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Inspired by recent findings that semi-inclusive detections of heavy hadrons exhibit fair stabilization patterns in high-energy resummed distributions against (missing) higher-order corrections, we review and extend our studies on the hadroproduction of light and heavy hadrons tagged in forward and far-forward rapidity ranges. [...] Read more.

NLL / {NLO}^{+}

behavior of rapidity rates and angular multiplicities via the \({{\Jethad} }\) method, where the resummation of next-to-leading energy logarithms and beyond is consistently embodied in the collinear picture. We explore kinematic regions that are within LHC typical acceptances, as well as novel sectors accessible thanks the combined tagging of a far-forward light or heavy hadron at future Forward Physics Facilities and a of central particle at LHC experiments via a precise timing-coincidence setup. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers for Particles 2023)

12 pages, 29300 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bamboo Scrimber as a Sustainable Material for Chairs: A Property Study Based on the Finite Element Method

by Zhengjie Duan, Qing Zu and Fei Rao

Sustainability 2024, 16(13), 5357; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135357 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

Bamboo scrimber is a sustainable biomass composite with physical and mechanical properties that has potential applications in furniture. However, its performance across different furniture needs evaluation considering the specific requirements for furniture with different functions. In this study, we simulated a traditional armchair model with bamboo scrimber, ash, or beech as the substrate. Using the finite element method, we analyzed stresses and deformations under six working conditions. The results show that bamboo scrimber had a lower maximum deformation and higher maximum stress under the vertical loading of the seat, backrest, legs, and armrests. Under armrest lateral loading, ash exhibited a higher maximum stress and lower maximum deformation. For selecting furniture material, we propose a strategy that optimizes furniture design by combining the advantages of traditional and new materials according to the structural characteristics and stresses of different parts of the furniture. The results confirm that bamboo scrimber has a good deformation resistance and structural stability and can be used as a substitute for traditional wood in furniture manufacturing, especially for chairs subjected to complex loads. Our findings will help to improve sustainable development by promoting the application of bamboo scrimber in the furniture manufacturing industry. Full article

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30 pages, 3485 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Variable Acceptability of Differential Object Marking in Bilingual Galician–Spanish Speakers: An Exploratory Study

by Manuel Delicado Cantero and M. Carmen Parafita Couto

Languages 2024, 9(7), 228; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9070228 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

This paper presents an initial study of the acceptability of differential object marking (DOM) by Galician–Spanish bilinguals in Galicia. The research explores judgments provided by these bilinguals (n = 69) on DOM in both Galician and Spanish and it also explores data from a monolingual Spanish control group (n = 12). The surveys target contexts covering key syntactic and semantic–pragmatic contexts for DOM in Galician and Spanish, based on the existing literature. The Galician data reveal a tendency towards reduced acceptability of DOM compared to Spanish, but without a generalized rejection of DOM in any of the contexts. The Spanish data show variability in both groups. The study contributes insights from an under-studied language pair and aims to open avenues for further work. More generally, it enhances our understanding of DOM in bilingual grammars, particularly in microcontact situations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Developments in Galician Linguistics)

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23 pages, 5963 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Chromaticity of Gromwell, Cape jasmine Dyeing, and Effects of Zinc Oxide/Polyphenol Treatment with Copper Mordanting for UV Protection

by Hye Jin Kim

Colorants 2024, 3(3), 175-197; https://doi.org/10.3390/colorants3030013 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

To protect skin from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation, there has been a resurgence in the use of natural dyes with metal mordants to reduce contamination by advanced chemicals. This study achieved natural dyeing in violet and yellow colors from Gromwell red roots and Cape jasmine seeds for UV-protective materials. The dyed fabrics were subjected to zinc oxide (ZnO) and polyphenol treatments, as well as copper post-mordanting. The SEM, TEM, and XRD tests showed that the ZnO nanoparticles, with hexagonal crystal structures, stuck to the fiber surfaces, and twisted strands resulted in the K/S reduction. First, this study found that the untreated cotton in violet, despite the highest K/S, faded the most intensely when exposed to UV. The color variation of untreated polyester was narrow, with little change in L, a*, and K/S. The color change of yellow-dyed samples treated with ZnO/polyphenol was not considerable in yellowness (b*: 28.838), while the violet fabrics displayed a significant decrease in K/S and an increase in b*. The combination of ZnO and polyphenol treatment improved UV absorption at 350 to 250 nm. Among the Cu-mordanted fabrics after ZnO/phenols treatment, the violet cotton turned reddish from blueish (negative to positive b*), with a hue change of 316° to 59° and the highest ΔE (25.90 ± 4.34) after UV exposure. In this study, the combination of ZnO/polyphenol with Cu-mordants allowed the Cape jasmine-dyed polyester to achieve a minimum ΔE as well as to keep its chroma and hue after UV exposure. Full article

