magnetic field sensor is 327.6mV/μT. The sensor designed in this paper has the advantages of small size, high sensitivity, easy to carry and high reliability.

Nitrate is rich in Mars sediments owing to long-term atmospheric photolysis, oxidation, and deposition coupled with a lack of leaching via rainfall. The Atacama Desert in Chile, which is similarly dry and rich in nitrate deposits, is used as a Mars analog in this study to explore the potential effects of high nitrate levels on microbial growth. Seven study sites sampled across an aridity gradient in the Atacama Desert were categorized into 3 clusters – hyperarid, intermediate, and arid sites, as defined by major elements in the regolith, associated biomass, and precipitation. Intriguingly, the distribution of nitrate concentrations in the shallow subsurface suggests that the buildup of nitrate is not solely controlled by precipitation. Correlations of nitrate with SiO2/Al2O3 and grain sizes suggest that sedimentation rates are also important in controlling nitrate distribution. At arid sites receiving more than 10 mm/yr precipitation, rainfall shows a stronger impact on biomass than nitrate does. However, high nitrate to organic carbon ratios are generally beneficial to N assimilation as evidenced both by soil geochemistry and enriched culturing experiments. This study suggests that even in the absence of precipitation on contemporary Mars, the nitrate levels are sufficiently high to benefit potentially extant Martian microorganisms.

Despite the increasing prevalence of pet ownership in Chinese societies, standardized tools to assess grief from pet loss remain lacking. Research predominantly focuses on Western populations, creating a gap in understanding pet bereavement in Chinese cultural settings. This study aimed to adapt and validate the Pet Bereavement Questionnaire (PBQ-C) for a Chinese context to create a culturally appropriate assessment tool. A total of 245 participants with companion animal loss experiences were recruited through the university of the research team. They were invited to complete an online survey including the Chinese PBQ, the Depression subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), and the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG). Both Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the PBQ-C and the findings supported a three-factor structure—grief, anger, and guilt—aligned with the original PBQ, with three items were reassigned to different factors. Despite these adjustments, the PBQ-C showed strong internal consistency, split-half reliability, and concurrent validity. The validated PBQ-C provides a culturally sensitive tool for assessing pet bereavement in Chinese society that can promote research and counselling support for this under-researched and under-recognized type of loss of human-animal relationships.

The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is a significant environmental threat, and an economic and social challenge to manage. As such, the efficient treatment of OFMSW is a significant key factor in achieving sustainable waste management. Decentralized Composting (DC) develops a new framework of waste management. The DC Analysis Model (DCAM), proposed in our previous study, provides a powerful tool for decision makers, based on the quantification of the DC project characteristics. In this paper, we focus on the qualitative analysis as a complementary tool to support decision making, in cases where quantitative analysis is unequivocal. The qualitative analysis identifies the main players in the field, the critical stakeholders and the potential conflicts between them. It also reveals the root problems and the core competencies for the project's implementation. DCAM qualitative analysis in Shefa-Amr (case study) indicates that unresolved root problems, such as the “lack of national regulation”, “clear ownership of the project” and “lack of ongoing budget” can result in an unsustainable composting system. Countering that, “the commitment of the municipality”, together with “economic viability” and securing “suitable areas for placing composters” are among the most important core competencies for the effective implementation of DC projects.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment has become a common trend in capital markets, and many institutional investors have publicly declared their long-term ESG investment target (ESGIT). This study focuses on investors who conduct strategic asset allocation (SAA) using composite indices but establish their ESGIT outside the SAA process. A mismatch could arise between investors’ planned and actual portfolios because they must pursue their ESGIT by asset selection, which inevitably makes the constituents of their portfolios different from those of composite indices. To scrutinize the potential existence of a misalignment between their SAA and ESGIT, this study analyzes actual stock and bond indices over the past decade using traditional mean-variance optimization. The results reveal significant differences between the expected and realized performances, and the misalignment is more significant when the analysis period is divided into two sub-periods: stable and volatile. Specifically, the results indicate that the efficient frontier constructed using ESG indices significantly differs from that constructed using composite indices, and that the difference between these two efficient frontiers becomes more significant during volatile periods. Furthermore, the results show that investors cannot meet their targets if their ESGIT is established outside the SAA process.

Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) encompasses the comprehensive evaluation of an indi-vidual's health and well-being across multiple dimensions. Mindfulness, recognized as a scientifi-cally supported strategy for anxiety management, plays a role in enhancing both physical and mental health. The Gut-Brain Axis (GBA) serves as the bidirectional communication link between the gastrointestinal system and the central nervous system. This study aims to explore the associa-tion between Mindfulness and factors influencing the GBA in both healthy individuals and those with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). A cross-sectional investigation involved 338 adults, in-cluding 50 IBD patients, utilizing validated Greek scales for Mindfulness (MAAS-15), Mediterra-nean Diet (14-MEDAS), and HRQoL (EQ-5D-5L). The questionnaire gathered demographic, an-thropometric, and lifestyle data. Among healthy participants, EQ-5D-5L showed a moderate cor-relation with the MAAS-15 scale (r=0.389, p

This study examines the feasibility of using event-related potentials (ERPs) obtained from electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings as biomarkers for long-term memory item classification. Previous studies have identified old/new effects in memory paradigms associated with explicit long-term memory and familiarity. Recent advancements in convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have enabled the classification of ERP trials under different conditions and identification of features related to neural processes at the single-trial level. We employed this approach to compare three CNN models with distinct architectures using experimental data. Participants (N = 25) performed an association memory task while recording ERPs that were used for training and validation of the CNN models. The EEGNET-based model achieved the most reliable performance in terms of precision, recall, and specificity compared with the shallow and deep convolutional approaches. The classification accuracy of this model reached 70% for known items and 62% for unknown items. Good overall accuracy requires a trade-off between recall and specificity and depends on the architecture of the model and the dataset size. These results suggest the possibility of integrating ERP and CNN into online learning tools and identifying the underlying processes related to long-term memorization.

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been shown to improve health and well-being in adolescents with chronic illnesses. Because they are most often delivered in person in a group setting, there are several barriers that limit access to MBIs for youth with limited mobility or who cannot access in-person MBIs in their communities. The objective of this study was to determine if eHealth is a viable platform to increase accessibility to MBIs for teens with chronic illnesses. This study reports the qualitative results of a mixed method randomized trial describing the experience of the Mindful Awareness and Resilience Skills for Adolescents (MARS-A) program, an 8-week MBI, delivered either in person or via eHealth. Participants were adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 with a chronic illness recruited at a tertiary pediatric hospital in Toronto, Canada. Individual semi-structured post-participation audio-video interviews were conducted by a research assistant. A multiple-pass inductive process was used to review interview transcripts and interpret emergent themes from the participants’ lived experiences. Fifteen participants completed post-participation interviews. Four distinct themes emerged from participants in both the in-person and eHealth groups: creation of a safe space, fostering peer support and connection, integration of mindfulness skills into daily life and improved well-being through the application of mindfulness. Results from this study suggest that eHealth may be an acceptable and feasible mode of delivery for MBIs in adolescents with chronic illnesses. EHealth should be considered in future studies as a promising avenue to increase access to MBIs in this population.

Retiring coal power plants can reduce air pollution and health damages. However, the spatial distribution of those impacts remains unclear due to complex power system adjustments and pollution chemistry and transport. Focusing on coal retirements in Pennsylvania (PA), we analyze six counterfactual scenarios for 2019 that differ in retirement targets (e.g., reducing 50% of coal-based installed capacity vs. generation) and priorities (e.g., closing plants with higher cost, closer to Environmental Justice Areas, or with higher CO₂ emissions). Using a power system model of the PJM Interconnection, we find that coal retirements in PA shift power generation across PA and the Rest of PJM region leading to scenario-varying changes in the plant-level release of several air pollutants. Due to air pollution chemistry and transport and socio-demographics, these changes in turn give rise to a reduction of 10 to 182 PM_2.5-attributable deaths in PJM across the six scenarios, with most reductions occurring in PA. Scenarios that reduce more coal power generation yield greater aggregate health benefits due to air quality improvements in PA and adjacent downwind regions. In addition, vulnerable populations—in both PA and Rest of PJM—benefit most in scenarios that prioritize plant closures in PA near Environmental Justice Areas. These results demonstrate the importance of considering cross-regional linkages and socio-demographics in designing equitable retirement strategies.

