Infill drilling is one of the most effective methods to improve the performance of poly-mer flooding. The difficulties related to infill drilling are determining the optimal numbers and placements of infill wells. In this study, an improved archimedes optimization algorithm with Halton sequence (HS-AOA) was proposed to overcome the aforementioned difficulties. First, to optimize the infill well placement for polymer flooding, an objective function that considered the economic influence of infill drilling was developed. Then, the novel optimization algorithm (HS-AOA) for infill well placement was developed by combining the AOA with the Halton se-quence. The codes were developed in MATLAB and connected to a commercial reservoir simula-tor CMG STARS to carry out the infill well placement optimization. Finally, the HS-AOA was compared to the basic AOA to confirm its reliability and then used to optimize the infill well placements for polymer flooding in a typical offshore oil reservoir. The results showed that the introduction of the Halton sequence into AOA effectively increased the diversity of the initial ob-jects in the AOA and avoided the HS-AOA trapping into the local optimal solutions. The HS–AOA outperformed the AOA. It was an effective approach to optimize the infill well placement for polymer flooding processes. In addition, infill drilling could effectively and economically im-prove the polymer flooding performance in offshore oil reservoirs. The NPV of the polymer flooding case with infill wells determined by HS-AOA reached 3.5 × 108 $, which was an increase of 7% over that of the polymer flooding case. This study presents an effective method for opti-mizing infill well placement for polymer flooding processes. It also can serve as a valuable refer-ence for other optimization problems in the petroleum industry, such as joint optimization of well control and placement.

Background: Vaccine hesitancy, identified by the World Health Organization as a top ten global health threat, presents a significant barrier to public health efforts, exacerbated by the politicization of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.1 Motivational interviewing (MI) has been shown to be effective in addressing difficult topics, including vaccine hesitancy, emphasizing the need for its integration into medical education.2 Objective: This study explores ways to enhance the medical student curriculum on MI, specifically targeting the management of conversations with vaccine-hesitant patients. These authors seek to evaluate the impact of different teaching approaches on the efficacy of MI training within clinical education. Methods: A blinded study design was implemented, comparing two groups of medical students trained using distinct MI teaching methods: Learning Through Experience (LTE) and Traditional Teaching (TT). The LTE group engaged with a Vaccine Hesitant Standardized Patient (VHSP) before and after an instructional module on the use of MI to combat vaccine hesitancy. In contrast, the TT group interacted with a control Standardized Patient (SP) before the same module and then with the VHSP. Any medical student above the age of 18 was eligible for this study. All students in a vaccine elective at RVUCOM on the Colorado and Utah campuses were enrolled, as well as student volunteers. We excluded any students who opted out of the study. The effectiveness of each method was assessed through confidence and performance scores derived from participant self-evaluations and standardized patient feedback, respectively. Results: Participants in the TT group demonstrated superior mastery of MI skills as taught in the didactic session based on statistically significant findings across more tested variables. The LTE group exhibited enhanced ability in practical applications with standardized patients based on statistically significant findings. Both groups showed increased confidence in MI techniques, with the LTE group reporting greater confidence in vaccine knowledge and MI abilities. That said, the LTE method did not drastically outperform the TT approach in overall efficacy. Conclusions: The study indicates that while traditional TT training effectively imparts MI skills, the LTE approach may offer benefits in applying these skills in clinical scenarios. These findings suggest the potential for integrating multiple teaching methods into the medical curriculum to better prepare students for engaging with vaccine-hesitant patients. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effects of these teaching strategies on student performance and patient outcomes.

Tilapia, the second most extensively farmed fish in the Philippines, generates significant amounts of waste that are often underutilized, leading to environmental concerns. One specific waste material is tilapia heads, which contain a valuable extracellular matrix (ECM) and an abundant source of bioactive materials that have a potential application in various fields, including biomaterials for wound healing and nutraceuticals. This study aims to evaluate the effects of sonication as a viable decellularization method for extracting ECM from tilapia fish heads. Histological analyses, employing H&E staining, revealed a higher reduction in basophilic components in the sonication-assisted (dWS) samples compared to those without sonication (dNS), as confirmed by DNA quantification. Notably, dWS samples subjected to 1% SDS sonication for 10 minutes exhibited the lowest DNA content with a removal rate of 93.7%. However, the same dWS sample also manifested the highest protein removal with a retained protein of 33.86%. The SDS-PAGE analysis of both dWS and dNS samples exhibited a uniform pattern, featuring identical four subunit bands—namely, the β-dimer (225-227 kDa), γ bands (228-230 kDa), and two alpha chains (α1 and α2 chains) (116-120 kDa)—indicating that sonication did not introduce discernible alterations in the helical structure of collagen. ATR-FTIR spectra further confirmed the presence of collagen as indicated by the detection of collagen type I indicators, including amides A, B, I, II, and III, in all decellularized samples. The above findings highlight the potential of sonication to aid in the decellularization of waste tilapia heads with future research targeting practical applications in wound healing, nutraceuticals, and sustainable environmental preservation through waste utilization.

Indigenous peoples around the world are revitalizing their ancestral beliefs, practices, and languages, including traditional understandings of health and wellbeing. In the Aotearoa (New Zealand) context, a number of ground-breaking Māori health and wellbeing related models have emerged, each with their own unique applications and offerings. We sought in these qualitative studies to explore and identify some key sources of wellbeing for Māori individuals. Nine interviews were conducted with members of Māori communities to identify key themes of Māori wellbeing. A Reflexive Thematic Analysis was performed on these data, and then a further fifteen interviews were conducted to revise, refine, and reposition the previously generated themes. The Ngaruroro describes wellbeing as the embodied and active process of being in good relation with your 1) here tāngata (social and familial ties), 2) te taiao (the environment), and 3) taonga tuku iho (cultural treasures), while doing what you can to make lifestyle choices that are conducive to the health of your 4) tinana (body) and 5) wairua (spirit), while cultivating a balanced 6) ngākau (inner-system), fulfilling 7) matea (core needs), and exercising your 8) mana (authority). These themes illustrate and reiterate that Māori wellbeing is dynamic, interconnected, and holistic.

Quantifying methane emissions is essential for meeting near-term climate goals and typically done using methane concentrations measured downwind of the source. One major source of methane that is important to observe and promptly remediate is fugitive emissions from oil and gas productions sites but installing methane sensors at the thousands of sites within a production basin is expensive. In recent years, relatively inexpensive metal oxide sensors have been used to measure methane concentrations at production sites. Current methods used to calibrate metal oxide sensors have been shown to have significant shortcomings resulting in limited confidence in methane concentrations generated by these sensors. To address this, we investigate using machine learning (ML) to generate a model that converts metal oxide sensor output to methane mixing ratios. To generate test data, two metal oxide sensors, TGS2600 and TGS2611, were collocated with a trace methane analyzer downwind of controlled methane releases. Over the duration of the measurements, the trace gas analyzer’s average methane mixing ratio was 2.40 ppm with a maximum of 147.6 ppm. The average calculated methane mixing ratios for the TGS2600 and TGS2611 using the ML algorithm were 2.42 ppm and 2.40 ppm with maximum values of 105.9 ppm and 106.3 ppm, respectively. A comparison of histograms generated using the analyzer and metal oxide sensors mixing ratios show overlap coefficients of 0.95 and 0.94 for the TGS2600 and TGS2611, respectively. Overall, our results showed there was a good agreement between the ML derived metal oxide sensors’ mixing ratios and those generated using the more accurate trace gas analyzer. This suggests that the response of lower-cost sensors calibrated using ML could be used to generate mixing ratios with precision and accuracy comparable to higher price trace methane analyzers. This would improve confidence in low-cost sensors’ response, reduce the cost of sensor deploying, and allow for timely and accurate tracking of methane emissions.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the US and the world. Infection with high-risk oncogenic HPV strains have been shown to induce cellular transformation leading to anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers. The HPV vaccine first developed in 2006 for females aged 9-26 years has been demonstrated to be safe and effective in preventing 90% of all HPV associated cancers. However, vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, and barriers to vaccine access has resulted in suboptimal vaccination rates among adolescent populations, especially in rural communities in the South. HPV vaccine coverage in Tennessee is currently below the national average and below the Healthy People 2030 goal of an 80% vaccination rate for individuals 13-17 years old based on recommendation guidelines for up-to-date HPV vaccination status as of 2022. HPV vaccination rates for Tennesseans with private insurance in 2022 was 68% and 38% for those that were insured. Up-to-date HPV vaccination rates for Tennesseans living in urban communities was 58% in 2022 and 46% for those living in rural communities. Overall, HPV associated cancers rates are higher in Tennessee at 12.9/100,000 compared to the overall rate in the US of 11.8/100,000 persons in 2022. Interventions to improve HPV vaccine awareness, education, and access could improve vaccine confidence and uptake especially among rural and uninsured populations in Tennessee. Most recently, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has expanded recommendations for the HPV vaccinations for some individuals 27-45 years who were not vaccinated at a younger age with shared clinical decision-making. The impact of this recommendation on Tennesseans should be examined.

Treatment of osteochondritis dissecans of the knee, has always been a challenge for orthopedic surgeons. We present a case report of a 38-year-old male with severe right knee pain after suffering from an indirect trauma and axial rotation of the knee, limiting knee functionality and impeding ability to walk, with diagnosis of osteochondritis dissecans in the trochlea of the knee, who underwent arthroscopic treatment with matrix induced autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI). After the surgery, physical therapy protocol for MACI was implemented, magnetic imagen resonance images with cartilage mapping were used to evaluate recovery of the lesion. A total recovery was observed evaluated with the modified Cincinnati knee rating system (mCKRS). A discussion is provided with evidence and general recommendations for the use of MACI in the treatment of adult OCD of the knee.

Background: MRI-guided prostate biopsies from visible tumor-specific lesions (TBx) can be used to diagnose clinically significant carcinomas (csPCa) requiring treatment more selectively than conventional systematic biopsies (SBx). Ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy (FCM) is a novel technique that can be used to examine TBx prior to conventional histologic workup. Methods: TBx from 150 patients were examined with FCM on the day of collection. Preliminary findings were reported within 2 hours of collection. The results were statistically compared with the final histology. Results: 27/40 (68%) of the csPCa were already recognized in the intraday FCM in accordance with the results of conventional histology. Even non-significant carcinomas (cisPCa) of the intermediate and high-risk groups (PSA > 10 or 20 ng/ml) according to conventional risk stratifications were reliably detectable. In contrast, small foci of cisPCa were often not detected or were difficult to distinguish from reactive changes. Conclusion: The rapid reporting of preliminary FCM findings helps reduce the psychological stress on patients an can improve the clinical management of csPCa. Additional SBx can be avoided in individual cases, leading to lower rates of complications and scaring in the future surgical area. Additional staging examinations can be arranged without losing time. FCM represents a promising basis for future AI-based diagnostic algorithms.

Entamoeba histolytica, the causative agent of amebiasis, is the third leading cause of death among parasitic diseases globally. Its life cycle includes encystation, which has been mostly studied in Entamoeba invadens, responsible of reptilian amebiasis. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process are not fully understood. Therefore, we focused on the identification and characterization of Myb proteins, that regulate the expression of encystation-related genes in various protozoan parasites. Through bioinformatic analysis, we identified 47 genes in E. invadens encoding MYB-domain-containing proteins. These were classified into single-repeat 1R (19), 2R-MYB proteins (27), and one 4R-MYB protein. The in silico analysis suggests that these proteins are multifunctional, participating in transcriptional regulation, chromatin remodeling, telomere maintenance, and splicing. Transcriptomic data analysis revealed expression signatures of eimyb genes, suggesting a potential orchestration in the regulation of early and late encystation-excystation genes. Furthermore, we identified 3135 probable target genes associated with reproduction, meiotic cell cycle, ubiquitin-dependent protein catabolism, and endosomal transport. In conclusion, our findings suggest that E. invadens Myb proteins regulate stage-specific proteins and a wide array of cellular processes. This study provides a foundation for further exploration of the molecular mechanisms governing encystation and unveils potential targets for therapeutic intervention in amebiasis.