15 pages, 6095 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fabrication Tolerances’ Impact on an ODAC-Based PAM-4 Transmitter

by Adebayo E. Abejide, João Santos, Tanay Chattopadhyay, Francisco Rodrigues, Mario Lima and António Teixeira

Photonics 2024, 11(7), 589; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics11070589 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

Photonic integrated circuits (PIC) devices are impacted by fabrication tolerances and therefore, prior knowledge of such variations could improve the PIC fabrication process and overall yield. This paper presents a method for predicting the fabrication impacts on a telecommunication optical digital to analog converter (oDAC)-based pulse amplitude modulator level four (PAM-4) transmitter as a case study where the certainty of this passive device is subjected to random variation. Our findings allow us to estimate the production yield in a fabrication scenario using the symbol error rate (SER) benchmark and this contributes to the study of the viability of oDAC PAM-4 transmitters to replace conventional electrical digital to analog converter (eDAC) PAM-4 transmitters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photonics for Emerging Applications in Communication and Sensing II)

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21 pages, 324 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Outdoor STEAM Education: Opportunities and Challenges

by Marisa Correia, Teresa Ribeirinha, David Beirante, Raquel Santos, Liliana Ramos, Isabel Simões Dias, Helena Luís, David Catela, Sónia Galinha, Ana Arrais, António Portelada, Paula Pinto, Vera Simões, Regina Ferreira, Susana Franco and Maria Clara Martins

Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(7), 688; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14070688 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

There is a consensus that students should be involved in interdisciplinary activities that promote a solid education in STEAM subjects from an early age. The outdoor settings of schools present an advantageous context for STEAM education, allowing for a myriad of learning experiences. To understand how teachers perceive the pedagogical use of the school’s outdoor space, a study was carried out in a cluster of schools in a Portuguese city, including one middle school and 10 kindergarten and elementary schools. A mixed methods approach was used, combining a questionnaire for teachers (N = 49) with interviews (N = 8). The results indicate that teachers’ perceptions of the characteristics of their school’s outdoor spaces either facilitate or hinder the implementation of outdoor pedagogical activities. Most teachers concur that the outdoors provides contact with nature and encourages interdisciplinary and collaborative activities. However, the teachers surveyed admit to using the school’s outdoor spaces only occasionally, and this use decreases as the educational level at which they teach increases. The most common use of outdoor spaces is for physical and motor activities, promoting the well-being of children and youth. Although interdisciplinary activities in outdoor spaces are recognised, their implementation is limited and hampered by factors such as the length of curricula and the lack of training for teachers in these approaches. In this sense, there is an urgent need to train teachers in the interdisciplinary use of outdoor spaces to promote a solid education in STEAM subjects. Full article

11 pages, 3350 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predicting Outcome in Clear Aligner Treatment: A Machine Learning Analysis

