Battery electric vehicles provide an opportunity to balance supply and demand in future power systems with high shares of fluctuating renewable energy. Compared to other storage systems such as pumped-storage hydroelectricity, electric vehicle energy demand is highly dependent on charging and connection choices of vehicle users. We present a model framework of a utility-based stock and flow model, a utility-based microsimulation of charging decisions, and an energy system model including respective interfaces to assess how the representation of battery electric vehicle charging affects energy system optimization results. We then apply the framework to a scenario study for controlled charging of nine million electric vehicles in Germany in 2030. Assuming a respective fleet power demand of 27 TWh, we analyze the difference between power-system-based and vehicle user-based charging decisions in two respective scenarios. Our results show that taking into account vehicle users’ charging and connection decisions significantly decreases the load shifting potential of controlled charging. The analysis of marginal values of equations and variables of the optimization problem yields valuable insights on the importance of specific constraints and optimization variables. In particular, state-of-charge assumptions and representing fast charging drive curtailment of renewable energy feed-in and required gas power plant flexibility. A detailed representation of fleet charge connection is less important. Peak load can be significantly reduced by 5% and 3% in both scenarios, respectively. Shifted load is very robust across sensitivity analyses while other model results such as curtailment are more sensitive to factors such as underlying data years. Analyzing the importance of increased BEV fleet battery availability for power systems with different weather and electricity demand characteristics should be further scrutinized.

regulating translational speed and accuracy. Threonylcarbamoyl adenosine (t6A37) and 5-methoxycarbonylmethyl-thiouridine (mcm5s2U34) are critical ASL modifications that have been linked to several human diseases. The model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is viable despite the absence of both modifications, growth is however greatly impaired. The major observed consequence is a subsequent increase in protein aggregates and aberrant morphology. Proteomic analysis of the t6A-deficient strain revealed a global mistranslation leading to protein aggregation without regard to physicochemical properties or t6A-dependent or biased codon usage in parent genes. However, loss of sua5 led to increased expression of soluble proteins for mitochondrial function, protein quality processing/trafficking, oxidative stress response, and energy homeostasis. These results point to a global function for t6A in protein homeostasis very similar to mcm5/s2U modifications.

During the casting in a warmer tropical temperature, a setting time delay is required to maintain the workability of the concrete, commonly achieved by the addition of admixtures i.e. silica fume (SF), fly ash (FA), and Plastrocrete®. However, high sugar content Coca-Cola in niche conditions is proposed as an ingredient for delaying concrete setting time in combination with conventional admixtures. This research aims to compare the setting time of admixtures from Coca-Cola and Plastocrete® RT6 plus in concrete mixing with control data of concrete mixed with SF or FA. The second aim is to measure the compression strengths between combinations of Coca-Cola and Plastocrete® RT6 plus. Concretes were produced with admixtures of SF, FA, Plastocrete® RT6plus, or Coca-Cola. The concrete used to control was f'c20 and f'c 25, while other concrete mixes were produced with the addition of Coca-Cola at 0.15% from the weight of cement at variation of moisture treatments. The first method to produce concrete (f'c20+Plas0.23%+Cola0.15% and f'c25+Plas0.23%+Cola0.15%) did not employ water reduction. The second concrete productions (f'c25+Plas0.46%+Cola0.15% and f'c25+Plas0.46%+Cola0.15%) reduced the addition of water at 8.8% (v/w). The first concrete production method had a setting time 44% longer than control. The reduced water concrete in the second productions had a setting time 34% longer than control. Meanwhile, the Plastocrete® RT6 Plus admixture with the reduced water delayed the concrete setting time by 26% longer than control. The delayed setting time of Plastocrete® RT6 Plus admixture with reduction of water was shorter than in the treatment with Coca-Cola. The combination of the addition of Coca-Cola with Plastocrete® RT6 plus by reducing the amount of adding Coca-Cola to 0.10% with Plastocrete® RT6 plus can delay concrete setting time by 51% longer than normal concrete and increase concrete compressive strength by 13% higher than normal concrete. Mixing Coca-Cola with Plastocrete® RT6 plus not only provided an optimal delay effect on setting time but also significantly increase the compressive strength that was desired during the casting in warm tropical weather applied in building construction of Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia.

Nowadays, the chemical industry is looking for sustainable chemicals to synthesize nanocomposite bio-based polyurethane foams, PUs, with the aim to replace the conventional petrochemical precursors. Some possibilities to increase the environmental sustainability in the synthesis of nanocomposite PUs include the use of chemicals and additives derived from renewable sources (such as vegetable oils or biomass wastes) which comprise an increasing wider base raw materials. Generally, sustainable PUs exhibit chemico-physical, mechanical and functional properties which are not comparable with those of PUs produced from petrochemical precursors. In order to enhance the performances as well as the bio-based aspect, the addition in the polyurethane formulation of renewable or natural fillers can be considered. Among these, walnut shells and cellulose are very popular wood-based waste and due to their chemical composition, carbohydrate, protein and/or fatty acid, can be used as reactive fillers in the synthesis of PUs, diatomite as natural inorganic nanoporous filler can be also evaluated to improve mechanical and thermal insulation properties of rigid PUs. In this respect, sustainable nanocomposite rigid PU foams are synthesized by using a cardanol-based Mannich polyol, MDI as isocyanate source, catalysts and surfactant to regulate the polymerization and blowing reactions, H2O as sustainable blowing agent and suitable amount (5wt%) of ultramilled walnut shell, cellulose and diatomite as filler. The effect of these fillers on the chemico-physical, morphological, mechanical and functional performances on PU foams has been analyzed.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a multifunctional cytokine that contributes to the progression of several cancers. MIF overexpression has been reported in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. However, the exact role of MIF in HNSCC is not fully understood. Our aim was to evaluate the amount of secreted MIF and the role of MIF in the proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis in HNSCC cell lines. The MIF levels in conditioned media from human primary (HN18 and HN30) and metastatic (HN17 and HN31) HNSCC cell lines were evaluated using ELISA. The HNSCC cell lines were treated with recombinant MIF and its effect on proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptotic status was determined by MTT and flow cytometry, respectively. The HNSCC-secreted MIF concentration ranged from 49.33‒860 pg/ml. Exogenous MIF (25 ng/ml) significantly increased HN18, HN30, and HN31 cell proliferation. Moreover, MIF induced cell cycle progression and inhibited apoptosis in these cells. However, MIF did not affect growth or apoptosis in HN17 cell. In conclusion, the HNSCC cell lines were evaluated secrete MIF. Exogenous MIF promotes various effects on proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis in HNSCC cells.

Futures markets are mainly used as a tool for price discovery and for risk management on the spot markets and enable diversification for international portfolio investments. With this study we aim (1) to investigate the causality relationship between futures markets and spot market and (2) to examine the causality relationship between futures markets and spot markets in different countries. We are interested in both the futures markets - spot market relations and the interactions between the markets at international level. For variables we used the the BIST30 spot index and BIST30 futures contract representing the Borsa Istanbul market and the Dow-Jones 30 index and Dow-Jones 30 futures contract, which are the most important indices representing the US markets. Daily closing price data for the period between 2nd January, 2009 and 18th June, 2018 were analyzed using correlation, unit root test, causality test and regression equations. The results of the study show that the futures markets continue their price discovery role for both the spot markets and futures markets and are influential on other futures and spot markets at international level. These findings are important for investors wanting to invest in Turkey and in similarly considered emerging market economies. It will help investors take informed decisions by providing them with a more efficient price estimations utilizing the futures markets.

Rett syndrome (RTT), a neurodevelopmental disorder, is mainly caused by mutations in methyl CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2), which alter the functions of domains to either bind to methylated DNA or interact with a transcriptional co-repressor complex. It has been established that alterations in cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) or forkhead box protein G1 (FOXG1) correspond to distinct neurodevelopmental disorders, given that a series of studies have indicated that RTT is also caused by alterations in either one of these genes. We tried to elucidate RTT through evolution and structure assessment of MeCP2, CDKL5, and FOXG1, by focusing on their binding partners and disordered structures. Here, we provide insight into the similarities of the FOXG1 and MECP2 binding partners evolution and function. On the other hand, we suggest that CDKL5 could be a potential candidate for a classical RTT treatment, particularly based on its disordered structure that spans after the catalytic domain to the C-terminus, which shows abundant linear motifs that can bind to molecules with divergent structures of similar affinity. Additionally, we provide insight into the relationship between disordered structure and disease.

The use of biodiesel fuels in compression ignition engines leads to decrease CO, PM, HC and smoke opacity. However, NOx emissions increase importantly. Various methods to reduce NOx are used namely the EGR, the water injection method and the steam injection method. In this study, the steam injection method has been used instead of the other methods because of its benefits. This study examines the effects of steam injection on combustion products of diesel and biodiesel fuels by considering chemical equilibrium in order to determine the equilibrium combustion products involving 10 combustion products. A developed simulation code determing the equilibrium mole fractions and thermodynamic properties of combustion products is used for diesel and biodiesel fuels. It can be used for any fuel consisting of carbon, hydrogen or any oxygenated fuel. The results show that the mole fraction of CO2 and CO decrease with the steam injection ratios. NO mole fractions decrease with steam injection for lean mixtures but they increase slightly in the case of rich mixtures. The specific heat of combustion products increase with the steam injection ratios. Thus, the engine performance can be improved using the method. The model has been validated by comparing model results with the ones of NASA CEA software and GASEQ software using the methane as fuel. The relative errors of equilibrium mole fractions and thermodynamic properties of combustion products are less than 0.98 %.

We herein described an investigation of a theory, which describes the energies of neutrinos and the source of neutrino oscillations. A series of experiments were conducted to show evidences of the existence a neutrino mass. We also applied theories to explain the reason for the extremely small energy of a neutrino, mainly by employing a vacuum-derived superconducting energy gap from the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer ground state. Moreover, we succeeded in obtaining the transition probabilities of neutrinos’ flavors (i.e., in terms of neutrino oscillation). We focused on the fact that up- and down-quantized space pairs combine by the Lorentz forces, undertake Bose-Einstein condensation, and then create a superconducting energy gap at the energy level of the vacuum with quantum mechanics fluctuation. Eventually, the superconducting energy gap vanishes to form a real body of the neutrino. Furthermore, assuming that the speed of the neutrino is near the speed of light and exhibits Planck’s blackbody emissions, we derived many-body interactions of neutrinos and applied them in Fermi’s golden rule. As a result, the neutrino energy we calculated agreed well within the realms of the experimental results. The calculated transition probabilities of neutrino’s flavor also explain the experiment results very well.

The Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) Investigator Qualification Project addresses the need for a more efficient and effective means of identifying qualified clinical investigators and delegates. Selection of investigators and delegates who are qualified by training and experience to conduct clinical trials is essential to safeguarding protections for study participants and ensuring data quality and integrity. Sponsors generally document investigator qualification through training on the principles of good clinical practice (GCP), as defined by the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH), adopted by regulatory authorities in the US, Japan and the European Union. Although these GCP principles provide an important foundation for promoting the conduct of quality clinical trials, the industry standard “one-size-fits-all” GCP training may not fully prepare investigators and delegates for conducting quality clinical trials. Routine GCP training alone may not be sufficient to prepare an inexperienced member of a site team, while repeating such training is unlikely to enhance the qualifications of an experienced researcher. The CTTI project team used findings from qualitative research activities, as well as input from an expert meeting with multiple stakeholders, to identify gaps and redundancies in the current training of investigators and their delegates and recommend practical, action-based solutions. CTTI provides recommendations on how to implement a more efficient and effective means of qualification for investigators and delegates, determine whether a site team is a good fit for a particular protocol, and improve the quality of clinical trial conduct.

We compared the efficacy of a tailored and a targeted intervention designed to increase clinical breast exam (CBE), mammography, and genetic services/testing among young breast cancer survivors (YBCS) (diagnosed <45 years old) and their blood relatives. A two-arm cluster randomized trial recruited a random sample of YBCS from the Michigan cancer registry and up to two of their blood relatives. Participants were stratified according to race and randomly assigned as family units to the tailored (n=637) or the targeted (n=595) intervention. Approximately 40% of participants were Black; 12% YBCS and 27% relatives were living in more than 20 different U.S. States. Higher screening rates were reported by YBCS (CBE p=0.05; mammography p=0.04) and relatives (CBE p<0.01; mammography p=0.04) in the tailored arm, and by White/Other YBCS (CBE p=0.02) and relatives (CBE p<0.01; mammography p=0.03). YBCS genetic testing rates increased from 22% to 26% (p=0.11). Black YBCS and relatives reported higher self-efficacy and intention for genetic testing, and higher satisfaction and intervention acceptance. The tailored intervention improved CBE and mammography uptake - despite having minimal contact with participants. Professional referrals will improve genetic testing uptake. Intervention materials increased self-efficacy and satisfaction for Black women but could not overcome multiple access barriers.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, which can cause skin barrier function damaged. Although co-incubation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) exerts a positive effect in deficient skin model, there is no study to investigate the effects of topical treatment with DHA in inflammatory reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) model. The effects of DHA on monolayer normal human epidermal keratinocyte (NHEK) cells were evaluated via CCK-8, qPCR and ELISA. The skin related barrier function was assessed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, western blot (WB), Immunohistofluorescence (IF) and ELISA in normal and inflammatory RHE models. DHA upregulated filaggrin and loricrin expression at mRNA levels in addition to suppress overexpression of TNF-α，IL-1α and IL-6 stimulated by poly I:C plus LPS (stimulation cocktail) in cultured NHEK cells. After topical treatment with DHA, cocktail induced inflammatory characteristics of skin diseases including barrier morphological, differentiation proteins and TSLP secretion, which were alleviated in RHE models. Supplementation with DHA can improved related barrier function and have anti-inflammation effects in monolayer keratinocytes and RHE models, which indicated that DHA may have a potential value for the treatment of inflammation-associate skin diseases.