Forward-bias hole injection from 10 nm-thick p-type Nickel Oxide layers into 10 um-thick n-type Gallium Oxide in a vertical NiO/Ga2O3 p-n heterojunction leads to more than a factor of 2 enhancement of photoresponse measured from this junction. While it takes only 600 seconds to obtain such a pronounced increase in photoresponse, it persists for hours, indicating feasibility of photovoltaic device performance control. The effect is ascribed to charge injection-induced increase of minority carrier (hole) diffusion length (resulting in improved collection of photogenerated non-equilibrium carriers) in n-type beta-Ga2O3 epitaxial layers, due to trapping of injected charge (holes) on deep meta-stable levels in the material and subsequent blocking of non-equilibrium carrier recombination through these levels. Suppressed recombination leads to increased non-equilibrium carrier lifetime, in turn determining a longer diffusion length and being the root-cause for the effect of charge injection.

Clinical management in neuro-oncology has changed to an integrative approach that incorporates molecular profile alongside histopathology and imaging findings. While the WHO guideline recommends genotyping of informative alterations as a routine clinical practice for central nervous system (CNS) tumors, acquisition of tumor tissue in the CNS is invasive and not always possible. Liquid biopsy is a non-invasive approach that provides the opportunity to capture the complex molecular heterogeneity of the whole tumor through detection of circulating tumor biomarkers in body fluids, such as blood or cerebrospinal fluid. Despite all the advantages, the low abundance of tumor-derived biomarkers, particularly in CNS tumors, as well as their short half-life has limited the application of liquid biopsy in clinical practice. Thus, it is crucial to identify factors that are associated with the presence of these biomarkers and explore possible strategies that can increase the shedding of these tumoral components into biological fluids. In this review, we first describe the clinical applications of liquid biopsy in CNS tumors including its roles in early detection of recurrence and monitoring of treatment response. We then discuss the utilization of imaging in identifying factors that affect the detection of circulating biomarkers as well as how image-guided interventions such as focused ultrasound can help enhance the presence of tumor biomarkers through blood-brain barrier disruption.

Patients with advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD) or cirrhosis undergoing surgery have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality in contrast to the general population. Retrospective, observational study of ACLD patients to evaluate the predictive capacity of previous surgical risk scores in a European cohort of patients. ACLD was defined by the presence of thrombocytopenia <150.000/uL and splenomegaly; AST-to-Platelet Ratio Index >2; nodular liver edge by ultrasound; transient elastography >15 kPa and/or signs of portal hypertension. We assessed variables related to 90-day mortality and the discrimination and calibration of current surgical scores (Child-Pugh, MELD-Na, MRS, NSQIP, and VOCAL-Penn). Only patients with ACLD and major surgeries included in VOCAL-Penn were considered (n=512). The mortality rate at 90 days after surgery was 9.8%. Baseline disparities between H. Mar and VOCAL-Penn cohorts were identified. Etiology, obesity, or platelet count not were associated with mortality. The VOCAL-Penn showed the best discrimination (C-statistic90D= 0.876) and overall predictive capacity (Brier90D= 0.054) but calibration was not excellent in our cohort. VOCAL-Penn was suboptimal in patients with diabetes (C-statistic30D= 0.770), without signs of portal hypertension (C-statistic30D= 0.555), or with an abdominal wall (C-statistic30D= 0.608) or urgent (C-statistic180D= 0.692) surgeries. Our European cohort has shown a mortality rate after surgery similar to those described in American studies. However, some variables included in the VOCAL-Penn score were not associated with mortality, and VOCAL-Penn’s discriminative ability decreases in patients with diabetes, without signs of portal hypertension, and with abdominal wall or urgent surgeries. These results should be validated in larger multicenter and prospective studies.

A number of recent discoveries suggest close links between anxiety- or probable relief-like behaviors and intracellular signaling molecules controlling morphogenesis in glial cells such as oligodendrocytes (oligodendroglial cells) in the brain, which have protective effects on neuronal cells. In the former behaviors, their intracellular signaling molecules include small GTPase members, some of which mediate cell morphological changes. Rnd2 is one such member, belonging to the Rho family of small GTPases. Despite the currently known functions of Rnd2, the precise roles of Rnd2 in cell morphogenesis and related functions in health and disease states remain to be elucidated. Herein we show that signaling through anxiety-related loss of function of the rnd2 gene is related to the regulation of oligodendroglial cell morphological differentiation in the FBD-102b cell line, which is often utilized as oligodendroglial cell differentiation model. Knockdown of Rnd2 with the clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CasRx system or RNA interference has been shown to inhibit morphological differentiation. Similarly, knockdown of Prag1 and Fyn kinase, signaling molecules acting downstream of Rnd2, also blunts differentiation. Rnd2 or Prag1 knockdown also decreases Fyn phosphorylation, which is critical for its activation and for oligodendroglial cell differentiation and myelination. Of note, hesperetin, a citrus flavonoid with protective effects on oligodendroglial cells as well as neuronal ones, can recover the defective differentiation induced by the knockdown of Rnd2/Prag1/Fyn. These results suggest that signaling through Rnd2/Prag1/Fyn is directly associated with normal oligodendroglial cell morphological differentiation. Deficiency of the signaling cascade is recovered by hesperetin, presenting one potential molecular construction underlying anxiety and possible therapeutic targets.

Aedes aegypti transmits major arboviruses of public health importance, including dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever. The use of insecticides represents the cornerstone of vector control, however insecticide resistance in Ae. aegypti has become widespread. Understanding the molecular basis of insecticide resistance in this species is crucial to design effective resistance management strategies. Here, we applied Illumina RNA-Seq to study the gene expression patterns associated with resistance to three widely used insecticides (malathion, alpha-cypermethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin) in Ae. aegypti populations from 2 sites (Manatí and Isabela) in Puerto Rico (PR). Cytochrome P450s were the most over-expressed detoxification genes across all resistant phenotypes. Some detoxification genes (CYP6Z7, CYP28A5, CYP9J2, CYP6Z6, CYP6BB2, CYP6M9, and two CYP9F2 orthologs) were commonly over-expressed in mosquitoes that survived exposure to all three insecticides (independent of geographical origin) while others including CYP6BY1 (malathion), GSTD1 (alpha-cypermethrin), CYP4H29 and GSTE6 (lambda-cyhalothrin) were uniquely overexpressed in mosquitoes that survived exposure to specific insecticides. The gene ontology (GO) terms associated with monooxygenase, iron binding, and passive transmembrane transporter activities were significantly enriched in 4 out of 6 resistant vs susceptible comparisons while serine protease activity was elevated in all insecticide resistant groups relative to the susceptible strain. Interestingly, cuticular-related protein genes (chinase and chitin) were predominantly downregulated, which was also confirmed in the functional enrichment analysis. This RNA-Seq analysis presents a detailed picture of the candidate detoxification genes and other pathways that are potentially associated with pyrethroid and organophosphate resistance in Ae. aegypti populations from PR. These results could inform development of novel molecular tools for detection of resistance-associated gene expression in this important arbovirus vector and guide the design and implementation of resistance management strategies.

Through the arrow decomposition of the Mueller matrix, respective sets of sixteen independent polarimetric images of biological tissues are obtained for enpolarizing, retarding and depolariz-ing descriptors. In addition to the mean intensity coefficient and the three indices of polarimetric purity, the absolute values and Poincaré orientations of diattenuation, polarizance, entrance re-tardance and exit retardance vectors are considered. In this work we use for the first time this set of polarimetric observables for the visualization of biological structures, both of animal and vege-tal origin. Results show images with enhanced visualization derived from the spatial variation of such significant polarimetric properties. The experimental results are discussed, showing the suit-ability of such set of observables for applications in biophotonics imaging, providing not only ex-cellent visualization of biological tissues, but also showing structures not visible in non-polarimetric images.

Background: The currently advised follow-up scheme of PSA-testing after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) is strict and might pose a burden to our healthcare system. We aimed to optimize the 1-year follow-up scheme for patients who undergo RARP. Methods: All patients with histologically-proven prostate cancer (PCa) who underwent RARP between 2018 and August 2022 in the Prostate Cancer Network the Netherlands were retrospectively evaluated. We excluded patients who underwent salvage RARP and patients who had &lt;1 year of PSA follow-up. Postoperative PSA-values were collected. Biochemical persistence (BCP) was defined as PSA-level &gt;0.10 ng/mL at 0-4 months after RARP, whereas biochemical recurrence (BCR) was defined as PSA-level &gt;0.2 ng/mL at any time point after RARP. We aimed to identify a group of patients who had a very low risk of BCR at different time-points after surgery. Results: Of all 1155 patients, BCP was observed in 151 (13%), of whom 79 (6.8%) had PSA ≥0.2 ng/mL. BCR further developed in 51 (4.7%), and 37 (3.4%) patients at 5-8 and 9-12 months after RARP, respectively. In 12 patients, BCR was found at 5-8 months after RARP in absence of BCP. These patients represented 1.2% (12/1004) of the entire group. In other words, 98.8% (992/1004) of patients who had an unmeasurable PSA-level at 0-4 months after RARP also had unmeasurable PSA-level 5-8 months after surgery. Limitations are the retrospective design and incomplete follow-up. Conclusions: Patients with an unmeasurable PSA-level at 3-4 months after RARP may not need to be retested until 12 months of follow-up as almost 100% of patients will not have biochemically recurrent disease at 5-8 months of follow-up. This will reduce PSA-testing substantially at the costs of hardly any missed patients with recurrent disease.

Background: A malfunction of the innate immune response in COVID-19 is associated with eosinopenia particularly in more severe cases. This study tested the hypothesis that this eosinopenia is COVID-19 specific and is associated with systemic activation of eosinophils.. Methods: Blood of 15 healthy controls and 75 adult patients with suspected COVID-19 at the ER were included before PCR testing and analyzed by point-of-care automated flow cytometry (CD10, CD11b, CD16 and CD62L) in the absence or presence of a formyl peptide (fNLF). 45 SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive patients were grouped based on disease severity. PCR negative patients with proven bacterial (n=20) or other viral (n=10) infections were used as disease controls. Eosinophils were identified with the use of the FlowSom algorithm. Results: Low blood eosinophil numbers (<100 cells/microL; p<0.005) were found both in patients with COVID-19 and with other infectious diseases albeit less pronounced. Two discrete eosinophil populations were identified in healthy controls both before and after activation with fNLF based on the expression of CD11b. Before activation, the CD11bbright population consisted of 5.4% (CI95% = 3.8, 13.4) of total eosinophils. After activation, this population of CD11bbright cells comprised nearly half the population (42.21%, CI95% = 35.9, 54.1). Eosinophils in COVID-19 had a similar percentage of CD11bbright cells before activation (7.6%, CI95% = 4.5, 13.6), but were clearly refractory to activation with fNLF as a much lower percentage of cells end up in the CD11bbright fraction after activation (23.7%, CI95% = 18.5, 27.6; p<0.001). Conclusion: Low eosinophil numbers in COVID-19 are associated with refractoriness in responsiveness to fNLF, which is likely caused by migration of fully functional cells to the tissue. Such homing might be beneficial as eosinophils have been implicated in viral killing.

