Climate and its fluctuations have wide-ranging impacts on the tourism industry. High temperatures, as a typical meteorological and climatic factor, influence tourists' travel intentions and spatial behavior. This study conducted a descriptive analysis and market trend analysis of Chinese tourism during periods of high temperatures, revealing several key findings. Firstly, tourists seeking respite from summer heat exhibit a preference for short-distance trips and resource-rich destinations. Secondly, heat-escape tourism products undergo changes over time, gradually shifting towards mountainous areas and waterfront locations. Furthermore, taking Shanghai Disneyland as a case study demonstrates that the holiday system holds greater significance than temperature constraints. Despite experiencing a significant decline in the quality of their tourist experience in high-temperature environments, long-distance travelers are not deterred from choosing pre-booked tourism products by sudden bouts of hot weather.

Forensic document examiners can determine the authenticity of questioned documents by analyzing the ink used to create them. If an ink mismatch is found, it could be a sign of scam, backdating, or forgery. In this research a Hyperspectral Images of iVision HHID dataset is used to detect number of possible inks used in document. By using Hyperspectral Images, it’s possible to detect ink mismatch in a given document. In this research unsupervised learning method K-means is used to detect number of inks. Approximate number of clusters are determined by Elbow and Silhouette method before implementation of K-means.

A morphological feature estimation method is presented, that can be used to monitor fish from low contrast underwater images and videos. The fish orientation is classified in order to apply a shape alignment technique that is based on the Ensemble of Regression Trees machine learning method. Shape alignment allows the estimation of fish dimensions (length, height, mass) and the location of fish body parts of particular interest such as the eyes and gills. The developed system can be exploited both for fish monitoring in open sea as well as aquacultures where non-invasive, low cost morphological feature extraction is essential. Fish health can be assessed from malformations in body shape, the color of the eyes or the gills as well as the fish behavior. The proposed method can estimate the position of 18 landmarks with an accuracy of about 95% from low resolution and low contrast underwater images where the fish can be hardly distinguished from its background. Hardware acceleration can be applied at various stages of the proposed method for real time video processing. As a case study, the developed system has been trained and tested with several Mediterranean fish species in the category of seabream or similar: diplodous sargus annularis (white seabream), diplodus annularis seabream (spawn), oblada melanura (saddled seabream), pagrus pagrus (common seabream), etc. A large dataset with low resolution underwater videos and images has been created in the context of this work.

The addition of biocarriers can improve the biological processes appearing in a bioreactor since their surface allows the immobilization, attachment, protection, and growth of microorganisms. In addition, the development of a biofilm layer allows the colonization of microorganisms in the biocarriers. The structure, composition, and roughness of the biocarriers' surface are crucial factors that affect the development of the biofilm. In the current work, the aluminosilicate zeolites 13X and ZSM-5 were examined as the main building components of the biocarrier scaffolds, using bentonite, montmorillonite, and halloysite nanotubes as inorganic binders in various combinations. 3D printing was utilized to form pastes into monoliths that underwent heat treatment. The 3d-printed biocarriers were subjected to a mechanical analysis, including density, compression, and nanoindentation tests. Furthermore, the 3d-printed biocarriers were morphologically and structurally characterized using nitrogen adsorption at 77 K (LN2), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The stress-strain response of the materials being studied was obtained through nanoindentation tests combined with finite element analysis (FEA). These tests were also utilized to simulate the lattice geometries under compression loading conditions to investigate their deformation and stress distribution in relation to experimental compression testing. The results indicated that the 3d-printed biocarrier 13X/halloysite nanotubes was endowed with high specific surface area and extended mesoporous structure. Due to these assets, its bulk density was one of the lowest observed amongst the biocarriers derived from the various combinations of materials. The biocarriers based on the 13X zeolite exhibited the highest mechanical stability and appropriate morphological features. The 13X/halloysite nanotubes scaffold exhibits a moderate hardness value compared to the rest, while it presents the highest value of modulus of elasticity. In conclusion, Aluminosilicate zeolites and their combination with clays and inorganic nanotubes afford 3d-printed biocarriers of various textural and structural properties, which can be utilized to improve biological processes.

At the entrance of some churches in Tuscany (Italy), the reproduction of an apparently undecipherable inscription can be found. At least from the 18^th century, this epigraphic puzzle has originated a debate on its interpretation. This study proposes a hypothesis based on the Latin alphabet used in texts contemporary to the churches where the inscription is reproduced and a possible interpretation of the message consistent with the official religious doctrine. The proposed deciphering is extended to the full text, including some signs that were previously considered as geometric forms or a specific elaboration of letters not attested in other contemporary documents.

Chemoinformatics is the combination of physical chemistry theory with computer and information science techniques "in silico techniques" to a variety of descriptive and prescriptive chemistry issues, including applications to biology, drug discovery, and related molecular areas. On the other hand, machine learning has become a vital tool for drug designers to mine chemical information from enormous compound databases in order to build medications with important biological features. In Egypt, chemoinformatics were used recently in different applications. For example; the development of new antimicrobial agents like tetracycline analog B (Iodocycline). Another area of application in bioinformatics included heart disease classification based on hybrid ensemble stacking technique. In the era of COVID-19, hybrid approach for COVID-19 detection from chest radiography was applied. Furthermore, bio/chemoinformatics methods were used to compare antimicrobial medications in order to choose an effective nose-to-brain formulation targeting meningitis infection by using differences in the drugs' primary structural, topological, and electronic characteristics. An example for this included cefotaxime and ceftriaxone that were examined at three levels: at formulation level, by comparing the loading in gelatin and tripalmitin matrices as basis for the production of nanoparticulate systems, at biopharmaceutical level, through interaction with mucin and the P-gp efflux pumps, and at therapeutic level, through studying the interaction with S. pneumoniae bacterial receptors.

The white wine industry generates a large amount of wastes and composting is an alternative for recycling these residues with agronomic and environmental advantages. With this aim, grape marc and grape stalks were composted in static and turned piles, with 3 and 6 turns, to investigate the effects of pile conditions during composting in order to improve final compost quality. Thermophilic temperatures were attained soon after pile construction, and the highest maximum temperatures were achieved in the turned piles (70.5-71.8 ºC). However, pile moisture content decreased bellow recommended values after day 42 in these piles. The extremely high temperatures and low moisture content in turned piles hampered OM mineralization rates and the amount of potentially mineralizable organic matter (OM0) (391-407 g kg-1), whereas the structure of the static pile provided adequate porosity to increase OM decomposition and OM0 (568 g kg-1). This study shows that composting grape marc with stalks, for a period of 140 days, resulted in stabilized and matured compost (NH4+-N / NO3--N <0.5), with good chemical characteristics for application as soil organic amendment in vineyards, without the need for rewetting or turning the piles, thus reducing the agronomic, and environmental cost of the composting process.

A gravitational lens is mass-curved spacetime. Light that propagates freely, locally always on the fastest way, follows curved paths in it. The same applies to all effects propagating with the speed of light, also to gravity itself. They all have to follow the curvature of spacetime. A gravitational lens not only enhances the light from background objects but concurrently also their gravitational effect ! The "Gravitationally Lensed Gravity" (GLG) is a still scarcely noticed peculiar feature of general relativity. In [1] I presented a thought experiment to make the existence of this effect plausible. Here these considerations are described in terms of future and past light cones or null cones commonly used in relativity theory to illustrate the causal structure of spacetime. In the framework of general relativity, the GLG effect can be understood as a consequence of the folding of the past null cone by a gravitational lens. Starting from the basic ideas of the theory, the terms are introduced and applied. The extensive description on textbook level should be understandable also for beginners. In order not to obstruct the view on the essential physical relations, I avoid a mathematical formalism and use instead diagrams and figures, based on realistic numerical calculations, to reinforce my logical argumentation. Experts will recognize many long-known facts, but may still be surprised by the resulting conclusions. First, I present some particular aspects of the historical evolution of the concept of gravitational lensing and give a brief overview of the work of other authors on the subject GLG. I then explain the limitations of the applicability of the "Newtonian Limit" and move on to the key role of the speed of gravity in understanding GLG. Finally, I use a simple example to illustrate the possible significance of the GLG effect. With this work I intend to elicit greater interest in "Gravitationally Lensed Gravity" and to initiate a broader discussion about it.

In the paper it is demonstrated that a valid path to a contradiction in complex number theory exists. In the path use is made of Euler’s identity and simple trigonometry. Each step can be easily verified.

A novel enrichment combined with a rapid screening method was employed to isolate bioemulsifying strains of Bacillus subtilis. Among a total of twenty isolates from railway soil at six geographically distant sites, ten produced bioemulsifiers for soybean oil and crude oil. Qualitative drop-collapse assays indicated the bioemulsifiers were surfactants.

Dynamical system tools offer a complementary approach to detailed biophysical seizure modeling, with a high potential for clinical applications. This review describes the theoretical framework that provides a basis for theorizing certain properties of seizures and for their classification according to their dynamical properties at onset and offset. We describe various modeling approaches spanning different scales, from single neurons to large-scale networks. This narrative review provides an accessible overview of this field, including non-exhaustive examples of key recent works.

Although advertising literacy leads to critical thinking in the face of advertising, but so far, no action has been taken in Iran regarding a tool to measure this type of literacy. And after the investigations, it was determined that although much research has been done on advertising, but the lack of appropriate measurement tools to measure the level of advertising literacy is clearly evident. Therefore, this research provides a valid tool for measuring advertising literacy from students' perspective. In this study, referring to the dimensions of advertising literacy from the perspective of Malmelin (2010) and the views of related professors, a questionnaire was developed and to determine the validity of the structure, confirmatory factor analysis was used. In this study, the statistical population was high school students, considering the impact of advertising in this age range; finally, a tool with four dimensions of informational literacy, aesthetic literacy, rhetorical literacy and promotional literacy was obtained. According to the confirmation of this tool in the present study, it can be used to examine the status of items, their order and prioritization from the perspective of the mentioned population.

To investigate this suitability of Black Mustard (Brassica Nigra L.) and Camelina (Camelina Sativa L.) for pulp manufacturing the nitrate-alkaline method was used. The non-wood plants were characterized by chemical analysis, especially lignin, cellulose, ash, extractives and alpha-, beta-, gamma-cellulose. The pulp was cooked in 6% nitric acid and then underwent the extraction by 5% sodium-hydroxide and neutralized by 1% acetic acid. The cooked pulp was characterized by delignification degree – Kappa number. The laboratory sheets were made from this cooked pulp and they were characterized by tensile index, breaking length, smoothness and compared with commonly available papers.

It is desirable to upgrade previous evolutionary theories, which have remained incomplete and controversial for decades. Here we employ the concept of carbon-based entities (CBEs), which include methane, amino acids, proteins, organisms, and other entities containing relatively many carbon atoms. We deduce the driving force, mechanisms, steps, modes, tempos of CBE evolution, through integration of biology, physics, and chemistry using logics for complex issues. We hence establish the Carbon-Based Evolutionary Theory (CBET). The CBET suggests that evolution is the increase in hierarchy, diversity, fitness of CBEs under natural selection and driven by thermodynamics due to the chemical effect of the thermodynamic features of the Earth on CBEs. It provides better explanations for life origin, macroevolution events, natural selection, sympatric speciation, and evolution tempos than previous evolutionary theories. It reveals the evolutionary basis of multiple important social notions, including diversity, collaboration, altruism, obeying rules, and proper increase in freedom. It refutes some wrong notions in thermodynamics, including negative entropy (negentropy) and that biological order is equal to thermodynamic order, which have misled many people. The CBET is supported by its deduction and application. It could be a rare bridge linking laws of thermodynamics, evolution of life, and development of human society, and could have great significance in various sciences.