Deep learning (DL) and machine learning (ML) methods have recently contributed to the advancement of models in the various aspects of prediction, planning, and uncertainty analysis of smart cities and urban development. This paper presents the state of the art of DL and ML methods used in this realm. Through a novel taxonomy, the advances in model development and new application domains in urban sustainability and smart cities are presented. Findings reveal that five DL and ML methods have been most applied to address the different aspects of smart cities. These are artificial neural networks; support vector machines; decision trees; ensembles, Bayesians, hybrids, and neuro-fuzzy; and deep learning. It is also disclosed that energy, health, and urban transport are the main domains of smart cities that DL and ML methods contributed in to address their problems.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the most abundant polyphenol in green tea. In this study, the effects of dietary EGCG on oxidative stress and the metabolism and toxicity of acetaminophen in liver were investigated. Rats were fed the diets with (0.54 %) or without EGCG supplementation for four weeks and were then intraperitoneally injected with acetaminophen (1g/kg). Results showed EGCG lowered hepatic oxidative stress and cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A2, 2E1, and 3A, and UDP-glucurosyltransferase activities prior to acetaminophen injection. After acetaminophen challenge, the elevations in plasma alanine aminotransferase activity and histological changes in liver were ameliorated by EGCG treatment. EGCG reduced acetaminophen-induced apoptosis by increasing the Bax/Bcl2 ratio in liver. EGCG mildly increased autophagy by increasing the LC3B II/I ratio. Lower hepatic acetaminophen-glutathione and acetaminophen-protein adducts contents were observed after EGCG treatment. EGCG increased glutathione peroxidase and NAD(P)H quinone 1 oxidoreductase activities and reduced organic anion-transporting polypeptides 1a1 expression in liver after acetaminophen treatment. Our results indicate that EGCG may lower oxidative stress and reduce the metabolism and toxicity of acetaminophen. The reductions in CYP-mediated acetaminophen bioactivation and uptake transporter, as well as enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity, may limit the accumulation of toxic products in liver and thus lower hepatotoxicity

The expansion of unconventional oil and gas development (UD) across the US continues to be at the center of debates regarding safety to health and the environment. This study evaluated the water quality of private water wells in the Eagle Ford Shale within the context of community members’ perceptions. Community members (n=75) were surveyed regarding health status and perceptions of drinking water quality. Water samples from respondent volunteers (n=19) were collected from private wells and tested for a variety of water quality parameters. Of the private wells sampled, 8 had exceedances of MCLs for drinking water standards. Geospatial descriptive analysis illustrates the distributions of the well exceedance as well as the well owners’ overall health status. Surveys showed that the majority of respondents received their water from a municipal source and were significantly more distrustful of their water source than of those on private wells. In many cases, there are statistically significant differences between self-reported, provider undiagnosed conditions and self-reported, provider diagnosed conditions. Attitudes and perceptions of water quality may play an important role in the overall perceived health status of community members in high fracking regions.

In tobacco plants, symbiont endophytic fungi are widely distributed in all tissues where they play important roles. It is therefore important to determine the species distribution and characteristics of endophytic fungi in tobacco. Here, two parasitic fungi Leptosphaerulina chartarum and Curvularia trifolii were isolated and identified from normal tobacco tissue. We sequenced the mitogenomes of these two species and analysed their features, gene content, and evolutionary histories. The L. chartarum and C. trifolii mitochondrial genomes were 68,926 bp and 59,100 bp long circular molecules with average GC contents of 28.60% and 29.31%, respectively. The L. chartarum mitogenome contained 36 protein coding genes, 26 tRNA genes, and 2 rRNA genes (rrnL and rrnS), which were located on both strands. The C. trifolii mitogenome contained 26 protein coding genes, 29 tRNA genes, and 2 rRNA genes (rrnL and rrnS). The L. chartarum 26 tRNAs ranged from 70 bp to 84 bp in length, whereas the 29 tRNAs in C. trifolii ranged from 71 bp to 85 bp. L. chartarum and C. trifolii mtDNAs had an identical mitochondrial gene order and orientation and were phylogenetically identified as sisters. These data therefore provide an understanding of the gene content and evolutionary history of species within Pleosporales.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the presence of spatial and temporal effects on the calls for noise disturbance service reported to the Local Police of València (Spain) in the time period from 2014 to 2015, and investigate how some socio-demographic and environmental variables affect the noise phenomenon. The analysis is performed at the level of València's boroughs. It has been carried out using a logistic model after dichotomization of the noise incidents variable. The spatial effects consider first and second order neighbours. The temporal effects are included in the model by means of one and two weeks temporal lags. Our model confirms the presence of strong spatio-temporal effects. We also find significant associations between noise incidence and specific age groups, socio-economic status, land uses and recreational activities, among other variables. The results suggest that there is a problem of ``social'' noise in València that is not exclusively a consequence of coexistence between local residents. External factors such as the increasing number of people on the streets during weekend nights or during summer months increase severely the chances of expecting a noise incident.

Reggio Calabria province (South Italy) is known for being almost the only area of cultivation of the bergamot fruit, grown principally for its essential oil, but today much studied for the health benefits of its juice. The biometrics and physico-chemical properties of the three (Citrus bergamia Risso) existing genotypes namely Castagnaro, Fantastico and Femminello were studied during fruit ripening from October to March. Castagnaro cv had the biggest and heaviest fruit during this harvest period. °Brix (7.9-10.0), pH (2.2-2.8) and Formol number (1.47-2.37 mL NaOH 0.1N/100mL) were shown to be influenced by both the genotype and by the harvest date. Titratable acidity (34.98-59.50 g/L) and Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) (341-867 g/L) decreased during fruit ripening. The evolution of flavonoids such as neoeriocitrin, naringin, neohesperidin brutieridin and melitidin was studied both in bergamot juice and in the bergamot cloudy which is the aqueous extract of bergamot during fruit processing. Bergamot cloudy contained a higher quantity of flavonoids compared to the juice. This study gives important information regarding the cultivar and the harvest date for producers who want to obtain the highest juice quantity or the highest juice quality from the bergamot fruit.

The Chang’e-4 (CE-4) lunar rover, equipped with The Visible and Near-IR Imaging Spectrometer(VNIS) which based on acousto-optic tunable filter spectroscopy, was launched to the far side of the moon on December 8, 2018. The detection band of VNIS ranges from 0.45 to 2.4μm. Because of the weak reflection of infrared radiation from the lunar surface, a static electronic phase-locked acquisition method is adopted in the infrared channel for signal amplification. In this paper, full-link simulations and modeling are conducted of the infrared channel information flow of the instrument. The signal/noise characteristics of VNIS are analyzed in depth, and the signal-to-noise(SNR) ratio prediction and laboratory verification are presented. On January 4, 2019, the VNIS started working successfully and acquired high-resolution spectrum data of the far side of the moon for the first time. Through analysis, the SNR ratio is in line with predictions, and the data obtained by VNIS in orbit are consistent with the information model proposed in this paper.

Along with the advantages associated with access to information and fast communication, screen time from increased digital media consumption has recently been associated with adverse effects on youth well-being. To get a clearer picture of its value for global youth based sustainability initiatives, this study investigates the effects of increased digital media consumption on youth's interests in ecosystem services, sustainability and science as a means for disease prevention. We achieve this, using data on 187821 adolescent students from 50 countries worldwide. Methodologically, we rely on a mixed bivariate ordered probit representation of youth's joint interest in the biosphere (ecosystem services and sustainability) and science as a means for disease prevention, which we then estimate using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) Methods. We found that each level increase in adolescent students' reported frequency of news blogs visits and web browsing on broad science adversely affect their interests in ecosystem services, sustainability and science as a means for disease prevention. Although each level increase in youth's frequency of ecological website visits also reduces by 20% (with 95% CI [-0.36; -0.32]) their interests in the biosphere, it is found to increase however by 3% (with 95% CI [0.02; 0.05]) their interest science as a means for disease prevention. Overall, our results highlight heterogeneous effects of digital media consumption on adolescents' well-being in terms of their interests in ecosystem services, sustainability, and science as a means for disease prevention.

Elite camels often suffer from massive injuries. Thus, there is a pivotal need for a cheap and readily available regenerative medicine source. We isolated novel stem-like cells from camel skin and investigated their multipotency and resistance against various stresses. Skin samples were isolated from ears of five camels. Fibroblasts, keratinocytes, and spheroid progenitors were extracted. After separation of different cell lines by trypsinization, all cell lines were exposed to heat shock. Then, fibroblasts and dermal cyst-forming cells were examined under cryopreservation. Dermal cyst-forming cells were evaluated for resistance against osmotic pressure. The results revealed that resistance periods against trypsin were 1.5, 4, and 7 minutes for fibroblasts, keratinocytes, and spheroid progenitors, respectively. Furthermore, complete recovery of different cell lines after heat shock along with the differentiation of spheroid progenitors into neurons was observed. Fibroblasts and spheroid progenitors retained cell proliferation after cryopreservation. Dermal cyst-forming cells regained their normal structure after collapsing by osmotic pressure. The spheroid progenitors incubated in the adipogenic, osteogenic, and neurogenic media differentiated into the adipocytes, osteoblasts, and neurons, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, we isolated different unique cellular differons and stem-like cells from the camel skin and examined their multipotency for the first time.

The addition of flaxseed and amaranth on the physicochemical, functional and microstructural changes of instant-extruded cereals was evaluated. Six different mixtures were made with additions of amaranth (30%–50%) and flaxseed (10% and 15%) using maize grits and minor additives as supplementary ingredients and then extruded in a twin-screw extruder. The extrudates evaluated, had insoluble and soluble fiber contents increased with the proportion of amaranth and flaxseed. The mixture 4 (higher flaxseed content) presented highest soluble fiber percentage (1.9%). Extruded cereals had the lowest viscosity (<99.5 cp) and highest hardness values (5.2 N) whereas the dietary fiber content was highest. Fiber content increase, resulted in a higher water solubility index (WSI) (0.5) and decrease the water absorption index (WAI) (2.5). Amaranth and flaxseed incorporation increased crystallinity, resulting in a larger, and more compact laminar structure. Amaranth and flaxseed addition resulted in extruded cereals with acceptable physicochemical and functional properties.

Mining activities could produce a large volume of spoils, waste rocks, and tailings, which are usually deposited at the surface and become sources of metal pollution. Phytostabilization of the mine spoils could limit the spread of these heavy metals. Phytostabilization can be enhanced by using soil amendments like manure-based biochar capable of immobilizing metal(loid)s when combined with plant species that are tolerant of high levels of contaminants while simultaneously improving properties of mine soils. However, the use of manure-based biochar and other organic amendments for mine spoil remediation are still unclear. In this greenhouse study, we evaluated the interactive effect of biochar application and compost on shoots biomass yield (SBY), roots biomass yield (RBY), uptake, and bioconcentration factor (BCF) of Zn and Cd in corn (Zea mays L.) grown in mine soil. Biochar sources (BS) consisted of beef cattle manure (BCM); poultry litter (PL); and lodge pole pine (LPP) were applied at 0, 2.5, and 5.0% (w/w) in combination with different rates (0, 2.5, and 5.0%, w/w) of cattle manure compost (CMC), respectively. Shoots and roots uptake of Cd and Zn were significantly affected by BS, CMC, and the interaction of BS and CMC. Corn plants that received 2.5% PL and 2.5% BCM had the greatest Cd and Zn shoot uptake, respectively. Corn plants with 5% BCM had the greatest Cd and Zn root uptake. When averaged across BS, the greatest BCF for Cd in the shoot of 92.3 was from the application BCM and the least BCF was from the application of PL (72.8). Our results suggest that incorporation of biochar enhanced phytostabilization of Cd and Zn with concentrations of water-soluble Cd and Zn lowest in soils amended with both manure-based biochars while improving biomass productivity of corn. Overall, phytostabilization technique and biochar application have the potential to be combined in the remediation of heavy metals polluted soils.

There has been a growing call for reform of the U.S. biomedical community in recent years. As a community, we face a growing list of issues including excessive waste, reproducibility, bias, inadequate training, and the absence of sustainable long-term planning that detract from the overall goal of advancing human health. In response to this debate, biomedical stakeholders have taken positive steps forward to remedy these issues. However, we must continually improve upon these steps to promote the long-term stability of the biomedical enterprise. Given the widespread interest of the scientific community in addressing these issues, there exists a unique opportunity to come together and create a new era of biomedical discovery. The completion of this exciting task requires reflection on our view and management of the system, and what the best route to sustainable change may be. Importantly, a coordinated approach that considers the collective make-up of the biomedical system and how processes and people influence collective output and create value for patients is needed. Here, these three areas and the concepts of systems theory, total quality management, and organizational development and their contribution to the management and effectiveness of biomedical discovery are discussed. Importantly recommendations are made concerning overall management strategy, process efficiency and quality research, administrative tasks, organizational cultural challenges, individual and team development, and funding strategy.

In this paper, we present a novel Two-Echelon Ground Vehicle and Its Mounted Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Cooperated Routing Problem (2E-GUCRP). The 2E-GUCRP arises in the field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Routing Problem such as those encountered in the context of city logistics. In a typical cooperated system, the UAV is launched from the Ground Vehicle (GV) and automatically flies to the designated target. Meanwhile, acting as a mobile base station, the GV can charge or change the UAV’s battery on the designated landing points to enable the UAV to continue its mission. The objective is to design efficient GV and UAV routes to minimize the total mission time while meeting the operational constraints. A Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) model, which could be solved by commercial software, is constructed to describe this problem. In order to quickly solve the medium-scale problems, two existing heuristics to solve 2E-VRP are improved. The computational experiments are set up to compare our model with the 2E-VRP. The results indicate that the 2E-GUCRP obtains a better efficiency. Further discussion of the practical instance points out that the increase in efficiency is related to the speed relationship between the GV and the UAV.