Lynch syndrome (LS) is an inherited cancer predisposition disorder associated with an elevated risk of various epithelial cancers. Despite sharing the same pathogenic variant (PV), Lynch syn-drome variant heterozygotes (LSVH) exhibit considerable phenotypic variability in cancer risk. The role of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) in modifying cancer risk prompted our investiga-tion into whether HLA variations act as genetic modifiers influencing age at cancer diagnosis in a unique cohort of LSVH carrying a PV in the hMLH1 gene in South Africa. Within our extensive LS cohort, 426 individuals carried the same hMLH1 PV (MLH1:c.1528C>T). We selected 100 indi-viduals with the greatest diversity in age at cancer diagnosis and the oldest unaffected individu-als for high-throughput HLA genotyping of 12 HLA class I and II loci using next-generation se-quencing. Statistical analyses employed Kaplan-Meier survival analyses with Logrank tests and Cox proportional hazards. Following the robust application of statistical correction methods, six HLA alleles (3.2%) were significantly associated with a young age at cancer diagnosis. Notably, HLA-B*15:17 and HLA-DPB1*55:01 correlated significantly with very young colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis (Mean age: 21y [17-25]; HR = 71.59; q

Near-field (NF) integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) has the potential to revolutionize future wireless networks. It enables simultaneous communication and sensing operations on the same radio frequency (RF) resources using a shared hardware platform, maximizing resource utilization. NF-ISAC systems can improve communication and sensing performance compared to traditional far-field (FF) ISAC systems by employing the unique propagation characteristics of NF spherical waves with an additional distance dimension. Despite its potential, the NF-ISAC literature covers just a few specialized topics. A comprehensive survey encompassing all aspects of NF-ISAC systems has thus far been lacking. To this end, this paper systematically explores the prodigious potential of NF-ISAC technology. Specifically, an in-depth analysis of both NF and FF systems is provided, investigating their applicability in communication and sensing scenarios. Various channel model scenarios for NF and FF are discussed, emphasizing their distinguishing features. The advantages and philosophies of ISAC are further explored, opening opportunities to investigate both narrow-band and wide-band systems within NF ISAC. Case studies and simulation examples for each NF-ISAC design philosophy are provided to gain deeper insights into these system designs. An extensive literature review of existing NF-ISAC studies is conducted, exploring various methodologies, potentials, prospects, and conclusions. Finally, prospective research areas, remaining challenges, and applications of future NF-ISAC systems are discussed.

The pursuit of materials that offer both wear comfort and protection for functional and protective clothing has led to the exploration of weft-knitted spacer structures. Traditional cushioning materials such as spacer fabrics and laminated foam often suffer from deformation under compression stresses, thus compromising their protective properties. This study investigates the enhancement of the force absorption, stress-strain and thermal properties of weft-knitted spacer fabrics with inlays. Surface yarns with optimal stretchability and thermal properties are used and combined with elastic yarns in various patterns to fabricate nine different inlay samples. The mechanical and thermal properties of these samples are systematically analyzed, including their compression, stretchability, thermal comfort and surface properties. The results show that the inlay spacer fabric exhibits superior compression properties and thermal conductivity compared to traditional laminated foam and spacer fabrics, while maintaining stretchability, thus providing a better performance than traditional fabrics for protective clothing and wearable cushioning products. This study further confirms that the type of inlay yarn and inlay structure are crucial factors that significantly influence the thermal, tensile and compressive properties of fabric. This research provides valuable insights into the design and development of advanced textile structures to improve wear comfort and protection in functional garment applications.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic Gram-negative bacterium that remains a prevalent clinical and environmental challenge. Quorum sensing (QS) molecules are effective biomarkers in pinpointing the presence of P. aeruginosa. This study aimed to develop a convenient-to-use whole-cell biosensor using P. aeruginosa reporters individually encapsulated within alginate-poly-L-lysine (alginate-PLL) microbeads to specifically detect the presence of bacterial autoinducers. The PLL-reinforced microbeads were prepared using a two-step method involving ionic crosslinking and subsequent coating with thin layers of PLL. The alginate-PLL beads showed good stability in the presence of a known cation scavenger (sodium citrate), which typically limits the widespread applications of calcium alginate. In media containing synthetic autoinducers, such as N-(3-oxo dodecanoyl) homoserine lactone (3-oxo-C12-HSL) and N-butanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (C4-HSL) or cell-free supernatants of planktonic or flow cell biofilm effluent of wild P. aeruginosa (PAO1), the encapsulated bacteria enabled a dose-dependent detection of the presence of these QS molecules. The prepared bioreporter beads remained stable during prolonged storage at 4 and -80 °C and were ready for on-the-spot sensing without the need for recovery. This whole-cell biosensor demonstrates the practicality of the encapsulated bioreporter for bacterial detection based on specific QS molecules.

In this paper, a new axial-type magnetic gear with auxiliary flux-enhancing structure (AFS-AMG) is proposed. Compared to conventional AFS-AMG, it has the higher torque density and higher permanent magnet (PM) utilization factor. Firstly, the design rules and operating principles of proposed AFS-AMG are elaborated. Then, the mapping relation between the radial-type magnetic gears (RMGs) and AMGs are elucidated. Compared to its counterpart in RMGs, AFS-AMGs achieve small size. Then, the geometrical parameters of AFS-AMGs are optimized to obtain the better electromagnetic performances, where the torque density per volume and per PM volume is adopted as the evaluation standard. Finally, three different AMG topologies are constructed in finite element analysis (FEA) software for comparison. It is proven that the AFS-AMG has the largest torque density per volume and per PM volume.

Tissue-like phantoms are widely used as a model for mimicking the optical properties of live tissue. This paper presents the results of a diffusion reflection method as well as fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy measurements of fluorescein-conjugated gold nanorods in solution as well as inserted in solid tissue-imitating phantoms. A lack of consistency between the fluorescence lifetime results of the solutions and the phantoms raises a question about the ability of tissue-like phantoms to maintain the optical properties of inserted contrast agents.

The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has raised concerns surrounding immunological protection against the virus, particularly for people with inborn errors of immunity (IEI). While COVID-19 vaccination induces robust antibody, memory B-cell, and T-cell responses in healthy individuals, how well vaccination protects people with IEI against infection and severe disease remains unclear – especially in the context of new viral variants and vaccine formulations – leading to anxiety, ongoing self-isolation, and repeated vaccination with limited evidence of increased efficacy. Whilst most people with IEI generate some level of cellular and/or humoral immunity to COVID-19 vaccination, the level of protection and durability of the response are unclear. Alongside vaccination, antibody-based therapeutics are aimed at limiting infection and severe disease in this cohort. Immunoglobulin replacement therapy (IgRT) provides passive immunity in antibody-deficient individuals. However, to successfully prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, a sufficient number of neutralizing antibodies must be present in product. While antibodies against circulating variants are eventually present in IgRT products (both from natural infection and vaccination of the donors), evidence of their capacity to recognize new variants is limited. Furthermore, while antibody-based pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis can be effective, they are susceptible to decreased efficacy in the context of variant evolution. This review provides an in-depth overview of current knowledge about COVID-19 vaccine efficacy in IEIs, the efficacy of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody products, and knowledge and technological advances required for continued protection of people with IEI.