Proper and timely segregation of cellular genome is an important and a prime requirement of all cell division programmes. Mis-segregation of chromosomes and resulting aneuploidy leads to several clinical consequences. Over the years, shugoshin emerges as a key protein factor involved in the segregation of genetic material in dividing cells. Deletion or altered level of shugoshin is reported in several human malignancies, as a result, shugoshin now emerges as an important tumour associated gene and a possible target for cancer therapy. Apart from the role in cancer, recent studies also showed the involvement of shugoshin in several other clinical disorders. Through this review, we tried to highlight the clinical relevance of shugoshin.

A series of experiments were conducted to measure and quantify the yield, dry matter content, sugars content and nitrates content of grass intended for ensilement. These experiments took place in the East Midlands of Ireland during the Spring, Summer and Autumn of 2019. A bespoke sensor rig was constructed; included in this rig was a hyperspectral radiometer that measured a broad spectrum of reflected natural light from a circular spot approximately 1.2 metres in area. Grass inside a 50cm square quadrat was manually collected from the centre of the circular spot for ground truth estimation of the grass qualities. Up to 25 spots were recorded and sampled each day. The radiometer readings for each spot were automatically recorded onto a laptop that controlled the sensor rig, and ground truth measurements were made either on site or within 24 hours in a wet chemistry laboratory. The collected data was used to build Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) predictive models of grass qualities from the hyperspectral dataset and it was found that substantial relationships exist between the spectral reflectance from the grass and yield (r2 = 0.62), dry matter % (r2 = 0.54), sugar content (r2 = 0.54) and nitrates (r2 = 0.50). This shows that hyperspectral reflectance data contains substantial information about key grass qualities and can form part of a broader holistic data driven approach to provide accurate and rapid predictions to farmers, agronomists and agricultural contractors.

Gravitational waves have been detected in the past few years from several transient events such as merging stellar mass black holes, binary neutron stars, etc. These waves have frequencies in a band ranging from a few hundred hertz to around a kilohertz to which LIGO type instruments are sensitive. LISA would be sensitive to much lower range of frequencies from SMBH mergers. Apart from these cataclysmic burst events, there are innumerable sources of radiation which are continuously emitting gravitational waves of all frequencies. These include a whole mass range of compact binary and isolated compact objects as well as close planetary stellar entities. In this work, quantitative estimates are made of the gravitational wave background produced in typical frequency ranges from such sources emitting over a Hubble time and the fluctuations in the h values measured in the usual devices. Also estimates are made of the high frequency thermal background gravitational radiation from hot stellar interiors and newly formed compact objects.

Named herein “CytroCell”, the cellulosic material obtained via hydrodynamic cavitation of citrus processing waste in water is cellulose of low crystallinity, high porosity, good water holding capacity and good dispersibility in water. These properties, here demonstrated for the first time for lemon and grapefruit CytroCell, open the route to mass scale production of a useful functional material from a cheap and abundant biowaste. The process, indeed, does not require any pre-treatment of the raw material, and does not use acid, alkali, chemical oxidants or enzymes.

High levels of meat consumption are increasingly being criticised for ethical, environmental, and social reasons. Plant-based meat substitutes have been identified as healthy sources of protein in comparison to meat. This alternative offers several social, environmental and health benefits and may play a role in reducing meat consumption. However, there has been a lack of research on how specific meat substitute attributes can influence consumers to replace or partially replace meat in their diets. Research demonstrates that in many countries consumers are highly attached to meat. They consider it as an essential and integral element of their daily diet. For these consumers which are not interested in vegan or vegetarian alternatives to meat, so-called meathybrids could be a low-threshold option for a more sustainable food consumption behaviour. In meathybrids only a fraction of the meat product (e.g. 20% to 50%) is replaced with plant-based proteins. In this paper, the results of an online survey with 501 Belgium consumers are presented with focus on preferences and attitudes relating to meathyrids. The results show that more than fifty percent of consumers substitute meat at least occasionally. Thus, about half of the respondents reveal an eligible consumption behaviour in respect to sustainability and healthiness to a certain degree. Concerning the determinants of choosing either meathybrid or meat it becomes evident that a strong effect is exerted by the health perception. The healthier meathybrids are perceived, the higher is the choice probability. Thus, this egoistic motive seems to outperform altruistic motives like animal welfare or environmental concerns when it comes to choice for this new product category.

Iterations of continuous maps are the simplest models of generic dynamical systems. In particular, circle maps display several key properties of complex dynamics, such as phase-locking and the quasi-periodicity route to chaos. Our work points out that Planck’s constant may be derived from the scaling behavior of circle maps in the asymptotic limit.

We construct a microscopic model to study discrete randomness in bistable systems coupled to an environment comprising many degrees of freedom. A quartic double well is bilinearly coupled to a finite number N of harmonic oscillators. Solving the time-reversal invariant Hamiltonian equations of motion numerically, we show that for N=1, the system exhibits a transition with increasing coupling strength from integrable to chaotic motion, following the KAM scenario. Raising N to values of the order of 10 and higher, the dynamics crosses over to a quasi-relaxation, approaching either one of the stable equilibria at the two minima of the potential. We corroborate the irreversibility of this relaxation on other characteristic timescales of the system by recording the time dependences of autocorrelation, partial entropy, and the frequency of jumps between the wells as functions of N and other parameters. Preparing the central system in the unstable equilibrium at the top of the barrier and the bath in a random initial state drawn from a Gaussian distribution, symmetric under spatial reflection, we demonstrate that the decision whether to relax into the left or the right well is determined reproducibly by residual asymmetries in the initial positions and momenta of the bath oscillators. This result reconciles the randomness and spontaneous symmetry breaking of the asymptotic state with the conservation of entropy under canonical transformations and the manifest symmetry of potential and initial condition of the bistable system.

Enterococci are gastrointestinal commensals whose hardiness allowed them to colonize very diverse environments, including soils, water, food and feed. This ability to overcome adverse conditions makes enterococci problematic once they colonize hospital niches. Together with the malleability of their genomes, the capacity to acquire and disseminate determinants of antibiotic resistance have contributed to convert what was once just another opportunistic pathogen into a first-class clinical problem. This review discusses the dimension of the emergence of enterococcal resistance to key antimicrobial agents, the dissemination of this resistance and its significance in terms of public health, with the aim of raising the awareness to the need to devise and implement monitoring programmes and effective antibiotic usage guidelines.

This brief note is aimed to dissociate from quantum physics contextuality, where the latter is standardly defined on the basis of families of compatible observables. In quantum physics, contextuality is just an exhibition of incompatibility of observables and, hence, Bohr's principle of complementarity. At the same time we recognize that contextuality can play the important role outside of physics.

Removal of hexavalent chromium had attracted much more attention as it was a hazardous contaminant. Electrochemical reduction technology was applied to removal chromium (VI) from wastewater. The mechanism and parameters affect the reduction process were investigated. The results showed that the reduction efficiency was significantly affected by the concentration of H2SO4, current density and reaction temperature. And the reduction efficiency was up to 86.45% at concentration of H2SO4 of 100g/L, reaction temperature of 70 ℃, current density at 50 A/m2, reaction time at 180 min and stirring rate of 500 rpm. The reduction process of chromium (VI) was followed pseudo-first-order equation, and the reduction rate could be expressed as Kobs = k [H2SO4]1• [j] 4•exp-4170/RT.

Seizures are defined as a transient occurrence of signs and symptoms due to the abnormal, excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain characterized by an abrupt and involuntary skeletal muscles activity. An early diagnosis, treatment and specific medical support must be performed to prevent Status Epilepticus (SE). Seizures’ onset, especially in children population, is related to specific risk factors like positive family history, fever, infections, neurological comorbidity, premature birth, mother’s alcohol abuse and smoke in pregnancy. Early death risk in children without neurological comorbidity is similar to the general population. Diagnosis is generally based on the identification of continuous or recurrent seizures but EEG evaluation could be useful if SE condition in suspected. The main goal of therapy is to contrast pathological mechanism which occurs in SE before neural cells are irreversibly damaged. According to latest International Guidelines and Recommendations of seizures’ related diseases, it is proposed a schematic and multi-stage pharmacological and diagnostic approach especially in the management of SE and its related causes in children. First measures should focus on early and appropriate drugs administration at adequate dosage, airway management, monitoring vital signs, PICU admission and management of parents’ anxiety.

This work reports measurements of calcified gallstone elemental compositions using laser-induced optical emission spectroscopy. The experimental results support the importance of the magnesium concentration in gallstone growth. Granular stones reveal an increased magnesium concentration at the periphery of the granules, suggesting the inhibition of further growth. Non-granular gallstones reveal lower overall magnesium concentrations but with higher values near the center.

In this three-part paper, we show that gravitational waves (classical and quantum) produce the accelerated de Sitter expansion at the start and by the end of the cosmological evolution of the Universe. In these periods of time, the Universe contains no matter fields but contains classical and quantum metric fluctuations, i.e. it is filled with classical gravitational waves and gravitons. In such gravitational wave and graviton dominated eras of evolution of the Universe, the de Sitter state is the exact solution to the self-consistent equations for gravitational waves and gravitons and background geometry for the empty (with no matter fields) space-time with FLRW metric. In both classical and quantum cases, this solution is of the instanton origin since it is obtained by Wick rotation with the subsequent analytic continuation to real time. The cosmological acceleration from gravitational waves and gravitons provides a transparent physical explanation to the coincidence and threshold paradoxes of dark energy avoiding recourse to the anthropic principle. The cosmological acceleration from gravitons/gravitational waves at the start of the Universe evolution produces inflation which is consistent with the observational data on CMB anisotropy.

In this study, the analysis of metals in the solubilized extract of the organic fraction of Urban Solid Waste (MSW) from the municipality of Belém do Pará was carried out. The waste used in this research was collected in residential areas, through door-to-door collection, with the points and neighbor-hoods served in the municipality of Belém determined by the sectorization of these locations, with family income as the main parameter. The MSW was collected and transported to the segregation area. Gravimetric analysis of MSW was carried out and the selected organic and paper fractions were subjected to drying, crushing and sieving pre-treatment. Next, the solubilized extract of the organic fraction of MSW was obtained, following the method set out in NBR nº 10.006/2004 of the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards. The values obtained were compared with CONAMA Resolutions nº 357/2005, 396/2008 and 430/2011, in addition to being compared with results of bibliographical research. The results indicated that these wastes do not comply with environmental and health regulations. Although a highly significant association was found between chromium and boron through Pearson's correlation, the remaining strong correlations between other elements did not reach statistical significance. Furthermore, a similarity was observed in the solubilization conditions of these wastes with those found in landfill leachate.

This research examines the overtopping volumes associated with focused wave groups on smooth dikes with an emerged toe. Focused wave groups are employed to represent the highest waves of random sea states in a compact form, obviating the need to model the entire irregular wave train. The study investigates how overtopping volumes are affected by focus location and phase. Results from 418 experimental tests have been gathered and analyzed. The experiments employed first-order wave generation theory to analyse structural response. Subsequent studies will address the errors induced by this approximation and compare it with second-order wave generation. The experiments simulated extreme wave impacts on an idealised coastal layout, comprising a 1:6.3 foreshore slope and three different dike slopes, including vertical structures, with the initial still water level set below the dike toe. The study employed NewWave theory for generating focused wave groups, aiming to extend recent research on wave overtopping under varied conditions. The results, analysed in both dimensional and non-dimensional forms, indicate that overtopping volumes are significantly influenced by the focus phase. Critical focus locations were identified at a distance of one-third of the deep-water wavelength from the toe.

The objective of the this study was to reduce the benzo[a]pyrene-induced hepatotoxicity method in herbal medicine products and to give proof that neferine, daidzein, genistein possess antihepa-totoxic effects. B[a]P which classified as a group 1 carcinogen and metabolized to B[a]P-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide (BPDE) causes mutagenic DNA addition products. The reduc-tion of BPDE-DNA adduct formation by B[a]P-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide (BPDE) was derived by benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P). In HepG2 cells, B[a]P exhibited toxicity and substance treatment of the cells with B[a]P with neferine in lotus and daidzein, genistein in soybean reduced the BPDE-DNA ad-ducts level. The level of B[a]P-metabolites in the substance treatment of the cells was presented that BPDE levels were reduced by neferine in lotus and daidzein, genisten in soybean. These results suggest that neferine in lotus and daidzein, genistein in soybean prevent B[a]P-induced hepato-toxicity for BPDE-DNA adduct formation.