The co-circulation of duck hepatitis A virus subtypes 1 (DHAV-1) and 3 (DHAV-3) in ducklings has resulted in significant economic losses. Because ducklings infected with DHAV-1 or DHAV-3 show similar clinical signs and gross lesions, it is important to discriminate these subtypes as early as possible for better clinical management. On the basis of multiple alignments of the 5′-noncoding region sequences of strains DHAV-1 and DHAV-3, universal and type-specific primers were designed and synthesized. Using the primers in a one-tube reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assay, reference strains of DHAV-1 and DHAV-3 (isolated over a span of 60 years and covering many different countries) were successfully amplified, indicating that the primer sequences were completely conserved. The amplicon sequences results and the sizes of amplicons from reference DHAV-1 and DHAV-3 isolates correlated completely with their genotypes. Moreover, with this one-tube RT-PCR system, the amplicon sizes of liver samples of reference DHAV-1- or DHAV-3-infected birds matched perfectly with their respective genotypes, as determined by virus isolation and neutralization tests. No other RNA viruses of duck origin were detected with the synthesized primers. The sensitivity of viral RNA detection was 10 pg. With this system, 20% genotype 1, 45% genotype 3, and 9% co-infection of the two genotypes were detected in 55 clinical samples. This novel approach could be used for the rapid genotyping DHAV-1 and/or DHAV-3 infection in routine clinical surveillance or epidemiologic screening.

The purpose of this study was to identify different adolescent profiles identified by their use tobacco/alcohol and violent behavior repertoires as well as to analyze the extent to which they show impulsivity traits. Participants were selected by cluster random sampling. There was a total of 822 high school students in the sample aged 13 to 18 years with a mean of 14.84 (SD=.87). A cluster analysis with the following variables was done to form the groups: Use of tobacco, Use of alcohol, Physical aggression, Verbal aggression, Anger and Hostility. Three groups of adolescents resulted from these five variables. The multivariate comparison demonstrated the existence of significant between-group differences, and individual analysis for each of the dependent variables (impulsivity dimensions) showed that the relationship was statistically significant in all cases. In conclusion, analysis of factors possibly associated with adolescent’s risk behavior makes possible and orients intervention in different stages of development for sustainable consumption in adolescents.

The current energy policy recommends the idea of energy efficiency over fossil energy as a primary matter for the coming years. The kingdom of Morocco requires restructuring of its power equipment by increasing the percentage of renewable energy supplies, optimizing their systems and power storage. Therefore, increasing energy efficiency is an as important obligation as reducing the overall energy consumption. The purpose of this research is to present the energy transition in Morocco towards renewable energies and to assess the diversity of available marine natural resources. Recent research in conversion of ocean thermal energy, wave energy, tidal energy, offshore wind energy, and osmotic energy into power supply has started to encourage different technologies. This research has led to commercial deployment in some cases such as our 550 km long Mediterranean coast and 3000 km long Atlantic. This does not only result in fossil energies independency but also provides advantages like less cost and no pollution.

The total, soluble and insoluble oxalate contents of fresh and wok-fried fat hen (Chenopodium album) leaves were extracted and measured using HPLC chromatography. The total oxalate content of the raw leaves was 1112.4 mg/100 g dry matter (DM), and the levels were significantly reduced by boiling (682.8 mg/100 g DM) or cooking the leaves in a wok (883.6 mg/100 g DM). The percentages of soluble oxalate contents in the total oxalates of the raw and boiled leaves were similar (mean 75%), while the proportion of soluble oxalate content in the wok-fried leaves were reduced to 53.4% of the total, giving a significant increase in the insoluble oxalate content of the wok-fried leaves. The percentage of insoluble calcium in the total calcium was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) when the leaves were boiled but the insoluble oxalate content significantly increased (67.2%) in the wok-fried leaves when compared to the content of the original raw leaves. Processing the cooked leaves into pesto or extracting the juice gave final products that contained significantly reduced total and soluble oxalate contents. The addition of calcium chloride to the juice made a very small reduction in the soluble oxalate content in the juice.

Leaves of Rubus idaeus are a raw material, ingredients of herbal blend and a source of antioxidants. There are no data concerning histochemistry of trichomes and little is known about the leaves structure of this species. The aim of this study was to determine the histochemistry of active compounds and the structure of glandular trichomes, micromorphology, anatomy and ultrastructure of leaves as well as content of elements. To determine the histochemistry of glandular trichomes different chemical compounds were used. The leaves structure was analysed using light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopes. The content of elements was determined with atomic absorption spectrometry and the microanalysis of the epidermis ultrastructure was carried out with transmission electron microscope equipped with a digital X-ray analyser. In glandular trichomes: polyphenols, terpenes, lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates were identified. The main elements in the ultrastructure of the epidermis were: Na, S, Ca, Mg, B, Mo, and Se. In dry matter of leaves K, Mg, Ca, P, and Fe were dominant. Infusions from leaves are safe for health in terms of the Cd and Pb concentrations. Leaves can be a valuable raw material. Non-glandular trichomes prevent clumping of mixed raw materials in herbal mixtures.

Background: The prognostic value of erythrocyte levels of the n-6 fatty acids (FAs) for total mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes remains an open question. Methods: We examined CV outcomes and death in 2500 individuals in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort without prevalent CVD (mean age 66 years, 57% women) as a function of baseline levels of different length n-6 FAs (18 carbon, 20 carbon and 22 carbon) in the erythrocyte membranes. Clinical outcomes were monitored for up to 9.5 years (median follow up, 7.26 years). Cox proportional hazards models were adjusted for a variety of demographic characteristics, clinical status and RBC n-6 and long chain n-3 FA content. Results: There were 245 CV events, 119 CHD events, 105 ischemic strokes, 58 CVD deaths, and 350 deaths from all causes. Few associations between either mortality or CVD outcomes were observed for the n-6 FAs, with those that were observed becoming non-significant after adjusting for n-3 FA levels. Conclusions: Higher circulating levels of the marine n-3 FA levels are associated with reduced risk for incident CVD and ischemic stroke and for death from CHD and all-causes, however in the same sample, little evidence exists for association with n-6 FAs. Further work is needed to identify a full profile of FAs associated with cardiovascular risk and mortality.

In a two-year field trial, the effect of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) fertilization was investigated on grain yield, grain quality parameters, formation of acrylamide (AA), and the precursor free asparagine (Asn) in organically and conventionally produced winter wheat cultivars. In both production systems, different types, amounts, and temporal distributions of N were tested. While the effect of S fertilizer types and amounts on free Asn was only tested in the conventional farming system. Within both cropping systems, grain yield and baking quality were significantly influenced by N treatment while the effect on free Asn was only minor. Especially within the organic farming system, increasing N fertilization levels did not increase free Asn significantly. A slight trend of increasing free Asn levels with an intensified N supply was observed, especially in the presence of crude protein contents of 14% or higher. But only N amounts of 180 kg N ha⁻¹ or higher increased the probability of high free Asn contents considerably, while N supply below that amount led to free Asn values similar to the unfertilized controls. The results indicated that good baking quality can be achieved without significantly increasing free Asn levels. In addition, cultivars affected the levels of free Asn significantly. Compared to cv. “Bussard” and “Naturastar”, cv. “Capo” exhibited the lowest AA formation potential at an N supply of 180 kg N ha⁻¹ while simultaneously reaching a crude protein content > 15% (conventional) and > 12% (organic). Thus, it seems that cultivars differ in their ability to store and incorporate free Asn into proteins. Over all trials, a correlation of free Asn and AA was shown by R² = 0.77, while a relation of free Asn and protein was only R² = 0.36. Thus, lowering free Asn by adjusting N treatments should not necessarily affect baking quality. S nutrition within conventional farming did not change free Asn amount or crude protein significantly, probably due to the fact that soil was not sulfate-deficient. In summary, it was evident that free Asn amounts in wheat varied widely both within cultivars and between cropping systems. In order to clearly unravel genotypic differences and their interaction with environmental factors and especially N fertilization, further research is needed.

Novel multifunctional fluorescent chemosensors composed of electrospun (ES) nanofibers with high sensitivity toward pH, mercury ions (Hg²⁺), and temperature were prepared from poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide-co-N-methylolacrylamide-co-rhodamine derivative) (poly(NIPAAm-co-NMA-co-RhBN2AM)) by employing electrospinning process. NIPAAm and NMA moieties provide hydrophilic and thermo-responsive properties (absorption of Hg²⁺ in aqueous solutions), and chemical cross-linking sites (stabilization of the fibrous structure in aqueous solutions), respectively. The fluorescent probe, RhBN2AM is highly sensitive toward pH and Hg²⁺. Synthesis of poly(NIPAAm-co-NMA-co-RhBN2AM) with different compositions were carried on via free-radical polymerization. ES nanofibers prepared from sensory copolymers with a 71.1:28.4:0.5 NIPAAm: NMA: RhBN2AM ratio (P3 ES nanofibers) exhibited significant color change from nonfluorescent to red fluorescence while sensing pH or Hg²⁺, and high reversibility of on/off switchable fluorescence emission when Hg²⁺ and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) were sequentially added. The P3 ES nanofibrous membranes had a higher surface-to-volume ratio to enhance their performance than did the corresponding thin films. In addition, the fluorescence emission of P3 ES nanofibrous membranes exhibited second enhancement above the lower critical solution temperature. Thus, the ES nanofibrous membranes prepared from P3 with on/off switchable capacity and thermo-responsive characteristics can be used as multifunctional sensory devise for specific heavy transition metal (HTM) in aqueous solutions.

Imperatorin is a chemical compound belong to Linear furan coumarins. Imperatorin is attracting considerable attention because of its anti-tumor, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant and inhibition of myocardial hypetrophy and other pharmacological efficacy. However, imperatorin has limited water solubility and preferable lipid solubility, we decided to design and synthesize imperatorin lipid microsphere, to optimize preparation conditions. The aim was to develop and formulate imperatorin lipid microsphere through nano emulsion technology and apply the response surface-central composite design to optimize the imperatorin lipid microsphere formulation. Influence of content of amount of egg lecithin(A), amount of poloxamer188(B), soybean oil for injection accounted for the total percentage of oil phase(C) were investigated. Integrated effect of dependent variables including particle size(Y₁), polydispersity index(Y₂), Zeta potentials(Y₃), drug loading(Y₄), encapsulation efficiency(Y₅). Data of overall desirabiities were fitted to a second-order polynomial equation, through which three dimensional response surface graphs were described. Optimum experimental conditions were calculated by Design-Expert 8.06. Results indicated that the optimum preparation conditions were as follows: egg lecithin amount 1.39 g, poloxamer188 amount 0.21 g, soybean oil for injection amount 10.57%. Preparation of imperatorin lipid microsphere according to the optimum experimental conditions resulted in an overall desirability of 0.7286, while the particele size (168±0.54) nm, polydispersity index (PDI) (0.138±0.02), Zeta potentials (−43.5±0.5) mV, drug loading (0.833±0.27) mg·mL⁻¹, encapsulation efficiency (90±1.27)%. The difference between observed and predicted values of the overall desirability of the optimum formulation was in range from 2.4% to 4.3%. Subsequently, using the Scanning electron microscopy to observe the micromorphology of imperatorin lipid microsphere, the result shows that round globular of relatively uniform and sizes within 200nm.The proliferation study of imperatorin lipid microsphere on MDA-MB-231 was investigated by MTT method. Furthermore, pharmacokinetics in Sprague Dawley rats were evaluated using orbital bleeding. A sensitive and reliable liquid chromatography with High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method was established and validated for the quantification of imperatorin in rat plasma samples. The data were calculated by DAS (Drug and statistics) pharmacokinetic software version3.2.6 (China). Results demonstrated that imperatorin lipid microsphere can significantly enhance the bioavailability of imperatorin and can significantly inhibit MDA-MB-231 cell proliferating. In conclusion, our results suggersted that the response surface-central composite design is suitable for the optimized lipid microspere formulation. Imperatorin Lipid microsphere can improve the bioavailability of imperatorin and inhibit the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 than that of imperatorin.

We investigate the ammonium removal abilities of natural and synthetic zeolites, which have distinct Si/Al ratios and various surface areas, to study how adsorption and ion-exchange processes in zeolites perform under different ammonium concentrations and different temperatures. Five zeolites including natural mordenite, chabazite, erionite, clinoptilolite and synthetic merlinoite were immersed in 20 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg ammonium solutions. The results demonstrate that zeolites under high ammonium concentrations (100 mg/kg) possess higher physical adsorption capacity (0.398–0.468 meq/g), whereas those under lower ammonium concentrations (20 mg/kg) possess greater ion-exchange property (64–99%). The ion-exchange ability of zeolites are extremely dependent on the cation content of the zeolites, and the cation content is affected by the Si/Al ratio. The surface area of zeolites also has a partial influence on its physical adsorption ability. When the surface area is less than 100 m²/g, the adsorption ability of zeolite increases obviously with surface area; however, adsorption ability is saturated as the surface area becomes larger than this critical value of 100 m²/g. When we carried out the zeolites in 50 mg/kg ammonium concentration at different temperatures (5~50 ℃), we found that zeolites exhibit the highest ammonium removal ability at 30°C and the potassium release was enhanced at 30~40 ℃.

The Canal of Aragon and Catalonia (CAC) is 134 km long and irrigates 105,000 ha (131 irrigation user communities) and it is own by the River Ebro’s Water Agency. The aqueducts are located between km 67 and 71 of the canal and were designed by the Civil Engineer Félix de los Ríos Martín in 1907. The cross-section of both aqueducts, Coll de Foix and Capedevila, was extended within the framework of the project by Fernando Hué Herrero in 1962 in order to reach design flows of 26.1 m3/s and 25.7 m3/s, respectively. The structural performance of the aqueducts has been satisfactory, nevertheless the hydraulic capacity has reduced over the years. As a result, the irrigation user communities have expressed the need to extend the cross-section of the aqueducts to meet the irrigation demands. Given the age of the structure and the different design considerations at the time, it is paramount to verify the structural reliability of the aqueducts in the new load configuration. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to present the structural safety analysis conducted and describe the new extended cross-section for both aqueducts (maintaining the original structural typology).