In recent decades, the creation and availability of Voluntary Geographic Information (VGI) has changed the paradigm associated with the production of Geospatial Information (GI), since due to its free access, citizens can view, analyse, process, and validate this type of data. One of the most popular examples of VGI is the collaborative OpenStreetMap (OSM) project which covers a wide range of themes or characteristics associated with the real world. One of these themes is the feature “waterway” that represents watercourses. The quality of OSM data characteristics is an issue that has been published by many authors in recent years, particularly on the analysis of the completeness indicator. However, few references are found in literature to studies that analyse the completeness of OSM watercourses. This study presents an analysis of the variation over time in completeness/coverage of the OSM "waterway" feature in the epochs of 2014 and 2023 in a mountainous region included in the Mondego River basin, located in Inland of Portugal. The results show that the completeness of this OSM feature (waterway) has a slight increase, considering the amplitude of this period (nine years) and the fact that, nowadays, digital mobile devices enable access to satellite images, therefore allowing in an easy way the digitalization of entities or objects of the real world remotely. Regarding the indicator’s altitude, slope and location/proximity of settlements, it was not possible to observe their influence on the evolution of the completeness of this geographic entity (OSM waterway).

The global steel industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and the adoption of green hydrogen in Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) production has the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and support climate targets. This review explores the environmental, economic, technological, and social implications of using green hydrogen in DRI processes. The findings suggest that green hydrogen can reduce emissions by up to 90% compared to traditional methods, enhance energy security, and stimulate local economic development. However, high initial costs, energy efficiency concerns, and social acceptance issues remain significant barriers. The review also highlights the importance of integrating carbon capture and storage technologies, addressing logistical challenges, and considering the geopolitical implications of a shift towards green hydrogen. Green hydrogen presents a promising solution for decarbonising the steel industry but continued research, investment in infrastructure, and strategic planning are essential to overcome the challenges and drive widespread adoption.

One of the main challenges of cultured meat is reducing the costs of production, often described as scaling. The main components of the cultivation process include: cells, media, scaffolds and bioreactors. This work presents an alternative to current stainless steel or glass bioreactors and uses food-grade plant-based scaffolds. Bioreactors must be sterile and leak-free to maintain a proper environment for cell growth. Thermoplastic films are a popular material for constructing these fluidic systems, but traditional methods of welding these film are expensive and do not allow rapid prototyping resulting in high research and development costs for companies. In this study, a laser welding method was developed to join thermoplastic films in a way that prevents contamination and leaks, affording effective macro-fluidics fabrication. This technique was tested using polyethylene (PET) films and a laser cutter operating with settings calibrated for the material to be welded or cut. The laser welding method was found to produce strong, leak-free seals in PET films with minimal heat-induced damage to the films. The ability to design fluidics, chambers and ports of various size. Using this method afforded the incorporation of plant-based scaffolds from food-grade plants (Rice). The laser welding method developed in this study provides a reliable, contamination-free method for the rapid fabrication of fluidic systems for cell cultivation. This technique has the potential to be compatible with a vast range of cell types and scaffolds and to be widely adopted in tissue engineering for regenerative medicine and food applications such as cultured meat.

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

The study of the pathogenesis of febrile seizures and their consequences frequently necessitates gene expression analysis. The primary methodology employed for such analysis is reverse transcription with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). To guarantee the accuracy of data obtained by RT-qPCR, it is crucial to utilize stably expressed reference genes. The objective of this study was to identify the most suitable reference genes for use in the analysis of mRNA production in various brain regions of rats following prolonged neonatal febrile seizures. The expression stability of eight housekeeping genes was evaluated using the online tool RefFinder in the dorsal and ventral hippocampal regions and in the temporal and medial prefrontal cortex of the brain. The Ppia gene exhibited the greatest stability of expression. Conversely, the genes with the least stable expression level are Actb and Ywhaz; thus, it is not recommended to use them for normalization in a febrile seizure model. Additionally, the majority of housekeeping genes demonstrate age-related, region-specific fluctuations. Therefore, it is crucial to employ the appropriate housekeeping genes for each brain structure under investigation when examining the expression dynamics of genes of interest in a febrile seizure model.

This study offers an analysis of existing research on sustainability and its link to accounting and management control in the port sector. The existing studies do not provide a comprehensive discussion of management accounting and control tools in this context, despite recognizing the relevance of the issue. The Scoping Review was used as a methodological basis, with reference to the framework of Arksey and O’Malley [1], with the aim of mapping the literature on the role of ac-counting and management control, as well as their relationship with the Triple Bottom Line associated with the various levels of sustainability in this sector. The results point to a diversity of tools used essentially in developed countries, where the interest in efficiency, sustainability and strategic alignment stands out.

In the contemporary accelerated pace of life, emphasizing the importance of sleep quality is essential for enhancing overall well-being and health. This study investigates the link between poor sleep quality and key factors affecting wellness, such as mental health and eating disorders. Through a cross-sectional analysis involving 407 participants, utilizing established measures including the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire Short (EDE-QS), and the single-item Sleep Quality Scale (SQS), data was collected and analyzed using SPSS v28 and R-Statistics. The findings reveal a significant correlation (p&lt;0.05) between DASS-21, EDE-QS, and SQS, indicating that individuals experiencing poor sleep quality exhibit higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Furthermore, multinomial logistic regression analysis highlights low sleep quality as a risk factor for both mental health (OR: 1.071, 95% CI: 1.042, 1.102, p&lt;0.05, low vs. high sleep quality), and eating disorders (OR: 1.047, 95% CI: 1.004, 1.092, p&lt;0.05, low vs. high sleep quality). Overall, these results underscore the critical role of sleep quality in mental health and suggest insomnia as a predictive factor for both poor mental well-being and disordered eating habits. Further research through randomized controlled trials is warranted to validate the findings of this cross-sectional study.

Establishment of protected areas (PAs) is one of the key global conservation strategies that currently cover approximately 15% of the earth’s land surface. Globally, PA networks are designed to curb the growing anthropogenic pressures in areas with high biological diversity. Despite the importance of PAs in conserving the vanishing biodiversity and unique habitats, many of them are in critical condition due to poor governance thus functioning below the expected level. Moreover, in many developing countries, the PA coverage is below the global standard. Recognizing their contemporary role in conservation, governments have recently agreed to expand the global PA coverage to 17% by the year 2020 (Aichi target 11). This book with eight chapters from different regions of the world provides an overview of the PAs governance, institutional mechanisms, conservation benefits, limitations and challenges associated with their respective policy discourse, integrated management, and functional attributes. Protected areas expect to to play an important role in the long rn in conservation and protection of biodiversity and ecosystems particularly in countries where population pressure and habitat loss are high. Regular intervention, political commitment, and effective governance are essential for the sustainability of PAs across the world. Here, we also attempted to shed some light on future development clues for the sustainable management and monitoring of PAs worldwide.