Fungi of the genus Penicillium produce secondary metabolites used as a model for the synthesis and development of several compounds with bactericidal, fungicidal, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antiviral activities, among others. Based on this information, a study was conducted to investigate the metabolomic profile and antimicrobial potential of Penicillium purpurogenum (CFAM – 214). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of extracts obtained from P. purpurogenum broth (CFAM - 214) in ISP2, SB, and YES against Candida albicans was 500 µg/mL, 31.25 µg/mL and 62, 5µg/mL, respectively. In the test against Candida tropicalis and Staphylococcus aureus, the MIC for extracts cultivated in SB was 250 µg/mL and 125 µg/mL, respectively. Due to the good performance of the P. purpurogenum extract in SB, large-scale cultivation was carried out that led to the isolation of two compounds, whose structures were determined by spectroscopic methods such as 1D NMR (1H NMR and 13C NMR) and 2D (HMBC and HSQC), HRMS and MS/MS. The isolated compounds were identified as two citrinin derivatives, dihydrocitrinin (1) and 1-methyl-dihydro citrinin (2).

In addition to absorbing nitrogen from the soil, legumes have the ability to use atmospheric N2 through symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Therefore, legumes have developed mechanisms regulating nodulation in response to the amount of nitrate in the soil; in the presence of high nitrate concentrations, nodulation is inhibited while low nitrate concentrations stimulate nodulation and nitrogen fixation. This allows the legumes to switch from soil nitrogen acquisition to symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Recently, a particular interest has been given to the nitrate transporters, such as NPF or NRT2, having a role in the functioning of nodules. Nitrate transporters of the two model plants, Lotus japonicus and Medicago truncatula, shown to have a positive and/or a negative role in nodule functioning, depending on nitrate concentration, are presented in this review. Also, by exploiting available genomic and transcriptomic data in the literature we have identified the complete PsNPF family in Pisum sativum (69 sequences previously described and 21 new that we have annotated) and putative nitrate transporters candidate for playing a role in nodule functioning in P. sativum.

Endophytic fungi are a diverse group of microorganisms that colonize the inter- or intracellular spaces of plants for mutual benefits. The interactions with a host plant and other microbiomes are multidimensional and play a crucial role in the production of secondary metabolites. We screened bioactive compounds present in the extracts of Aspergillus flavus, an endophytic fungus isolated from the roots of the medicinal grass Cynodon dactylon, for its anticancer potential. Ethyl acetate extract from isolated A. flavus showed significant cytostatic effects (IC50: 16.25 μg mL−1) against breast cancer cells (MCF-7). Morphology of cells and DAPI stained nuclei along with the results of flow cytometry annexin V/PI assay suggested apoptosis to be the main process leading to cells’ death. While investigating the mechanism that triggers apoptosis, we found that the extract of A. flavus increased ROS generation and caused loss of mitochondrial membrane potential of MCF-7 cells. To identify the metabolites that might be responsible for the anticancer effect, the extract was examined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Interestingly, nine phytochemicals were found to have potential inhibitory effects of anti-apoptotic protein (Bcl-2) in the breast cancer cells. In the in silico molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies revealed that two compounds: 2,4,7-Trinitrofluorenone and 3alpha, 5alpha-Cyclo-ergosta-7,9(11),22t-triene-6beta-ol exhibited significant binding affinities (-9.20, and -9.50 Kcal mol-1, respectively) against Bcl-2 along with binding stability and intermolecular interactions of its ligand-Bcl-2 complexes. Overall, the study found that the endophytic A. flavus from C. dactylon contains plant-like bioactive compounds that have a promising effect in breast cancer.

A winemaking waste was used as a precursor of activated carbon used in hazardous Cr(VI) removal from solutions. The preparation process consisted of a hydrothermal process, and a chemical activation, of the resulting product, with KOH. The adsorption results showed that the adsorption of Cr(VI) on the obtained activated carbon is strongly dependent on the stirring speed applied to the carbon/solution mixture, pH of the solution, and temperature. The equilibrium isotherm was well fitted to the Langmuir type-II equation, whereas the kinetic can be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Thermodynamic studies revealed that Cr(VI) adsorption was an exothermic and spontaneous process. Finally, desorption experiments showed that Cr(VI) was effectively desorbed using hydrazine sulfate solutions, and at the same time, the element was reduced to the less hazardous Cr(III) oxidation state.

New data on the climate in southern Spain from 1792 to 1808 are analyzed in this work. The data source is the newspaper Correo Mercantil de España y sus Indias, where summaries of the weather conditions in Spain were published at weekly resolution. The study is focused on southern provinces, providing 2788 new records, some of them corresponding to areas without data previously recorded. The analysis indicates the predominance of cold-dry winters, cold-wet springs, warm-dry summers, and variable conditions in autumn, from west (cold-wet) to east (warm-dry). Some examples of these situations are presented.

In order to harness the potential of mobile technologies to enhance the quality of clinical research, it is critical to first understand how to engage patients and research sites when planning and conducting mobile clinical trials. The Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative has developed the first comprehensive, evidence-based set of recommendations for incorporating patient and site perspectives in mobile clinical trials, which can aid in engaging stakeholders, addressing site challenges, and maximizing value for participants.

We present in this work a method for estimation of plasma bubble mean zonal drift velocities using keograms generated from images of the OI 6300.0 nm nightglow emission collected from an equatorial station -- Cariri (7.4$^\circ$S, 36.5$^\circ$W), and a mid-latitude station -- Cachoeira Paulista (22.7$^\circ$S, 45$^\circ$W), both in the Brazilian sector. The mean zonal drift velocities were estimated for 239 events recorded from 2000 to 2003 in Cariri, and for 56 events recorded over Cachoeira Paulista from 1998 to 2000. It was found that plasma bubble zonal drift velocities are smaller ($\sim$60 ms$^{-1}$) for events occurring later in the night compared to those occurring earlier ($\sim$150 ms$^{-1}$). The decreasing rate of the zonal drift velocity is of $\sim$10 ms$^{-1}$/h. We have also found that, in general, bubble events appearing first in the west-most region of the keogram are faster than those appearing first in the east-most region of the keograms. Larger zonal drift velocities occur from 19 LT to 23 LT in a longitude range from 37$^\circ$ to 33$^\circ$. The method of velocity estimation using keograms compares favorably against the mosaic method developed by \cite{Arruda:2005}, but the standard deviation of the residuals for the zonal drift velocities from the two methods is $\sim$15 ms$^{-1}$

With the influence of Big Data culture on qualitative data collection, acquisition, and processing, it is becoming increasingly important that social scientists understand the complexity underlying data collection and the resulting models and analyses. Systematic approaches for creating computationally tractable models need to be employed in order to create representative, specialized reference corpora subsampled from Big Language Data sources. Even more importantly, any such method must be tested and vetted for its reproducibility and consistency in generating a representative model of a particular population in question. This article considers and tests one such method for Big Language Data downsampling of digitally-accessible language data to determine both how to operationalize this form of corpus model creation, as well as testing whether the method is reproducible. Using the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's public documentation database as a test source, the sampling method's procedure was evaluated to assess variation in the rate of which documents were deemed fit for inclusion or exclusion from the corpus across four iterations. The findings of this study indicate that such a principled sampling method is viable, thus necessitating the need for an approach for creating language-based models that account for extralinguistic factors and linguistic characteristics of documents.

The growing requirements regarding the safety of using polymers and their composites are related to the emergence of more effective, sustainable, and hazardous-limited fire retardants (FR). Significant amounts of FR are usually required to effectively affect the polymer burning behavior, while the knowledge of their recycling potential is still insufficient. At the same time, concerns are related not only to the reduced effectiveness of flame retardancy but, above all, to the potential deterioration of mechanical properties caused by the degradation of temperature-affected additives under processing conditions. This study describes the impact of four-time reprocessing of bio-based polyamide 11 (PA11) modified with an intumescent flame retardant (IFR) system composed of ammonium polyphosphate (APP), melamine cyanurate (MC) and pentaerythritol (PER) and its composites containing additionally short basalt fibers (BF). Composites manufactured by twin-screw extrusion were subjected to four reprocessing cycles by injection molding, comprehensively analyzing structural, mechanical, and fire behavior changes in each cycle. The obtained results confirmed the safety of using the proposed flame-retardant system for polyamide, processed under the recommended process parameters, without the risk of significant changes in the structure despite the partial increase in flammability caused mainly by the degradation of the polymer.

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of Candida albicans on subgingival biofilm formation on dental implant surfaces. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) were used to compare biofilm structure and microbial biomass in the presence and absence of the fungus after periods of 24, 48, and 72 h. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to quantify the number of viable and total micro-organisms for each of the biofilm-forming strains. A general linear model was applied to compare CLSM and qPCR results between control and test conditions. The biofilm developed with C. albicans at 72 h had a higher bacterial biomass, with a significantly higher cell viability (p < 0.05). After both 48 and 72 h of incubation, in the presence of C. albicans, there was a significant increase in counts of Fusobacterium nucleatum and Porphyromonas gingivalis and in the cell viability of Streptococcus oralis, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, F. nucleatum, and P. gingivalis. Using a dynamic in vitro multispecies biofilm model, C. albicans exacerbated the development of the biofilm grown on dental implant surfaces, significantly increasing the number and cell viability of periodontal bacteria.

Escherichia coli is the main pathogen responsible for extraintestinal infections. A total of 196 clinical E. coli consecutively isolated during 2016 in Spain (100 from Lucus Augusti hospital in Lugo) and France (96 from Beaujon hospital in Clichy) were characterized. Phylogroups, clonotypes, sequence types (STs), O:H serotypes, virulence factor (VF)-encoding genes and antibiotic resistance were determined. Approximately 10% of the infections were caused by ST131 isolates in both hospitals and approximately 60% of these infections were caused by isolates belonging to only 10 STs (ST10, ST12, ST58, ST69, ST73, ST88, ST95, ST127, ST131, ST141). ST88 isolates were frequent especially in Spain while ST141 isolates significantly predominated in France. The 23 ST131 isolates displayed four clonotypes: CH40-30, CH40-41, CH40-22 and CH40-298. Only 13 (6.6%) isolates were carriers of ESBL enzymes. However, 37.2% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR). Approximately 40% of the MDR isolates belonged to only four of the dominant clones (B2-CH40-30-ST131, B2-CH40-41-ST131, C-CH4-39-ST88 and D-CH35-27-ST69). Among the remaining MDR isolates two isolates belonged to B2-CH14-64-ST1193 i.e the new global emergent MDR clone. To our knowledge, it is the first identification of this emergent clone in Spain. Moreover, a hybrid ExPEC/enteroaggregative isolate belonging to A-CH11-54-ST10 clone was identified.

It is challenging to differentiate central nervous system (CNS) virus infections and neurological autoimmune diseases in the emergency department. Considering their different pathogenesis, we assume they differ in neuropsychiatric symptoms and laboratory results. 80 patients were included, 50 with CNS virus infections and 30 with CNS autoimmune diseases, confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A binary logistic regression model and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were conducted to examine the discrimination between the two diseases based on neuropsychiatric symptoms and laboratory results. Compared to patients with neurological autoimmune diseases, patients with CNS virus infections had higher incidence of abnormal behavior (p=0.026) and abnormal sensation/thought (p=0.029), higher total (p = 0.005), direct (p = 0.004), and indirect bilirubin (p = 0.004), increased CSF cell (p = 0.01) and CSF white cell counts (p = 0.01). ROC analysis showed that patients with disturbance of consciousness and abnormal sensation/thought were 7.79-fold and 5.07-fold more likely to be diagnosed with CNS virus infections (OR = 7.79, p = 0.008; OR = 5.07, p = 0.032). Each unit increase in blood indirect bilirubin concentration and CSF white cell counts increased risk of developing CNS virus infections by 1.25-fold and 1.01-fold (OR = 1.25, p = 0.016; OR = 1.01, p = 0.011). Our study found that patients with CNS viral infections tend to have higher blood indirect bilirubin concentration, CSF leukocyte count, frequency of disorders of consciousness, and abnormal sensation and thought, which may help differentiate them from neurological autoimmune diseases.