Genetic testing has expanded out of the research laboratory into medical practice and the direct-to-consumer market, and rapid analysis of the resulting genotype data can now have significant impact. We present a method for summarizing personal genotypes as ‘genotype fingerprints’ that meet these needs. Genotype fingerprints can be derived from any single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based assay, and remain comparable as chip designs evolve to higher marker densities. We demonstrate that they support distinguishing types of relationships among closely related individuals and closely related individuals from individuals from the same background population, as well as high-throughput identification of identical genotypes, individuals in known background populations, and de novo separation of subpopulations within a large cohort through extremely rapid comparisons. While fingerprints do not preserve anonymity, they provide a useful degree of privacy by summarizing a genotype in a way that prevents reconstruction of individual marker states. Genotype fingerprints are therefore well-suited as a format for public aggregation of genetic information to support ancestry and relatedness determination without revealing personal health risk status.

Versatile hybrid organic polymers are prepared using two active intermediates such as cynuric chloride and chitosan derivatives. The prepared chalcones are characterized by using FT-IR, UV, and proton NMR, thermal analysis and Minimum inhibitory Concentration. Thermal stability of the synthesized hybrid polymer is found using TGA and the hybrid chitosan derivative chalcone is thermally stable up to 270 °C. The antimicrobial activity of the prepared chitosan containing chalcone moiety are find out using Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) method. The synthesized versatile chalcone shows excellent antimicrobial activity against gram-negative bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa; and Gram-positive bacteria Chalcone containing halogen moiety shows high activity (MIC 7.8 µg/mL) than the hydroxyl containing chalcone. Cytotoxicity activity of the synthesized composites shows high activity.

This paper highlights the impact of financial inclusion on individuals’ borrowing and saving decisions in the United States and the United Arab Emirates. It does so, using data from the 2014 Global Financial Inclusion database, and an empirical strategy consisting of first testing the significance of the joint bivariate model over its binary conterparts using the Lagrange multiplier test, followed by a contrast between the fully-parametric and semi-parametric specifications of the saving and borrowing equations. Based on model performance measures, the semi-parametric bivariate probit specification is identified as a better framework for describing the two processes of saving and borrowing, with a correlation coefficient of 12.3%. Although no significant difference exists between UAE and US residents in borrowing behavior, we find that US residents are 31.4% more likely to save than their UAE counterparts. In addition, and in line with the Permanent Income Hypothesis, the results reveal the absence of an income based saving or borrowing gradient in the two countries. Conversely, we found the prevalence of a gender based saving (12.4%) and borrowing (13.8%) inequality in favor of the male gender. Furthermore, access to a bank account and a debit card, companies policy of direct wage and salary transfer, and government transfer programs with direct deposit options are all financial inclusion strategies that are found to significantly raise the likelihood of saving and borrowing. As such, companies with payroll practices based on cash or physical paycheck issuing, especially in the US, should revise such policy to create more financial inclusion, and thereby more saving potential which in turn would contribute to further borrowing, investment and growth of the national economy.

While over half of all spinal cord injuries (SCIs) occur in the cervical region, the majority of preclinical studies have focused on models of thoracic injury. However, these two levels are anatomically distinct—with the cervical region possessing a greater vascular supply, grey-white matter ratio and sympathetic outflow relative to the thoracic region. As such, there exists a significant knowledge gap in the secondary pathology at these levels following SCI. In this study, we characterized the systemic plasma markers of inflammation over time (1, 3, 7, 14, 56 days post-SCI) after moderate-severe, clip-compression cervical and thoracic SCI in the rat. Using high-throughput ELISA panels, we observed a clear level-specific difference in plasma levels of VEGF, leptin, IP10, IL18, GCSF, and fractalkine. Overall, cervical SCI had reduced expressions of both pro- and anti-inflammatory proteins relative to thoracic SCI, likely due to sympathetic dysregulation associated with higher level SCIs. However, contrary to the literature, we did not observe level-dependent splenic atrophy with our incomplete SCI model. This is the first study to compare the systemic plasma-level changes following cervical and thoracic SCI using level-matched and time-matched controls. The results of this study provide the first evidence in support of level-targeted intervention and also challenge the phenomenon of high SCI-induced splenic atrophy in incomplete SCI models.

With the availability of wearable health monitoring sensor modules like 3-Lead Electrocardiogram (ECG), Pulse Oximeter (SpO2), Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), Hall effect sensor (for measuring Respiratory Rate), Blood Pressure and Temperature measuring and sensing elements, it has now become possible to device a composite health status monitoring kit that can measure vital signs and other physiological parameters pertaining to human health in real time. Traditionally, the physiological parameters along with vital signs related examination was possible only in a hospitalized or ambulatory environment, however due to advances in sensing and embedded system technology and miniaturization of data acquisition and processing elements health monitoring has become possible even when individuals remain engaged in their day to day activities at the convenience of space and location. The patients or individuals subject to monitoring may suffer from a traumatic experience due to their medical condition and may need emergent incidence response and the critical care team may have to prepare for the treatment only after the patient arrives, which often is too late, as in case of cardiac arrests or severe injuries. The research focused on real-time health status monitoring and trauma scoring using standard physiological parameters along with standard telemetry protocols to make the critical care team aware of an emergent situation and prepare for a medical emergency. Vital signs and physiological parameters (heart rate, temperature, respiratory rate, and blood pressure, SpO2) were measured in real time from human subjects non-invasively. In order to enable monitoring of the patients engaged in day to day activities, errors due to the motion were removed using stationary wavelet transform correction (correlation coefficient of 0.9 after correction) and signals from various sensors were denoised, filtered and were encoded in a format suitable for further data analysis. A composite sensor kit capable of monitoring vital signs and physiological parameters can be very useful in incident response when an individual undergoes a traumatic experience related to stroke, cardiac arrest, fits or even injury, as along with monitoring information the kit can calculate scores related to trauma like the Injury Severity Score (ISS), National Early Warning Signs (NEWS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS). Trauma Injury Severity Score (TRISS), Probability of Survival (Ps) score. An open access database of vital signs and physiological parameters from Physionet, MIMIC 2 Numerics (mimicdb/numerics) database was used to calculate NEWS and RTS and to generate correlation and regression models using the vital signs/physiological parameters for a clinical class of patients with respiratory failure and admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU). NEWS and RTS scores showed no significant correlation (r = 0.25, p<0.001) amongst themselves, however together NEWS and RTS showed significant correlation with Ps (blunt) (r = 0.70, p<0.001). RTS and Ps (blunt) scores showed some correlation (r = 0.63, p<0.001) and NEWS score showed significant correlation (r = 0.79, p<0.001) with Ps (blunt) scores. Furthermore, since individuals have to be monitored regardless of location, these kits have to have a built-in capability to locate the individual so that the incident response team can locate the individual based on Global Positioning System coordinates (GPS). A Quantum GIS (Geographical Information System) application using real-time GPS coordinates (OpenStreetMap coordinates) was used to calculate the shortest path using QGIS Network Analysis tool to demonstrate the calculation of shortest path and direction to locate the nearest service provider in shortest time. Along with locating the nearest healthcare service provider, it would help if the critical care team could be made aware of the physiological parameters and trauma scores using standard protocols accepted across the globe. The physiological parameters from the sensors along with the calculated trauma scores were encoded according to a standard Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms (SNOMED-CT) coding system and International Code of Diseases (ICD) codes and the trauma information was logged to Electronic Health Records (EHR) using Fast Health Interoperability Resources (FHIR) servers. FHIR servers provided interoperable web services to log the event information in real time. It could be concluded that analytical models trained on existing datasets can help in analyzing a traumatic experience or an injury and the information can be logged using a standard telemetry protocol as a telemedicine initiative. These scores enable the healthcare service providers to estimate the extent of trauma and prepare for medical emergency procedures and find applications in general and military healthcare.

The application of graph theory in chemical and molecular structure research far exceeds people's expectations, and it has recently grown exponentially. In the molecular graph, atoms are represented by vertices and bonded by edges. In this report, we study the silicon-carbon Si₂C₃-I[p,q] and Si₂C₃-II[p,q]. We compute several Zagreb polynomials and Redefined Zagreb indices of these silicon-carbons.

Site environments and instrumental characteristics of carbon dioxide (CO₂) measurements operated by local governments in the Kanto Plain, the center of which is Tokyo were summarized for this study. The observation sites were classified into environments of three types: urban, suburban, and woodland. Based on a few decades of accumulated hourly data, the diurnal and seasonal variations of CO₂ concentrations were analyzed as a composite of anomalies from annual means recorded for each site. In urban areas, the highest concentrations appear before midnight in winter. The second peak corresponds to the morning rush hour and strengthening of the inversion layer. Suburban areas can be characterized as having the highest concentration before dawn and the lowest concentration during the daytime in summer in association with the activation of respiration and photosynthesis of vegetation. In these areas, concentration peaks also appear during the morning rush hour. Woodland areas show background features, with the highest concentration in early spring: higher than the global background by about 5 ppmv.

This paper explores as a case study the development of e-cigarette use and smoking within small friendship group (n=8) in Glasgow, Scotland. Interviewed twice at six months apart these 16/17 year olds reported substantial change in their use of and attitudes towards e-cigarettes and tobacco. At time 1 vaping generated much excitement and interest, with 6/8 having their own vape device. At time 2 only two young people still vaped, with the others no longer professing any interest in continued vaping. The two regular smokers, who had been smoking before they first vaped, now only vaped privately and to reduce their tobacco intake. This small case study illustrates plasticity in the use of electronic cigarettes; just as young people can initiate using these devices so too can they more away from their use- with such changes in actual use occurring within a relatively short period of time. These findings demonstrate more than anything else the volatility in young peoples’ substance use behaviour. If we are to better understand these behaviours we require both quantitative and qualitative research studies that are capable of both monitoring changes in individual and group behaviour over time but which are also able to elucidate the nuance of individual behaviour differentiating between long term, frequent, consistent use and more episodic, experimental and infrequent use by young people.

Although ladybirds of European Russia and the Caucasus have been the subject of numerous ecological and faunistic investigations, there is an evident lack of appropriate identification key for them. All previous keys have been published in Russian. The most modern key was published more than 50 years ago and included only about 60 % of species. Guides for identification of Coccinellidae of other countries are not appropriate for European Russia, since do not include many species occurring in the regions. New, original key to subfamilies, genera, and species of ladybirds (Coccinellidae) of the European Russia and Russian Caucasus is presented. All native species recorded in the region and all alien species introduced to this region are included. Some species from the adjacent regions are added. In total, 110 species are keyed and illustrated with line drawings. Photographs of rare and endemic species are provided. Information on the distribution of species within the region under consideration is provided. Synonymy of Chilocorus kuwanae with Ch. renipustulatus is presented and discussed.

Environmental deterioration factors are constantly increasing, causing unwanted aesthetic changes to stone artworks due to exposure to various physical and chemical deterioration factors. Inorganic nanoparticle-filled polymer composites have extended their multiple functionalities to various applications, including cultural heritage conservation. Therefore, this study has examined the effects of clay, SiO2, Ca(OH)2 and CaCO3 nanomaterials in the enhancement of the physicomechanical properties of limestone monuments, the aim of the present work being to evaluate comparatively the effectiveness of nanoparticles as consolidation and protection material for limestone artworks. The nanoparticles were added to an acrylic-based copolymer (polyethylmethacrylate (EMA)/methylacrylate (MA) (70/30), in order to improve its physiochemical and mechanical properties, and produced a significant improvement in the ability of the polymers to consolidate and protect the stone. The synthesis process of nanoparticles/polymer nanocomposite has been prepared by an in situ emulsion polymerization system. The nanocomposites contained poly (EMA/MA) with a solid content of 3% [poly (EMA/MA)] in the absence and presence of 5% nanoparticles (0.15 g nanoparticles). Samples were subjected to artificial aging by relative humidity/temperature and acid/salt crystallization weathering to show the optimum conditions of durability and the effectiveness of the nano-mixture in improving the physical and mechanical properties of the stone material. To ensure that the treatment had no negative effects on the physical characteristics of the limestone, the properties of the treated limestone samples were evaluated comparatively before and after artificial aging by the conduct of microstructural (phase morphology studied by means of scanning electron microscopy) and aesthetic (colour and lightness measured by spectrophotometry) analyses. Also used were measurement of static contact angle of water droplets on the surface of the samples, total immersion water absorption, compressive strength, and abrasion resistance test. Results demonstrated that the addition of nanoparticles to an acrylic-based polymer enhanced its capability to consolidate and protect the limestone samples.

Energy conversion and distribution (heat and electricity) is characterized by long planning horizons, investment periods and depreciation times, and it is thus difficult to plan and tell the technology that optimally fits for decades. Uncertainties include future energy prices, applicable subsidies, regulation, and even the evolution of market designs. To achieve higher adaptability to arbitrary transition paths, a technical concept based on integrated energy systems is envisioned and described. The problem of intermediate steps of evolution is tackled by introducing a novel paradigm in urban infrastructure design.It builds on standardization, modularization and economies of scale for underlying conversion units. Building on conceptual arguments for such a platform, it is then argued how actors like (among others) municipalities and district heating system operators can use this as a practical starting point for a manageable and smooth transition towards more environmental friendly supply technologies, and to commit to their own pace of transition (bearable investment/risk). environmental friendly supply technologies. Merits are not only supported by technical arguments but also by strategical and societal prospects like technology neutrality and availability of real options.

Hydrothermal pyrite is an important source of thallium (Tl) but this rare element can be also detected in the secondary iron goethite-lepidocrocite and jarosite ores, associated to hydrothermal kerogen, manganese oxides, accessorial potassium minerals and tiny Tl-bearing clusters shielded in quartz masses. We studied Tl-bearing samples collected from Fe-Mn ores hosted in dolostone rocks sited along ca. 15 km of fossil thermal springs following a geological fault in the Lodares surroundings. Samples were analyzed by environmental scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (ESEM-EDS), electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Tl LIII-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy, Micro-Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). We found epithermal pyrite, sphalerite, galena and baryte and secondary gypsum, jarosite, scorodite, anglesite, goethite, epsomite and elemental sulfur produced by both hydroxylation and bacterial processes. The highest Tl contents were found in hydrothermal pyrite (200 mg kg-1), kerogen (13 mg kg-1), manganese ores (27 mg kg-1) and iron sulfate-hydroxides (142 mg kg-1). The aquatic kerogen was formed in a marine environment and later heavily carbonized during the hydrothermal processes. The Lodares outcrops exhibit interesting details on the geochemical cycle of Tl in a genetic frame of epithermal formation of pyrite and kerogen.