Community-level mass treatment with azithromycin has been associated with a mortality benefit in children. However, antibiotic exposures result in disruption of the gut microbiota and repeated exposures may reduce recovery of the gut flora. We conducted a nested cohort study to examine associations between mass drug administration (MDA) with azithromycin and the gut microbiota of rural Malawian children aged between 1-59 months. Fecal samples were collected from the children prior to treatment and 6 months after two or four biannual rounds of azithromycin treatment. DNA was extracted from fecal samples and V4-16S rRNA sequencing used to characterize the gut microbiota. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were the dominant phyla while Faecalibacterium and Bifidobacterium were the most prevalent genera. There were no associations between azithromycin treatment and changes in alpha diversity, however, four biannual rounds of treatment were associated with increased abundance of Prevotella. The lack of significant changes in gut microbiota after four biannual treatments supports the use of mass azithromycin treatment to reduce mortality in children living in low- and middle-income settings.

The clinical characterization of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lesions in the liver and differentiation from heterogeneous inflammatory or fibrotic background is important for early detection and treatment. Metabolic monitoring of hyperpolarized ¹³C-labeled substrates has been suggested as a new avenue for diagnostic magnetic resonance. The metabolism of hyperpolarized [1-¹³C]pyruvate was monitored in mouse precision-cut liver slices (PCLS) of aged MDR2-KO mice, which served as a model for heterogeneous liver and HCC that develops similarly to the human disease. The relative in-cell activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) to alanine transaminase (ALT) were found to be 0.40 ± 0.06 (n = 3) in healthy livers (from healthy mice), 0.90 ± 0.27 (n = 3) in heterogeneously inflamed liver, and 1.84 ± 0.46 (n = 3) in HCC. Thus, the in-cell LDH/ALT activities ratio was found to correlate with the progression of the disease. The results suggest that the LDH/ALT activities ratio may be useful in the assessment of liver disease. Because the technology used here is translational to both small liver samples that may be obtained from image-guided biopsy (i.e., ex vivo investigation) and to the intact liver (i.e., in a non-invasive MRI scan), these results may provide a path for differentiating heterogeneous liver from HCC in human subjects.

Abstract The aim of this research is to conduct a systematic review analysing the role of the physiotherapy interventions in palliative care. PRISMA as a critical appraisal tool was utilised for the selection of the research articles. The inclusion criteria were based on the year of publication, ease of availability, language, geographical location, and study type. To ensure the credibility, databases such as Elsevier, Proquest, and EBSCO Host were used to filter the grey content. Data published in the past ten years (2009-onwards) was only included to ensure the selection of the most recent interventions used by the physiotherapists. A total of 11 articles were selected which determined that physiotherapy interventions involving breathing exercises, aerobic exercises, manual therapies, and educational awareness were critical to promoting the functional capability and empower the patients.

After the appearance of first cases of ‘pneumonia of unknown origin’ in the Wuhan city, China, during late 2019, the disease progressed fast. Its cause was identified as a novel coronavirus, named provisionally 2019-nCoV. Subsequently, an official name was given as SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2) by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) study group. The World Health Organization (WHO) named the Coronavirus disease-2019 as COVID-19. The epidemics of COVID-2019 have been recorded over 113 countries/territories/areas apart from China and filched more than 4292 humans, affecting severely around 1,18,326 cases in a short span. The status of COVID-2019 emergency revised by the WHO within 42 days from Public Health International Emergency (January 30, 2020) to a pandemic (March 11, 2020). Nonetheless, the case fatality rate (CFR) of the current epidemic is on the rise (between 2-4%), relatively is lower than the previous SARS-CoV (2002/2003) and MERS-CoV (2012) outbreaks. Even though investigations are on its way, the researchers across the globe have assumptions of animal-origin of current SARS-CoV-2. A recent case report provides evidence of mild COVID-2019 infection in a pet dog that acquired COVID-2019 infection from his owner in Hong Kong. The news on travellers associated spread across the globe have also put many countries on alert with the cancellation of tourist visa to all affected countries and postponement of events where international visits were required. A few diagnostic approaches, including quantitative and differential real-time polymerase chain reaction assays, have been recommended for the screening of the individuals at risk. In the absence of any selective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, re-purposed drugs are advocated in many studies. This article discourse the current worldwide situation of COVID-2019 with information on virus, epidemiology, host, the role of animals, effective diagnosis, therapeutics, preventive and control approaches making people aware on the disease outcomes.

To assess the presence of organochlorine pollutants (OCP) in Alaskan sub-Arctic latitudes, we analyzed ice core and meltwater samples from Jarvis Glacier, a polythermal glacier in Interior Alaska. Jarvis Glacier is receding as atmospheric warming continues throughout the region, increasing opportunity for OCP transport both englacially and into the proglacial watershed. Across all meltwater and ice core samples we identify the pesticides DDT, DDE and DDD, α- HCH and ϒ-HCH. OCP concentrations in ice core samples were highest at the 7-14 m depth (0.51 ng/L of DDT) and decreased gradually approaching the bedrock at 79m. Meltwater concentrations from the proglacial creek slightly exceeded concentrations found in the ice core, potentially indicating aggregate OCP glacial loss, with peak OCP concentration (1.12 ng/L of DDD) taken in July and potentially associated to peak melt. Ongoing use of DDT to fight Malaria in Asia, and the extended atmospheric range of HCH may account for concentrations in near-surface ice, correlating with use and atmospheric transport. The opportunity for biota bioaccumulation of OCPs, or human uptake of OCPs from glacial meltwater, may increase as glacial melt continues.

In contrast to previous incursions of highly pathogenic H5 viruses, H5N8 clade 2.3.4.4b caused numerous lethal infections in white-tailed sea eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) in Germany during the winter 2016/2017. Until April 2017, 17 HPAIV H5N8-positive white-tailed sea eagles had been detected (three alive and 14 dead). Mainly young eagles died (before reaching the adult plumage at 5 years), often with severe neurological symptoms, where histopathology revealed mild to moderate, oligo- to multifocal necrotizing polioencephalitis. Lethal lead (Pb) concentrations, proven as main mortality factor of the sea eagles could be ruled out since values measured in liver or kidney tissue were all within background levels (< 1 ppm). Since the fall of 2016, the epizootic of HPAIV H5 clade 2.3.4.4b reportedly induced, for the first time, fatal disease in European white-tailed see eagles. The virus strain may become a new threat to a highly protected species across its distribution range in Eurasia. Positive cloacal swaps have proven that the eagles can spread the virus with their faeces.

The launch of the RadioAstron space radio telescope provides a unique opportunity to study the extreme high brightness temperature of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) with unprecedented long baselines of up to 28 Earth diameters. A coordinated ground-based flux density monitoring of RadioAstron targets is essential to determine the effect of interstellar scintillation (ISS) on the Space Very Long Baseline Interferometry (SVLBI) visibilities. Moreover, a combination/comparison of scintillation with SVLBI observations is expected to reveal the relative influence of source brightness temperature, compactness, and properties of the interstellar medium on the observed variability at centimeter wavelengths. In 2014 we started a RadioAstron target triggered flux monitoring with the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope in support of this SVLBI mission. A total of 112 targets were observed during the five-session monitoring performed so far. In this paper we present a statistical study on the short-term flux density variability of the sample, which is focused on the variability characteristics and derived physical properties of the observed sources.

Several studies have shown that tapering or stopping disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in sustained remission is feasible. However, tapering/stopping bears the risk of decline in physical function as some patients may relapse and face increased disease activity. Here we analysed the impact of tapering or stopping DMARD treatment on the physical function of RA patients. The study was a posthoc analysis of physical functional worsening for 282 patients with RA in sustained remission tapering and stopping DMARD treatment in the prospective randomized RETRO study. HAQ and DAS-28 scores were determined in baseline samples of patients continuing DMARD (arm 1), tapering their dose by 50% (arm 2), or stopping after tapering (arm 3). Patients were followed over 1 year, and HAQ and DAS-28 scores were evaluated every 3 months. The effect of treatment reduction strategy on functional worsening was assessed in a recurrent-event Cox regression model with a study-group (control, taper, taper/stop) as the predictor. 282 patients were analysed. In 58 patients, functional worsening was observed. The incidences suggest a higher probability of functional worsening in patients tapering and/or stopping DMARDs, which is likely due to higher relapse rates in these individuals. At the end of the study, however, functional worsening was similar among the groups. Point estimates and survival curves show that functional decline after tapering or stopping DMARDs in RA patients with stable remission is small and related to relapses but to on overall functional decline.

A spatial turn is increasingly being recognised across education, the humanities and social sciences to critique Western Cartesian assumptions treating space as either empty or a diametric opposition bringing dualistic splits between reason/emotion, and mind/body. Bacon’s vision of human subjugation of nature as a tool for human progress is examined as a diametric spatial projection, where humans are above and apart from nature, in a mirror image inverted symmetry of above/below hierarchy and side-by-side assumed separation as diametric space. Building on an interdisciplinary synthesis between an aspect of the structural anthropology of Lévi-Strauss, De Beauvoir’s othering and Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological systems in psychology, allied with a Heideggerian critique of being as needing a mode of ‘being alongside the world’, a shift in experiential and conceptual space is proposed in this conceptual review article for education. This shift is towards a framework of concentric spatial systems of sustainability. Concentric relational spaces of assumed connection and relative openness and away from diametric spaces of splitting and closure have been developed recently for sustainability concerns regarding inclusion in education. This article goes further to interrogate systems of concentric relational space for belonging with and encountering the natural world for environmental sustainability.

In this study, we evaluated the antibacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella Typhimurium in fried fish paste using floating electrode-dielectric barrier discharge (FE-DBD) plasma (1.1 kV, 43 kHz, N2 1.5 m/s, 1-60 min). In addition, quality evaluation (pH, VBN) of fried fish paste was conducted after FE-DBD plasma treatment. When FE-DBD plasma was treated for 1, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 60 min, S. aureus decreased by 0.16-1.13 log10 CFU/g, and S. Typhimurium decreased 0.25-1.13 log10 CFU/g. Both decreased &gt; log10 CFU/g at 60 min. The D-value was 58.92 and R2 was 0.97 for S. aureus using first-order kinetics, and the D-value was 43.60 and R2 was 0.97 for S. Typhimurium using the Weibull model. There was no significant difference in pH after FE-DBD plasma treatment (p &gt; 0.05). However, volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) significantly decreased as the treatment time increased (p &lt; 0.05), and it was the lowest at 60 min to 3.46. Therefore, FE-DBD plasma treatment could be considered as a technology for preserving the quality of processed foods.

1) Background: Overweight children usually have lower levels of physical activity (PA) than their normal-weight peers. Low PA predisposes to increase fat mass in the body. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of school-based PA intervention on anthropometric indicators and body composition of overweight and obese children during a two-year observation period, from the age of 10 to 12. (2) Materials and methods: The research included 148 children with overweight or obesity who were born in 2007. There were two groups of children of standard and elevated PA at school (SPA and EPA, 4 and 10 hours of physical education lessons a week, respectively). An anthropometric and body composition measurements were done. Body mass index (BMI), fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and total body water (TBW) were determined. Totally, 5 measurements were done at intervals of 5–6 months. (3) Results: In EPA, the percentage of obese children decreased from 46% to 35.25%, and in SPA increased from 42.75% to 46%. In EPA, FM decreased from 28.65% to 26.41%, and in SPA increased from 30.31% to 31.75%. The highest increase in FFM was in EPA boys, while SPA boys recorded the highest decrease. In SPA, SMM increased by 0.43% from 38.85% to 39.28%, and in EPA by 2.51% from 40.27% to 42.78%. TBW In EPA slightly increased from 53.26% to 53.59%, and in SPA decreased from 50.70% to 49.93%. (4) Conclusions: The elevated PA at school has a positive effect on the BMI and body composition of children who are overweight or obese. Increasing the mandatory number of physical education lessons in school curricula is an efficient strategy for reducing obesity in school-aged children.