To determine the influence of child abuse on academic performance from the perspective of teachers of a private school from Piura, 2024. Method: The present study is an applied, non-experimental design with a continuous qualitative approach. The technique used was the survey and as an instrument the questionnaire on knowledge of child abuse with 12 questions, with a population of 20 teachers. Results: For the statistical analysis was used through Microsoft Excel 2023 and IBM SPSS software, in addition the Shapiro Wilks statistical test was used, the results show that 85% of respondents, from their perspective, neglect has a high level of influence on academic performance, 65% of respondents, from their perspective, state that psychological maltreatment has a high level of influence on academic performance and 50% of respondents, from their perspective, determine that physical maltreatment has a high level on academic performance. Conclusions: The value of p=0.553 > 0.05, therefore, it is concluded that according to the perspective of the teachers of a private school from Piura, there are no significant changes in the academic performance of students who suffer from child maltreatment.

Keywords: xylose reductase; cashew apple bagasse; bioprocesses; fluid dynamics; xylitol.

The studied area (the Ionian Islands: Paxoi, Lefkas, Kefalonia and Zakynthos), is situated in the western ends of Ionian Basin (IB) in contact with the Apulian Platform (AP) and named as Apulian Platform Margins (APM). The proposed model is based on fieldwork, previously published data and balanced geologic cross-sections. Late Jurassic characterizes Ionian Basin to Early Eocene NNW–SSE extension followed by Middle Eocene to Middle Miocene compression (NNW–SSE directed). The space availability, the distance of Ionian Thrust from the Kefalonia strike-slip fault (KSSF) and the altitude between Apulian platform and Ionian basin that produced during extensional regime were the main factors for the produced structures due to inversion tectonic. In Zakynthos Island, the space availability (far from KFT), and the reactivation of normal bounding faults formed an open geometry anticline (Vrachionas anticline) and a foreland basin (Kalamaki thrust foreland basin). In Kefalonia Island, the space from FKT was limited and the tectonic inversion formed anticline geometries (Aenos Mountain), nappes (within the Aenos Mountain) and small foreland basins (Argostoli gulf), all within the margins (APM). In Lefkas Island, the lack of space, very close to KFT, lead to the movement of the Ionian basin over the margins, attempting to overthrust the Apulian platform. Because the obstacle between basin and platform was very large, the moving part of Ionian Basin strongly deformed producing nappes and anticlines in the external part of the Ionian basin, and a very narrow foreland basin (Ionian Thrust foreland basin).

The COVID-19 Pandemic generated, in addition to severe symptoms, hospitalizations, and deaths worldwide, stress from the fear of the disease and social uncertainties, from restriction measures and social isolation. Stress from social isolation impacts mental health, aggravating conditions, and triggering neuropsychiatric symptoms in individuals with biopsychosocial vulnerability. During and immediately after the period of social restriction imposed by the Pandemic, the scientific community carried out several research protocols. It revealed results that relevantly demonstrate the harmful effect of the stress induced by the Pandemic situation. This review reports and discusses research results demonstrating impairments in neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, dementia, eating disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression. In addition to studies showing the effect of social isolation on disorders, research results are reported and discussed that evaluated protocols with some possible therapeutic intervention strategies during times of social restriction.

The Sanshui Basin (SSB) is located at the northern continental margin of the South China Sea and characterized by a continental rift basin. The bimodal volcanic rocks in SSB record the early Cenozoic magmatic activity in the South China Block, on the magmatic evolution process of bimodal volcanic rocks are poorly understood. Clinopyroxenes in bimodal volcanic rocks in the SSB provide an opportunity to investigate the magma process during magma ascent. We classified nine types of clinopyroxene phenocrysts according to the different compositions and textures types in cogenetic basalt-trachyandesite-comenditic trachyte, the composition of unzoned clinopyroxene have an evolution sequence of diopside- hedenbergite- aegirine with the decrease of Mg#, and the trace element contents of unzoned clinopyroxenes also increase systematically during magma evolution, indicating that the genesis of clinopyroxene dominated by fractional crystallization in a closed magma system; however, the clinopyroxenes with reverse zoning and multiple zoning record the process of magma mixing and recharge indicating an open magma system. Whilst fractional crystallization is the dominated process, magma mixing, recharge, and crystal settling complicate magma evolution. Thermobarometric calculations show that clinopyroxene phenocrysts in bimodal volcanic rocks of SSB are distributed in the whole crust during magma ascent. We have established a magma plumbing system, which provides a new constrain for the complex magmatic evolution history in the SSB by detailed mineral-scale analysis.

ABSTRACT Education is the most important instrument in human life because education can increase human dignity. In addition, education can also be a benchmark for human quality and an example of the progress of a nation. The history of education in Indonesia has evolved from the colonial era to the digital era. These developments have influenced government policies in every era. In the 21st century, the development of education in Indonesia is starting to show progress. This is because it is supported by the rapid growth of information and technology. This research article aims to analyze the educational policies carried out by the government from the colonial era to the digital era to be used as evaluation material at this time so that in the future education in Indonesia is even better. To achieve this goal, this research focuses on the question of how is the transformation of education in Indonesia from the colonial era to the digital era? and what is the paradigm of education in Indonesia when viewed from a historical perspective?. The research method used is the Literature Review method from 27 sources in journal articles, websites, and data reports for 2019-2021. The results of this study found that changes in the Indonesian education system from time to time have a positive influence on the progress of the Indonesian nation. The development of education in Indonesia also has an impact on increasing the Human Development Index (HDI). This shows that the quality of Indonesian society is increasing. Based on the results obtained, it is hoped that it can provide information about the transformation of education in Indonesia from the colonial era to the digital era from a historical perspective. This article is suitable as a reference source for education observers in Indonesia to know the history of education and its policies from the colonial era to the digital era and useful for academics to know the history of education in Indonesia. This research has limitations, namely this research is only limited to the development of education in Indonesia from the colonial era to the digital era and the paradigm of education development in Indonesia from a historical perspective.

We utilize how Weber in 1961 initiated the process of quantization of early universe fields to the problem of what may be emitted at the mouth of a wormhole. While the wormhole models are well developed, there is as of yet no consensus as to how, say GW or other signals from a wormhole mouth could be quantized, or made to be in adherence to a procedure Weber cribbed from Feynman, in 1961. In addition, we utilize an approximation for the Hubble parameter parameterized from Temperature using Sarkar’s H ~ Temperature relations, as given in the text . Finally after doing this we go to the Energy as E also ~ Temperature, and from there use E (energy) as ~ signal frequency. This gives us an idea of how to estimate frequency generated at the mouth of a wormhole.

This paper (the first of a series of two) seeks to describe the experimental results of removing arsenic from dust collected in electrostatic precipitators of copper into the pyro-metallurgy gas cleaning systems. The first work corresponds to the treatment of dust contained in gas off generated in the copper Flash Smelting Furnace process (FS dust), while the second focuses on the treatment of dust generated from a Fluidized Bed Roasting Furnace (RP dust). The dust is complex sulphur-oxide-metals with concentrations of copper above 10 wt % and relatively high concentrations of silver. Due to the dust has an arsenic’s concentration above 5 wt %, makes it difficult to recover valuable metals through hydro-metallurgical processes or by direct recirculation of the dust into a smelting furnace. Thus, the development of pyrometallurgical processes aimed to reduce the concentration of arsenic in dust is the main purpose of this study, particularly the production of a material suitable for recirculation in smelting operations. The works conducted provide a detailed characterization of the dust, including Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning Electron Microscopy (QEMSCAN), Scanning electron microscope-Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM/EDS), X-ray diffraction (XR-D), elemental chemical analysis using Atomic Adsorption (A. A.) and X-Ray Fluorescence (X-RF). By considering that arsenic volatilization requires a process of reduction-sulphidation-volatilization, the works explore the roasting of mixtures of copper concentrate/dust, sulphur/dust and pyrrhotite/dust. The degree of volatilization was determined by elemental chemical analysis of arsenic in the mixture after and before the roasting process. The results indicated the effect of parameters such as temperature, gas flow, gas composition and the ratio of mixtures (concentrate, sulphur or pyrrhotite)/dust on the volatilization of arsenic. The findings indicate that the concentration of arsenic in the FS dust can be reduced to a relatively low level (<0.5 wt %), allowing to the material to be recirculated into smelting processes.

Bacterial biofilms have become a significant and growing threat to human life, nature, and environmental health. The aim of this study is to isolate amylase-producing bacteria from the terrestrial environment (soil) for investigating their general inhibition of some pathogenic human bacterial biofilm. A total of 75 amylase producing isolates were obtained by serial dilution and streaking method. Amylotic activity of these isolates was screened by a starch agar plate method. Isolates were characterized by morphological and biochemical methods. The isolated Bacillus species were B. megaterium (26.7%), B. subtilis (16%), B. cereus (13.3%), B. thuringiesis (10.7%), B. lentus (10.7%), B. mycoides (5.3%), B. alvei (5.3%), B. polymyxa (4%), B. circulans (4%) and Micrococcus roseus (4%). The optimum conditions for amylase production were monitored. Antagonistic activity of these isolates and purified amylase against multidrug-resistant pathogenic human bacteria by agar disk diffusion method. The sensitivity level of some standard antibiotics served as control. Interestingly, it was found that all isolates exhibited great antagonistic activity against the target pathogens. The greatest activity recoded by B. alevi (48 mm) against Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the lowest activity recorded by B. polymyxa (12 mm) against E. coli while low inhibition recorded for amylase. Antibiofilm efficacy of isolates supernatant and purified enzyme also monitored by spectrophotometric methods. The results revealed highly significant inhibition with percentages of 93.6 and 78.8% respectively. So, they represent a good tool for biofilm control in clinical and environmental applications.

A systematic study has been conducted on barbiturate complexes of all five alkali metals Li–Cs prepared from the metal carbonates or hydroxide in aqueous solution without other potential ligands present, varying the stoichiometric ratio of metal ion to barbituric acid (BAH). Eight polymeric compounds (two each for Na, K, and Rb and one each for Li and Cs) have been characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. All contain some combination of barbiturate anion BA− (necessarily in a 1:1 ratio with the metal cation M+), barbituric acid, and water. All organic species and water molecules are coordinated to the metal centres via oxygen atoms as either terminal or bridging ligands. Coordination numbers range from 4 (for the Li complex) to 8 (for the Cs complex). Extensive hydrogen bonding plays a significant role in all the crystal structures, almost all of which include pairs of N–H…O hydrogen bonds linking BA− and/or BAH components into ribbons extending in one dimension. Factors influencing the structure adopted by each compound include cation size and reaction stoichiometry as well as hydrogen bonding.