The accuracy of cosmic ray observation by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory Wide Field-of-view Cherenkov/fluorescence Telescope Array (LHAASO-WFCTA) is influenced by variations in aerosols in the atmosphere. The solar photometer (CE318-T) is extensively utilized within the Aerosol Robotic Network as a highly precise and reliable instrument for aerosol measurements. With this CE318-T 23, 254 sets of valid data samples in 394 days from October 2020 to October 2022 at the LHAASO site were obtained. Data analysis revealed that the baseline Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and A˚ngstro¨m Exponent (AE) at 440-870 nm (AE440−870nm) of the aerosols were calculated to be 0.03 and 1.07, respectively, suggesting that the LHAASO site is among the most pristine regions on Earth. The seasonality of the mean AOD are the order of spring &gt; summer &gt; autumn = winter. The monthly average maximum of AOD440nm occurred in April (0.11 ± 0.05) and the minimum was in December (0.03 ± 0.01). The monthly average of AE440−870nm exhibited slight variations. The seasonal characterization of aerosol types indicated that clean continental background aerosol predominated in autumn and winter, which is the optimal period for the absolute calibration of the WFCTA. Additionally, the diurnal daytime variations of AOD and AE across the four seasons are presented. Our analysis also indicates that the potential origins of aerosol over the LHAASO in four seasons were different and the atmospheric aerosols with higher AOD probably originate mainly from Northern Myanmar and Northeast India region. These results provide a baseline for comparison to the future on-site measurement of extinction coefficient profile and aerosol phase function by LHAASO-WFCTA, also enrich the valuable materials on aerosol observation in the Hengduan Mountains and Tibetan Plateau.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) patients experienced multiple chemotoxicity affecting treatment compliance, survival, and quality of life (QOL). Prior research shows clinician-reported chemotoxicity (i.e., grading scales or diagnostic codes) predicts rehospitalization and cancer survival. However, a comprehensive synthesis of clinician-reported chemotoxicity is still lacking. Objectives: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the chemotoxicity's prevalence and risk factors in CRC. Methods: A systematic search from 2009 to 2024 yielded 30 studies for review, with 25 included in the meta-analysis. Results: Pooled prevalences of overall, non-hematological, and hematological moderate-to-severe toxicities were 45.7%, 39.2%, and 25.3%, respectively. The most common clinician-reported chemotoxicities were gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity (22.9%) and neuropathy or neutropenia (17.9%). Significant risk factors at baseline were malnutritional status, frailty, impaired immune or hepato-renal functions, short telomere lengths, low gut lactobacillus levels, age, female sex, aggressive chemotherapy, and low QOL. Age was associated with neutropenia (β: -1.44) and GI toxicity (β:1.85) (Ps 65 y.o.) had higher prevalences of overall (OR: 1.14) and GI (OR: 1.65) toxicities, but a lower prevalence of neutropenia (OR: 0.65) than younger adults (Ps

SOC stock (SOCS) changes caused by land use changes are still unclear, and understanding this response is essential for many environmental policies and land management practices. In this study, we investigated the temporal-spatial and vertical distribution characteristics of SOCS on the Western Sichuan Plateau (WSP) using the sparrow search algorithm-random forest regression (SSA-RFR) models with excellent model applicability and accuracy. The temporal-spatial varia-tions in the SOCS were modeled using 1080 soil samples and a set of nine environmental covariates. We analyzed the effect of land use changes on the SOCS on the WSP. The total SOCS increased by 18.03 Tg C from 1990 to 2020. The results of this study confirmed that the SOCS in the study area has increased significantly since 2010, with an increase of 27.88 Tg C compared to the total SOCS in 2010. We found that the spatial distribution of the SOCS increased from southeast to northwest, and the vertical distribution of the SOCS in the study area decreased with increasing soil depth. Forest and grassland are the main sources of SOCS, the total SOCS in the forest and grassland accounted for 37.53 and 59.39% of the total SOC pool in 2020, respectively. Expansion of the wetlands, forest, and grassland areas could increase SOCS in the study area.

Background and Objectives. To examine trends in the links between induced abortion and subsequent mental health problems for U.S. women approaching completed fertility. Materials and Methods. Panel data on a nationally-representative cohort of 3,842 ever-pregnant women assessed at mean ages of 15, 22, 28 and 37 years from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) were examined for pregnancy outcome-related mental health disorders, with extensive adjustment for confounders including sociodemographic dif-ferences, mental health history, and unwanted pregnancies. Outcomes were defined using pub-lished diagnostic criteria or validated index for depression, anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicide ideation (affective problems); alcohol abuse, drug abuse, opioid abuse, and cannabis abuse (substance abuse problems); and summary counts of affective problems, substance abuse problems and total disorders. Results were adjusted for abortion under-reporting using cross-wave analysis. Results. The relative risk of mental health disorder with exposure to induced abortion followed an inverted “V” pattern as women aged to midlife, increasing from Wave III (age 22; IRR 1.41) to Wave IV (age 28; IRR 1.67), then dropping sharply by Wave V (age 37; IRR 1.20). The population at-tributable fraction of mental health disorder due to abortion dropped from 18.1% at Wave IV to 8.0% at Wave V. Unlike previous Waves, at Wave V mental health risk was more strongly reduced by exposure to childbirth (IRR 0.70, 95% CI .63, .78, p < .001). Reduced relative metrics at Wave V were not due to reduced prevalence of mental health disorders for ever-aborting women, which increased from Wave IV to Wave V by 1.7%, but increased much more, by 20.5%, for never-aborting women. Conclusion. At midlife approaching completed fertility, differential negative psychological out-comes for ever-aborting U.S. women remained elevated but reduced from younger ages.

Contrasting results have suggested that the prevalence and intensity of post abortion emotional distress (PAD) either diminishes rapidly or persists over time. Few studies have followed women for longer than five years. This study examines retrospective population data on 226 ever aborting U.S. women aged 41-45, at an average of 20 years following the abortion, with extensive measures of PAD. Most post abortive women (55.2%) experienced little or no distress from their abortion(s) and 74.6% were confident it had been the right decision, but 44.8% reported moderate (20.7%) to high (24.1%) distress related to their abortion(s), including 37.7% who reported negative emotions; 31.2% “frequent feelings of loss, grief or sadness;” 24.6% “frequent thoughts, dreams, or flashbacks;” 23.2% for whom thoughts and feelings about their abortion “negatively interfered with life, work, or relationships.” Time since the abortion (mean 20 years, range 0-31 years) was not correlated with PAD (r = -.02, p .71). For the minority of women who experienced it, PAD did not diminish but persisted for decades. An estimated 7.5 million U.S. women currently experience persistent high PAD. Further research to specify risk factors and possible interventions for postabortion distress would be of value for this group of women.

The protection and regulation of international trade of Australia’s native species is legislated by its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999. In response to overwhelming evidence that the Act is ineffective at protecting biodiversity, the Australian Government is currently reforming its environmental laws. One problematic component of the Act is in cases where threatened species interact with multiple regulatory and management frameworks, such as commercially fished marine species that are traded as seafood. Here, we analyzed international seafood trade data and found that Australia exports four threatened fish species listed under the Act and additional species acknowledged as globally threatened. In light of our analysis, we have three recommendations for Australia’s new environmental legislation: 1) apply the same precautions to commercially harvested species as to other threatened species; 2) review the status of all threatened species annually; and 3) assess species listed on global conservation conventions. These recommendations will help ensure that Australia’s marine biodiversity is protected, despite its commercial value.

Reconstructing the Tree of Life remains a central goal in biology. Early methods, relying on small numbers of morphological or genetic characters, often yielded conflicting evolutionary histories, undermining confidence in the results. Investigations based on phylogenomics, which use hundreds to thousands of loci for phylogenetic inquiry, have provided a clearer picture of life's history, but certain branches remain problematic. To resolve difficult nodes on the Tree of Life, two recent studies tested the utility of synteny, the conserved collinearity of orthologous genetic loci in two or more organisms, for phylogenetics. Synteny exhibits compelling phylogenomic potential while also raising new challenges. We identify and discuss specific opportunities and challenges that bear on the value of synteny data and other rare genomic changes for phylogenomic studies. Synteny-based analyses of highly contiguous genome assemblies mark a new chapter in the phylogenomic era and the quest to reconstruct the Tree of Life.

Understanding the dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC) change in today's context of rapid urbanization is critical for sustainable urban planning and environmental conservation. Therefore, the research aim is to understand the LULC changes in Chattogram Metropolitan Area and to assess the policy implications of these changes for sustainable urban development. Through a comparative analysis of LULC maps for two periods (1997–2007; 2007–2017), we investigated the transformation of a detailed planning zone before and after detailed area plan (DAP) approval. Using a mixed-method approach integrating quantitative data with policy analysis, we elucidated the impacts of urbanization trends on local ecosystems—specifically the conversion of forest cover and waterscape use. The findings reveal a significant conversion of forested and waterscape areas to urban and peri-urban landscapes, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable planning interventions that focus on these peri-urban areas. The study further critiques the DAP's effectiveness, revealing a disconnect between regional policy implementation and local outcomes. This research proposes a validated, scalable framework for urban master plans that adapts to the complex socio-ecological contexts of rapidly urbanizing regions.