In response to escalating global concerns regarding climate change, nations worldwide have been undertaking structural adjustments in their energy sectors to promote diversification and decarbonization. This study conducts a comparative analysis of the policies and measures adopted by major economies, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and France, focusing on climate change, energy structural adjustments, and carbon emission reduction. By analyzing recent carbon emission and highlighting achievements in renewable energy promotion, green industry development, industrial restructuring, and energy production decarbonization, this study aims to provide valuable insights and formulate strategies for constructing an innovative energy system that ensures economic and social development while facilitating rapid growth and wide applications of low-carbon energy sources.

Pressmud, a by-product of sugarcane processing, is typically disposed of through incineration or landfilling, though it has considerable potential in organic agriculture. This study explored the com-posting of pressmud through bioaugmentation using specific bacterial strains. Two experimental setups were created: E2 with a cellulolytic and phosphorus-solubilizing strain, Bacillus amyloliquefa-ciens-ASK11, and E3 with a nitrogen-fixing strain, Bacillus megaterium-ASNF3. A control setup (E5) was also maintained without bacterial augmentation. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents were measured using the Kjeldahl and Olsen methods, respectively, while Fourier-Transform Infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed compost maturity. Results indicated that the Bacillus-enhanced composts in E2 and E3 significantly increased the nitrogen(49.27% and 91.23%) and phosphorus contents(129% and 83.85%), respectively, compared to the control with only 13.62% N and 65% P contents after 60 days of the pressmud compost maturity.. Additionally, organic matter decomposi-tion improved by 49-50% in the bioaugmented setups after 60 days. FTIR analysis revealed organic phosphate peaks and P-O-C stretching bands at 1025 cm-1 in the E2 compost, while a nitrogen vi-bration band at 3849 cm-1 in E3 indicated significantly higher nitrogen content compared to the control. The Bacillus-enriched pressmud compost not only accelerated the composting process but also enhanced nutrient levels, positioning it as a promising biofertilizer for rehabilitating barren lands.

UVA1 phototherapy has been reported to mediate some of its effects via FICZ/AHR/MAPK signaling. A proof-of-concept study was performed to assess whether a topical solution of L tryptophan formulated to favor the generation 6-formylindolo[3,2-b] carbazole (FICZ) demonstrated activity at the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) as assessed by the intensity of cytochrome P450 1A2 staining. Ten participants applied a trial agent consisting of L- tryptophan, lecithin, polyvinyl alcohol and ethanol followed by 36 sessions of graduated sun exposure increasing to a total of 20 Joules per square centimetre. At the end of the trial, biopsies were taken from a treated site with photo-protected buttock skin used as a control. Assessment was via intensity of cytochrome P450 1A2 staining. An average baseline value of 53488923 units was obtained at the control site and 972214294 at the treatment site supporting the concept that this preparation displays activity at the AHR. As the components of this preparation are known to have UV absorbing properties and are potentially permissive of UVA-1 transmission, UV absorbance was assessed for natural sunlight and at 365 and 395nm confirming strong absorption in the UVB and UVA-2 spectra with partial transmission in the UVA-1 spectrum.

The branding of cities through their historical and cultural assets has become a pivotal strategy in urban development and tourism. This study focuses on Erbil Citadel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its potential as a brand for Erbil, a city with a rich historical backdrop and flourishing urban landscape. The study aimed to explore the perceptions of Erbil's residents regarding the cultural significance of the Citadel and its potential as a city brand. A mixed-method survey questionnaire was conducted, collecting data from around 440 residents through both manual distribution around the Citadel and an online platform. The findings were analysed using SPSS to provide both descriptive and inferential statistical insights.

Brain metastasis is the most common intracranial malignancy in adults. The prognosis is extremely poor, partly because most patients have more than one brain lesion, and the currently available therapies are nonspecific or inaccessible to those occult metastases due to an impermeable brain-tumor-barrier (BTB). Phosphatidylserine (PS) is externalized on the surface of viable endothelial cells (ECs) in tumor blood vessels. In this study, we have applied a PS-targeting antibody to assess brain metastases in mouse models. Fluorescence microscopic imaging revealed that extensive PS exposure was found exclusively on vascular ECs of brain metastases. The highly sensitive and specific binding of the PS antibody enables individual metastases, even micrometastases containing an intact BTB, to be clearly delineated. Furthermore, conjugation of the PS antibody with a fluorescence dye, IRDye 800CW, or a radioisotope, ¹²⁵I, allowed clear visualization of individual brain metastases by optical imaging and autoradiography, respectively. In conclusion, we demonstrated a novel strategy of targeting brain metastases based on our finding that abundant PS exposure occurs on blood vessels of brain metastases but not normal brain, which may be useful for the development of imaging and targeted therapeutics for brain metastases

Expandable graphite (EG) was modified with a charring agent and organic-inorganic hybridised intumescent flame retardants (MEG) were synthesized. This study uses a cone calorimeter (CCT) and a DaqPRO 5300 radiation heat flow meter to evaluate the fire-resistant properties influenced by MEG on intumescent fire-retardant coatings. The impact of MEG on the thermal degradation of these coatings was investigated through the use of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results obtained by CCT demonstrated that the incorporation of MEG markedly diminished the heat release rate and total heat release rate of the coating, in addition to enhancing the char residue compared to coatings with only expandable graphite (EG). Furthermore, TGA results demonstrate that adding MEG increases the weight of the char residue at elevated temperatures, suggesting improved thermal stability. Based on these findings, MEG exhibits a synergistic flame retardant effect when combined with intumescent fire retardant (IFR) systems. This synergy not only improves the flame-retardant properties of the coatings but also enhances their overall thermal stability, making MEG a promising additive for developing more efficient fire-retardant materials. Thus, MEG-modified coatings offer superior protection against fire hazards, highlighting their potential for practical applications in fire safety.

Aquaporin-11 (AQP11) is an intracellular water channel expressed at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of the kidney proximal tubule. Its gene disruption in mice leads to intracellular vacuole formation at one week old and the subsequent development of polycystic kidneys at three week old. As the damaged proximal tubular cells with intracellular vacuoles later form cysts, autophagy may play a role in their survival. We examined the autophagy activity before and after the development of cysts in AQP11(-/-) kidneys. We first observed an enhanced expression of LC3 gene (Map1lc3b) as well as other autophagy-related genes in AQP11(-/-) mice by quantitative PCR analysis. We then examined the formation of autophagosomes visualized by a green fluorescent fusion protein, GFP–LC3 in its transgenic mice. The expression of GFP-LC3 puncta was increased in the proximal tubule of AQP11(-/-) mice before the cyst formation. Interestingly, they were also observed in the cyst-lining epithelial cell. Further PCR analyses revealed the enhanced expression of apoptosis- and ER stress-related caspase genes before and after the cyst formation suggesting that ER stress may have enhanced autophagy. We conclude that autophagy will play an important role in the development and the survival of the kidney cysts in AQP11(-/-) mice.

Corrugated boards are used for packaging because of their high strength-to-weight ratio, recyclability, and biodegradability. They have an orthotropic sandwich structure with unique characteristics for each direction owing to their flute shape. In this study, the bending behavior was qualitatively analyzed for various variables through an FE-based simulation, and the possibility of an alternative test method for the four-point bending test on a corrugated board was examined through a similarity analysis with the experimental results. The cross-machine direction (CD) bending stiffness through finite element analysis (FEA) simulation was closely related to the thickness of the corrugated board. In AB-flute-double-wall (AB/F-DW), the difference in CD bending stiffness based on the bending direction was approximately 17.2% in the FEA simulation and approximately 10.5% in the experiment. However, the differences in the bending behavior (bending force vs. deflection plot) and bending stiffness based on the phase shift between the two flutes constituting BB-flute-double-wall (BB/F-DW) were insignificant. Overall, the CD bending behavior of the corrugated board was simulated relatively well through FEA simulation. However, it was impossible to simulate the machine-direction (MD) bending behavior through FE-based simulation because of a decrease in convergence and a large error caused by the variability of the contact condition of the modeled test specimen with a non-uniform MD cross-section.

The article adds new policy insights to the way in which formal teaching methods of environmental stewardship education areas are evaluated in Tuvalu. We aimed to answer three questions: 1. What are the formal policies shaping environmental stewardship education in Tuvalu? 2. Are national educational and environmental policies mutually consistent? and 3. Are these national policies consistent with regional and global policies? These questions were addressed using a study of Tuvaluan online-available documentary assessments of national policies, frameworks, and curricula in conjunction with those obtained from the Education Department. Our findings revealed limitations and weaknesses regarding the provisions of environmental stewardship education at the national scale, including misaligned curricula, policy documents, and formal educational provisions with Tuvalu’s national environmental policy. We also found inconsistencies with regional and global policies such as the Pacific Islands Framework for Nature Conservation, the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific, and international strategic plans for biodiversity and climate change. These cross-scalar policy weaknesses and limitations highlight the need for the Tuvaluan government to align educational and environmental policies at different scales. We recommend a multi-pronged strategy where modes of informal environmental education can support and complement formal government policymaking on education and the environment.

Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) are extensively employed in the aerospace industry due to their excellent properties. Delamination damage occurring at critical locations in CFRP can seriously reduce the safety of in-service components. The detection and localization of delamination damage using Lamb waves hold significant potential for widespread application in non-destructive testing. However, the choice of damage localization algorithm may produce different delamination damage localization results. This research presented an IRAPID (improved reconstruction algorithm for probabilistic inspection of defects) method derived from the ORAPID (original reconstruction algorithm for probabilistic inspection of defects) method, aiming to improve the accuracy and reliability of delamination damage localization. Three CFRP bending plates, including a healthy bending plate and two bending plates with delamination damage sizes of Φ20 mm and Φ40 mm, were prepared in the experiment, respectively. The detection experiment of the CFRP bending plate using lead zirconate titanate (PZT) as a transducer to excite and receive Lamb waves was conducted, and the influence of excitation signal frequency on the performance of the proposed method was discussed. Under the condition of excitation signal frequency of 220 ~ 320 kHz and step size of 10 kHz, the accuracy of the delamination damage localization method proposed in this paper was compared with that of the existing methods. The experimental results indicate that the IRAPID algorithm exhibits good stability in the localization of delamination damage across the frequency variations range considered. The localization error of the IRAPID algorithm for delamination damage is significantly lower than that of the DaS (delay-and-sum) algorithm and the ORAPID algorithm. As the size of the delamination damage increases, so does the localization error. The accuracy of delamination damage localization is lower in the X-axis direction than in the Y-axis direction. By averaging the localization results across various frequencies, we can mitigate the potential localization errors associated with single-frequency detection to a certain extent. For the localization of delamination damage, Lamb waves at multiple frequencies can be employed for detection, and the detection results at each frequency are averaged to enhance the reliability of localization.