Reactions in water between the Cu2(µ-EGTA) chelate (EGTA = ethylene-bis(oxyethyleneimino)tetraacetate(4-) ion) and 2,6-diaminopurine (Hdap) in molar ratios 1:1 and 1:2 yield only blue crystals of the ternary compound [Cu4(μ-EGTA)2(μ-H(N3)dap)2(H2O)2]·7H2O (1) that has been studied by single crystal X-ray diffractometry, various physical methods (thermal stability, spectral and magnetic properties), as well as DFT theoretical calculations. In the crystal, uncoordinated water is disordered. The tetranuclear complex molecule also has some irrelevant disorder in an EGTA-ethylene moiety. In the complex molecule, both bridging organic molecules act as binucleating ligands. There are two distorted five- (type 4+1) and two six- (type 4+1+1) Cu(II) centres. Each half EGTA acts as a tripodal tetradentate Cu(II) chelator, with mer-NO2+O(ether, distal) conformation. Hdap exhibits the tautomer H(N3)dap, with the dissociable H-atom on its less basic N-heterocyclic atom. These features favour the efficient cooperation between Cu-N7 or Cu-N9 bonds with appropriate O-EGTA atoms, as N6-H···O or N3-H···O interligand interactions respectively. Bridging role of both organics determines the tetranuclear dimensionality of the complex in 1. In this crystal, such molecules associate in zig-zag chains, built by alternating ,-interactions between the five- or six-atom rings of Hdap ligands of adjacent molecules. DFT theoretical calculations (using two different theoretical models and characterized by the quantum theory of “atoms in molecules”) reveal the importance of these ,-interactions between Hdap ligands, as well as that corresponding to the referred hydrogen bonds in the contributed tetranuclear molecule.

People from Black and Asian backgrounds are more likely to die from Covid-19 but less likely to be vaccinated, threatening to exacerbate health inequalities already experienced by ethnic minority groups. Literature suggests that mistrust rooted in structural inequality may be a key barrier to Covid-19 vaccine uptake. We need to better understand how structural inequalities influence vaccine confidence. Understanding and addressing these processes is likely to lead to longer-term impacts than information alone. We draw on health and sociological theories of structure and agency to inform our understanding of structural factors. We conducted qualitative interviews and focus groups with 22 people from London and surrounding areas in December 2021 to March 2022. Fifteen participants were members of the public from ethnic minority backgrounds and 7 were professionals working with the public to address concerns and encourage vaccine uptake. Our findings suggest that people from ethnic minority backgrounds make decisions regarding Covid-19 vaccination based on a combination of how they experience external social structures (including political authority, social positioning and racial inequality) and internal processes (what they believe and understand about Covid-19 vaccines). We may be able to support knowledge accumulation through the provision of reliable and accessible information, particularly through primary and community care. But we recommend a number of changes to research, policy and practice which address structural inequalities. These include working with communities to improve ethnicity data collection, increasing funding allocation to health conditions where ethnic minority communities experience poorer outcomes, greater transparency and public engagement in the vaccine development process, and culturally adapted research recruitment processes.

A face serum composed of a combination of biologically active compounds was evaluated for safety and efficacy in vitro, in a repeat insult patch test and in a human clinical efficacy trial. The serum inhibited tyrosinase activity modestly, decreased collagenase activity and exhibited notable free radical scavenging activity in vitro. It is gentle to the skin, as the serum did not irritate the skin or produce symptoms of allergic contact dermatitis in the 55 healthy adults that participated in the repeat insult patch test. In the efficacy trial, daily application of the face serum for 30 days significantly increased skin hydration, with all 35 volunteers experiencing improvement. Substantial improvements in skin elasticity, roughness (fine lines and wrinkles), and brightness also occurred during the trial. Dermatological examination also revealed a trend for reduced comedone count with use of the serum. Self-assessment responses revealed that all volunteers experienced improvements in multiple skin quality parameters and that participant perceptions are consistent with the results of the instrumental analyses. These findings indicated that the measured improvements in skin quality are not only statistically significant but are also clinically relevant as they were great enough for users of the face serum to feel and recognize.

The paper analyzes the relationship between urban waste recycling and technological innovation systems in Europe. Data from the Global Innovation Index for 34 European countries in the period 2013-2022 was used. To analyze the characteristics of European countries in terms of waste recy-cling capacity, the k-Means algorithm optimized with the Elbow method and the Silhouette Coef-ficient was used. The results show that the optimal number of clusters is 3. Panel data results show that waste recycling increases with domestic market scale, gross capital formation, and the diffu-sion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), while it decreases with the infra-structure index, business sophistication index, and the average expenditure in research and devel-opment of large companies.

This article compares chemical coagulation with electrocoagulation, two popular methods for the primary treatment of wastewater generated in the process of Underground Coal Gasification (UCG). The primary aim was to determine which method is more effective in the removal of cyanide and sulphide ions, metals and metalloids, as well as organic compounds. In both cases, experiments were conducted in batch 1 dm³ reactors, and the coagulation/flocculation process was carried out using iron ions. Four types of coagulants were tested during the chemical coagulation study: FeCl₂, FeSO₄, Fe₂(SO₄)₃, and FeCl₃. In the electrocoagulation experiments, pure iron Armco steel was used to manufacture the sacrificial iron anode. Both processes were tested under a wide range of operating conditions (pH, time, Fe dose) to determine their maximum efficiency for treating UCG wastewater. It was found that, through electrocoagulation, a dose as low as 60 mg Fe/dm³ leads to >60% cyanide reduction and >98% sulphide removal efficiency, while for chemical coagulation, even a dose of 307 mg Fe/dm³ did not achieve more than 24% cyanide ion removal. Moreover, industrial chemical coagulants, especially when used in very high doses, can be a substantial source of cross-contamination with trace elements.

Analysis of tRNA sequence structural features from forty mammals proves neither isoacceptors nor isodecoders are degenerate, and model organisms are inadequate representatives for multiple aspects of the translational process. It is proposed tRNA participate in protein construction beyond mere transport of amino acids to ribosomes: specifically, to facilitate amino acid modification and promote development of protein folding characteristics.

The burden of chronic liver disease is globally increasing at an alarming rate. Chronic liver injury leads to liver inflammation and fibrosis (LF) as critical determinants of long-term outcomes such as cirrhosis, liver cancer and mortality. LF is a wound-healing process characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins due to the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). In the healthy liver, quiescent HSCs metabolize and store retinoids. Upon fibrogenic activation, quiescent HSCs transdifferentiate into myofibroblasts, lose their vitamin A, upregulate -smooth muscle actin, and produce pro-inflammatory soluble mediators, collagens, and inhibitors of ECM degradation. Activated HSCs are the main effector cells during hepatic fibrogenesis. In addition, the accumulation and activation of profibrogenic macrophages in response to hepatocyte death play a critical role in the initiation of HSC activation and survival. The main source of myofibroblasts is resident HSCs. Activated HSCs migrate to the site of active fibrogenesis to initiate the formation of a fibrous scar. Single-cell technologies revealed that quiescent HSCs are highly homogenous, while activated HSCs/myofibroblasts are much more heterogeneous. The complex process of inflammation results from the response of various hepatic cells to hepatocellular death and inflammatory signals related to intrahepatic injury pathways or extrahepatic mediators. Inflammatory processes modulate fibrogenesis by activating HSCs and, in turn, drive immune mechanisms via cytokines and chemokines. Increasing evidence also suggests that cellular stress responses contribute to fibrogenesis. Recent data demonstrated that LF can revert even at advanced stages of cirrhosis if the underlying cause is eliminated, which inhibits the inflammatory and profibrogenic cells. However, despite numerous clinical studies on plausible drug candidates, an approved antifibrotic therapy still remains elusive. This state-of-the-art review presents cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in hepatic fibrogenesis and its resolution, as well as comprehensively discusses the drivers linking liver injury to chronic liver inflammation and LF.

Malocclusions have a continuously increasing prevalence from a generation to another as a result of climate changes, soil, atmosphere and water pollution. All of these aspects have unfavorable consequences on the nutritional scheme. Thus, nutrition together with other etiopathogenic factors contribute to complex alterations in the somatic development of the entire organism and, implicitly, of the cephalic extremity. The study group included 4147 children from randomly selected schools from Vâlcea County, Romania. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of malocclusions in schoolchildren from Vâlcea County, Romania, according to the three main classes of malocclusions (according to Angle’s classification), age groups (from 6 to 10 years old and from 11 to 14 years old), gender (male and female) and place of origin (rural and urban). For Angle class I malocclusions we recorded the highest prevalence (48,78% from the total number of schoolchildren with malocclusions), followed by Angle class II malocclusions (45,85% from the total number of schoolchildren with malocclusions) and for Angle class III malocclusions we found the lowest prevalence (5,37% from the total number of schoolchildren with malocclusions).According to gender, we found the highest prevalence in female gender (29,90% from the total number of female subjects), while in male gender we recorded a prevalence of 27,70% from the total number of male subjects. Regarding the place of origin, there is a higher prevalence of malocclusions in the urban areas (29,16%). The study subgroup included 140 children randomly selected from the total number of subjects from the study group. They were included in a more advanced study. The aim is to find potential associations between the presence of malocclusions and various oral variables. Categorical variables were expressed as numerical values and percentages, and their association was evaluated with either the Chi-square test of association or homogeneity, or the Fisher Exact test. The acquired data were incorporated into a binomial logistic regression model to assess the likelihood of developing malocclusions in relation to the following variables: defective phonation, bruxism, frequency of teeth brushing, onychophagia, oral respiration, infantile deglutition, placing objects between the maxillaries, thumb sucking and salivary aspects. It is also aimed to compare the results obtained with similar ones from the specialized literature.

This research explores the influence of nationality and financial literacy on satisfaction with neobank services among university students. Through a comparative analysis between German and international students, the study unveils that international students exhibit significantly higher satisfaction levels, suggesting that cultural differences and the requirement for international financial services play a crucial role Oishi et al., 1999. Although financial literacy was anticipated to have a strong impact, its effect on satisfaction did not reach statistical significance, indicating a nuanced relationship. This perhaps because the study sample of students partaking in the survey was mostly Graduate students in the field of Economics, Finance and Management. Demographic factors such as gender and age were found to be less influential compared to nationality and financial acumen Gelfand et al., 2011. These findings highlight the importance of tailored financial services and the potential of financial education in enhancing neobank satisfaction Gerrans et al., 2014. The study contributes to the understanding of consumer behavior in digital banking, offering insights for neobanks aiming to improve service adoption and customer loyalty within the university student demographic.

In recent decade water pollution by micropollutants is an increasing environmental concern. Since 2019, due to COVID-19 pandemic, increased stormwater pollution by chlorine based disinfectants has been determined. Research aimed to treat of chlorine contaminated stormwater after outdoors spaces disinfection are very limited. Runoff from disinfected areas and residual chlorine present in stormwater are transported to surface water bodies. Residual chlorine reacts with dissolved organic compounds in water and results the formation of environmentally toxic disinfection by-products. Studies present event low residual chlorine concentrations may pose a risk to aquatic flora and fauna. In this study the efficiency of different filter materials, including peat, wood chips, sawdust (column tests) and ceramzites Leca, Pollytag, Polski, Ceski (batch tests), in retaining residual chlorine were tested in laboratory scale batch and flow through experiment. The best efficiency to retain chlorine presented sawdust (96 %) and ceramzite Leca (76 %). The plants abilities to reduce pollution by chlorine was analyzed in raised garden bed. Research results will contribute to future studies aimed to retain various micropollutants in stormwater using remediation technologies.

We argue for reconsidering leadership development based on systems design principles. A primary advantage of systems thinking is that it encourages holistic approaches to development and avoids episodic program-based training and piecemeal thinking. The latter approaches are both limited and limiting yet tend to be the preferred approach to leadership development in organizations. Systems approaches to development offer numerous advantages both conceptually and pragmatically, especially through the incorporation of ongoing feedback cycles. Core practices that define a leadership development system are presented and implications are discussed.

In descriptive statistics, U -statistics arise naturally in producing minimum-variance unbiased estimators. In 1984, Serfling considered the distribution formed by evaluating the kernel of the U -statistics and proposed generalized L-statistics which includes Hodges-Lehamnn estimator and Bickel-Lehmann spread as special cases. However, the structures of the kernel distributions remain unclear. In 1954, Hodges and Lehmann demonstrated that if X and Y are independently sampled from the same unimodal distribution, X − Y will exhibit symmetrical unimodality with its peak centered at zero. Building upon this foundational work, the current study delves into the structure of the kernel distribution. It is shown that the kth central moment kernel distributions (k > 2) derived from a unimodal distribution exhibit location invariance and is also nearly unimodal with the mode and median close to zero. This article provides an approach to study the general structure of kernel distributions.