Semi-Interlocking Masonry (SIM) represents an innovative building system developed at the Centre for Infrastructure Performance and Reliability at The University of Newcastle, Australia. This system employs a unique approach to interlocking mortar-less engineered masonry panels constructed from SIM units. These units are designed to offer substantial energy dissipation capacity, primarily attributed to the friction occurring on the sliding bed joints between the units within the panel during seismic events. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the viability of incorporating semi-interlocking masonry as infill panels in the construction of multi-storey buildings across diverse geographical locations with varying seismic conditions in Australia. To assess the feasibility of SIM panels in different conditions (according to Australian Standard AS1170) in Australia, a comprehensive analysis using Strand7 is conducted on a three-storey structure incorporating traditional masonry infill panels and SIM panels. The comparison of displacement and base shear capacities is carried out in response to seismic events across various scenarios in different locations within Australia. The insights gained from this comparative analysis contribute valuable information regarding the viability of implementing SIM as a contemporary construction material.

CO2 emission activity of xylotrophic fungi response to an increase in temperature in the range of 10-30 °C on the example of pure dikaryotic cultures of Fomes fomentarius s. str., F. inzengae, Fomitopsis betulina, F. pinicola, Phellinus igniarius was analyzed. Emission activity was assessed by the difference in CO2 concentration in 0.5-liter exposure chambers with Petri dishes with mycelium growing on agar at the beginning of exposure and an hour later using a Gasmet DX-4030 FTIR spectrometer (Gasmet Technologies Oy, Finland), error measurements ±50 ppm. Specific (μg CO2/cm2/h) and total (μg CO2/h) emission activity and its relationship with temperature and size (area) of the mycelium were assessed. It has been shown that in the range of 10-30 °C, the specific and total CO2 emission activity of the mycelium is closely and positively related to temperature. Specific emission, which is an indicator of the respiratory activity of the mycelium, does not depend on its size; its only driver is temperature, the relationship with which is linear: an increase in temperature by 10 °C causes an increase in the specific emission activity of the mycelium by 1.7 times. The total CO2 emission activity, which is an indicator of the total amount of CO2 emitted, is directly proportional to the specific emission activity and the size of the mycelium. In the range of 10-30 °C, an increase in temperature causes an almost equal increase in both the specific emission activity of the mycelium (Q10 1.7) and its growth (Q10 1.5) and causes an exponential increase in the total emission of CO2. This must be taken into account when predicting CO2 emissions from woody debris under climate change, as it could potentially contribute to accelerating climate change.

Greek roots: "phos" (φῶς) - means "light" and "dynamis" (δύναμις) - means "force" or "power". Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an innovative treatment method based on the ability of photosensitizers to produce reactive oxygen species after exposure to light of a specific wavelength range, either in the visible or near infrared range. This process results in damage to pathological cells, such as cancer cells, while minimizing the impact on healthy tissues. PDT is a promising direction in the treatment of many diseases, with particular emphasis on the fight against cancer and other diseases asso-ciated with excessive cell growth. The power of light contributed to the creation of phototherapy, whose history dates back to ancient times. It was then noticed that some substances exposed to the sun have a negative effect on the body, while others have a therapeutic effect. This work provides a detailed review of photodynamic therapy, from its origins to the present day. It is surprising how a seemingly simple beam of light can have such a powerful healing effect, which is used not only in dermatology, but also in oncology, surgery, microbiology, virology, and even dentistry. However, despite promising re-sults, photodynamic therapy still faces many challenges. The availability of this thera-py is limited due to the small number of centers offering this type of treatment and the high costs, which may be unaffordable for many patients. Moreover, photodynamic therapy requires further research and improvement.

In this study, the olive pomace was considered because of its importance in the environment. So, this study carried out to estimate the total nitrogen content and the fatty acids profile of olive pomace. The olive pomace samples were collected from Irbid, Jarash, Ajloun and Mafraq during the harvesting season 2014 to study the biochemical characteristics of fatty acid composition and the total nitrogen (TN) content. The total nitrogen content was determined by standard Kjeldahl method and the fatty acid profile was detected by gas chromatography (GC). The results show that the total nitrogen content ranged from (0.39 ± 0.0) to (0.62 ± 0.02) with statistically significant difference suggesting that the composition of matrices and their percentage may be responsible for composition of amendments. The calculated total protein percentage ranged between (2.43 ± 0.00) to (3.87 ± 0.17). Also, 13 different fatty acids were quantitatively profiled and quantitated. Oleic acid (C 18:1) was found to be the highest percentage of all other fatty acids and ranged between (59.03%) and (63.81%), moreover the C 18:1/C 18:2 (oil quality) was calculated and C.V% showed variation meaning that nutritional implication could affect the oxidative stability of oils. In conclusion, OP by-product could give a sustainable and alternative-cheap source for fertilizers, pharmaceutical industries, cosmetics and other industries.

Background: We prepared reference materials of fentanyl and amphetamines in hair, and established methods for the certification of reference materials of fentanyl and amphetamines in hair samples. Methods: Hair samples containing 15 drugs were prepared by immersion method (water-dimethylsulfoxide). On the basis of single-factor experiment, Box-Behnken design-response surface was used to optimize the pre-treatment conditions of samples. In MRM/SIM mode, 15 drugs were quantitatively analyzed by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS methods. Results: The contents of 15 drugs in the mixed hair samples were: 1.050 ng mg-1~7.771 ng mg-1, RSDs&lt;7%(n=11). The results showed that the two analytical methods developed were highly sensitive (LODs as low as 0.05 pg mg-1), reproducible (intra-day and inter-day precision RSDs were&lt;10%) and accurate. F-test was performed on the prepared hair samples and the results showed that the homogeneity of the prepared hair samples was good. Conclusions: The established methods were used for the detection of fentanyl and amphetamine drugs in human hair, with high sensitivity, accuracy and specificity. It can be used as a certified method for the development of fentanyl and amphetamine matrix certified reference materials. The developed hair reference materials are expected to be applied in forensic drug abuse detection and laboratory quality control.

Recent studies have elucidated the diversity of genes encoding venom in sea anemones. However, most of those genes are yet to be explored in an evolutionary context. Insulin is a common peptide across metazoans and has been coopted into a predatory venom in many venomous lineages. In this study, we focus on the diversity of insulin-derived venoms in sea anemones and on elucidating their evolutionary history. We sourced data for 34 species of sea anemones and found sequences belonging to two venom families that have Insulin PFAM annotations (Cono-Insulin, VP302). Our findings show that both families have undergone duplication events. Members of each of the independently evolving clades have consistent predicted protein structures and distinct dN/dS values. Our work also shows that VP302 is part of a multidomain venom contig and has experienced a secondary gain into the venom system of cuticulate sea anemones.

In terahertz communication systems, lens antennas used in transceivers are basically plano-convex dielectric lenses. As the aperture increases and the focal length decreases, the thickness and mass of the plano-convex lens increase rapidly. Through theory and simulation, we designed a Fresnel lens suitable for the terahertz band to meet the requirements of large aperture and short focal length, and simulated the performance, advantages and disadvantages of the terahertz Fresnel lens. A 300GHz terahertz wireless communication system was built to verify the gain effect of the Fresnel lens antenna. The experimental results show that the Fresnel lens can amplify the signal in the terahertz band. The theoretical gain of a 30 cm Fresnel lens is 48.83dB, while the actual measured gain is approximately 45dB.