Bipolar neutrosophic set is an important extension of bipolar fuzzy set. This set is a hybridization of bipolar fuzzy set and neutrosophic set. Every element of a bipolar neutrosophic set consists of three independent positive membership functions and three independent negative membership functions. In this paper, we develop cross entropy measures of bipolar neutrosophic sets and prove its properties. We also define cross entropy measures of interval bipolar neutrosophic sets and prove its properties. Thereafter, we develop two novel multi-attribute decision making methods based on the proposed cross entropy measures. In the decision making framework, we calculate the weighted cross entropy measures between each alternative and the ideal alternative to rank the alternatives and choose the best one. We solve two illustrative examples of multi-attribute decision making problems and compare the obtained result with the results of other existing methods to show the applicability and effectiveness of the developed method. In the end, the main conclusion and future scope of research are summarized.

This paper considers two types of Protestant ethnic groups of some areas of Urals and Western Siberia. The first type consist of representatives of members of different ethnic groups consisting of well-educated professionals, incorporated into industrial society and associated with the intellectualism of Protestantism. The second type is represented by the indigenous peoples of the Polar Urals and Western Siberia, who use the Protestant religious organizations as tool for restoring life-sustaining elements of the native peoples’ traditional economy. I employed the inductive approach and the comparison method; during the fieldwork I used ethnographic participant observations, sociological structured interviews and closed-ended questionnaires. The empirical data have been collected in the Southern, Middle and Polar Urals and Western Siberia.

Assessment of the trends of land cover and vegetation dynamics (VD) using remote sensing (RS) and indicators such as anthropogenic activities and the socio-demographic information is essential in order to make proper planning for sustainable management. This paper attempts to evaluate land cover change (LCC) and VD in Kebbi State, Nigeria using historical Landsat data from 1986-2016 by means of remote sensing. The Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework was later employed using both primary and secondary data for a better understanding of the drivers, the state of the environmental condition, the causes as well as the impact of the change. The images were classified into five thematic land cover classes as Dense Vegetation, shrubs/built area, farmland, bare/grassland and water body by means of Maximum likelihood supervised classification technique in accordance with Anderson classification scheme level 1, with acceptable accuracy. Pre-classification and post-classification change detection (CD) methodologies were executed using Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and Image differencing respectively. The study illustrates a steady decline in dense vegetation and shrubs/build areas while farmland and bare/grassland increases, however, water bodies remain unchanged. The DPSIR pin-point that the major drivers of change in the study area have been the pressing need for farming land as the population grows and socioeconomic demands including fuelwood consumption and endemic poverty. Expansion of Farming land, fuelwood consumption and the need for construction materials are identified as the main key elements exerting pressure for the change. The state of the condition indicates a steady decline in dense vegetation and shrubs areas while farmland and bare/grassland are increasing significantly. The impacts include land degradation, the decline in the provision ecosystem goods and services, biodiversity loss through loss of habitats. The study, however, noted that many international and national policies in response to land degradation are channelled toward land restoration and remediating of the environment, through afforestation programs and improving the livelihood of the rural people through providing alternative income sources since they depend heavily on land for sustenance. However, the state governments, communities and individual commonly organized annual tree planting campaign with the main purpose of environmental protection.

The review is devoted to the physical, chemical and technological aspects of the breath-figures self-assembly process. Main stages of the process and the impact of the polymer architecture and physical parameters of the breath-figures self-assembly on the eventual pattern are covered. The review is focused on the hierarchy of spatial and temporal scales inherent for the breath-figures self-assembly. Multi-scale patterns arising from the process are addressed. The characteristic spatial lateral scales of patterns vary from nanometers to dozens of micrometers. The temporal scales of the process span from micro-seconds to seconds. The qualitative analysis performed in the paper demonstrates that the process is mainly governed by the interfacial phenomena, whereas the impact of inertia and gravity is negligible. Characterization and applications of polymer films manufactured with breath-figures self-assembly are discussed.

A series of novel N-n-butyl-1,8-naphthalimide derivatives were synthesized via a three-step reaction involving nucleophilic substitution and acylation. All of the compounds were characterized by IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, MS, and elemental analysis, and the crystal structure of N-n-butyl-4-[N’,N’-bis(2`,4`-dichlorobenzoyl)ethylamino]-1,8-naphthalimide was determined. The π-π stacking interactions and hydrogen bonds between the two molecular core planes (naphthalimide ring) and the van der Waals forces between the flexible n-butyl groups resulted in a 3D long-chain structure. The UV-vis and fluorescence properties of the title compounds were investigated. The results indicated that the monosubstituted 1,8-naphthalimide derivatives bearing an electron-donating group on the benzene ring or a structure with a larger conjugative effect exhibited enhanced fluorescence properties.

Recently emerging data-driven citizen sciences need to harness increasing amount of massive data with varying quality. This paper develops essential theoretical frameworks and example models and examine its computational complexity for interactive data-driven citizen science within the context of guided self-organization. We first define a conceptual model that incorporates quality of observation in terms of accuracy and reproducibility, ranging between subjectivity, inter-subjectivity, and objectivity. Next, we examine the database's algebraic and topological structure in relation to informational complexity measures, and evaluate its computational complexities with respect to exhaustive optimization. Conjectures of criticality are obtained on self-organizing processes of observation and dynamical model development. Example analysis is demonstrated with the use of biodiversity assessment database, the process that inevitably involves human subjectivity for the management in open complex systems.

To study the influence of Latin dance and Tai Chi on knee joint proprioception and balance. Method: All experiments were performed in the Beijing Normal University School of Physical Education and Sport Biomechanics Laboratory. An isokinetic test system (Biodex system 4, BS4) and a balance testing system (Biodex Balance System, BBS)from the United States Biodex medical system were used to test related indexes. Results: In the LOS test, the overall score of Latin group is much better than sedentary group. In the ASL test, Latin group have a better balance ability in anterior and posterior direction and overall score than sedentary group(p＜0.05); TAI CHI group have a better balance ability than sedentary group in anterior and posterior direction(p＜0.05)and right and left direction (p＜0.01). When the knee joint was at 15, 30, and 45degree positions, the Tai Chi exercise group was much better than sedentary group (P < 0.05), and the 45 degree position in the Tai Chi group was much better than that in the Latin dance group (P < 0.01).When the knee joint was at the 30 degree position, the quadriceps force sense was significantly better in the Tai Chi group than in the Latin dance and sedentary groups. In a test of the four angles, the hamstring force sense in the Tai Chi exercise group was obviously better than that in the sedentary group (P < 0.05); at the 15 degree position, the Tai Chi group was significantly better than the Latin group (P < 0.05); and at 30 degree position, the hamstring force sense of the Latin group was obviously better than that of the sedentary group (P < 0.05).

In this study, we evaluated the physicochemical and microbial qualities of source and stored household waters in some communities in Southwestern Nigeria using standard methods. Compared parameters include physicochemical constituents; Temperature (T), pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Magnesium ion (Mg²⁺) and Calcium ion (Ca²⁺) and microbiological parameters included Total Coliform Counts (TC), Faecal Coliform Counts (FC), Fungal Counts (Fung C), Heterotrophic Plate Counts (HPC). Comparing Stored and Source samples, the mean values of some physicochemical parameters of most of the stored water samples significantly (P<0.05) exceeded that of Sources and ranged in the following order: T (15.3±0.3^oC - 28.3±0.5^oC), pH (6.4±0.1 - 7.6±0.1), TDS (192.1±11.1 ppm - 473.7±27.9 ppm), TH (10.6±1.7 mg/L - 248.6±18.6 mg/L), BOD (0.5±0.0 mg/L - 3.2±0.3 mg/L), Mg²⁺ (6.5±2.4 mg/L - 29.1±3.2 mg/L) and Ca²⁺ (6.5±2.4 mg/L - 51.6±4.4 mg/L). The mean microbial counts obtained from microbial comparison of different points (Stored and Source) of collection showed that most of the stored water had counts significantly exceeding (P<0.05) those of the source water samples (cfu/100 mL) which ranged as follows: TC (3.1±1.5 - 156.8±42.9), FC (0.0±0.0 - 64.3±14.2) and HPC (47.8±12.1 - 266.1±12.2) across all sampled communities. Also, the predominant isolates recovered from the samples were identified as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Aspergillus spp, Mucor spp, Rhizopus spp and Candida spp. The presence of these pathogenic and potentially pathogenic organisms in the waters and the high counts of the indicator organisms suggest the waters to be a threat to public health.

Crystal structures of simple metals and binary alloy phases based on the face-centered cubic (fcc) structure are analyzed within the model of Fermi sphere – Brillouin zone interactions to understand the stability of original cubic structure and derivative structures with distortions, superlattices and vacancies. Examination of the Brillouin-Jones configuration in relation to the nearly-free electron Fermi sphere for several representative phases reveals significance of the electron energy contribution to the phase stability. Representation of complex structures in the reciprocal space clarifies their relationship to the basic cubic cell.

Propionibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermidis are the major skin bacteria that cause the formation of acne. The present study was conducted to investigate antibacterial activity of ethanolic extract of cinnamon bark, honey and their combination against acne bacteria. The antibacterial activity of extract of cinnamon bark and honey were investigated against P. acnes and S. epidermidis using disc diffusion method. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) were performed using Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) methods. The interaction combination between extract of cinnamon bark and honey was determined by using a checkerboards method. The results showed that he MIC of extract of cinnamon bark and honey against P. acne were 256 µg/mL and 50% v/v, respectively, while against S. epidermidis were 1024 µg/mL and 50% v/v, respectively. The MBC of extract of cinnamon against P. acnes and S. epidermidis were more than 2048 µg/mL, whereas the MBC for honey against P. acnes and S. epidermidis were 100%. The combination of cinnamon bark extract and honey against against P. acnes and S. epidermidis, showed additive activity with the FICI value 0.625. Therefore, the combination of extract of cinnamon bark and honey has potential activity against acne causing bacteria.

This study explores the relationship between job satisfaction, employee loyalty and two types of flexible employment arrangements; teleworking and flexi-time. The analysis relies on data derived by the Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS) in 2004 and 2011. A propensity score matching and least squares regressions are applied. Furthermore, Bayesian Networks (BN) and Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) are employed in order to confirm the causality between employment types explored and the outcomes of interest. Finally, an instrumental variables (IV) approach based on the BN framework is proposed and applied in this study. The results support that there is a positive causal effect from these employment arrangements on job satisfaction and employee loyalty.

Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is a rare genodermatosis caused by β-human papillomaviruses (HPV) in immunodeficient patients. EV is characterized by flat warts and pityriasis-like lesions and might be isolated or syndromic, associated with some other infectious manifestations. We report here three patients from 2 independent families with syndromic EV for 2 of them. By whole exome sequencing, we found that patients carry new homozygous variants in STK4, both leading to a premature stop codon. STK4 deficiency causes a combined immunodeficiency characterized by a broad infectious susceptibility to bacteria, viruses and fungi. Auto-immune manifestations were also reported. Deep immunophenotyping revealed multiple cytopenia in the three affected patients, in particular deep CD4+ T cells deficiency. We report here the fourth and the fifth cases of syndromic EV due to STK4 deficiency.

Our goal was to determine the cellular immune response (CIR) among a random sample of the Borriana COVID-19 cohort (Spain) to identify its associated factors and their relationship with infection, reinfection and sequelae. We conducted a nested case-control study using a randomly selected sample of 225 individuals age 18 and older, including 36 individual naïve to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 189 infected patients. We employed flow cytometry-based immunoassays for intracellular cytokine staining, utilizing Wuhan and BA.2 antigens and chemoluminescence microparticle immunoassay for detection SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Logistic regression models were used. A total of 215 (95.6%) participants exhibited T-cell response (TCR) to at least one antigen. Positive responses of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were 89.8% and 85.3% respectively. No difference in CIR was found for naïve and infected patients. Patients who experienced sequelae exhibited higher CIR than those without. A positive correlation was observed between TCR and Anti-Spike IgG levels. Factors positive associated with TCR included A-blood group, number of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses received, and Anti-N IgM; factors inversely related were the time elapsed since the last vaccine dose or infection, and B-blood group. These findings contribute valuable insights into the nuance immune landscape shaped by SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination.

Amyloid self-assembled from amyloid peptides βΑ40 or βΑ42 is notorious for its neurotoxic effects in plaque and neurofibrillary tangle formations leading to neuron dysfunction and diseases of cognitive decline (e.g. Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington's disease). This contrasts with so-called functional amyloids which are non-toxic ordered template structures amenable to applications in tissue engineering. Amyloid fibrils of variable morphology including long and hollow fibres and flattened tube and spiral ribbon-like structures have been used in engineering applications in nano-biology. Protein assemblies based on amyloid core structures display diverse biological functionalities could be applied in futuristic self-assembling biomaterials in nano-electronics. These possibilities have revolutionized the development of next generation computers and biosensors, ultracapacitors, memristors, actuators, molecular switches and could also be used to develop artificial synapses. Amyloid fibril assemblies have also been used in photoelectric and photon capture light harvesting technologies and been applied in innovative nano-photoelectronics and photovoltaics. Hybrid Aβ(16–22)-α-synuclein amyloid fibrils also exhibit light-harvesting and electron-transfer properties. Engineered amyloid assemblies are thus facilitating innovative futuristic advances in nano-technology. Furthermore, with a better understanding of amyloid fibril assembly processes it may be possible to develop therapeutic methods that prevent the toxic build up of this polymer in brain tissues that leads to diseases of cognitive decline. With the ever-expanding prevalence of these diseases in the ageing general global population, there certainly is a clear and present need to find a remedy for these debilitating conditions.