Descriptive statistics for parametric models are currently highly sensative to departures, gross errors, and/or random errors. Here, leveraging the structures of parametric distributions and their central moment kernel distributions, a class of estimators, consistent simultanously for both a semiparametric distribution and a distinct parametric distribution, is proposed. These efficient estimators are robust to both gross errors and departures from parametric assumptions, making them ideal for estimating the mean and central moments of common unimodal distributions. This article also illuminates the understanding of the common nature of probability distributions and the measures of them.

The significance of Kashmir conflict as one of the world’s longest running conflicts has frequently drawn the attention of both communication and international relations’ scholars which makes it an important issue from the perspective of interdisciplinary approach. The researchers have attempted to assemble a brief history of the Indian held Jammu and Kashmir Conflict from the time of partition in 1947 to the developments which took place till 2019 in the light of the available literature. The paper provides substantial historical context of the important events like instrument of accession, UN resolutions on Kashmir conflict, Simla Accord, Gawkadal Massacre , Lahore Declaration, Kargil War, killing of Burhan Wani, Uri attack and Article 370’s abrogation .

If visible matter alone is present in the Universe, General Relativity (GR) and its Newtonian weak field limit cannot explain several pieces of evidence, from the largest to the smallest scales. The most investigated solution is the cosmological model ΛCDM, where GR is valid and two dark components are introduced, dark energy and dark matter, to explain the ∼70% and ∼25% of the mass-energy budget of the Universe, respectively. An alternative approach is provided by modified gravity theories, where a departure of the gravity law from ΛCDM is assumed and no dark components are included. This work presents refracted gravity (RG), a modified theory of gravity formulated in a classical way where the presence of DM is mimicked by a gravitational permittivity ϵ(ρ) monotonically increasing with the local mass density ρ, which causes the field lines to be refracted in small density environments. Specifically, the flatter the system the stronger the refraction effect and, thus, the larger the mass discrepancy if interpreted in Newtonian gravity. RG presented several encouraging results in modelling the dynamics of disk and elliptical galaxies and the temperature profiles of the hot X-ray emitting gas in galaxy clusters and a covariant extension of the theory seems to be promising.

Redox balance is increasingly identified as a major player in cellular signaling. A fundamentally simple reaction of oxidation and reduction of cysteine residues in cellular proteins is the central concept in this complex mode of protein function regulation. Oxidation of key cysteine residues occurs at the physiological levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) but are reduced by a supply of thiol antioxidant molecules including glutathione, glutaredoxin and thioredoxin. While these molecules show complex compensatory roles in experimental conditions, transgenic animal models provide a comprehensive picture to pinpoint the role of each antioxidant. In this review we have specifically focused on the available literature on Thioredoxin-1 system transgenic models that includes Thioredoxin and Thioredoxin reductase proteins. As identification of Thioredoxin protein targets is technically challenging the true contribution of this system in maintaining cellular balance remains unidentified, including the role of this system in the brain.

Gravitational data are the only ones able to provide otherwise hidden details of what happens below the surface. In this paper, several models are implemented to constrain them with the outer structure of Mars: firstly a Bouguer inversion to reduce gravitational residual, obtaining a crustal depth in the range 23.19-94.56 km. Successively, it was considered an Airy model providing for local buoyancy. Given that its configuration does not permit to evaluate properly the different flexural responses of the lithosphere, and that it overcompensates for the crust of the highest volcanic conformations, a flexural response function was used to filter this model. It uses the lithosphere elastic thickness T_e to scale especially the short wavelengths, correcting for local phenomena. Finally, an optimization was implemented to find the best-fitting values for T_e, using both an infinite plate and a thin shell approximation, and then obtain a global map for crustal density and thickness. Even if the Martian dichotomy is basically confirmed by all the models, along with the well-known anomalies localized at the major basin craters and volcanic Paterae, the Bouguer model supplies the best representation of the state-of-the-art knowledge about the outer layers of Mars and with further improvements can represent a future benchmark for the research on the Red Planet.

High-quality ionization injection methods for Wake Field Acceleration driven by lasers or charged beams (LWFA/PWFA) can be optimised so as to generate high-brightness electron beams with tuneable duration in the attosecond range. We present a model of the minimum bunch duration obtainable with low-emittance ionization injection schemes, by spotting the roles of the ionization pulse duration, of the wake field longitudinal shape and of the delay of the ionization pulse position with respect to the node of the accelerating field. The model is tested for the resonant multi-pulse ionization injection (ReMPI) scheme, showing that bunches having length of about 300as can be obtained with a ionization pulse having duration of 30fs FWHM

Regenerative endodontic procedures (REPs) aim at recreating dental pulp tissue using biomaterials such as hydrogels. Their bioactivity is mostly linked to the nature of biomolecules or chemical compounds that will compose the endodontic hydrogel. However, many other parameters, such as hydrogel concentration, type, bioactive molecules solubility, of apex size were reported to influence the hydrogel behavior, leading to the inability to predict the clinical outcome. This lack of knowledge and the various parameters that should be considered, suggest that biological activity of endodontic hydrogel is impossible to anticipate and could hinder the bench to bedside transition. We formulated in this article our opinion that most of these parameters could be identified, described, and studied. A second part of the document lists some challenges and perspectives, including development of future mathematical models able to explain and predict the bioactivity of these endodontic hydrogel in clinic.

We measure the accelerated cosmic expansion rate of the late-time Universe and derive constraints on cosmological parameters from the final baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) uncorrelated measurements of different surveys after two decades of dedicated spectroscopic observation combined with the Pantheon sample of Type Ia supernovae, the Hubble diagram of gamma-ray bursts &amp; quasars data, the Cosmic Chronometers data, and the recent Hubble constant value measurement from the Hubble Space Telescope and the SH0ES Team as an additional prior. In Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) scenario, the model fit yields Ωm=0.313±0.034 and ΩΛ=0.672±0.025. Combining BAO with CC+Pantheon+QSR+GRB data sets we get H0=69.21±1.22 km s−1 Mpc−1, rd=133.46±2.49 Mpc. For the a flat wCDM model, we get w=−1.111±0.030. For a dynamical evolution of dark energy in a flat w0waCDM cosmology, we get wa=−0.292±0.167. We apply the Akaike information criteria probe to compare the three models, and see that all models are favored and cannot be discarded from the current data.

While there are several ways to identify customer behaviors, few extract this value from information already in a database, much less extract relevant characteristics. This paper presents the development of a prototype using the recency, frequency, and monetary attributes for customer segmentation of a retail database. For this purpose, the standard K-means, K-medoids, and MiniBatch K-means were evaluated. The standard K-means clustering algorithm was more appropriate for data clustering than other algorithms as it remained stable until solutions with 6 clusters. The evaluation of the clusters’ quality was obtained through the internal validation indexes: Silhouette, Calinski Harabasz, and Davies Bouldin. Once consensus was not obtained, three external validation indexes were applied: global stability, stability per cluster, and segment-level stability across solutions. Six customer segments were obtained, identified by their unique behavior: Lost customers, disinterested customers, recent customers, less recent customers, loyal customers, and best customers. Their behavior was evidenced and analyzed, indicating trends and preferences.

Protein molecules show varying degrees of flexibility throughout their three-dimensional structures. This flexibility is associated with the fluctuation of the torsion angle in proteins. The protein backbone can be defined mainly by two torsion angles, phi (φ) and psi (ψ). The fluctuation of torsion angles is derived from different NMR models’ variations in backbone torsion angles. The angle fluctuations in the cartesian coordinate space are used to characterize the protein’s structural flexibility. Fluctuation of torsion angle is useful in predicting protein function and structure when the torsion angles are used as restraints. This study aims to develop a machine learning method to predict torsion angle fluctuations directly from protein sequences. It explores various useful features such as disorder probability, position-specific scoring matrix profiles, secondary structure probabilities, monograms, bigram, position-specific estimated energy, half-sphere exposures, etc. Likewise, it explores well-known machine learning methods and proposes an optimized Light Gradient Boosting Machine Regressor (LightGBM) method, named TAFPred, to predict torsion angle fluctuations with the selected features. The proposed method achieves ten-fold cross-validated correlation coefficients of 0.746 and 0.737 and mean absolute errors of 0.114 and 0.123 for the angle fluctuation of φ and ψ, respectively, and attains an improvement of 10.08% in MAE, 24.83% in PCC in the phi angle, and 9.93% in MAE, 22.37% in PCC in psi angle compared to the state-of-the-art method proposed by Zhang et al.

We investigate a new fundamental property of infectious diseases with natural adaptive immunity that weakens over time. Numerical experiments with a model of the Covid-19 epidemic in Moscow have demonstrated that when the reproduction number R0 is about 4, a qualitative change (bifurcation) occurs in the behavior of the virus-human system. Below this value, the long-term forecast tends to undamped oscillations; above it, the forecast shows damped oscillations: the amplitudes of epidemic waves decrease gradually, with a constant, very high background level of morbidity that keeps the natural immunity near 100%. To confirm this result analytically, we use an original modification of the Euler-Lotka renewal equation, which describes the dynamics of infected patients distributed by disease duration (time since infection) and accounts for immunity. To construct a bifurcation diagram, which illustrates the dependence of the equilibrium stability on the parameter R0, we linearize the equation in the vicinity of the equilibrium point and examine its numerical approximation (discrete form). This approximation can be interpreted as a Leslie model, with the matrix elements dependent on the parameter R0. By examining the roots of the corresponding Lotka polynomial, we can assess the stability of the equilibrium point. For the bifurcation diagram, we use the functions obtained from the simulation of the Covid-19 epidemic in Moscow. However, observations of the epidemic in other cities and countries support the primary finding of our study regarding the attenuation of epidemic waves.

A sense of crisis pervaded the university sector as Covid-19 spread, with worries about possible significant loss of income and students in its wake. This analysis examines several years of financial and student data through the pandemic (2020-2022) for Scottish universities. It shows that far from losing money or students, universities in Scotland gained both, and accelerated income growth during Covid. The University of Glasgow stands out not only among Scottish universities but also in the Russell Group in increasing income and student numbers faster than other institutions, becoming over the course of the pandemic, the third largest university in the UK and the largest in Scotland by student numbers. The driver of income growth for all Scottish universities is expanded intakes of international students, who primarily come from Asia and Africa. Across 2021 and 2022, Scottish Universities earned income totalling £1.7 billion from international tuition fee alone. Universities across the UK are increasingly dependent on yet continuing to actively pursue international tuition fees as a primary source of income. This paper documents the situation for Scotland, considering the implications of this growth trajectory in terms of: concentrating financial dependence on a single income source; rising casualisation of staff as a means of managing higher student numbers; impacts on learning and working conditions as students numbers rapidly expand; a shifting composition of students in higher education. It concludes with reflections on: a blurring boundary between the practices and values of profit-making companies and those of the charitable university sector; the ethical and colonial implications in international student recruitment and targeting of ‘new markets’ in the Global South; and the implications of all this for the shape, health and purpose of the university sector in Scotland.

The pathogenesis of transient global amnesia (TGA), a dramatic but self-limiting episode of anterograde amnesia with a variable duration of retrograde amnesia, remains unknown. Although most episodes are single, TGA has a finite recurrence rate. Studies of case series and large patient cohorts have typically been used to investigate possible precipitating and predisposing factors for TGA. Study of recurrent TGA episodes in single cases might provide another way to address pathogenetic factors. A patient with recurrent TGA is presented to illustrate such considerations with respect to possible chronobiological factors in TGA pathogenesis.