This paper explores various aspects of microbiology and immunology, focusing on the epidemiology and molecular characterisation of infectious diseases in the Caribbean and South America. Key areas of investigation include tuberculosis (TB), nosocomial infections, Salmonella infections, and bloodborne pathogens. A retrospective study in Jamaica underscores the high mortality rates in HIV-positive TB patients and the need for early HIV diagnosis and integrated care. Research in Trinidad and Tobago reveals the genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, highlighting high HIV-TB co-infection rates. The paper also examines the challenges posed by nosocomial infections, particularly those caused by antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and emphasises the importance of infection control. In addition, the study investigates Salmonella prevalence in poultry in Jamaica and the risks associated with foodborne infections. The paper further explores transfusion-transmitted infections and the development of IgM antibodies in egg whites for bacterial antigen detection. Lastly, it addresses immune responses in patients with immunodeficiency disorders, such as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), highlighting their susceptibility to a wide range of infections.

Background/Objectives: The aim of the narrative review was to identify information on the impact of technological interventions (such as telehealth and mobile health) on the health promotion of cardiac patients from diverse populations; Methods: Online databases of PubMed, and Cochrane Library were searched for articles in the English language regarding technological interventions for health promotion in cardiac patients. In addition, a methodological quality control process was conducted. Exclusion was based on first reading the abstract and then the full manuscript confirming content was not related to cardiac patients and technological interventions; Results: 11 studies were included in the review after quality control analysis. The sample size reported in these studies ranged from 12 to 1424 subjects. In 8 studies mobile phones, smartphones and apps were used as mHealth intervention with tracking and texting component; 2 studies used videoconferencing as a digital intervention program, while one study focused on using physical activity trackers; Conclusions: This review highlights the digital divide as individuals with limited eHealth literacy and lack of technological knowledge are not motivated or able participate in these interventions. Finding methods to overcome these barriers are important and can be solved to some extent by providing the technology and technical support.

Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) are members of the structurally conserved but functionally diverse MBL-fold superfamily of metallohydrolases. MBLs are a major concern for global health care as they efficiently inactivate β-lactam antibiotics, including the “last-resort” carbapenems, and no clinically suitable inhibitors are currently available. Increasingly, promiscuous β-lactamase activity is also observed in other members of the superfamily, including from viruses, which represents an underexplored reservoir for future pathways to antibiotic resistance. Here, two such MBL-fold enzymes from Bacillus phages, the cyclic mononucleotide-degrading proteins ApycGoe3 and ApycGrass, are shown to efficiently degrade β-lactam substrates in vitro. In particular, ApycGrass displays a distinct preference for carbapenem substrates with a catalytic efficiency that is within one order of magnitude of that of the clinically relevant MBL NDM-1. Mutagenesis experiments also demonstrate that the loss of a metal-bridging aspartate residue reduces nuclease activity up to 35-fold, but improves carbapenemase activity. In addition, we propose that the oligomeric state significantly influences β-lactamase activity by modifying access to the active site pocket. Together, these observations hint at a possible new avenue of resistance via the spread of phage-borne MBL-fold enzymes with β-lactamase activity.

To mitigate pyrethroid resistance in mosquito vectors of emerging and re-emerging human pathogens, there is an urgent need to discover insecticides with novel modes of action. Natural alternatives, such as extracts derived from plants, may serve as substitutes for traditional synthetic insecticides if they prove to be sustainable, cost-effective, and safe for non-target organisms. Hemp (Cannabis sativa) is a sustainable plant known to produce various secondary metabolites with insecticidal properties, including terpenoids and flavonoids. The goal of this study was to assess the larvicidal activity of hemp leaf extract on 1st instar mosquito larvae from both pyrethroid-susceptible (PS) and pyrethroid-resistant (PR) strains of Aedes aegypti Another goal was to identify which components of the extracts were responsible for any observed larvicidal activity. We found that methanol extract of hemp leaves induced similar concentration-dependent larvicidal activity against PS (LC50: 4.4 ppm) and PR (LC50: 4.3 ppm) strains within 48 hours. Partitioning of the dried leaf extract between methanol and revealed that full larvicidal activity was restricted to the methanol fraction. Analysis of this fraction by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance showed it to be dominated by cannabidiol (CBD). Larvicidal assays using authentic CBD confirmed this compound was primarily responsible for the toxicity of hemp leaf extract against both strains. We conclude that hemp leaf extracts and CBD have the potential to serve as viable sources for the development of novel mosquito larvicides.

This study aims to propose a method for constructing basic digital twin data in South Korea by adhering to international standards and utilizing publicly available data. Specifically, the study focuses on designing and proposing a digital twin data model for buildings, which are the most applicable among the basic digital twin data. To achieve this, the first section provides essential background information, introduces concepts and requirements related to digital twin basic data, and offers a brief overview of CityGML. The second section explains the methodology and data used in this study. The third section presents the main findings: the selection of public data (buildings) for constructing digital twin basic data, the mapping process using CityGML, and the creation of UML diagrams. The fourth section discusses these findings. Finally, the conclusion and suggestions for future research are provided. This approach enhances the accuracy of building-related digital twin data and supports the use of digital twin services in both public and private sectors by enabling various spatial analyses.

The proliferation of fake news on social media platforms poses significant challenges to information authenticity and public trust. In this study, the impact of various word embedding techniques on the performance of both machine learning and deep learning models for fake news detection is systematically evaluated. The comprehensive TruthSeeker dataset, which spans over a decade of labeled news articles and social media posts, is utilized. Three popular word embedding techniques are analyzed: TF-IDF, Word2Vec, and FastText. These embeddings were tested with multiple machine learning classifiers, including logistic regression, naive Bayes, K-nearest neighbors, support vector machines, multilayer perceptrons, decision trees, and random forests, as well as deep learning models, specifically convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Among machine learning models, the Support Vector Machine (SVM) with TF-IDF achieved the highest accuracy of 99.03%, precision of 98.92%, recall of 99.15%, and F1 score of 99.03%. The Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) also demonstrated strong performance with Word2Vec, reaching an accuracy of 95.24%, precision of 94.95%, recall of 95.50%, and F1 score of 95.07%. For deep learning models, CNNs combined with TF-IDF embeddings showed outstanding results, achieving an accuracy of 98.99%, precision of 98.56%, recall of 99.48%, and F1 score of 99.02%. These results highlight the critical role of word embeddings in enhancing model accuracy and reliability in misinformation detection.

Australia’s avian species are unique and diverse. Due to the dramatic changed in distribution, physiology, and behaviour caused by both changing climatic conditions and human activities, Australian bird species becomes highly vulnerable to health-related factors such as impact injury and vehicle trauma, as well as environmental-related stressors such as animal attack and abnormal behaviours. This is reflected in increasing number of avian patients received by wildlife hospitals. The most common outcome of avian species in wildlife hospitals was euthanasia, only few of them were released back into their ecosystem. During the process of bird rescue and rehabilitation, stress can be caused by various stressors such as injury, infection, trauma, shock and stressful environment in wildlife hospitals and rehabilitation centres. Therefore, in order to better understand the causes of the high rates of mortality and improve the management and conservation strategies, it is important to study the species responses to environmental changes. Similar with other species, in birds, the HPA axis plays an essential role in maintaining homeostasis by producing glucocorticoids (corticosterone in birds). In this study, we sampled a total of 30 individuals humanely euthanised at the Adelaide Koala and Wildlife Centre (AKWC), and noted their clinical information. Feather samples were collected from all 30 individuals, and then were processed and analysed for corticosterone levels using enzyme-immunoassay (EIA). The biological relevance of feather CORT assay was evaluated by comparing the absolute levels of CORT between birds. We also analysed the effects of different stressors by grouped the diagnosis into acute and chronic categories. Although results suggest that stress levels were variable between the diagnosis, no statistically significant difference was found between these two categories in this study due to the limited sample size. We also obtained patient records from the 2022-2023 period from AKWC for retrospective analysis. Records were categorized and analysed based on the diagnoses, species and admission dates. Retrospective analysis suggests that in 2022, the Rainbow Lorikeet had the highest admission rate (192/544, 35.29%), followed by Magpie (124/544, 22.79%). Most admissions occurred in Summer. Musculoskeletal injury was the most prevalent diagnosis across all species with Magpies having the highest rates (73.39%) across all diagnoses and Rainbow Lorikeets the second highest (36.46%). Beak and Feather disease (BFD) was another common diagnosis for lorikeets. Data collected at 2023 followed the similar trend. This is the first study that uses non-invasive method to determine stress levels of rescued Australian native avian species, aims at improving and implementing native avian species management and conservation initiatives. This research also provides a basis for future studies which allow for more detailed analyses of wild populations and a broader range of species.