This work continues the review and illustrative application to energy systems of the “Fourth-Order Best-Estimate Results with Reduced Uncertainties Predictive Modeling” (4th-BERRU-PM) methodology. The 4th-BERRU-PM methodology uses the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) principle to incorporate fourth-order experimental and computational information, in-cluding fourth (and higher) order sensitivities of computed model responses with respect to model parameters. The 4th-BERRU-PM methodology yields the fourth-order MaxEnt posterior distribution of experimentally measured and computed model responses and parameters, in the combined phase-space of model responses and parameters. The 4th-BERRU-PM methodology encompasses fourth-order sensitivity analysis (SA) and uncertainty quantification (UQ), which were reviewed in the accompanying work (Part 1), as well as fourth-order data assimilation (DA) and model calibration (MC) capabilities, which will be reviewed and illustrated in this work (Part 2). The applicability of the 4th-BERRU-PM methodology to energy systems is illustrated by using the Polyethylene-Reflected Plutonium (acronym: PERP) OECD/NEA reactor physics benchmark, which is modeled using the linear neutron transport Boltzmann equation, involving 21976 im-precisely known parameters. This benchmark is representative of “large-scale computations” such as those involved in the modeling of energy systems. The result (“response”) of interest for the PERP benchmark is the leakage of neutrons through the outer surface of this spherical benchmark, which can be computed numerically and measured experimentally. The impact of the high-order sensitivities of the response with respect to the PERP model parameters is quantified for “high-precision” parameters (2% standard deviations) and “medium-precision” parameters (5% standard deviations). Analyzing the best-estimate results with reduced uncertainties for the 1st- through 4th-order moments (mean values, covariance, skewness, and kurtosis) produced by the 4th-BERRU-PM methodology for the PERP benchmark indicates that, even for systems mod-eled by linear equations (e.g., the PERP benchmark), retaining only first-order sensitivities is insufficient for reliable predictive modeling (including SA, UQ, DA, MC). At least second-order sensitivities should be retained in order to obtain reliable predictions.

The Simulation analogy presented in this work enhances the accessibility of abstract quantum theories, specifically the stochastic hydrodyanimc model (SQHM), by relating them to our daily experiences. The SQHM incorporates the influence of fluctuating gravitational background, resembling dark energy, into quantum equations. This model successfully addresses key aspects of Objective-Collapse Theories, including resolving the 'tails' problem through the definition of quantum potential length in addition to the De Broglie length, beyond which coherent Schrödinger quantum behavior and wavefunction tails cannot be maintained. The SQHM emphasizes that an external environment is unnecessary, asserting that the quantum stochastic behavior leading to wave-function collapse can be an inherent property of a system in a spacetime with fluctuating metrics. Embedded in relativistic quantum mechanics, the theory establishes a coherent link between the uncertainty principle and the constancy of light speed, aligning seamlessly with finite information transmission speed. Within a fluctuating quantum system, the SQHM derives the indeterminacy relation between energy and time, offering insights into measurement processes impossible within a finite time interval in a truly quantum global system. Experimental validation is found in confirming the Lindemann constant for solid lattice melting points and the transition from fluid to superfluid states. The SQHM's self-consistency lies in its ability to describe wavefunction collapse and the measure process. Additionally, the theory resolves the Pre-existing Reality problem by showing that large-scale systems naturally decay into decoherent states stable in time. Continuing, the paper demonstrates that the physical dynamics of SQHM can be analogized to a computer simulation employing optimization procedures for realization. This perspective elucidates the concept of time in contemporary reality and enriches our comprehension of free will. The overall framework introduces an irreversible process impacting the manifestation of macroscopic reality at the present time, asserting that the multiverse exists solely in future states, with the past comprising the formed universe after the current moment. Decoherence at the present time functions as a reduction of the multiverse to a single universe. The macroscopic reality, characterized by fractal consistency where microscopic domains with quantum properties coexist, provides insights into how our consciousness apprehends dynamic reality, the spontaneous emergence of gravity in discrete spacetime evolution, and the attainment of the classical General Relativity limit in Quantum Loop Gravity and Causal Dynamical Triangulation. The Simulation Analogy highlights a strategy focused on minimizing information processing, facilitating the universal simulation in solving its predetermined problem. From within, reality becomes the manifestation of specific physical laws emerging from the inherent structure of the simulation devised to address its particular issue. In this context, the reality simulation appears to employ an entropic optimization strategy, minimizing information loss while efficiently compressing data in line with the simulation's intended purpose.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) pigs are characterized by long-term growth failure, metabolic disorders, and intestinal microbiota imbalance. The characteristics of the negative effects of IUGR at different swine growth stages are still unclear. Therefore, this study explored whether intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) model damaged the intestinal barrier function and altered the colonization and metabolic profiles of the colonic microbiota in growing-finishing pigs by the multi-omics method. Seventy-two piglets (36 IUGR and 36 NBW) were selected for this trial to analyze physiological and plasma biochemical parameters, oxidative damage, and inflammatory response in the colon. Moreover, the colonic microbial communities were examined using 16s rRNA sequencing and metabolomics to reveal the intestinal characteristics of pigs at different growth stages (25, 50, and 100 kg). IUGR altered the plasma concentrations of glucose, total protein triglyceride, and cholesterol. Colonic tight junction proteins were markedly inhibited by IUGR. IUGR decreased plasma T-AOC, SOD, and GSH levels, and colonic SOD-1, SOD-2, and GPX4 expressions by restraining the Nrf2/Keap1 signaling pathway. Moreover, IUGR increased the colonic IL-1β and TNF-α levels while reducing IL-10, possibly activating the TLR4-NF-κB/ERK pathways. Notably, IUGR pigs had lower colonic Streptococcus abundance and Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio at the 25 kg BW stage while having higher Firmicutes abundance at the 100 kg BW stage; moreover, IUGR pigs had lower SCFAs concentrations. Metabolomics analysis showed that IUGR increased colonic lipids and lipid-like molecules, organic acids and derivatives, and organoheterocyclic concentrations and enriched three differential metabolic pathways, including linoleic acid, sphingolipid, and purine metabolisms throughout the trial. Collectively, IUGR altered the nutrient metabolism, redox status, and colonic microbial community and metabolite profiles of pigs and continued to disrupt colonic barrier function by reducing antioxidant capacity via the Nrf2/Keap1 pathway and activating inflammation via the TLR4-NF-κB/ERK pathway during the growing-finishing stage. Colonic Firmicutes and Streptococcus could be potential regulatory targets for modulating the metabolism and health of IUGR pigs.

Nowadays, brain signal processing is performed rapidly in various brain-computer interface (BCI) applications. Most researchers focus on developing new methods for the future or improving the basic implemented models to identify the optimum standalone feature set. Our research focuses on four ideas. One of them introduces future communication models, and the others are for improving old models or methods. These are: 1) new communication imagery model instead of speech imager using the mental task: Due to speech imagery is very difficult, and it is impossible to imagine sound for all of the characters in all of the languages. Our research introduces a new mental task model for all languages that call Lip-sync imagery. This model can use for all characters in all languages. This paper implemented two lip-sync for two sounds, characters or letters. 2) New combination Signals: Selecting an inopportune frequency domain can lead to inefficient feature extraction. Therefore, domain selection is so important for processing. This combination of limited frequency ranges proposes a preliminary for creating Fragmentary Continuous frequency. For the first model, two s intervals of 4 Hz as filter banks were examined and tested. The primary purpose is to identify the combination of filter banks with 4Hz (scale of each filter bank) from the 4Hz to 40Hz frequency domain as new combination signals (8Hz) to obtain well and efficient features using increasing distinctive patterns and decreasing similar patterns of brain activities.3) new supplement bond graph classifier for SVM classifier: When SVM linear uses in very noisy, the performance is decreased. But we introduce a new bond graph linear classifier to supplement SVM linear in noisy data. 4) a deep formula recognition model: it converts the data of the first layer into a formula model (formula extraction model). The main goal is to reduce the noise in the subsequent layers for the coefficients of the formulas. The output of the last layer is the coefficients selected by different functions in different layers. Finally, the classifier extracts the root interval of the formulas, and the diagnosis does based on the root interval. For all of the ideas achieved the results of implementing methods. The results are between 55% to 98%. Less result is 55% for the deep detection formula, and the highest result is 98% for new combination signals.

Disturbed metabolism of vitamins B1 or B6, which are essential for neurotransmitters homeostasis, may cause epilepsy. Our study aims at revealing therapeutic potential of vitamins B1 and B6 in epilepsy by estimating effects of their combined administration on a seizure and its consequences in rats subjected to pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). The PTZ dose dependence of a seizure and its parameters according to Racine’s scale along with delayed physiological and biochemical consequences next day after the seizure are assessed regarding sexual dimorphism in epilepsy. PTZ sensitivity is stronger in the female than male rats. Next day after a seizure, gender differences in behavior and brain biochemistry arise. The induced gender differences in anxiety, exploratory and locomotor activity correspond to disappearance of gender differences in the brain GABA, aspartate, alanine and serine, with appearance of those in glutamate, glutamine and tyrosine. PTZ decreases the brain malate dehydrogenase activity, glutamine and urea in the males, and phenylalanine in the females. Administration of vitamins B1 and B6 24 h before PTZ delays a seizure in female rats only. This desensitization is not observed at short intervals (0.5-2 h) between the vitamins and PTZ administration. With the increasing interval, the pyridoxal kinase (PLK) activity in the female brain decreases, suggesting that the PLK downregulation by vitamins contributes to the desensitization. Delayed effects of vitamins and/or PTZ are mostly gender-specific and interacting. Our findings on the gender differences in sensitivity to epileptogenic factors, action of vitamins B1/B6 and associated biochemical events have medical implications.

Vitamin D, sunshine and UVB phototherapy were first reported in the early 1900s to control psoriasis, cure rickets and cure tuberculosis (TB). Vitamin D also controlled asthma and rheumatoid arthritis with intakes ranging from 60,000 to 600,000 International Units (IU)/day. In the 1980s interest in treating psoriasis with vitamin D rekindled. Since 1985 four different oral forms of vitamin D (D2, D3, 1-hydroxyvitaminD3 (1(OH)D3) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitaminD3 (calcitriol)) and several topical formulations have been reported safe and effective treatments for psoriasis—as has UVB phototherapy and sunshine. In this review we show that many pre-treatment serum 25(OH)D concentrations fall within the current range of normal, while many post-treatment concentrations fall outside the upper limit of this normal (100 ng/ml). Yet, psoriasis patients showed significant clinical improvement without complications using these treatments. Current estimates of vitamin D sufficiency appear to underestimate serum 25(OH)D concentrations required for optimal health in psoriasis patients, while concentrations associated with adverse events appear to be much higher than current estimates of safe serum 25(OH)D concentrations. Based on these observations, the therapeutic index for vitamin D needs to be reexamined in the treatment of psoriasis and other diseases strongly linked to vitamin D deficiency, including COVID-19 infections, which may also improve safely with sufficient vitamin D intake or UVB exposure.

A new cocrystal salt of metformin, an antidiabetic drug, and N,N’-(1,4-phenylene)dioxalamic acid, was synthesized by mechanochemical synthesis, purified by crystallization from solution and characterized by single X-ray crystallography. The structure revealed a salt-type cocrystal composed of one dicationic metformin unit, two monoanionic units of the acid and four water molecules namely H2Mf(HpOXA)2∙4H2O. X-ray powder, IR, 13C-CPMAS, thermal and BET adsorption-desorption analyses were performed to elucidate the structure of the molecular and supramolecurar structure of the anhydrous microcrystalline mesoporous solid H2Mf(HpOXA)2. The results suggest that their structures, conformation and hydrogen bonding schemes are very similar between them. To the best of our knowledge, the selective formation of the monoanion HpOXA⁻, as well as its structure in the solid, is herein reported for the first time. Regular O(-)∙∙∙C(), O(-)∙∙∙N+ and bifacial O(-)∙∙∙C()∙∙∙O(-) of n→* charge-assisted interactions are herein described in H2MfA cocrystal salts which could be responsible of the interactions of metformin in biologic systems. The results, support the participation of n→* charge-assisted interactions independently, and not just as a short contact imposed by the geometric constraint due to the hydrogen bonding patterns.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with increased atherogenicity and inflammatory responses, which may be related to increased levels of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) and Dickkopf-related protein 1 (DKK1). Objective: The role of HMGB1 and DKK1 in T2DM is examined in association with lipid and insulin profiles. Methods: Serum HMGB1 and DKK1 were measured in T2DM with and without hypertension and compared with controls. Results: HMGB1 and DKK1 are significantly higher in T2DM irrespective of hypertension. T2DM was also accompanied by increased atherogenicity indices. HMGB1 and DKK1 are significantly correlated with HbA1c, glucose, indices of insulin resistance, β-cell function, and glucose toxicity, and different atherogenic indices. A large part of the variance in the β-cell index (30.5%) and glucose toxicity (34.8%) was explained by the combined effects of HMGB1 and DKK1 and hypertension. We found that 18.3% of the variance of the atherogenic index of plasma was explained by HMGB1 and DKK1 levels and that 31.2% was explained by glucose toxicity, HMGB1 and body weight. Conclusion: The higher serum HMGB1 and DKK1 levels in T2DM patients and the associations with atherogenicity indicate that low grade inflammation and disorders in the Wnt pathways are associated with T2DM and that both HMGB1 and DKK1 may contribute to increased atherogenicity in T2DM. Moreover, both biomarkers may cause more deficits in β-cell function and increase glucose toxicity leading to the development of more inflammation and diabetic complications. HMGB1 and the Wnt pathways are new drug targets in the treatment of T2DM.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Coronavirus-2) of the family Coronaviridae, appeared in Wuhan, Hubei province, China being its epicenter in December 2019. This disease was declared as posing Public Health International Emergency by World Health Organization on January 30, 2020, attained the status of a very high-risk category on February 29, and now having a pandemic status (March 11, 2020). COVID-19 has presently spread to more than 195 countries/territories while killing nearly 19,600 humans out of cumulative confirmed cases accounting to more than 430,000 within a short period of just a few weeks. The majority of deaths have been reported in Italy and China. Researchers worldwide are pacing with high efforts to counter the spread of this virus and to design effective vaccines and therapeutics/drugs. Few of the studies have shown the potential of animal-human interface and zoonotic links in the origin of SARS-CoV-2. Exploring the possible zoonosis and revealing the factors responsible for its initial transmission from animals to humans will pave ways to design and implement effective preventive and control strategies to counter COVID-19. The present review presents an overview of COVID-19 and the causative virus SARS-CoV-2, with particular emphasis on the role of animals and their jumping the cross-species barriers, experiences learned from SARS- and MERS-CoVs, zoonotic links, and spillover events, transmission to humans and rapid spread., highlighting in very brief the preventive and control measures along with a few of the recent research developments to counter this pandemic virus/disease.