by Daniel Wolf, Gasser Farrag, Tabea Flügge and Lan Huong Timm

J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(13), 3672; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13133672 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Machine learning (ML) models predicting the risk of refinement (i.e., a subsequent course of treatment being necessary) in clear aligner therapy (CAT) were developed and evaluated. Methods: An anonymized sample of 9942 CAT patients (70.6% females, 29.4% males, age range 18–64 years, median 30.5 years), as provided by DrSmile, a large European CAT provider based in Berlin, Germany, was used. Three different ML methods were employed: (1) logistic regression with L1 regularization, (2) extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), and (3) support vector classification with a radial basis function kernel. In total, 74 factors were selected as predictors for these methods and are consistent with clinical reasoning. Results: On a held-out test set with a true-positive rate of 0.58, the logistic regression model has an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.67, an average precision (AP) of 0.73, and Brier loss of 0.22; the XGBoost model has an AUC of 0.67, an AP of 0.74, and Brier loss of 0.22; and the support vector model has a recall of 0.61 and a precision of 0.64. The logistic regression and XGBoost models identify predictors influencing refinement risk, including patient compliance, interproximal enamel reduction (IPR) and certain planned tooth movements, for example, lingual translation of maxillary incisors being associated with the lowest risk of refinement and rotation of mandibular incisors with the highest risk. Conclusions: These findings suggest moderate, well-calibrated predictive accuracy with both regularized logistic regression and XGBoost and underscore the influence the identified factors have on the risk of refinement in CAT, emphasizing their importance in the careful planning of orthodontic treatment and the potential for shorter treatment times, less patient discomfort, and fewer clinic visits. Identification of at-risk individuals could support tailored clinical decision-making and enable targeted interventions Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Approaches and Technologies in Orthodontics—2nd Edition)

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25 pages, 1003 KiB

Open AccessReview

Investigating Antiprotozoal Chemotherapies with Novel Proteomic Tools—Chances and Limitations: A Critical Review

by Joachim Müller, Ghalia Boubaker, Norbert Müller, Anne-Christine Uldry, Sophie Braga-Lagache, Manfred Heller and Andrew Hemphill

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(13), 6903; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25136903 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

Identification of drug targets and biochemical investigations on mechanisms of action are major issues in modern drug development. The present article is a critical review of the classical “one drug”—“one target” paradigm. In fact, novel methods for target deconvolution and for investigation of resistant strains based on protein mass spectrometry have shown that multiple gene products and adaptation mechanisms are involved in the responses of pathogens to xenobiotics rather than one single gene or gene product. Resistance to drugs may be linked to differential expression of other proteins than those interacting with the drug in protein binding studies and result in complex cell physiological adaptation. Consequently, the unraveling of mechanisms of action needs approaches beyond proteomics. This review is focused on protozoan pathogens. The conclusions can, however, be extended to chemotherapies against other pathogens or cancer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Molecular Pharmacology)

25 pages, 2996 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Causalized Convergent Cross Mapping and Its Implementation in Causality Analysis

by Boxin Sun, Jinxian Deng, Norman Scheel, David C. Zhu, Jian Ren, Rong Zhang and Tongtong Li

Entropy 2024, 26(7), 539; https://doi.org/10.3390/e26070539 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

Rooted in dynamic systems theory, convergent cross mapping (CCM) has attracted increased attention recently due to its capability in detecting linear and nonlinear causal coupling in both random and deterministic settings. One limitation with CCM is that it uses both past and future values to predict the current value, which is inconsistent with the widely accepted definition of causality, where it is assumed that the future values of one process cannot influence the past of another. To overcome this obstacle, in our previous research, we introduced the concept of causalized convergent cross mapping (cCCM), where future values are no longer used to predict the current value. In this paper, we focus on the implementation of cCCM in causality analysis. More specifically, we demonstrate the effectiveness of cCCM in identifying both linear and nonlinear causal coupling in various settings through a large number of examples, including Gaussian random variables with additive noise, sinusoidal waveforms, autoregressive models, stochastic processes with a dominant spectral component embedded in noise, deterministic chaotic maps, and systems with memory, as well as experimental fMRI data. In particular, we analyze the impact of shadow manifold construction on the performance of cCCM and provide detailed guidelines on how to configure the key parameters of cCCM in different applications. Overall, our analysis indicates that cCCM is a promising and easy-to-implement tool for causality analysis in a wide spectrum of applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Functional Imaging to Free Energy—Dedicated to Professor Karl Friston on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday)

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17 pages, 6790 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Improved Method for Detecting Crane Wheel–Rail Faults Based on YOLOv8 and the Swin Transformer

by Yunlong Li, Xiuli Tang, Wusheng Liu, Yuefeng Huang and Zhinong Li

Sensors 2024, 24(13), 4086; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24134086 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