The advent of immunotherapy and specifically of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for the treatment of solid tumors has deeply transformed therapeutic algorithms in medical oncology. Approximately one third of patients treated with ICIs may develop immune-related adverse events, being the gastrointestinal tract often affected with different grades of mucosal inflammation. Checkpoint inhibitors colitis (CIC) presents with watery or bloody diarrhoea and in case of severe activity requires ICIs discontinuation. The pathogenesis of CIC is multifactorial and still partially unknow: anti-tumor activity that collaterally effects the colonic tissue and the upregulation of specific systemic inflammatory pathways (i.e., CD8+ cytotoxic and CD4+ T lymphocytes) are mainly involved. Many open issues remain on treatment timing and options, and biological treatment, above all with anti-TNF alpha, can be offered to these patients aiming to rapidly resume the oncological therapies. This review aims to summarize the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying CIC and to discuss evidenced-based management including the role of biological therapy.

Biorefineries convert biomasses in bioproducts and they contribute to transition to the circular economy. In this way it will be avoiding the penalty associated with generating a lot of waste. The first step in the obtention chain of bioproducts consists of the high value added products extraction. The following steps are aimed at the utilisation of all by-products or waste generated. The kinetic anaerobic digestion of these residues are evaluated in this research to produce biogas/methane. Pepper waste have been employed in batch and semi-continuous anaerobic digestion assays trying the optimization of the yields adding, as catalysts, absorbent nanoparticles and/or using strategies of pretreatment.

Each injection of any known vaccine results in a strong expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This is the result of the innate immune system activation, without which no adaptive response to the injection of vaccines is possible. COVID-19 mRNA vaccines would not escape this rule. Unfortunately, the degree of inflammation produced by these vaccines is variable, probably depending on the genetic background and previous immune experiences, which through epigenetic modifications, could have made the innate immune system of each individual tolerant or reactive to subsequent immune stimulations.We hypothesize that we can move from a limited pro-inflammatory condition to conditions of increasing expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines that can culminate in multisystem hyperinflammatory syndromes following COVID-19 mRNA vaccines (MIS-V). We have graphically represented this idea in a hypothetical inflammatory pyramid (IP) and we have correlated the time factor to the degree of inflammation produced after the injection of vaccines. Furthermore, we have placed the clinical manifestations within this hypothetical IP, correlating them to the degree of inflammation produced. Surprisingly, excluding the possible presence of an early MIS-V, the time factor and the complexity of clinical manifestations are correlated to the increasing degree of inflammation: symptoms, heart disease and syndromes (MIS-V).

Leishmaniasis is considered one of the different neglected tropical diseases by the World Health Organization. Over the past few decades to tackle leishmaniasis, effective and novel drugs have progressed. But few are expensive some other medication shows poor effects and few drugs with long treatment lead to cause resistance. But it is very important to start a better medication against leishmania so researchers came to the front of the utilization of natural products which are considered a better option. Finding active compounds in medicinal plants is another alternative to currently accessible medications. Materials and methods: This study examined and reported the far more potential natural products used to treat disease caused by Leishmania spp. Leishmaniasis, plant metabolites, in vivo, in vitro, and treatment against leishmaniasis have been used as search terms in the Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct databases, and only papers published between 2015 and 2021 have been chosen for further analysis. Results: The use of novel natural compounds with leishmanicidal action as well as the leishmanicidal activity of natural compounds against promastigote, axenic, and intracellular amastigote forms were included in roughly 20 research papers that were reviewed.Conclusion: Due to their capacity to selectively target parasites without harming host cell viability, herbal plants are a possible source of new anti-leishmanial medication. Future leishmaniasis treatments will draw on the isolated compounds as a source, completing those already offered in clinics.

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are an integral part in studying the properties of the Galaxy and its interstellar medium. For the current work, we explore the relation between the observed radio luminosities of SNRs and the physical properties of those SNRs. The physical properties of 54 SNRs are derived from their observed X-ray spectra. Then the observed radio emission is compared to predicted radio emission using the analytic model of . We find the model can be improved significantly by including an interstellar medium density dependence in the efficiency of particle acceleration and magnetic field amplification.

In this paper, a new method is proposed to detect traffic regulations at intersections using GPS traces. The knowledge of traffic rules of regulated locations can help various location-based applications in the context of Smart Cities, such as the accurate estimation of travel time and fuel consumption from a starting point to a destination. Traffic regulations as map features, however, are surprisingly still largely absent from maps, although they do affect traffic flow which in turn affects vehicle idling time at intersections, fuel consumption, CO_2 emissions and arrival time. In addition, mapping them using surveying equipment is costly and any update process has severe time constraints. This fact is precisely the motivation for this study. Therefore, its objective is to propose an automatic, fast, scalable and inexpensive way to identify the type of intersection control (e.g. traffic lights, stop signs). A new method based on summarizing the collective behavior of vehicles crossing intersections is proposed. A modification of a well-known clustering algorithm for detecting stopping and decelerating events is presented. These detected events are then used to categorize vehicle crossing of intersections into four possible traffic categories (p1: free flow, p2: deceleration without stopping events, p3: only one stopping event, p4: more than one stopping event). The percentages of crossings of each class per junction arm, together with other speed/stop/deceleration features, extracted from trajectories, are then used as features to classify the junction arms according to their traffic control type dynamic model). The classification results of the dynamic model are compared with those of the static model, where the classification features are extracted from OpenStreetMap. Finally, a hybrid model is also tested, where a combination of dynamic and static features is used, which outperforms the other two models. For each of the three models, two variants of the feature vector are tested: one where only features associated with a single junction arm are used (one-arm model) and another where features also from neighbouring junction arms of the same junction are used to classify an arm (all-arm model). The methodology was tested on three datasets and the results show that all-arm models perform better than single-arm models with an accuracy of 94\% to 97\%.

The adaptive immune system in vertebrates comes in two flavors. Historically, adaptive immunity focused on the study of immunoglobulins (also referred to as Ig-based antibodies herein); more recently, jawless vertebrates were found to use an entirely different class of proteins for their adaptive immunesystem. Specifically, these organisms express variable lymphocyte receptors (so called VLR antibodies) that create diversity based on the rearrangement of leucine-rich repeats. Meanwhile, various, naturally occurring repeat motifs have been used as building blocks for the design of artificial binding scaffolds which, among others, include designed ankyrin repeat proteins (DARPins). Such binding scaffolds are also referred to as non-Ig-based antibodies or non-Ig scaffolds herein). DARPins display several benefits such as a low molecular weight (~15 kDa), high thermal stability, high specificity and affinity, versatility (e.g., in terms of valency and multi-specificity), speedy preclinical development, low production costs and, thus, bear the potential to not only complement existing therapeutic Ig-based antibodies but also open up novel therapeutic strategies. The first generation DARPin therapeutic abicipar pegol has completed two Phase III studies in 2020 while several other DARPin drug candidates are currently undergoing clinical validation. Most recently, the rapid development of tri-specific SARSCoV-2 DARPin therapeutics showcases the immense potential of recombinant repeat proteins in adopting quickly e.g., new forms of target neutralization that a single Ig-based antibody cannot afford. Here, we highlight the design principles of repeat proteins in general and summarize in detail the continuous advancements of the DARPin scaffold that made it one of the most promising antibody mimetics to date. This review provides an overview of current and emerging applications of DARPins as both a research tool and therapeutic drug that can match or even surpass Ig-based antibody applications.

Digitalisation provides access to an integrated network of information that can benefit society, and business. Building digital network and society using digital means can create something unique opportunities to strategically address sustainable development challenges for the United Nations Targets (SDG) to ensure higher productivity, education and to equality oriented society. This point of view describes the potential of digitalisation for society and business of the future. The authors revise the links between digitalisation and sustainability in the European Union countries. The methodology for the research is suggested in the paper and linear regression method is applied. The results showed tiers with five SDG, focusing on society and business, and all these tiers are fixed in the constructed equations for each SDG. The suggested solution is statistically valid and proves the novelty of research. Among digitalisation indicators, only mobile-cellular subscriptions and fixed-broadband sub-basket prices in part have no effect on researched sustainable development indicators.

Formulation is an ancient concept, although the word has been used only recently. The first formulations made our civilization advance by inventing bronze, steel, and gunpowder; then, it was used in medieval alchemy. When chemistry became a science and with the golden age of organic synthesis, the second formulation period began. This made it possible to create new chemical species and new combinations “à la carte.” However, the research and developments were still carried out by trial and error. Finally, the third period of formulation history began after World War II, when the properties of a system were associated with its ingredients and the way they were assembled or combined. Therefore, the formulation and the systems’ phenomenology were related to the generation of some synergy to obtain a commercial product. Winsor’s formulation studies in the 1950s were enlightening for academy and industries that were studying empirically surfactant-oil-water (SOW) systems. One of its key characteristics was how the interfacial interaction of the adsorbed surfactant with oil and water phases could be equal by varying the physicochemical formulation of the system. Then, Hansen’s solubility parameter in the 1960s helped to reach a further understanding of the affinity of some substances to make them suitable to oil and water phases. In the 1970s, researchers such as Shinoda and Kunieda, and different groups working in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), among them Schechter and Wade’s group at the University of Texas, made formulation become a science by using semiquantitative correlations to attain specific characteristics in a system (e.g., low oil-water interfacial tension, formulation of a stable O/W or W/O emulsion, or high-performance solubilization in a bicontinuous microemulsion system at the so-called optimum formulation). Nowadays, over 40 years of studies with the hydrophilic-lipophilic deviation equation (HLD) have made it feasible for formulators to improve products in many different applications using surfactants to attain a target system using HLD in its original or its normalized form, i.e., HLDN. Thus, it can be said that there is still current progress being made towards an interdisciplinary applied science with numerical guidelines. In the present work, the state-of-the-art of formulation in multiphase systems containing two immiscible phases like oil and water, and therefore systems with heterogeneous or micro-heterogeneous interfaces, is discussed. Surfactants, from simple to complex or polymeric, are generally present in such systems to solve a wide variety of problems in many areas. Some significant cases are presented here as examples dealing with petroleum, foods, pharmaceutics, cosmetics, detergency, and other products occurring as dispersions, emulsions, or foams, that we find in our everyday lives.

In this work we have investigated the accumulation of ryanoids in different plant parts (leaves, stems roots) of aeroponically grown Persea indica cloned trees (one year old cloned individuals) and a selected mature wild tree. We have tested the insect antifeedant (against Spodoptera littoralis, Myzus persicae and Rhopalosiphum padi) and nematicidal (against Meloidogyne javanica) effects of ethanolic extracts from these different plant parts. The HPLC-MS analysis of P. indica extracts showed that the mature tree (wild) leaves had 2 times more chemical diversity than the stems. The aeroponic plants showed lower differences in chemical diversity between leaves and stems, with the lowest diversity found in the roots. The ryanodane epiryanodol (1) was present in all the plant parts, with the mature stems (wild) having the highest amount. The aeroponic stems also accumulated ryanoids including 1, cinnzeylanol 2 and cinnzeylanone 4. The insect Spodoptera littoralis was strongly affected by the stem extracts while the leaf ones were moderately active. Based on the predicted vs. the real antifeedant values we conclude that the ryanoid content (1 or a combination of 2, 4 and 1) explained the antifeedant effects of the stem extracts while addition-al components contributed to the activity of the leaf ones. Therefore, careful individual selection of P. indica seedlings should be carried out prior to proceed with its aeroponic cultivation in or-der to obtain ryanodane-rich stem or leaf extracts with strong antifeedant effects on S. littoralis.