Background: The pathophysiology of functional dyspepsia (FD) remains insufficiently understood, and the pain and economic constraints associated with endoscopic examinations hinder the precise definition and treatment of this disorder. Exploring the potential of multi-omics biomarkers for FD could yield promising targets for effectively diagnosing and treating this condition. Methods: We recruited 54 FD patients and 29 healthy volunteers and characterized their gut microbiota by shotgun metagenomic sequencing and their serum and urine metabolites by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Results: We identified the changes in circulating metabolites associated with FD and linked to the gut microbial alterations. Among the differential circulating metabolites, we particularly highlighted the strong association of L-glutamate deficiency with the severity of FD symptoms and its strong predictive value for FD. Although no significant changes were noted in the gut microbial community structure of the FD samples, this might be attributed to symptom overlap between epigastric pain syndrome (EPS) and postprandial distress syndrome (PDS). However, significant alterations in the abundance of certain species were observed, including a substantial increase in the abundance of Streptococcus in the digestive tract of patients with FD. Finally, a cross-omics correlation network integrating metabolomic data with microbial community abundance was established, uncovering potential host-microbe-metabolite interactions. Conclusions: This work provides the first comprehensive description of the disrupted state of blood and urine metabolite composition and gut microbiota in patients with FD. These findings potentially offer promising targets for the diagnosis and treatment of this condition through a multi-omics approach, with particular emphasis on serum metabolomics.

In recent years, the High Dynamic Range (HDR) image has gained widespread popularity 1 across various domains such as security, multimedia, and biomedical fields, owing to its ability 2 to deliver an authentic visual experience. However, the extensive dynamic range and rich detail 3 in HDR images present challenges in assessing their quality. Therefore, current efforts involve 4 constructing subjective databases and proposing objective quality assessment metrics to achieve 5 efficient HDR Image Quality Assessment (IQA). Recognizing the absence of a systematic overview 6 of these approaches, this paper provides a comprehensive survey of existing HDR IQA methods. 7 Furthermore, this paper aims to serve as a valuable resource for researchers by discussing the 8 limitations of current methodologies and potential research directions in the future.

This paper delves into the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the forklift industry, particularly focusing on logistics and procurement within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the field of industrial machinery. The study highlights the growing influence of AI in automating and improving the forklift industry. Using the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) balanced scorecard (BSC), benchmarking, and activity-based management (ABM) models, the paper analyses the risks and the implications of AI integration in the industry in the actual turbulent context. The research highlights the significant shifts in logistics and procurement processes due to AI, projecting a future where forklift operations are deep automatized, leading to a possible loss of forklift operator jobs. A case study of the most relevant Romanian SME in the forklift industry is also presented, examining the company's financial strategies using McKinsey’s 7S framework. The paper concludes with a perspective that, in the future, machines will predominantly operate in roles currently held by humans, significantly altering the industry landscape.

Military Internet of Things (MIoT) has emerged as a new research area in military intelligence. The MIoT frequently has to constitute a federation-capable IoT environment when the military needs to interact with other institutions and organizations or carry out joint missions as part of a coalition such as in NATO. One of the main challenges of deploying MIoT in such an environment is to acquire, analyze, and merge huge amounts of data from many different IoT devices and disseminate it in a secure, reliable, and context-dependent manner. In this work, we present a comprehensive solution for secure data dissemination based on the integration of Hyperledger Fabric's distributed registry technology, Apache Kafka message broker, and data processing microservices implemented using the Kafka Streams API library and applying attribute-based encryption (ABE), a cryptographic approach that facilitates controlling access to information based on data and user attributes rather than traditional methods that rely on specific keys. In the work, we built an experimental setup, implemented an access control scheme designed for mobile components, and performed an evaluation of its performance. Performance tests have confirmed the suitability of the developed cryptographic method for attribute-based data access control in MIoT systems, considering the federations of military networks. The results indicate that the proposed cryptographic scheme is viable for the number of attributes typically assumed to be used in battlefield networks, offering a good trade-off between security and performance for modern cryptographic applications.

Background: Capmatinib and savolitinib, selective MET inhibitors, are widely used to treat various MET-positive cancers. In this study, we aimed to determine the effects of these inhibitors on MET-amplified gastric cancer (GC) cells. Methods: After screening 37 GC cell lines, the following cell lines were found to be MET-positive with copy number variation &gt; 10: SNU-620, ESO51, MKN-45, SNU-5, and OE33 cell lines. Nest, we assessed the cytotoxic response of these cell lines to capmatinib or savolitinib alone using cell counting kit-8 and clonogenic cell survival assays. Western blotting was performed to assess the effects of capmatinib and savolitinib on the MET signaling pathway. Xenograft studies were performed to evaluate the in vivo therapeutic efficacy of savolitinib in MKN-45 cells. Results: Savolitinib and capmatinib exerted anti-proliferative effects on MET-amplified GC cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Savolitinib inhibited the phosphorylation of MET and downstream signaling pathways, such as the protein kinase B (AKT) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways, in MET-amplified GC cells. Additionally, savolitinib significantly decreased the number of colonies formed on the soft agar and exerted dose-dependent anti-tumor effects in a MKN-45 GC cell xenograft model. Furthermore, combination of trastuzumab and capmatinib exhibited enhanced inhibition of AKT and ERK activation in human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)- and MET-positive OE-33 cells. Conclusions: Therefore, targeting MET with savolitinib and capmatinib efficiently suppressed the growth of MET-amplified GC cells. Moreover, these MET inhibitors exerted synergistic effects with trastuzumab on HER2- and MET-amplified GC cells.

Background: Generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) has emerged as a transformative tool in research and education. However, there is a mixed perception about its use. This study assessed the use, perception, prospect, and challenges of Gen-AI use in higher education. Methods: This is a prospective, cross-sectional survey of university students in the United Kingdom (UK) distributed online between January and April 2024. Demography and perception of Gen-AI and other AI tools were assessed and statistically analysed to assess the difference in perception between various subgroups. Results: A total of 136 students responded to the survey of which 59% (80) were male. The majority were aware of Gen-AI and other AI use in academia (61%) with 52% having personal experience of the tools. Grammar correction and idea generation were the two most common tasks of use, with 37% being regular users. Fifty-six percent of respondents agreed that AI gives an academic edge with 40% holding a positive overall perception about the use in academia. Comparatively, there was a statistically significant difference in overall perception between different age ranges (I² = 27.39; p = 0.002) and levels of education (I² = 20.07; p < 0.001). Also, 83% of students believe AI use will increase in academia with over half agreeing it should be integrated into learning. Plagiarism (33%), privacy issues (14%), and lack of clarity by the university (13%) remain the top concerns regarding the use of Gen-AI and other AI tools in academia. Conclusions: Gen-AI and other AI tools are being used and their use will continue to grow in higher education. While current use is challenging due mainly to plagiarism fear and lack of clarity by the university, most users believe AI should be integrated into the university curriculum.

Introduction: It is demonstrated that both a familial history and genetic risk score are associated with subclinical atherosclerosis and most recently have been shown to each provide independent information for future cardiovascular events that seems additive when both are present. The exact mechanism that is responsible for higher risk of patients with positive familial history is yet unknown. In order to find this relationship in Iranian population because of lack of data, we assessed pattern of CAD involvement in patients with positive familial history and without. Methods: This was a cross sectional study that was performed between April 2019 and April 2020 in Imam Rezan and Ghaem Hospitals, Mashhad, Iran. We enrolled all patients with typical chest pain and markedly CAD such as STEMI, non-STEMI, unstable angina, chronic stable angina or sudden cardiac death. Patients’ age were between 18 to 65 years of old. They were divided into 2 groups: patient with familial history of CAD and those without and evaluated for potential risk factors of CAD. Results: This study was performed on 300 patients with CAD who underwent coronary angiography. Of these patients, 180 of them had positive familial history and 120 of them were without familial history. One hundred seventy five of participants were male (58.3%) with mean age of 54.2 years old. Multivariate regression analysis of risk factors showed that age (OR: 1.04, P=0.014), gender (OR: 0.564, P=0.035) and hypertension (OR: 1.99, P= 0.008) are significantly different in two groups. Vessel involvement in both groups showed that multi-vessel involvement in patients with positive familial history (49.2%) was higher than in patients without (36.1%). Three vessel disease (OR: 2.55, P=0.013) was significantly higher in patients with previous familial history rather than patients without after adjusting for other risk factors. Conclusion: In conclusion, we found that a positive familial history of CAD is associated with the severity, morphology (non-calcified and mixed) and extent of coronary atherosclerosis.

Background/Objectives: This study aims to investigate the influence of root canal morphology and various treatment variables on the outcomes of root canal treatments (RCT) in mandibular second molars, assessed through cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging. Methods: A total of 150 CBCT images were examined, comprising 100 cases of persistent endodontic infections and 50 from previously treated root canals with normal apices in mandibular second molars. CBCT was utilized to evaluate root canal configuration, the radiographic quality of coronal restorations and treated canal systems, and the presence of periapical lesions. Statistical analyses were performed to explore correlations between these factors. Results: The presence of a C-shaped root canal configuration did not demonstrate a significant correlation with periapical lesions (p=0.05). Factors influencing endodontic treatment outcomes included the presence of missing canals (p=0.018), underfilling or overfilling (p=0.045), and inadequate coronal restoration (p=0.006). The presence of a missing canal was identified as the variable most significantly associated with periapical lesions (OR=3.103). Leaky canals were more commonly observed in C-shaped root canals (p&lt;0.001). Conclusions: Regardless of the root canal morphology of mandibular second molars, successful RCT depends on thorough disinfection to eliminate any untreated canals, precise three-dimensional filling of the canals at the correct working length, and a securely sealed coronal restoration to prevent leakage.

High seismic activity in the Himalayas and the increasing urbanization of its surrounding areas in the northern Indian region pose significant threats to both lives and properties. To mitigate the risk of seismic events, an earthquake early warning system can be used in the region. This system would be particularly beneficial to cities and towns in the mountainous and foothill regions that are located near earthquake sources. The government and the science and engineering community have re-sponded to this call by establishing the Uttarakhand State Earthquake Early Warning System (UEEWS). The system became fully operational on August 4, 2021, after being launched by the government of Uttarakhand. The UEEWS includes 170 accelerometers in the seismogenic part of the Uttarakhand region of the Himalayas. Ground motion data is transmitted to a central server through a dedicated private telecommunication network 24 hours a day, seven days a week.The system is designed to issue warnings for moderate to high-magnitude earthquakes via a mobile application installed on users' devices and sirens installed in government-owned public buildings. The UEEWS has successfully issued alerts for light earthquakes that occurred in the instrumented region and warnings for moderate earthquakes that occurred in the vicinity of the instrumented area. This paper provides an overview of the design of the UEEWS, details of the instrumentation, adaptation of attributes and their relation to earthquake parameters, the operational flow of the system, and information about the dissemination of warnings

Innovation and sustainability are key elements gaining important positions in public and private organizations’ agenda in recent years. Whilst innovation drives for more productivity, efficiency and competitiveness, sustainability incorporation into the development of the organizations outlines as a counterbalance. It helps directing the innovative endeavors of the organizations towards more responsible activities in terms of environmental, economic and social impacts. To help achieve that, standardization offers valuable tools to orient organizational development efforts towards sustainability. This research aims at exploring the plausible connection between use or implementation of standards and pursuit of sustainability in an important industrial sector in Romania – food industry. The objective of the research is to determine which of the two iden-tified hypothesis can be scientifically supported using the quantitative research methods. The expected results are that more than simply following short-term objectives, companies that con-sciously use recognized standards in their activity pursue long-term sustainability.