In the realm of special equipment, significant advancements have been achieved in fault detection. Nonetheless, faults originating in the equipment manifest with diverse morphological characteristics and varying scales. Certain faults necessitate the extrapolation from global information owing to their occurrence in localized areas. Simultaneously, the intricacies of the inspection area’s background easily interfere with the intelligent detection processes. Hence, a refined YOLOv8 algorithm leveraging the Swin Transformer is proposed, tailored for detecting faults in special equipment. The Swin Transformer serves as the foundational network of the YOLOv8 framework, amplifying its capability to concentrate on comprehensive features during the feature extraction, crucial for fault analysis. A multi-head self-attention mechanism regulated by a sliding window is utilized to expand the observation window’s scope. Moreover, an asymptotic feature pyramid network is introduced to augment spatial feature extraction for smaller targets. Within this network architecture, adjacent low-level features are merged, while high-level features are gradually integrated into the fusion process. This prevents loss or degradation of feature information during transmission and interaction, enabling accurate localization of smaller targets. Drawing from wheel–rail faults of lifting equipment as an illustration, the proposed method is employed to diagnose an expanded fault dataset generated through transfer learning. Experimental findings substantiate that the proposed method in adeptly addressing numerous challenges encountered in the intelligent fault detection of special equipment. Moreover, it outperforms mainstream target detection models, achieving real-time detection capabilities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vibrations and Acoustics for Condition Monitoring in Non-stationary Operations)

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40 pages, 5502 KiB

Open AccessReview

Technological Elements behind the Renewable Energy Community: Current Status, Existing Gap, Necessity, and Future Perspective—Overview

by Shoaib Ahmed, Amjad Ali, Alessandro Ciocia and Antonio D’Angola

Energies 2024, 17(13), 3100; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17133100 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

The Renewable Energy Community (REC) in Europe promotes renewable energy sources (RESs), offering social, economic, and environmental benefits. This new entity could alter consumer energy relationships, requiring self-consumption, energy sharing, and full utilization of RESs. Modernizing energy systems within the REC requires addressing self-consumption, energy sharing, demand response, and energy management system initiatives. The paper discusses the role of decentralized energy systems, the scenarios of the REC concept and key aspects, and activities involving energy generation, energy consumption, energy storage systems, energy sharing, and EV technologies. Moreover, the present work highlights the research gap in the existing literature and the necessity of addressing the technological elements. It also highlights that there is no uniform architecture or model for the REC, like in the case of microgrids. Additionally, the present work emphasizes the role and importance of technological elements in RECs, suggesting future recommendations for EMS, DSM, data monitoring and analytics, communication systems, and the software or tools to ensure reliability, efficiency, economic, and environmental measures. The authors also highlight the crucial role of policymakers and relevant policies, which could help in implementing these technological elements and show the importance of the RECs for a sustainable energy shift and transition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section C: Energy Economics and Policy)

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33 pages, 1803 KiB

Open AccessReview

Bridging the Gap in Cancer Research: Sulfur Metabolism of Leukemic Cells with a Focus on L-Cysteine Metabolism and Hydrogen Sulfide-Producing Enzymes

by Konrad Kaleta, Klaudia Janik, Leszek Rydz, Maria Wróbel and Halina Jurkowska

Biomolecules 2024, 14(7), 746; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom14070746 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

Leukemias are cancers of the blood-forming system, representing a significant challenge in medical science. The development of leukemia cells involves substantial disturbances within the cellular machinery, offering hope in the search for effective selective treatments that could improve the 5-year survival rate. Consequently, the pathophysiological processes within leukemia cells are the focus of critical research. Enzymes such as cystathionine beta-synthase and sulfurtransferases like thiosulfate sulfurtransferase, 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase, and cystathionine gamma-lyase play a vital role in cellular sulfur metabolism. These enzymes are essential to maintaining cellular homeostasis, providing robust antioxidant defenses, and supporting cell division. Numerous studies have demonstrated that cancerous processes can alter the expression and activity of these enzymes, uncovering potential vulnerabilities or molecular targets for cancer therapy. Recent laboratory research has indicated that certain leukemia cell lines may exhibit significant changes in the expression patterns of these enzymes. Analysis of the scientific literature and online datasets has confirmed variations in sulfur enzyme function in specific leukemic cell lines compared to normal leukocytes. This comprehensive review collects and analyzes available information on sulfur enzymes in normal and leukemic cell lines, providing valuable insights and identifying new research pathways in this field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Molecular Medicine)