Oil pollution of extraction areas is an undesirable phenomenon, but very present, es-pecially in old farms. In the context in which the depollution of these areas, in Roma-nia, is carried out from public funds, this fact is more and more difficult to achieve. That is why the effect of pollutants on the environment is being analyzed more and more, it often remains that the depollution is done naturally. This material analyzes the effect of metals present in crude oil (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, Ni, Mn, As, Cd, V, Cr, S), on the soil affected by a historical accidental pollution in the Moinesti area, Romania. This article presents the results of analyzes performed by metal detection techniques, namely optical emission spectrophotometry with inductive coupled plasma and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The metals determined in the polluted soil were statis-tically analyzed regarding the dispersion, standard deviation and coefficient of varia-tion compared to the control sample and compared with the results from two areas in Romania. The risk of exploitation of polluted areas was also analyzed, namely the method of pollution indices and the method of combining the effects of pollutants

We describe a novel system for online prediction of lead seizures from long-term intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG) recordings for canines with naturally occurring epilepsy. This study adopts new specification of lead seizures, reflecting strong clustering of seizures in observed data. This clustering results in fewer lead seizures (~7 lead seizures per dog), and hence new challenges for online seizure prediction, that are addressed in the proposed system. In particular, machine learning part of the system is implemented using the Group Learning method suitable for modeling sparse and noisy seizure data. In addition, several modifications for the proposed system are introduced to cope with non-stationarity of noisy iEEG signal. They include: (1) periodic re-training of SVM classifier using most recent training data; (2) removing samples with noisy labels from training data; (3) introducing new adaptive post-processing technique for combining many predictions made for 20-second windows into a single prediction for 4 hr segment. Application of the proposed system requires only 2 lead seizures for training the initial model, and results in high prediction performance for all four dogs (with mean 0.84 sensitivity, 0.27 time-in-warning, and 0.78 false-positive rate per day). Proposed system achieves accurate prediction of lead seizures during long-term test periods, 3–16 lead seizures during 169–364 days test period, whereas earlier studies did not differentiate between lead vs. non-lead seizures and used much shorter test periods (~few days long).

This paper aims to present the basic assumptions for creation of social Fröhlich condensate and attract attention of other researchers (both from physics and socio-political science) to the problem of modelling of stability and order preservation in highly energetic society coupled with social energy bath of high temperature. The model of social Fröhlich condensation and its analysis are based on the mathematical formalism of quantum thermodynamics and field theory (applied outside of physics). The presented quantum-like model provides the consistent operational model of such complex socio-political phenomenon as Fröhlich condensation. The model of social Fröhlich condensation is heavily based on theory of open quantum systems. Its consistent elaboration needs additional efforts. Evidence of such phenomenon as social Fröhlich condensation is demonstrated by stability of modern informationally open societies Approaching the state of Fröhlich condensation is the powerful source of social stability. Understanding its informational structure and origin may help to stabilize the modern society. Application of the quantum-like model of Frhlich condensation in social and political sciences is really the novel and original approach to mathematical modeling of social stability in society exposed to powerful information radiation from mass-media and internet based sources.

Taro is an important root vegetable and has several medicinal and therapeutic properties. The two major therapeutic ingredients are flavonoids and triterpenoids, which are of prime importance. Additionally, the plant has antibacterial, antiparasitic, antiallergic, and anti-inflammatory properties. People often use it to treat a number of diseases by prescribing them as medications. Researchers from the pharmaceutical industry can thrive on C. esculenta by using whole-plant extracts. The identification of valuable terpenoids and therapeutics and their preparations are profusely dealt with in this article. Also, the new structural details of connective tissue are also studied as it helps researchers to investigate further uses of taro for humans, it is well known that xanthan can be obtained commercially as stabilizers, thickeners, binders, and more. It is essential to explore this plant for both medicinal and pharmaceutical properties.

For gravitational wave (GW) detected neutron star mergers, one of the leading candidates for electromagnetic (EM) counterparts is the afterglow from an ultra-relativistic jet. Where this afterglow is observed, it will likely be viewed off-axis, such as the afterglow following GW170817/GRB 170817A. The temporal behaviour of an off-axis observed GRB afterglow can be used to reveal the lateral jet structure, and statistical model fits can put constraints on the various model free-parameters. Amongst these parameters is the inclination of the system to the line of sight. Along with the GW detection, the afterglow modelling provides the best constraint on the inclination to the line-of-sight and can improve the estimates of cosmological parameters e.g. the Hubble constant, from GW-EM events. However, modelling of the afterglow depends on the assumed jet structure and, often overlooked, the effects of lateral spreading. Here we show how the inclusion of lateral spreading in the afterglow models can affect the estimated inclination of GW-EM events.

Background: There is little clarity in the application of content related to improper integrals in university students, due to the absence of meaning, which prevents them from making a connection with everyday problem situations. Methods: we designed a mathematical modelling proposal where a specific situation involving the instrumentation, use and application of this type of integrals is experimented and solved with a population of engineering students, who learn to use them. Results: The importance of using mathematical modelling as a didactic-dynamic resource is highlighted because it helps students to reach an understanding of real situations involving improper integrals in different contexts. Conclusions: Despite the numerous errors detected in the students, this strategy made it possible to demonstrate the development of advanced mathematical thinking skills in young people.

Visual Question Generation (VQG) from images is a rising research topic in both fields of natural language processing and computer vision. Although there are some recent efforts towards generating questions from images in the open domain, the VQG task in the medical domain has not been well-studied so far due to the lack of labeled data. In this paper, we introduce a goal-driven VQG approach for radiology images called VQGRaD that generates questions targeting specific image aspects such as modality and abnormality. In particular, we study generating natural language questions based on the visual content of the image and on additional information such as the image caption and the question category. VQGRaD encodes the dense vectors of different inputs into two latent spaces, which allows generating, for a specific question category, relevant questions about the images, with or without their captions. We also explore the impact of domain knowledge incorporation (e.g., medical entities and semantic types) and data augmentation techniques on visual question generation in the medical domain. Experiments performed on the VQA-RAD dataset of clinical visual questions showed that VQGRaD achieves 61.86% BLEU score and outperforms strong baselines. We also performed a blinded human evaluation of the grammaticality, fluency, and relevance of the generated questions. The human evaluation demonstrated the better quality of VQGRaD outputs and showed that incorporating medical entities improves the quality of the generated questions. Using the test data and evaluation process of the ImageCLEF 2020 VQA-Med challenge, we found that relying on the proposed data augmentation technique to generate new training samples by applying different kinds of transformations, can mitigate the lack of data, avoid overfitting, and bring a substantial improvement in medical VQG.

The Human Herpesviruses persist in the form of a latent infection in specialized cell types. During latency, the herpesvirus genomes associate with cellular histone proteins and the viral lytic genes assemble into transcriptionally repressive heterochromatin. Although there is divergence in the nature of heterochromatin on latent herpesvirus genomes, in general the genomes assemble into forms of heterochromatin that can convert to euchromatin to permit gene expression and therefore reactivation. This reversible form of heterochromatin is known as facultative heterochromatin and is most commonly characterized by polycomb silencing. Polycomb silencing is prevalent on the cellular genome and plays a role in developmentally regulated and imprinted genes, as well as X chromosome inactivation. As herpesviruses initially enter the cell in an un-chromatinized state, they provide an optimal system to study how de novo facultative heterochromatin is targeted to regions of DNA and how it contributes to silencing. Here, we describe how polycomb-mediated silencing potentially assembles onto herpesvirus genomes, synergizing what is known about herpesvirus latency with facultative heterochromatin targeting to the cellular genome. A greater understanding of polycomb silencing of herpesviruses will inform on the mechanism of persistence and reactivation of these pathogenic human viruses and provide clues regarding how de novo facultative heterochromatin forms on the cellular genome.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can transfer diverse RNA cargo for intercellular signalling. EV-associated RNAs have been found in diverse fungi and were proposed to be relevant for pathogenesis in animal hosts. In plant-pathogen interactions, small RNAs are exchanged in a cross-kingdom RNAi warfare and EVs were considered to be a delivery mechanism. To extend the search for EV-associated molecules involved in plants-pathogen communication, we have characterised the repertoire of EV-associated mRNAs secreted by the maize smut pathogen, Ustilago maydis. For this initial survey, EVs were isolated from axenic filamentous cultures that mimic infectious hyphae. The EV-associated RNAs were resistant to degradation by RNases and the presence of intact mRNAs was evident. The set of mRNAs enriched inside EVs relative to the fungal cells are functionally distinct from those that are depleted from EVs, particularly overrepresented in metabolic enzyme activities. Intriguingly, mRNAs of some known effectors and other proteins linked to virulence were found in EVs. Furthermore, several mRNAs enriched in EVs are also upregulated during infection, suggesting that EV-associated mRNAs may participate in plant-pathogen interaction.

The search for new chemical compounds with antitumor pharmacological activity is a necessary process for creating more effective drugs for each specific malignancy type. This review presents the outcomes of screening studies of natural compounds with high anti-glioma activity. Despite significant advances in cancer therapy, there are still some tumors currently considered completely incurable including brain gliomas. This review covers the main problems of the glioma chemotherapy including drug resistance, side effects of common anti-glioma drugs, and genetic diversity of brain tumors. The main emphasis is made on the characterization of natural compounds isolated from marine organisms because taxonomic diversity of organisms in seawaters significantly exceeds that of terrestrial species. Thus, we should expect greater chemical diversity of marine compounds and greater likelihood of finding effective molecules with antiglioma activity. The review covers at least 15 classes of organic compounds with their chemical formulas provided as well as semi-inhibitory concentrations, mechanisms of action, and pharmacokinetic profiles. In conclusion, the analysis of the taxonomic diversity of marine species containing bioactives with antiglioma activity is performed noting cytotoxicity indicators and to the tumor cells in comparison with similar indicators of antitumor agents approved for clinical use as antiglioblastoma chemotherapeutics.

Toxoplasma gondii is a cosmopolitan protozoon parasite, and the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, one of the most prevalent zoonotic parasitic diseases. Cats, as definitive hosts, are spreaders of the parasite via their faeces, but this occurs only for a very short period in their life. Seropositivity in cats, although not associated with current shedding of the parasite, is indicative of the infection in a cat population and can be used to assess the infection risk for definitive and intermediate hosts in that area. In order to assess the prevalence of infection in cats living in Cyprus, 155 cats, originating from all districts of the country, were examined for the presence of T. gondii antibodies. Additionally, parameters such as age, sex, health status, lifestyle and concomitant infections were statistically assessed as potential risk factors for T. gondii seropositivity. Specific anti-T. gondii antibodies were detected in 50 (32.3%) cats, while the presence of feline immunodeficiency virus antibodies and a history of never having been vaccinated were statistically associated with T. gondii seropositivity on multivariate logistic regression model. This is the first report of T. gondii seroprevalence in cats in Cyprus and indicates that raised public awareness should be considered to prevent infection of animals and humans.

Highlights: A new material with a bending strength higher than that of concrete was developed using vegetable or fruit waste. The new material maintains the color, taste, and flavor of the original vegetable or fruit. Without water resistant treatment, the material is edible and can be conditioned with seasonings

Introduction: To indentify the most effective actors(authors, countries, and journals) about composite resin restorations in the period 2000-2020.Material and Methods: An electronis research was conducted in the Scopus database by selecting the words ‘composite resin’ and ‘restoration and English language, article and review types, dentistry field. Their bibliometric data including publication title, authorship, citation count, citation dentistry, year of publication, country and institution of origin, journal of publication, study design, and keywords were extracted and analyzed.Results and Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first bibliometric article on composite resin restorations. This study provides information about authors, institutions and countries that contribute to significant improvements in composite resin restorations. From 2000 to 2020, there were 7118 articles published from 99 countries.Articles originate primarily from the USA and Brazil. Results indicate that the USA, Brazil, Germany, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Japan, Swtizerland, Italy, Netherlands and India are the leading countries in composite resin restoration research and account for 51.8% of the total number of publications. The total number of citations are 158.404, corresponding to 22 citations per paper publication. During the time period examined, 776 hot articles and 228 classic articles on composite resin restorations were found.The journal with the most publications is ‘Operative Dentistry’. The publishing houses of the top 10 journals are from 4 countries: USA(6),Netherlands(2),Germany(1),Japan(1). The most cited article within the boundaires of this study is Ferracane’s article titled ‘Resin composite-State of the art’, which was published in Dental Materials in 2011 and received 913 citations.