Oncology has emerged as a crucial field of study and treatment in the domain of medicine. Computed tomography has gained widespread adoption as a radiological modality for the identification and characterisation of pathologies, particularly in oncology, enabling precise identification of affected organs and tissues. However, achieving accurate liver segmentation in computed tomography scans remains a challenge due to the presence of artefacts and the varying densities of soft tissues and adjacent organs. This paper compares artificial intelligence algorithms and traditional medical image processing techniques to assist radiologists in liver segmentation on computed tomography scans, and evaluates their accuracy and efficiency. It is noteworthy that although studies have been conducted on liver segmentation in computed tomography scans, they often lack an intuitive and visual component that allows healthcare professionals to manipulate and observe the results obtained, thereby limiting interaction with the outcomes. From the literature review, challenges such as under-segmentation, over-segmentation, and poor boundary detection, as well as the selection of methods to improve the accuracy and efficiency of liver segmentation in computed tomography scanners, are highlighted as needs to be addressed. The importance of future research in understanding the essential features for the study, generating more datasets, improving segmentation efficiency, and developing lightweight artificial intelligence frameworks for liver segmentation is outlined.

This case study originates as a design experiment for a sustainable housing system built on-site. The context is Niamey, the capital of Niger. The study takes into account the environmental issues in the construction sector and aims to find a solution capable of meeting housing, environmental, and economic needs. In the field of earthen construction, the most important developments have been achieved in manufacturing methods. In particular, the use of an additive digital manufacturing system, such as large-scale 3D-printing, allows the construction of complex shapes derived from structural and thermal studies, maintaining a high degree of automation in the construction process, reducing construction times and labor costs. This paper investigates the possibility of responding to housing and environmental needs with a settlement system made almost entirely of printed earth, maintaining the highest possible degree of automation. Starting from a study on the state of the art of 3D-printing in architecture and printable earthen compounds, the design choices of similar cases are analyzed to understand the construction techniques, potentials, and limitations of the medium. Finally, a design proposal is developed based on the definition of a fully printable functional module, which, upon aggregation, determines the characteristics of the final settlement. This implies a radical change of approach compared to previous prototyping of 3D-printed earthen buildings, as the design of the single functional module is not an exercise that finds completion in itself, but is oriented to the scale of the settlement right from the definition of its basic geometric characteristics. In other words, the settlement is no longer the result of the serial aggregation of independent basic units, but arises spontaneously from the juxtaposition of functional modules designed to interact with each other and merge into a single residential complex. The settlement is therefore the large-scale replication of the alternation between full and empty spaces that characterizes the single functional module and, even more importantly, the replication can take multiple forms. In fact, the full and empty spaces of the functional module are planned to allow multiple combinations of aggregation. This introduces a certain degree of customization into the growth dynamics of the settlement, a factor that is entirely new compared to previous proposals by repeatable modules. No less important are the environmental implications, as designing for the scale of the settlement allows the low carbon footprint typical of earth-based construction to be extended from the single building to the entire settlement.

This paper highlights the importance of one-shot learning from prototype SKU images for efficient product recognition in retail and inventory management. Traditional methods require large supervised datasets to train deep neural networks, which can be costly and impractical. One-shot learning techniques mitigate this issue by enabling classification from a single prototype image per product class, thus reducing data annotation efforts. We introduce the variational prototyping-encoder (VPE), a novel deep neural network for one-shot classification. Utilizing a support set of prototype SKU images, VPE learns to classify query images by capturing image similarity and prototypical concepts. Unlike metric learning-based approaches, VPE pre-learns image translation from real-world object images to prototype images as a meta-task, facilitating efficient one-shot classification with minimal supervision. Our research demonstrates that VPE can significantly reduce the need for large datasets while accurately classifying query images into their respective categories, providing a practical solution for product classification tasks.

The present study is to address performance of the dairy supply chain and emphasizes the significance of reliability of the chain as a fundamental and critical attribute for fulfilling the safety requirements. In order to evaluate the performance of the dairy supply chain, the present study utilizes the reliability attribute, which is an essential and informative system performance indicator. The study considers not only the inputs and outputs but also internal activities and relationships between customers, manufacturers, and suppliers. To minimize calculations and resolve uncertainties and vagueness that may be experienced in the performance evaluation process, this study proposes the use of the Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) approach and evaluates the reliability at each level of the supply chain: supply, manufacturing, and distribution. Combining the reliability of different levels, the study finally calculates the reliability of the entire supply chain. The proposed methodology offers a practical approach for evaluating the reliability performance of a dairy supply chain and can be easily extended to other industries as well. To verify the proposed methodology, a real case in the Iranian dairy industry is chosen to be studied. Results indicate that the proposed methodology can effectively identify bottlenecks or weaknesses in the dairy supply chain and help develop effective strategies to address them. Analyzing factors influencing supply chain reliability can optimize operations, reduce costs, and improve the overall quality of dairy product quality delivered to consumers.

Aiming at the removal of radioactive cobalt ions from water by graphene oxide (GO), the adsorption mechanism of Co2+ on graphene oxide was analyzed using the quantum chemical calculation software Gaussian 16 based on the density functional theory. The influence of material structure factors such as carboxyl group, hydroxyl group, epoxy group and graphene sheet as well as external environmental factors such as pH, temperature and interfering ions on the adsorption effect was determined, and the influence of external environment was verified through experiments. Through calculation and experiment, it was found that the existence of oxygen-containing functional groups on graphene oxide can improve the adsorption efficiency of the materialappropriately,and increasing pH under acidic conditions was also helpful to improve the adsorption effect, and the material had certain selectivity for Co2+, the adsorption capacity and selectivity could be further improved when it was modified by increasing hydroxyl group.

The ubiquitous nature of polymers have led to a widespread demand for sustainable polymers in numerous industrial applications. However, lack of well laid out guidelines, product development pathways and certifications have resulted in a lot of commotions and confusions within the polymer value chain. Herein, a meticulous review is conducted on the topic of polymer sustainability shedding light on the standards, product declarations, biobased-biomass concepts, product carbon footprint etc. It is critical that companies significantly contribute on such sustainability efforts in lieu of market readiness and competitive advantages. Any discussion within the sustainability horizon references a couple of terms/ abbreviations/concepts. In this article, such key terminologies and concepts related to polymer sustainability are reviewed with a holistic outlook on the widespread approaches within the polymer sustainability horizon.

A growing body of research has identified fetal risk factors associated with adult diseases that form the basis for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis. This theory proposes a critical developmental period during which the fetus is highly susceptible to specific environmental influences that significantly impact health from short to long term. Maternal stress and T2DM during pregnancy are among these influences, likely leading to fetal overexposure to glucocorticoids and suggesting a shared pathway between maternal dysregulated HPA axis and fetal environmental insults. Studies demonstrate that prenatal glucocorticoid exposure alters fetal HPA axis function, affecting brain function, tissue glucocorticoid availability, and fetal growth in utero. These programmed changes, such as altered HPA axis function and reduced fetal growth, contribute to metabolic disorders persisting into adulthood. T2DM is preceded by a prediabetic state, often asymptomatic, which shares similar pathophysiological complications with T2DM, including HPA axis dysregulation observed in animals. Therefore, investigating prediabetes during pregnancy alongside maternal HPA axis function and its effects on fetal outcomes is crucial, as these areas remain understudied. This review aims to synthesize existing literature on pre-existing T2DM during pregnancy, its links to fetal programming via HPA axis changes, and possible links to pregestational prediabetes.

The critical role of global electron density transfer (GEDT) in increasing the reaction rate of polar organic reactions has been studied within the framework of Molecular Electron Density Theory (MEDT). To this end, the series of the polar Diels-Alder (P-DA) reactions of cyclopentadiene with cyanoethylene derivatives, for which experimental kinetic data are available, have been chosen. A complete linear correlation between the computed activation Gibbs free energies and the GEDT taking place at the polar transition state structures (TSs) is found; the higher the GEDT at the TS, the lower the activation Gibbs free energy. An interacting quantum atoms (IQA) energy partitioning analysis allows establishing a complete linear correlation between the electronic stabilization of the electrophilic ethylene frameworks and the GEDT taking place at the polar TSs. This finding supports Parr’s proposal for the definition of the electrophilicity  index (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1999, 121, 1922). The present MEDT study allows establishing the critical role of the GEDT in the acceleration of polar reactions, since the electronic stabilization of the electrophilic framework with the electron density gain is greater than the destabilization of the nucleophilic one, making a net favorable electronic contribution to the decrease of the activation energy.

A comprehensive Energy Audit of a Maintenance facility was performed to assess its energy performance and identify scope for improvement. The facility’s Energy Use Intensity (EUI) for 2022 was 404 kWh/m2 — more than double the Benchmark EUI for Maintenance facilities (151 kWh/m2) recommended by EnergyStar. Furthermore, the Load Factor for 2022 was 0.22, which is lower than the recommended minimum of 0.75 for an efficient building. The audit encompassed an in-depth evaluation of the building's structural and operational characteristics, comprising HVAC systems, lighting, building envelope, and energy-intensive machinery. An energy model of the building was developed to emulate the baseline building energy performance for 2022. Following the energy model's development and validation, an analysis was conducted to identify energy-intensive areas and opportunities for optimization. Energy Efficiency Measures were then formulated, focusing on improving energy efficiency while focusing on energy consumption reduction and GHG emission reduction. Results demonstrated the potential of Energy Audits and Modeling to enable significant reductions in energy consumption and promote sustainable building practices. Among the Energy Efficiency Measures considered, re-sizing and decarbonizing HVAC equipment contributed the most to energy savings, with a 100% decrease in natural gas and 37% decrease in electricity use annually.

Climate change has become a global nightmare, and the awareness of the causes of carbon emissions have resulted in rigorous studies. These studies linked the increase in global warming with booming economic growth. Since global warming has become more apparent, researchers have explored ways to decouple economic activities from carbon growth. Economic and carbon growth must be decoupled to achieve a low-carbon economy to support the carbon growth plan or emission reduction strategy. The world is transitioning towards a carbon-neutral and green ecosystem, so finding ways to decouple carbon emissions from economic activities is an exciting topic to explore. The study reviews current information on the importance of decoupling energy from economic growth innovative techniques that thoroughly examine the challenges and constraints of low-carbon energy systems. This review revealed that decarbonization and dematerialization had been achieved without declining global economic growth. It also provides information on energy use and economic activities leading to global carbon emissions and alternative solutions to the global challenge of climate change. The decoupling methods commonly used to determine the impact of energy decarbonization on economic growth are explored. All suggested that economic growth is a primary mover of global carbon emission increase and must be separated to achieve a carbon environment.

Metabolites are at the end of the gene-transcript-protein-metabolism cascade. As such, metabo-lomics is the omic approach that offers the most direct correlation with phenotype. This allows that, where genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics fail to explain a trait, metabolomics might give an answer. Complex phenotypes, which are determined by the influence of multiple small effect alleles, are an example of these situations. Consequently, the interest in metabolomics has increased ex-ponentially in the last years. As a newer discipline, the metabolomics bioinformatics analysis pipe-lines are not as standardized as in the other omic approaches. In this review we synthesized the different steps that need to be carried out to obtain biological insight from the annotated metabolite abundance raw data. These steps were grouped in three different modules: preprocessing, statistical analyses and metabolic pathway enrichment. We included within each one of them the different state-of-the art procedures and tools that can be used depending on the characteristics of the study, providing details about the characteristics of each method has, as well as the issues the reader might encounter. Finally, we introduce genome scale metabolic modeling as a tool for obtaining pseu-do-metabolomic data in situations where its acquisition is difficult, being possible to analyze the resulting data with the modules of the described workflow.