22 pages, 5353 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Regulations of Citrus Pectin Oligosaccharide on Cholesterol Metabolism: Insights from Integrative Analysis of Gut Microbiota and Metabolites

by Haijuan Hu, Peipei Zhang, Fengxia Liu and Siyi Pan

Nutrients 2024, 16(13), 2002; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16132002 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

(1) Background: Recently, academic studies are demonstrating that the cholesterol-lowering effects of pectin oligosaccharides (POSs) are correlated to intestinal flora. However, the mechanisms of POS on cholesterol metabolisms are limited, and the observations of intestinal flora are lacking integrative analyses. (2) Aim and methods: To reveal the regulatory mechanisms of POS on cholesterol metabolism via an integrative analysis of the gut microbiota, the changes in gut microbiota structure and metabolite composition after POS addition were investigated using Illumina MiSeq sequencing and non-targeted metabolomics through in vitro gut microbiota fermentation. (3) Results: The composition of fecal gut flora was adjusted positively by POS. POS increased the abundances of the cholesterol-related bacterial groups Bacteroidetes, Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, while it decreased conditional pathogenic Escherichia coli and Enterococcus, showing good prebiotic activities. POS changed the composition of gut microbiota fermentation metabolites (P24), causing significant changes in 221 species of fermentation metabolites in a non-targeted metabolomics analysis and promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids. The abundances of four types of cholesterol metabolism-related metabolites (adenosine monophosphate, cyclic adenosine monophosphate, guanosine and butyrate) were significantly higher in the P24 group than those in the control group without POS addition. (4) Conclusion: The abovementioned results may explain the hypocholesterolemic effects of POS and promotion effects on cholesterol efflux of P24. These findings indicated that the potential regulatory mechanisms of citrus POS on cholesterol metabolism are modulated by cholesterol-related gut microbiota and specific metabolites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Nutrition on Gastrointestinal Health)

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14 pages, 4673 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Evaluation of a MIMO Radar Performance for ADAS Application

by Federico Dios, Sergio Torres-Benito, Jose A. Lázaro, Josep R. Casas, Jorge Pinazo and Adolfo Lerín

Telecom 2024, 5(3), 508-521; https://doi.org/10.3390/telecom5030026 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

Among the sensors necessary to equip vehicles with an autonomous driving system, there is a tacit agreement that cameras and some type of radar would be essential. The ability of radar to spatially locate objects (pedestrians, other vehicles, trees, street furniture, and traffic signs) makes it the most economical complement to the cameras in the visible spectrum in order to give the correct depth to scenes. From the echoes obtained by the radar, some data fusion algorithms will try to locate each object in its correct place within the space surrounding the vehicle. In any case, the usefulness of the radar will be determined by several performance parameters, such as its average error in distance, the maximum errors, and the number of echoes per second it can provide. In this work, we have tested experimentally the AWR1843 MIMO radar from Texas Instruments to measure those parameters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Radar Signal and Data Processing with Applications)

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21 pages, 2509 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mapping the Wholesale Day-Ahead Market Effects of the Gas Subsidy in the Iberian Exception

by Carlos González-de Miguel, Lucas van Wunnik and Andreas Sumper

Energies 2024, 17(13), 3102; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17133102 (registering DOI) - 24 Jun 2024

Abstract

Amidst the global energy crisis in 2022, the Spanish and Portuguese governments introduced a subsidy to natural gas (“the Iberian exception”), attempting to lower the wholesale electricity market prices, with the understanding that gas-fired-combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) are price-setting technologies most of the time, directly or indirectly. The subsidy succeeded in lowering the market price but induced several other effects, such as (1) the increase in cleared energy in the Spanish market (mostly produced with gas), (2) the bias in the import/export cross-border position between Spain and France (Spain became a net exporter to France immediately), or (3) the consequent increase in congestion rents, which serve to lightly finance the subsidy, among other effects. This paper provides a framework for clustering the different effects based on the market participation phases: the subsidy, the market bidding, the market results, and surplus and rents. Moreover, this paper builds on the theoretical market models, with and without subsidies, and with and without cross-border exchanges. Based on the real market bids, the subsidies, and the generators’ data, we reconstruct the supply and demand curves and simulate the counterfactual market scenarios in order to illustrate and quantify the effects. We highlight the quantification of the theoretical effect of the transfer of rents, from non-fossil to fossil fuel producers, induced by the gas subsidy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section D: Energy Storage and Application)

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