Stimulation of the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) has shown beneficial effects in several acute inflammatory disease models. This study aims to examine whether treatment with the selective α7nAChR agonist PHA 568487 can dampen inflammation and thereby improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction in mice. The possible anti-inflammatory properties of α7nAChR agonist PHA 568487 were tested in vivo using the air pouch model and in a permanent occlusion model of acute myocardial infarction in mice. Hematology parameters and cytokine levels were determined. Infarct size and cardiac function were assessed via echocardiography 24 h and one week after the infarction. Treatment with α7nAChR agonist PHA 568487 decreased 12 (CCL27, CXCL5, IL6, CXCL10, CXCL11, CXCL1, CCL2, MIP1a, MIP2, CXCL16, CXCL12 and CCL25) out of 33 cytokines in the air pouch model of acute inflammation. However, α7nAChR agonist PHA 568487 did not alter infarct size, ejection fraction, cardiac output or stroke volume at 24 h nor at 7 days after the myocardial infarction compared with control mice. In conclusion, despite promising immunomodulatory effects in the acute inflammatory air pouch model, α7nAChR agonist PHA 568487 did not affect infarct size or cardiac function after a permanent occlusion model of acute myocardial infarction in mice. Consequently, this study does not strengthen the hypothesis that stimulation of the α7nAChR is a future treatment strategy for acute myocardial infarction when reperfusion is lacking. However, whether other agonists of the α7nAChR can have different effects remains to be investigated.

Opossums, native to the Americas, are unique marsupials with over 100 species. The Common Opossum and Virginia Opossum are notable species. They are nocturnal, omnivorous, and adapt to various habitats. Their reproduction involves a short gestation and marsupial pouch development. Despite their ecological benefits like seed dispersal and insect control, their proximity to human habitats exposes them to pathogens, posing public health risks. These include protozoa, helminths, and arthropods that can spread zoonotic parasites and vector-borne diseases. The marsupial immune system, including opossums, is complex, rivaling eutherian mammals. Key immune genes were identified in the grey short-tailed opossum genome. CD1 protein and VpreB surrogate light chain were also found. Marsupials are proposed as ideal models for studying developmental immunology. A West Indian opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) was found and examined. Blood tests revealed abnormalities, including a low white blood cell count and signs of anemia. The results contribute to understanding the species’ health and adaptability in the wild.

Atta capiguara is a grass-cutting ant species frequently found in Cerrado biome. However, little is known about the giant nest architecture of this ant. In this study, we investigated the architecture of three A. capiguara nests from the fragment of cerrado in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. Casts were made of the nests by filling them with cement to permit better visualization of internal structures such as chambers and tunnels. After excavation, the depth and dimensions (length, width, and height) of the chambers were measured. The results showed the typical shape of Atta capiguara nests consisting of mounds of loose soil with unique features resembling a conic section. The fungus chambers were found outside the apparent main part of the nest and were spaced apart and distributed laterally at ground level. The waste chambers were located beneath the largest mound of loose soil. Both the fungus and waste chambers exhibited a sectoral distribution. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the so far unknown nest architecture of the grass-cutting ant A. capiguara.

Recent advancements have revolutionized interplanetary spacecraft missions by combining low-thrust propulsion systems with planetary Gravity-Assist (GA) maneuvers. This study investigates/improved a novel dual-step efficient-robust homotopy algorithm, grounded in indirect optimal control principles, to analyze fuel-optimal bang-bang control problems. The methodology integrates efficient techniques, including the homotopic method, compatible normalization, and improved switching function detection, aimed at enhancing optimal convergence in solving low-thrust gravity-assist spacecraft missions. To illustrate practical application, an Earth-to-Jupiter interplanetary scenario utilizing Mars-GA is examined. Results demonstrate the algorithm's superior efficacy in achieving fuel efficiency, robust convergence, and remarkable accuracy compared to existing solutions.

Minerals might have played critical roles for the origin and evolution of possible life forms on Mars. The study of the interactions between “building blocks of life” and minerals relevant to Mars mineralogy under conditions mimicking the harsh Martian environment may provide key insight into possible prebiotic processes. Therefore, this contribution aims at reviewing the most important investigations carried out so far about the catalytic/protective properties of Martian minerals toward molecular biosignatures under Martian-like conditions. Overall, it turns out that the fate of molecular biosignatures on Mars depends on a delicate balance between multiple preservation and degradation mechanisms often regulated by minerals, which may take place simultaneously. Such a complexity requires more efforts in simulating realistically the Martian environment in order to better inspect plausible prebiotic pathways and shed light on the nature of the organic compounds detected both in meteorites and on the surface of Mars through in situ analysis.

Blockchain technology (BCT) has the potential for sustainable development, enhancing business efficiency, reducing costs, and strengthening data security. Despite its potential, adoption among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is low due to the need for significant changes in technology infrastructure and the challenge of interoperability. A cross-sectional survey was done with 226 Hong Kong SMEs. The PLS-SEM results highlighted favorable transformation conditions as the most critical factor for SMEs considering the adoption of BCT. These conditions address both internal and external readiness for adopting the disruptive strategy. Other contributing factors to BCT adoption include trust in BCT developers, perceived usefulness and ease of use, government support, and perceived security. The research results contributed to the literature on disruptive technology acceptance, adoption, transformation conditions, technology readiness, and SMEs’ technology adoption. Government-supported policies and initiatives can promote BCT adoption, including educational programs, case studies, and resources for readiness. Financial support and regulatory frameworks can further encourage adoption. BCT developers can demonstrate the value of their systems, effectively communicate potential ROI and cost savings, and provide user-friendly interfaces to increase SMEs’ intention to adopt BCT.

Maize mosaic virus (MMV) is a plant virus that is transmitted by the corn planthopper, Peregrinus maidis Ashmead (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) in a persistent and propagative manner. MMV is the causal agent for mosaic disease that can cause significant loss in corn yield. Management is focused on controlling insect vector population. The molecular mechanisms of virus transmission by the insect vector are not fully understood. Previously, we identified a receptor for MMV, the P. maidis syntaxin 18 (PmStx18). PmStx18 interacts with the viral glycoprotein and potentially facilitates MMV recognition and entry into the vector, enabling virus proliferation. Stx18 is a key component of the vesicular trafficking machinery and also plays a critical role in neurotransmitter release in insects. In this work, we investigated the expression of PmStx18 in different developmental stages and major parts of the insect vector. Primers were designed to generate templates for synthesis of double-stranded RNA fragments. A 374-bp amplicon was selected and gene-specific sequences were flanked by T7 promoter sequences for in vitro transcription. Results showed a significant difference in the expression of Stx18 in the different developmental stages of P. maidis but not between male and female adults and major body parts. In vitro transcription products indicated optimal reaction conditions and protocol suitability. The findings establish the initial steps for developing RNAi-based approach in controlling MMV transmission by targeting Syntaxin-18 in P. maidis. Further investigations are needed to evaluate the efficacy of this approach.