Sentiment analysis is a pivotal tool for gauging the public’s perception and understanding of human communication across digital social media platforms. However, due to linguistic complexities and limited resources, sentiment analysis is not well-represented in many African languages. While benchmark Africa-Centric Pre-trained Language Models (PLMs) have been developed for various Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks, their applications in eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) remain unexplored. In this study, we introduce a novel approach that combines Africa-centric PLMs with XAI techniques for sentiment analysis. We demonstrate that applying attention mechanisms and visualisation techniques improves the transformer-based model’s transparency, trustworthiness, and decision-making abilities when making sentiment predictions. We then employ the SAfriSenti—a multilingual sentiment corpus for South African under-resourced languages. We use the corpus to perform various sentiment analysis experiments and also enable comprehensive evaluations, comparing the performance of Africa-centric models against mainstream PLMs. The Afro-XLMR model outperformed all models and achieved an average F1-score performance of 71.04% across the five tested languages and the lowest error rate among the evaluated models. Additionally, we incorporated techniques like Local Interpretive Model-Agnostic Interpretation (LIME) and Shapley Additive Interpretation (SHAP) in the sentiment classifier’s output to enhance the Afro-XLMR model’s interpretability and explainability. As a result, the use of XAI strategies ensures that sentiment predictions are not only accurate and interpretable but also understandable, fostering trust and reliability in the decision-making of AI-driven NLP technologies, particularly in the context of African languages.

This paper investigates the effects that rain drop erosion has on the integrity of wind turbine materials. This research involves analysis of impact models and theoretical equations to simulate the impact phenomena when a raindrop collides with a wind turbine blade at high speed. Impact phenomena that occur when a raindrop impacts with a wind turbine blade were evaluated. Additionally, the use of various types of software was considered to simulate this impact event. The model results of the raindrop impact with respect to a comparison of the governing equations and impact behaviour are addressed. Future work is outlined including adding variables to the erosion modelling algorithms.

Water is essential for all life on earth. It is a major component that makes up living organisms and plays a vital role in multiple biological processes. It provides a medium for chemical and enzymatic reactions in the cell and is a major player for osmoregulation and maintenance of cell turgidity. Despite this, many organisms, called anhydrobiotes, are capable of surviving under extremely dehydrated conditions. Less is known about how anhydrobiotes adapt and survive under the desiccation stress. Studies have shown that morphological and physiological changes occur in anhydrobiotes in response to desiccation stress. Certain disaccharides and proteins, including heat shock proteins, intrinsically disordered proteins, and hydrophilins, play important roles in the desiccation tolerance of the anhydrobiotes. In this review, we summarize the recent findings of the desiccation tolerance in the budding yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We also propose that the yeast under desiccation could be used as a model to study neurodegenerative disorders.

There are four types of influenza viruses: A, B, C, and D. Cattle are susceptible to influenza D infection and serve as a reservoir for this seven-segmented influenza virus. It is generally thought that bovines are not a host of other types of influenza viruses including type A. This long-standing viewpoint has been challenged by the recent highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreaks in dairy cows in the United States. To date, HPAI H5N1 has spread into nine states affecting 49 dairy herds and causing clinical symptoms including reduced appetite, fever, and a sudden drop in milk production. This review article describes the current epidemiological landscape of HPAI H5N1 in U.S. dairy cows and the recent interspecies transmission events of HPAI H5N1 in other mammals reported in other countries. The review also discusses adaptation mutations of HPAI H5N1 to mammalian hosts and vaccination strategies. Finally, it summarizes some immediate questions that need to be addressed towards a better understanding of infection biology, transmission, and immune response of HPAI H5N1 in bovines.

An asymmetric [3+2] cycloaddition of azomethine ylides generated from the corresponding imino esters to trans-β-nitrostyrene catalyzed by chiral aziridine-containing phosphines and phosphine oxides is described. Of the sixteen stereoisomers that could be formed as a result of the title reac-tion, three were formed, two of which were obtained in an enantiomerically enriched or pure form, and one in a racemic form. One of the products underwent epimerization under basic reaction conditions.

This paper presents the results of a study on the nature, pace and directions of socio-economic and spatial changes in the Warsaw Metropolitan Area (WMA) related to the suburbanization processes taking place there. In the course of research, data on municipalities from the Local Data Bank were used, and that made it possible to trace the changes occurring in 2002-2021. The selection of ana-lytical characteristics took into account a wide range of socio-economic diversities of the area related to changes in population, construction activity and housing stock, land use and spatial policy, economic and associated with investment attractiveness. The components of diversification were used to develop the typological classes of municipalities. The final result of the study is the identification of the specificity of suburbanization in the OMW which is reflected in the social, economic and spatial aspects of the functioning of municipalities.

The main source of electricity worldwide stems from fossil fuels, contributing to air pollution, global warming, and associated adverse effects. This study explores wind energy as a potential alternative. Nevertheless, the variable nature of wind introduces uncertainty in its reliability. Thus, it is necessary to identify an appropriate machine learning model capable of reliably forecasting wind speed under various environmental conditions. This research compares the effectiveness of artificial neural networks (ANN) and convolutional neural networks (CNN) in predicting wind speed across three locations in South Africa, characterised by different weather patterns. Empirical results show that CNN outperforms ANN in accurately forecasting wind speed under different weather conditions. This superiority is likely due to the inherent architectural attributes of CNNs, including feature extraction capabilities, spatial hierarchy learning, and resilience to spatial variability. These results could be useful to decision-makers in the energy sector.

This research delves into a detailed exploration of the thermal decomposition behavior of bio-based polymers, specifically Thermoplastic Starch (TPS) and Poly(lactic acid) (PLA). The study focuses on the impact of three different heating rates under a nitrogen atmosphere, providing comprehensive insights into the thermal stability of these eco-friendly polymers. In particular, the TPS kinetic model is examined, encompassing the decomposition of three distinct fractions. In contrast, PLA exhibits a simplified kinetic behavior requiring only a fraction described by a zero-order model. The kinetic study involves a systematic investigation into the individual contributions of key components within TPS, including starch, glycerin, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). This nuanced analysis contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the thermal degradation process of TPS and PLA, enabling the optimization of processing conditions and the prediction of material behavior across varying thermal environments. Furthermore, the incorporation of different starch sources and calcium carbonate additives in TPS enhances our understanding of the polymer's thermal stability, offering insights into potential applications in diverse industries.

The aviation industry has proposed multiple solutions to reduce fuel consumption, air pollution and noise at airports, one of which involves deploying electric trucks for aircraft towing between the stand and the runway. However, the introduction of tow trucks results in increased surface traffic, posing challenges from the perspective of Air Traffic Controller's (ATCO). Various solutions involving automated planning and execution have been proposed, but many are constrained by their inability to manage multiple active runways simultaneously, and their failure to account for tow truck battery state-of-charge during assignments. This paper presents a novel system for taxi operations that employs autonomous tow trucks to enhance ground operations and address deficiencies in existing approaches. The system focuses on identifying conflict-free solutions that minimize taxi-related delays and route length while maximising the efficient use of the tow trucks. The algorithm operates at a strategic level and uses a centralised approach. It has the capacity to cater for multiple active runways and considers factors such as tow truck battery state-of-charge and availability of charging stations. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm is capable of scheduling and routing tow trucks for aircraft taxiing without generating traffic conflicts.

In recent years, machine learning (ML) techniques have emerged as an efficient and effective technology within the petroleum industry. This paper focuses on the current application of ML in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) through CO2 injection, which exhibits promising economic and environmental benefits of climate-change mitigation strategy. Our comprehensive review explores the diverse use cases of ML techniques in CO2-EOR, including aspects such as minimum miscible pressure (MMP) prediction, well location optimization, oil production and recovery factor prediction, multi-objective optimization, Pressure-Volume-Temperature (PVT) properties estimation, Water Alternating Gas (WAG) analysis, and CO2-foam EOR, from 101 reviewed papers. In this comprehensive review, we catalog relative information, including the input parameters, objectives, data sources, train/test/validate information, results, evaluation, and rating score for each area based on criteria such as data quality, ML building process, and analysis of results. We also briefly summarized the benefits and limitations of ML methods in petroleum industry applications. Our detailed and extensive study could serve as an invaluable reference for employing ML techniques in the petroleum industry. Based on the review, we found that ML techniques offer great potential in solving problems in the majority of CO2-EOR areas involving prediction and regression. With the generation of massive amounts of data in the everyday oil and gas industry, machine learning techniques can provide efficient and reliable preliminary results for the industry.

The early detection of small cracks in large structures is a crucial requirement for the implementation of structural health monitoring (SHM) system with a low transducer density. This work presents the results of the analysis of scattering of a submillimeter notch type defect with semielliptical shape with a groove at constant width 100µm in a 4.1mm thick aluminum plate. The defect is investigated with an ultrasonic guided wave (UGW) A0 mode at 550 kHz to cover long range in a thick plate. The mode selection is obtained by interdigital transducers designed to operate with 5mm central wavelength. The novel contribution is the assessment of the scattering amplitudes at different orientations of the defect when the distance is large as 35 cm in pulse-echo mode or 70 cm in pitch-catch mode. The system model is based on Finite Element Model (FEM) simulations and the results are in good agreement with experimental tests. The detection of the defect is obtained by comparing the scattered signals from the defect with base line signals of the pristine laminate. The analysis of scattering features and the efficient excitation with a probing UGW show the potential implementation in real structural health monitoring (SHM) systems.

Most consumer purchases are influenced by their evaluation of a product's advantages, disadvantages, and emotional components. Research in psychology and marketing indicates that customer emotions play a role at different stages of the purchasing process. This study aims to identify the elements that may influence consumer feelings when purchasing high-end cosmetics. To explore the various aspects of customer emotions, a qualitative study was conducted using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 23 users of luxury cosmetics and health products in Telegram groups. This research uncovered multiple emotional dimensions and pinpointed factors that could elicit emotions in the target market. The next step, based on collective consensus, was to determine the variables impacting customer emotions. At this stage, the panel included 15 experts in marketing, psychology, luxury cosmetics import businesses active on digital platforms, and managers of luxury cosmetics and hygiene groups in online environments. Through a three-step consensus method, experts identified and assessed 36 factors affecting customer emotions based on their significance and perceived impact. These factors were then categorized into three groups: personal variables, group and product variables, and contextual variables.

The paper presents an analysis of the concept of resilience within the context of a modern period example in Croatia, the Cvjetno housing estate in Zagreb, recognized as a cultural and historical complex. While extensive literature exists on the estate's architectural and historical significance, limited research explores its resilience. This study aims to fill this gap by examining Cvjetno estate's resilience to natural hazards, financial and economic challenges, and social crises. It investigates the estate's design, historical context, and physical characteristics through archival documents, historical records, and field research. The analysis focuses on the estate's planned resilience to natural disasters, particularly flooding from the nearby river Sava and seismic risks due to its location in a seismically active area. Drawing from the literature on resilient communities, the study draws on key characteristics and principles of resilience and explores how Cvjetno estate exemplifies these traits. The research contributes to a deeper understanding of resilience in urban planning and provides insights for enhancing resilience in similar historical settlements facing contemporary challenges.