Rationale: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by signaling aberrations in interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, beta-endorphins as well as mu (MOR) and kappa (KOR) opioid receptors. Here we examined whether these biomarkers may aid in the classification of unknown subjects into the target class MDD.Methods: The aforementioned biomarkers were assayed in 60 first-episode, drug-naïve depressed patients and 30 controls. We analyzed the data using joint principal component analysis (PCA) performed on all subjects to check whether subjects cluster by classes; support vector machine (SVM) with 10-fold validation; and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and SIMCA performed on calibration and validation sets and we computed the figures of merit and learnt from the data. Results: PCA shows that both groups were well separated using the first three PCs, while correlation loadings show that all 5 biomarkers have discriminatory value. SVM and LDA yielded an accuracy of 100% in validation samples. Using SIMCA there was a highly significant discrimination of both groups (model-to-model distance=87.5); all biomarkers showed a significant discrimination and modeling power, while 10% of the patients were identified as outsiders and no aliens could be identified.Discussion: We have delineated that MDD is a distinct class with respect to neuro-immune and opioid biomarkers and that future unknown subjects can be authenticated as having MDD using this SIMCA fingerprint. Precision psychiatry should employ SIMCA a) to authenticate patients as belonging to the claimed target class and identify other subjects as outsiders, members of another class or aliens; and b) to acquire knowledge through learning from the data by constructing a biomarker fingerprint of the target class.

Schizophrenia is characterized by an interrelated activation of the immune-inflammatory response system (IRS) and the compensatory immune-regulatory reflex system (CIRS), which downregulates the IRS. Deficit schizophrenia is characterized by a deficit in natural regulatory autoimmune responses to tryptophan catabolites. The presence and correlates of IgM isotype antibodies to oxidative specific epitopes (OSEs), nitroso (NO) and nitro (NO₂) adducts in schizophrenia remain unknown.This study measured IgM antibodies to malondialdehyde (MDA), azelaic acid, phosphatidylinositol, oleic acid, NO-tryptophan, NO-albumin, NO-cysteinyl and NO₂-tyrosine in a sample of 80 schizophrenia patients, divided into those with and those without deficit schizophrenia, and 38 healthy controls.Deficit schizophrenia was characterized by significantly lower IgM antibody levels to all OSEs as compared with non-deficit schizophrenia and controls. Lowered IgM antibodies to MDA coupled with increased IgM levels to NO-cysteinyl and NO₂-tyrosine strongly predict deficit schizophrenia versus non-deficit schizophrenia with an area under the ROC curve of 0.913. A large part of the variance (21.2 – 42.2 %) in the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and excitation is explained by IgM antibody titers to MDA (inversely) and NO-cysteinyl and/or NO₂-tyrosine (both positively). Lower IgM antibodies to MDA are significantly associated with impairments in episodic memory including direct and delayed recall.These findings further indicate that deficit schizophrenia is a distinct phenotype of schizophrenia, which is characterized by lower natural IgM antibody levels to OSEs and relative increments in nitrosylation and nitration of proteins. It is concluded that deficits in lowered IgM responses to MDA and azelaic acid (part of the CIRS) attenuate the negative immune-regulatory feedback on the primary immune response and that this process may drive negative symptoms and impairments in episodic memory and thus deficit schizophrenia.

The establishment of a well characterized non-human primate model of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is critical for the development of medical interventions. In this study, challenging Indian rhesus macaques (IRMs) with ZIKV strains of the Asian lineage resulted in dose dependent peak viral loads between days 2 and 5 post infection; and a robust immune response which protected the animals from homologous and heterologous re-challenge. In contrast, viremia in IRMs challenged with an African lineage strain was below the assays lower limit of quantitation and the immune response was insufficient to protect from re-challenge. These results corroborate previous observations but are contrary to reports using other African strains obviating the need for additional studies to elucidate the variables contributing to the disparities. Nonetheless, the utility of an Asian lineage ZIKV IRM model for countermeasures development was verified by vaccinating animals with a formalin inactivated reference vaccine and demonstrating sterilizing immunity against a subsequent subcutaneous challenge.

Functional neurological disorder, or FND, is widely misunderstood, particularly when considering recent research that suggests that the illness has a biological rather than a psychiatric basis. Nonetheless, the long-held view that FND is a purely psychiatric disorder without biological basis, or even a contrived (malingered) illness, remains pervasive both in modern medical care and general society. This is because FND involves an intermittent course of involuntary disability that rapidly alternates with improved neurological control. This has in turn caused shaming, low self-efficacy, and social isolation of the patients. Little research has examined the numerous biomarkers that are shared between FND and canonical neurological disorders and the encouraging outcomes that can follow conventional neurological rehabilitation, modified for this disorder. This review summarizes current research on FND biomarkers and physical rehabilitation results. General healthcare providers would benefit their care for their patients through their improved understanding the illness and recourses for support and treatment that are provided in this review.

Conjunctival melanoma (Co-M) is an aggressive, invasive eye and eyelid cancer. Its global inci-dence of ~1 in a million is increasing at a rate ratio of ~1.4, but this rises sharply in over 65-year-olds. Although rare, Co-M has a devastating impact on the lives of those who develop it. Co-M is often misdiagnosed or overlooked leading to vision loss either from destructive effects of the tumour or side effects of therapy, facial disfigurement from radical surgery, and death from metastases. Due to its rarity, there is limited evidence for diagnosis and management; hence, there is no standardised treatment and not all cases are referred to a specialised ocular oncology centre. Recent progress in cancer immunology and genetics have revolutionised treatment of cutaneous melanoma, which share some similarities to Co-M. A better understanding of Co-M and its precursor lesions is urgently needed to lead the development of novel targeted and immuno-therapies both for local tumour control and disseminated disease. This review aims to provide a comprehensive clinical overview of the current knowledge of Co-M, its epidemiology, pathogenesis, presentation, diagnosis, management, and recent advances in novel biological therapies for personalised treatment of this disease.

This paper presents an explicit method for constructing tangential and anisotropic bases in quadratic spaces. We will also provide three theorems that allow us to explicitly calculate vectors that are orthogonal or tangent to given vectors or that provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of such vectors. A classical theorem on quadratic space states that every finite-dimensional quadratic space has an orthogonal basis. A result that seems to be unanswered is under what conditions a finite-dimensional quadratic space has a basis consisting of isotropic vectors. A second problem is whether or not every finite-dimensional quadratic space has a basis consisting of mutually tangent vectors, where two vectors v,w are tangent if (u·v)2=(u·u)(v·v). In this paper, we attack these two problems.

This paper presents an enhanced Fully Connected Neural Network (FCNN) framework that incorporates manifold learning and Renormalization Group (RG) methods. By integrating Christoffel symbols, the model adapts to the curvature and topology of the data manifold, improving learning from geometrically complex data. Additionally, RG methods enable effective multi-scale data processing. We demonstrate the enhanced model’s performance on synthetic and real-world datasets, showing improved accuracy compared to standard FCNNs, particularly in complex systems simulation.

In this paper, we present a multi-task model that predicts disparities and confidence levels in deep stereo matching simultaneously. We do this by combining its successful model for each separate task and obtaining a multitask model that can be trained with a proposed loss function. We show the advantages of this model compared to training and predicting disparity and confidence sequentially. This method enables an improvement of 15% to 30% in the area under the curve (AUC) metric when trained parallel rather than sequential. In addition, the effect of weighting the components in the loss function on the stereo and confidence performance is investigated. By improving the confidence estimate, the practicality of stereo estimators for creating distance images is increased.

The complexity of plastic polymers and even more so of additives has increased enormously in recent years. This makes the high-quality recycling of mixed plastic waste considerably more difficult. Some additives have now been strictly regulated or even completely banned for good reasons ('legacy additives'). Material or mechanical recycling generally utilises old plastics that still contain these substances. Consequently, products that are manufactured using such recyclates are contaminated with these harmful substances. We therefore recommend avoiding the use of these recyclates for products with intensive contact with consumers until further notice. We also show that the climate policy challenges for the plastics (and chemical) industry necessitate a defossilisation ('feedstock change'). This turnaround can only succeed if solely high-quality recycling takes place in future; recyclates should primarily replace virgin plastics. This can only work if used plastics with a high degree of homogeneity and known formulation are collected separately, as is already the case today with PET bottles. In this context, we would like to point out inconsistencies in the current legislation on the European emissions trading system.

Glycerol conversion to valuable biomolecules has been a research avenue that has attracted a significant interest in recent years due to its increasing over production, with possibilities for chemical transformation for eco-friendly processes and distinct compounds with biological activities. Also, in the current climate change in which a major emphasis is being placed on the design of green processes, solvents are key factors from both an economic and environmental point of view. In this context, due to its abundance and low-price, glycerol represents an innovative solvent coming from biomass and produce in high amount. On the other hand, Epichlorydrin, Glycidol and Solketal have become useful intermediates in chemical transformations when using glycerol as a raw material. This review focuses on glycerol as a green solvent in the synthesis of complex molecules, Epichlorydrin, Glycidol, Solketal and Tosyl solketal as an efficient recycling process for glycerol, as well as building blocks in the synthesis of glycerol derivatives, which are undeniable new source of potentials drugs.

Severe deficiency of ADAMTS13 (<10 iu/dL) is diagnostic of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and leads to accumulation of ultra-large VWF multimers, platelet aggregation and widespread microthrombi, which can be life-threatening. However, the clinical implications of a low ADAMTS13 activity level are not only important in an acute episode of TTP. In this article, we discuss the effects of a low ADAMTS13 activity in congenital and immune-mediated TTP patients not only at presentation, but once in a clinical remission. Evidence is emerging of the clinical effects of a low ADAMTS13 activity in other disease areas outside of TTP and here we explore the wider impact of low ADAMTS13 activity on the vascular endothelium and the potential for recombinant ADAMTS13 therapy in other thrombotic disease states.

O estudo apresenta uma afirmação e explicação de que ocorrem progressões numéricas maiores e menores que dependem da representação contida no espaço físico. Em casos gerais, números maiores são múltiplos e números menores são simples, porque vários números contêm mais números em muitos espaços físicos do que números simples. Em casos específicos, dependem da afirmação do que é a representação específica, podendo ocorrer realidades diferentes de casos gerais. Além disso, a teoria explica a mudança no número de números primos.

Interoperable multilayer networks are pivotal and transformative in public digital health. They not only enhance the delivery of healthcare services but also contribute significantly to improving public health outcomes. Through better accessibility, efficiency, and data-driven decision-making, these networks are revolutionizing how we approach public health. The seamless data exchange and integration they facilitate across different healthcare systems and providers can lead to substantial cost savings for public healthcare systems. These networks pave the way for a more efficient and effective healthcare system by reducing redundancies, optimizing resource allocation, and minimizing unnecessary procedures. This study combines the pressing issues of public digital health with the innovative interpretation of multilayer network theory, proposing practical solutions that inspire academics and practitioners alike.Public digital health is not just about improving care access and patient engagement. It is also about ensuring the financial sustainability of our healthcare systems. Innovative multilayer network analysis is critical in this game, improving interoperability and reducing spatial and temporal constraints. These networks streamline processes and improve efficiency by easing complex interactions within healthcare systems. This process, in turn, allows healthcare providers to deliver high-quality care at a lower cost, transforming, whenever possible, in-patients and out-patients into home-patients. Networks are a cornerstone and a beacon of hope for transforming public digital health. They are increasing the Value for Money and enhancing a patient-centric approach, making us optimistic about the future of healthcare.This study shows that revolutionizing digital healthcare methodologies has a profound impact on crucial elements like resilience, interoperability, and patient well-being within public health. The enhancement of interoperability facilitates the smooth flow of data exchange across various platforms and healthcare providers, fostering improved collaboration and decision-making processes and elevating the safety of patients.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common multisystem neurodegenerative disorder affecting 1% of the population above 60 years. The main neuropathological features of PD are the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and the presence of alpha synuclein (Syn)-rich Lewy bodies both manifesting with classical motor signs. Syn has emerged as a key protein in PD pathology as it can spread through synaptic networks to reach several anatomical regions of the body contributing to the appearance of non-motor symptoms (NMS) considerate prevalent among individuals before PD diagnosis and persisting throughout the patient’s life. NMS mainly include loss of taste and smell, constipation, psychiatric disorders, dementia, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior impairment, urogenital dysfunction, and cardiovascular impairment. This review summarizes the more recent findings showing the impact of Syn deposits on several prodromal NMS and emphasizes the importance of early detection of Syn toxic species in biofluids and peripheral biopsies as prospective biomarkers in PD.

Azolla is the only plant with a co-evolving nitrogen-fixing (diazotrophic) cyanobacterial symbiont (cyanobiont), Nostoc azollae, resulting from Whole Genome Duplication (WGD) 80 million years ago in Azolla’s ancestor. Additional genes from the WGD resulted in genetic, biochemical and morphological changes in the plant that enabled transmission of the cyanobiont to successive generations via its megaspores. The resulting permanent symbiosis and co-evolution led to loss, downregulation or conversion of non-essential genes to pseudogenes in the cyanobiont, changing it from a free-living organism to an obligate symbiont. Upregulation of other genes in the cyanobiont increased its atmospheric dinitrogen fixation and provision of nitrogen-based products to the plant. As a result, Azolla can double its biomass in less than two days free-floating on fresh water and sequester large amounts of atmospheric CO2, giving it the potential to mitigate anthropogenic climate change through Carbon Capture and Storage. Azolla’s biomass can also provide local, low-cost food, biofertiliser, feed and biofuel that are urgently needed as our population increases by a billion every twelve years. This paper integrates data from biology, genetics, geology and paleontology to identify the location, timing and mechanism for the acquisition of a co-evolving diazotrophic cyanobiont by Azolla’s ancestor in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of North America.