Elbow dislocation and instability present significant clinical challenges, necessitating a thorough understanding of the underlying bio-mechanical mechanisms. In this study, a quasi-static three-dimensional finite element model of the human elbow joint is developed to investigate stress distribution and stages of dislocation in the human elbow under various loading conditions. The model simulates the elbow joint in different degrees of flexion (30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°) and forearm positions (pronation and supination), providing detailed insights into the progression of dislocation. Significant findings include the identification of high stress concentrations on the humerus at 90° flexion and on the radial and coronoid processes at 30°, 45°, and 60° flexion. Three reproducible stages of dislocation were observed, particularly in flexed positions with forearm pronation or supination. These stages align with experimental observations and highlight the initial occurrence of bony failures, such as radial head and ulnar coronoid fractures, preceding soft tissue tears. Clinically, the study underscores that early-stage low-impact posterior elbow dislocations retain enough stability to be managed with closed reduction and early mobilization. However, as dislocations progress, significant damage to the medial and lateral collateral ligaments is expected, necessitating more invasive treatments. This research provides valuable bio-mechanical insights into elbow dislocation, aiding in the development of improved treatment strategies and enhancing patient outcomes through precise and timely clinical interventions. The validated FEM serves as a powerful tool for pre-surgical planning offering a comprehensive understanding of elbow joint mechanics.

The study investigates the economic feasibility and farmer acceptance of utilizing treated wastewater (TWW) for agricultural irrigation, particularly in the Northern Jordan Valley. Despite its potential to mitigate water scarcity, concerns persist regarding its impact on soil health, crop yield, and land utilization, hindering widespread adoption. The research aims to measure farm profitability and farmers' willingness to embrace TWW through various blending scenarios with traditional surface water sources. The yield response function to salinity was incorporated into profit function to simulate crop profitability and water values. Results indicate that the introduction of TWW negatively affects salt-sensitive crops like citrus but positively impacts others such as date palm, olives, tomatoes, and peppers due to increased fertilizer content in irrigation water. Economic performance indicators reveal a gradual decrease in water net productivity for citrus with increasing blending ratios of TWW, with the water value decreasing accordingly. Higher percentages of treated water do not consistently lead to increased productivity, profitability, or net value added, emphasizing the need for careful consideration and understanding of economic risks associated with specific crops and water quality. To mitigate the impact of water salinity on citrus production, growers are advised to improve soil quality, periodically flush the soil with low-salinity water, and use salt-tolerant rootstocks. Regular monitoring of soil and water salinity levels is crucial for informed decision-making. While using TWW, water may offer cost savings.

In the realm of physical activity and sports science, motion tracking emerges as an important tool for specialists aiming to analyze movement data, whether for daily life activities or enhancing athletic performance. This study introduces an innovative approach to motion tracking through the development of a fully embedded smart shoe sensor system, which employs an inertial measurement unit (IMU) affixed to the shoe sole, coupled with six pressure sensors, to provide real-time calculation of individual stride lengths along with other vital movement statistics. Traditional motion tracking methods, which typically rely on various body-attached sensors, often necessitate substantial post-processing, delaying the feedback loop. In contrast, our system is designed to overcome these limitations by offering high-accuracy, real-time feedback with a minimal error rate of 1.88% from our experiments. Such prompt data acquisition facilitates immediate interventions by sports performance coaches or healthcare professionals, significantly contributing to injury prevention and performance enhancement. The experimental outcomes of this study underscore the system’s capability to deliver precise stride length measurements instantaneously, marking a significant advancement in motion tracking technology and its application in sports science and healthcare.

This study evaluates audiogenic epilepsy in Krushinsky-Molodkina rats using a wireless EEG system to overcome the limitations of traditional methods that restrict animal movement. Nine male KM rats, prone to audiogenic seizures, were implanted with electrodes in areas critical for seizure activity (inferior colliculus, ventrolateral periaqueductal gray, dorsal area of the secondary auditory cortex, and motor cortex). This setup allowed for the observation of seizures without movement restriction. Results showed that targeted neural intervention via electrode implantation reduced the intensity of convulsive seizures in half of the subjects, suggesting a potential therapeutic approach. The severity of seizures was influenced by the pre-phonostimulation EEG background activity in specific brain regions, identifying them as key in the genesis and generalization of seizures. Observations of dual generalized seizure waves and induced hyperkinesis challenge conventional epilepsy models and suggest new directions for research and therapy development.

IgE-mediated wheat allergy is a gluten-related disorder. Wheat is one of the five most common food allergens in children. However, the natural history of IgE-mediated wheat allergy has seldom been described in the research literature. This study presents the current state of knowledge about the IgE-mediated wheat allergy in children.

Safe water is a global public health concern amid increasing scarcity and pollution. Bottled water production and consumption contribute to these problems. This study examines tap water consumption in Italy, assessing associated sociodemographic factors and related health outcomes such as obesity and self-perceived health status. Data from the Italian National Statistics Institute's "Aspects of daily life" survey (N=45,597) were analyzed. Covariates included education, age, gender, economic status, region, concerns about waste and climate change, consumption of carbonated drinks excluding water, alcohol consumption, consumption of vegetables, consumption of snacks, body mass index, and self-perceived health status. Bivariate analyses and mixed-effect logistic regression models explored the associations. People who drink tap water were 19,674 with a higher prevalence in people aged 45 to 59 old, people with a graduate/post-graduate degree diploma, with optimal economic resources, and concerned about waste production and climate change, coming from the North-East regions of Italy. Underweight people showed a higher prevalence of TW assumption as well as those who drink less than occasionally carbonated drinks, drink alcohol, consume vegetables more than once a day, and snacks less than once a week with a satisfying level perceived health status. Regressions showed that all age classes are less likely to drink tap water than people younger than 20 years old. The category with “inadequate” economic resources is more likely to consume tap water. Low educational classes show a low likelihood of consuming tap water as well as Islands. A concern about waste production and climate change is associated with an increased likelihood of assuming tap water. Tap water consumption was negatively associate with obesity but not with a satisfactory Self-perceived health status. Insights from this study can inform public health strategies.

Over the last several decades there has been an arms race to acquire credentials as higher education has shifted from an elitist system to mass education. From an individual perspective, given the higher education system and labor market conditions, it is rational to pursue advanced qualifications. However, whether the education system delivers improvements in human capital or is principally a signaling mechanism is questionable. Estimates of the proportion of labor market rewards due to signaling range as high as 80%, suggesting that education is not only expensive but inefficient. In an increasingly transactional environment in which education providers are highly motivated by financial considerations, this situation is only likely to be exacerbated by the rapid developments in AI. The use of AI has the potential to make learning more effective but, given that many students see credential acquisition as transactional, it may reduce both human capital and the value of the signaling effect. If the credibility of the credentials offered is further damaged, the sustainability of the higher education sector in its present form and scale may well be unsustainable. We examine the evidence on credential inflation, returns to education and mismatch of graduates to jobs before analyzing how AI is likely to affect these trends. We then suggest possible responses of prospective students, education providers and employers to the growing adoption of AI in both education and the workplace. We conclude that the current offerings of generalist degrees, as opposed to vocational qualifications, are not sustainable and that to survive, even in a downsized form, the sector must respond to this disruptive technology by changing both the nature of its offerings and its methods of ensuring that the credentials they offer reflect genuine student learning.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are a promising form of immunotherapy that has significantly changed the therapeutic landscape for many advanced cancers. They have shown unique clinical benefit against a broad range of tumour types and a strong overall impact on survival in studied patient populations. However, there are still many limitations holding back this immunotherapy from reaching its full potential as a possible curative option for advanced cancer patients. A great deal of research is being undertaken in the hope of driving advancements in this area, building a better understanding of the mechanisms behind immune checkpoint inhibition and ultimately developing more effective, safer, and wider-reaching agents. Taking into account the current literature on this topic, this review aims to explore in depth the basis of the use of ICIs in the treatment of advanced cancers, evaluate its efficacy and safety, consider its current limitations, and finally reflect on what the future holds for this very promising form of cancer immunotherapy.