This document introduces methods and algorithms to characterize a series of values as patterns of repeating symbols or sequences selected with the criterion to maximize the information retrieved. The method converts a series of real-number values into texts. Then, it interprets the text from a point of view specified by several parameters. Located patterns are linked nested, with shorter sequences within longer ones. Texts are then synthesized and organized in a tree-like structure, substantially reducing entropy. The characterization of processes serves as the basis for constructing models to estimate likely projected values. Alternative ways to assess the multiscale complexity of unidimensional processes are applications of the results obtained here.

Alzheimer's disease still holds many mysteries that are yet to be revealed. Exploring the reasons behind the increase in suicidal behavior in patients undergoing promising treatments for Alzheimer's disease is a scientific endeavor. Research practices must be built upon strong theoretical frameworks that can guide the investigation. Throughout decades of professional experience in caring for suicidal individuals and elderly people with cognitive disorders, we have noticed a connection that requires further exploration. It seems that existential distress may trigger various outcomes. At one end of the spectrum, we observe individuals who strongly resist adverse situations, making them more prone to developing suicidal behaviors. At the other end, we see individuals who exert great biological effort to adapt to the ongoing stresses of life, with Alzheimer's disease being a neurological consequence of this adaptation. To develop our understanding, we conducted an existentialist analysis to conceptualize the underpinnings of the human experience in a stress-filled world.

The dynamic equilibrium of iron homeostasis has an important role in sustaining metabolic and neurological functions during human life. Iron excretion is modest and unregulated hence this overall equilibrium is tightly regulated in normal conditions by increasing deficient or limiting excessive iron assimilation. Here we focus on neural tissue overload, dyshomeostasis that is preceded by excessive assimilation, disturbances in internal homeostasis or both. Normal steps in iron homeostasis include its uptake across the apical membrane of the enterocytes in a mildly acidic duodenal milieu by the major importer of ferrous iron, Divalent Metal Transporter 1 (DMT1) (Nramp2/DCT1/SLC11A2, solute carrier family 11 member 2) [1, 2], responsible for the uptake of Non-Transferrin Bound Iron (NTBI) and divalent metals [3], passage through enterocytes bound to a chaperone and crossing the basal membrane via the only known cellular ferrous iron exporter, ferroportin [4] with the iron bound to transferrin (Tf) as it exits. Cells in peripheral tissues largely utilize circulating iron after uptake by receptor-mediated endocytosis of Tf-bound Iron [5]. Derangement of duodenal NTBI absorption of iron and heavy metals is influenced by systemic iron metabolism associated with inflammation that leads to iron accumulation into peripheral tissues and potential development of neurodegenerative diseases, involving distribution and fine regulation of DMT1 also in the central nervous system, where inflammatory-related acidosis influences DMT1 uptake, via its action as a proton cotransporter. Pharmacological strategies to inhibit NTBI transport selectively will be illustrated in relationship to protection, particularly neuroprotection, against iron overload associated with acidosis, inflammation, neuroinflammation and subsequent neurodegeneration.

Elevated levels of homocysteine (Hcy) and related metabolites are associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Severe hyperhomocysteinemia causes neurological deficits and worsens behavioral and biochemical traits associated with AD. Although Hcy is precluded from entering the Genetic Code by proofreading mechanisms of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, and thus is a non-protein amino acid, it can be attached to proteins via an N-homocysteinylation reaction mediated by Hcy-thiolactone. Because N-homocysteinylation is detrimental to protein’s function and biological integrity, Hcy-thiolactone detoxifying enzymes – PON1, BLMH, BPHL – have evolved. This review provides an account of the biological function of these enzymes and of consequences of their impairments leading to phenotypes characteristic of AD.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common metabolic disease in humans, and its prevalence is increasing worldwide in parallel with the obesity pandemic. A lack of insulin or insulin resistance, and consequently hyperglycemia, leads to many systemic disorders, among which diabetic encephalopathy (DE) is a long-term complication of the central nervous system (CNS), characterized by cognitive impairment and motor dysfunctions. The role of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in the pathomechanism of DE has been proven. Fractalkine (CX3CL1) has unique properties as an adhesion molecule and chemoattractant, and by acting on its only receptor, CX3CR1, it regulates the activity of microglia in physiological states and neuroinflammation. Depending on the clinical context, CX3CL1-CX3CR1 signaling may have neuroprotective effects by inhibiting the inflammatory process in microglia or, conversely, maintaining/intensifying inflammation and neurotoxicity. This review discusses the evidence supporting that the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 pair is neuroprotective and other evidence that it is neurotoxic. Interrupting the vicious cycle within neuron-microglia interactions may be a therapeutic goal in DE by limiting the inflammatory response.

We discuss the consequences of the unique symmetry of the de Sitter spacetime. This symmetry leads to the specific thermodynamic properties of the de Sitter vacuum, which produces the thermal bath for matter. The de Sitter spacetime is invariant under the modified translations, ${\bf r}\rightarrow {\bf r} -e^{Ht}{\bf a}$, where $H$ is the Hubble parameter. For $H\rightarrow 0$, this symmetry corresponds to the conventional invariance of Minkowski spacetime under translations ${\bf r}\rightarrow {\bf r} -{\bf a}$. Due to this symmetry, all the comoving observers at any point of the de Sitter space perceive the de Sitter environment as the thermal bath with temperature $T=H/\pi$, which is twice larger than the Gibbons-Hawking temperature of the cosmological horizon. This temperature does not violate the de Sitter symmetry, and thus does not require the preferred reference frame, as distinct from thermal state of matter, which violates the de Sitter symmetry. This leads to the heat exchange between gravity and matter, and to instability of de Sitter state towards the creation of matter, its further heating, and finally to the decay of the de Sitter state. The temperature $T=H/\pi$ determines different processes in the de Sitter environment, which are not possible in the Minkowski vacuum, such as the process of ionization of an atom in the de Sitter environment. This temperature also determines the local entropy of the de Sitter vacuum state, and this allows us to calculate the total entropy inside the cosmological horizon. The result reproduces the Gibbons-Hawking area law, which is related to the cosmological horizon, $S_{\rm hor}=4\pi KA$, where $K=1/16\pi G$. This supports the holographic properties of the cosmological event horizon. We extend the consideration of the local thermodynamics of the de Sitter state using the $f({\cal R})$ gravity. In this thermodynamics, the Ricci scalar curvature ${\cal R}$ and the effective gravitational coupling, $K$, are thermodynamically conjugate variables. The holographic connection between the bulk entropy of the Hubble volume, and the surface entropy of the cosmological horizon remains the same, but with the gravitational coupling $K=df/d{\cal R}$. Such connection takes place only in the $3+1$ spacetime, where there is the special symmetry due to which the variables $K$ and ${\cal R}$ have the same dimensionality. We also consider the lessons from the de Sitter symmetry for the thermodynamics of black and white holes.

Monogenity is a classical area of algebraic number theory that is very actively researched even today. This paper is a collection of the results obtained during the last few years in this area. Several of these results were presented at the series of online conferences "Monogenity and power integral bases".

Metabolic Associated Steatohepatitis Liver Disease (MASLD) currently impacts a quarter of the global population and its prevalence is expected to increase in the future. As a result, the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma associated with MASLD is also on the rise. Notably, hepatocellular carcinoma in this group does not always develop alongside liver cirrhosis, often leading to a more advanced stage at diagnosis. The challenge lies in accurately identifying patients who are at a higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma to tailor screening processes effectively. Additionally, several therapeutic approaches are being explored to prevent hepatocellular carcinoma, although there are yet no universally accepted guidelines

Ever since the virus was discovered in the 80s of the 19th century, plant viruses had a great impression within the field of plant pathology. In this book we trace the growth in the research on plant viruses beginning from traditional era (1882-1900) in which a new pathogen was discovered other than fungi and bacteria, later known as virus; biological era (1900-2000) in which the mode of spread and relationship of the virus with its vector was understood; biochemical/biophysical era (1930-1968) that marked the basis of virus purification and chemical characterization; molecular era of plant virology (1943-1995) in which establishment, progression & transmission of plant viruses was described within the host at molecular details ; era of viral molecular genetics (1980–2000), in which a significant role was played by the plant virologists to understand the position and function of genes, methods of viral gene cloning, gene silencing and other viral genome associated properties ; era of plant viral diagnostics (1980 – 2021) which led to rapid, specific and sensitive detection of plant viruses.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe and chronic disease characterized by increased pulmonary vascular resistance and remodeling often precipitating right-sided heart dysfunction and death. Although the condition is progressive and incurable, current therapies for the disease focus on multiple different drugs and general supportive therapies to manage symptoms and prolong survival, ranging from medications more specific to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) to exercise training. Moreover, there are multiple studies exploring novel experimental drugs and therapies including unique neurostimulation, to help better manage the disease. Here we provide a narrative review focusing on current PH treatments that target multiple underlying biochemical mechanisms, including but not limited to imbalances in vasoconstrictor-vasodilator and autonomic nervous system function, inflammation, and bone morphogenic protein (BMP) signaling. We also focus on the potential of novel therapies for managing PH, focusing on multiple types of neu-rostimulation including acupuncture. Lastly, we also touch upon the disease’s different subgroups, clinical presentations and prognosis, diagnostics, demographics, and cost.

In virology, the term reverse genetics refers to a set of methodologies in which changes are introduced into the viral genome and their effects on the generation of infectious viral progeny and their phenotypic features are assessed. Reverse genetics emerged thanks to advances in recombinant DNA technology, which made the isolation, cloning, and modification of genes through mutagenesis possible. Most virus reverse genetics studies depend on our capacity to rescue an infectious wild-type virus progeny from cell cultures transfected with an “infectious clone”. This infectious clone generally consists of a circular DNA plasmid containing a functional copy of the full-length viral genome, under the control of an appropriate polymerase promoter. For most DNA viruses, reverse genetics systems are very straightforward, since DNA virus genomes are relatively easy to handle and modify and are also (with few notable exceptions) infectious per se. This is not true for RNA viruses, whose genomes need to be reverse transcribed into cDNA before any modification can be done. Establishing reverse genetics systems for members of the Caliciviridae has proven exceptionally challenging, due to the low number of members of this family that propagate in cell culture. Despite the early successful rescue of a calicivirus from a genome-length cDNA more than two decades ago, reverse genetics methods are not routine procedures that can be easily extrapolated to other members of the family. Reports of calicivirus reverse genetics systems have been few and far between. In this review, we discuss the main pitfalls, failures, and delays behind the generation of several successful calicivirus infectious clones.

This study delves into the intricate dynamics of classical mechanics, exploring the interplay between force, mass, and energy. Through fundamental principles and mathematical formulations, it elucidates key relationships governing physical systems. Beginning with an overview of classical mechanics, the study establishes the foundational principles laid down by Newton, emphasizing concepts such as inertia, acceleration, and the relationship between force and motion. Central to the investigation is Newton's second law of motion, highlighting the direct proportionality between force and acceleration, and the inverse relationship between acceleration and mass when acted upon by a force. The study extends to the concept of effective mass, elucidating how the application of force influences the inertial mass of an object and contributes to its effective mass through the acquisition of kinetic energy. Furthermore, the study examines the total energy composition of systems, emphasizing the holistic nature of energy as a combination of potential and kinetic forms. Through the work-energy theorem, a direct link between force and kinetic energy is established, revealing how mechanical work done on an object results in changes in its kinetic energy and effective mass. Mathematical formulations and conceptual analyses provide deeper insights into the intricate relationships between force, mass, and energy, shedding light on the underlying mechanisms governing classical mechanical systems. Through validation against empirical observations and experimental data, the study ensures the accuracy and reliability of derived equations, contributing to a richer understanding of classical mechanics and paving the way for further exploration in the field of physics.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the deadliest human cancers with very lim-ited treatment options available. The malignant behavior of GBM is manifest in a tu-mor which is highly invasive, resistant to standard cytotoxic chemotherapy and is strongly immunosuppressive. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have recently been in-troduced in the clinic and have yielded promising results in certain cancers. GBM however is largely refractory to these treatments. The immune checkpoint CD47 has recently gained attention as potential target for intervention as it conveys a “don’t eat me” signal to tumor associated macrophages via the inhibitory SIRP alpha protein. In preclinical models, administration of anti-CD47 monoclonal antibodies have shown impressive results with GBM and other tumor models. Several well characterized on-cogenic pathways have recently been shown to regulate CD47 expression in GBM cells and Glioma Stem cells (GSCs) include EGFR, beta catenin and LRIG2. Other macro-phage pathways involved in regulating phagocytosis including TREM2 and glycan binding proteins are discussed as well. Finally, Chimeric Antigen Receptor Macro-phages (CAR)-M could be leveraged for greatly enhancing phagocytosis of GBM and repolarization of the microenvironment in general. Here we comprehensively review the mechanisms that regulate about macrophage phagocytosis of GBM cells.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and techniques are comparatively recent advances of present-day globalized world. With their easy availability and friendly user interface AI has affected every sphere of human being. These tools are increasingly becoming popular because of the numerous benefits occurred to the society in many ways. However, there are not only the positive side of these technologies, but also many negative sides. Along with the development and adoption of AI, cyber-attacks are increased and disrupting the information system. Threat actors may misuse artificial intelligence. Hence, these tool designers are working and applying the ability of generative AI can tip the scales in cybersecurity. So, in the age of AI, there is always tension between the cyber attackers and the defenders to make a balanced information system. It is a general rule that defenders must be well in advance in their favor and keep ahead of adversaries. The United National and several governments for example the US, UK, and the big AI giants like Microsoft along with OpenAI, are working on emerging cyberattacks. This research paper explores the concept of information resilience in ML and AI systems, focusing on strategies to enhance their ability to withstand uncertainties, adversarial attacks, and data perturbations.