Despite the growing number of published studies on student learning in the laboratory, there is a critical need to improve methodological rigor. Resonating with discussions on research methods, this paper outlines the importance of theory-informed research questions, the minimization of researcher and participant biases, and the use of triangulation and iteration in data collection to establish rigor. An illustrative case is presented within the context of a large interdisciplinary research project aimed at improving laboratory learning at the university level. The project incorporates two research avenues: one focusing on literature and faculty perspectives, and the other on a comprehensive assessment of multidimensional learning in the laboratory. The project employs a mixed methods paradigm and is grounded in a conceptual framework that conceptualizes laboratory work as epistemic practice, requiring a holistic analysis of student learning. The article concludes by discussing the results and implications of the project's findings, which are synthesized to highlight aspects of establishing methodological rigor. The overarching goal is to develop a comprehensive assessment instrument that captures the complexity and richness of the laboratory learning environment. The findings from this research are expected to contribute to the advancement of laboratory education research by providing a model for methodological rigor that can be applied across various scientific and interdisciplinary contexts.

The present study aims to show on the one hand how easily one can get confused when doing research on the internet. Different platforms, fora and homepages supply the visitor with different - and sometimes contradictory - information. On the other hand, we show how to overcome these contradictions and produce valuable research based on almost all sources. For our study, we use the example of the Feit-Thompson conjecture, which is - in opposite to the well-known Feit-Thompson theorem - not widely known. We try to clarify the scientific literature on this topic and we embed our own result into the present state of art. We prove that pq−1p−1 does not divide qp−1q−1 if p and q are twin primes, i.e. p=q+2. Thus we prove that the Feit-Thompson conjecture is true for twin prime numbers.

Ambitious biodiversity goals to protect 30% or more of the Earth’s surface by 2030 (30x30) require strategic near-term targets. To define areas that must be protected to prevent the most likely and imminent extinctions, we propose Conservation Imperatives—16,825 unprotected sites harboring rare and threatened species and spanning ~164 Mha of the terrestrial realm. We estimate that protecting the Conservation Imperatives would cost approximately US$169 billion [90% probability: $146 — $228 billion]. Globally, 38% of the 16,825 sites are either adjacent to or within 2.5 km of an existing protected area, potentially reducing land acquisition and management costs. These sites should be prioritized for conservation action over the next five years as part of a broader strategy to expand the global protected area network. The expansion of global protected areas between 2018–2023 incorporated only 7% of sites harboring range-limited and threatened species, highlighting a renewed urgency to conserve these habitats. Permanently protecting only 0.74% of land found in the tropics, where Conservation Imperatives are concentrated, could prevent the majority of predicted near-term extinctions once adequately resourced. We estimate this cost to be US$29 billion to US$46 billion per year over the next five years. Multiple approaches will be required to meet long-term protection goals: providing rights and title to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) conserving traditional lands, government designation of new protected areas on federal and state lands, and land purchase or long-term leasing of privately held lands.

Background: To evaluate derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (dNLR) in predicting the prognosis of patients with locally advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma (LAOSCC), and the survival benefits from docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-FU (TPF) induction chemotherapy (IC); Methods: Patients from a phase III trial involving TPF IC in stage III/IVA OSCC patients (NCT01542931) were enrolled. Receiver operating characteristic curves were built and area under the curve was computed to determine dNLR cutoff points. Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival and Cox proportional hazards models were used for longitudinal analysis; (3) Results: 224 patients were identified (median age, 55.4 yr; range, 26 to 75 yr; median follow-up, 90 months; range, 3.2 to 93 months); Cutoff points for dNLR was 1.555. Multivariate analysis showed dNLR was an independent negative predictive factor for survival (overall survival (OS): hazard ratio (HR) = 1.154, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.018-1.309, P = 0.025, disease-free survival (DFS): HR = 1.123, 95% CI: 0.260-1.000, P = 0.050, local recurrence-free survival (LRFS): HR = 1.134, 95% CI: 1.002-1.283, P = 0.047, distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS): HR = 1.146, 95% CI: 1.010-1.300, P = 0.035). Low dNLR combining cTNM stage III disease predicts benefit from TPF IC for the patients [OS (χ² = 4.674, P = 0.031), DFS (χ² = 7.134, P = 0.008), LRFS (χ² = 5.937, P = 0.015) and DMFS (χ² = 4.832, P = 0.028)]; (4) Conclusions: dNLR is an independent negative predictive factor in LAOSCC patients. Patients of cTNM stage III and low dNLR can benefit from TPF IC.

In this study the effects of three different main preparatory tillage operations [ploughing at 0.4 m (P40) and 0.20 m (P20) depth and minimum tillage at 0.20 m depth (MT) each of them carried out at two different soil water contents (WC) [low, 58% (LH) and high, 80% (HH) of field capacity] were investigated. The results obtained in this research show high values of soil strength in term of Penetration resistance (CI) and shear strength (SS) particularly in deeper soil layers at lower water content. Fossil-fuel energy requirements both for P40 LH and P20 LH were 25 and 35% higher with respect to the HH treatments and tractor slip were very high (P40 LH = 32.4%) with respect to the P40 HH treatment (16%). Therefore soil water content had significantly influenced tractor performance during soil ploughing, particularly at 0.40 m depth while MT was not influenced at all. A significant correlation between grain yield and soil penetration resistance was found highlighting how soil strength may be good indicator of its productivity. Obtained results during these field tests allowed considering MT and P20 treatments more suitable for this type of soil in climate change scenarios.

The role that aquatic aerosols might play in inter-ecosystem exchange in freshwater riparian environments has largely been understudied. In these environments, where freshwater streams are used both as drinking water and for treated waste disposal, water features like waterfalls, downed trees, and increased streamflow can serve as bioaerosol producers. Such water features could have an important role in the bacterial colonization of surrounding surfaces, including the riparian phyllosphere. In this study, we explore the influence of a freshwater stream’s bacterial community composition and micropollution on riparian maple leaves exposed to bioaerosols produced from the stream. Using culture-based and non-culture-based techniques, we compared phylloplane microbial communities in riparian zones, adjacent non-riparian forested zones, and the surface waters of the stream. In this system, riparian zone maple leaf surfaces had higher bacterial counts than non-riparian zone trees. Using metagenomic profiling of the 16S rRNA gene, we found that, while microbial communities on leaves in both riparian zone and forested sites were diverse, riparian zone bacterial communities were significantly more diverse. In addition, we found that riparian leaf bacterial communities shared more amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) with stream bacterial communities than forest leaves, indicating that the riparian zone phyllosphere is likely influenced by bioaerosols produced from water surfaces.

The maritime industry contributes to over 80% of global trade and ranks as the sixth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. The International Maritime Organization has taken strides to reduce these emissions, while the European Union spearheads efforts to establish sustainable maritime transport. However, meeting decarbonisation targets poses significant challenges, with the potential implications of adopting an EU Emission Trading System (ETS) on shipping allowances, particularly at specific borders. If not managed effectively, this could result in diversifying regular container shipping routes away from EU ports, potentially leading to increased shipping emissions and disrupting the logistics trade and security chain. These challenges are exacerbated by the International Maritime Organization's lack of a carbon fee on bunkering, which creates an imbalance. The ETS Directive has fostered unfair competition between EU and non-EU ports due to discrepancies in applying emission unit allowances. It is imperative to implement preventive measures to contain and prevent the shift of operations from EU ports to nearby ports, ensure equitable treatment of EU transhipment ports and their competitors, and thwart carbon leakage. Additionally, the recent Houthis attacks on the Red Sea have significantly impacted shipping costs on the Cape of Good Hope route to Europe, necessitating increased allowances to and from Europe.

The stability properties of the Hill equation are discussed, and especially those of the Mathieu equation that characterize ion motion in electrodynamic traps. The solutions of the Mathieu equation for a trapped ion are characterized by using the Floquet theory and Hill's Method solution, which yields an infinite system of linear and homogeneous equations whose coefficients are recursively determined. Stability is discussed for parameters $a$ and $q$ that are real. Characteristic curves are introduced naturally by the Sturm-Liouville problem for the well known even and odd Mathieu equations $ce_m(z,q)$ and $se_m(z,q)$. We illustrate the stability diagram for a combined (Paul and Penning) trap and represent the frontiers of the stability domains for axial and radial motion. In case of a Paul trap the stable solution corresponds to a superposition of harmonic motions. The problem of evaluating the maximum amplitudes of stable oscillations for the ideal conditions (taken into consideration) is also approached. Anharmonic corrections are discussed within the frame of the perturbation theory, while the frontiers of the modified stability domains are determined as a function of the chosen perturbation parameter. The results apply to 2D and 3D ion traps used for different applications in quantum engineering, among which optical clocks, quantum logic and quantum metrology, but not restricted only to these.

In the realm of metal steel and iron manufacturing, there is a constant drive to optimize production efficiency and enhance the quality of the final products. This abstract explores a paradigm shift in this industry through the utilization of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) as a powerful tool for achieving these goals .The study focuses on various critical aspects of the manufacturing process. Firstly, it delves into three-phase processes such as slag and gas entrainment in liquid steel, which have a significant impact on the overall product quality. Understanding and optimizing these processes is crucial to ensure the desired chemical composition and physical properties of the final metal.The abstract investigates the role of CFD in vacuum degassing, a process that plays a pivotal role in removing impurities, such as hydrogen and oxygen, from the liquid steel. By leveraging CFD to simulate and analyze the fluid flow patterns, researchers and engineers can design more efficient vacuum degassing systems, leading to improved product purity and reduced waste.Another crucial aspect explored in this abstract is the alloy melt and mixing process. By employing CFD simulations, researchers can gain insights into the movement of different alloy components and optimize their distribution within the melt. This aids in achieving the desired alloy composition, ensuring uniformity, and enhancing the mechanical properties of the final product.In addition, the study delves into the movement and flotation of inclusions, which are unwanted impurities present in the metal. CFD can be utilized to model and analyze the behavior of these inclusions, enabling engineers to design efficient strategies for their removal, thereby enhancing the purity and integrity of the final product.Moreover, the abstract considers the impact of melt temperature losses, which can occur during different stages of the manufacturing process. By employing CFD, it becomes possible to understand and mitigate these temperature losses, leading to improved energy efficiency and better control over the manufacturing parameters.Part 1 of this abstract critically evaluates the use of CFD in iron making, analyzing its benefits and limitations. It highlights how CFD can aid in process optimization, improving the understanding of complex phenomena involved in iron making, and ultimately leading to enhanced production efficiency.Part 2 focuses on the application of CFD in steel making and steel operation. It explores the fluid flow dynamics during different stages of steel production, including refining, casting, and rolling. By leveraging CFD, engineers can optimize these processes, leading to improved product quality, reduced defects, and increased productivity.This abstract demonstrates the transformative potential of Computational Fluid Dynamics in metal, steel, and iron manufacturing. By utilizing CFD as a tool to model and analyze complex fluid flow phenomena, researchers and engineers can revolutionize the production process, maximizing efficiency, and ensuring high-quality end products.

Particulate matter (PM) is one of the problems faced in environmental science. It has health effects on man and animals in both developed and developing countries. Research and efforts have been on it several years back. Policy statements and efforts have been published. This review paper is an added information on air pollution. In it, efforts were made in discussing these: classification, effects, methodology, case studies and source apportionment. It is hoped that this paper would contribute to existing knowledge on PM.

Cultural routes are a composite set of heritage, referring to any ancient routes of human communication. As one of the key products of cultural tourism, they providing visitors with a rich cultural experience across regions. We systematically review reports and studies related to the tourism development of 38 cultural routes cases around the world, with a special focus on their distribution, typology, planning patterns and tools for cultural tourism. We summarized eight tools, there are some differences in how often these eight tools are used by the different types of routes and different planning patterns for routes tourism. The study also made an evaluation system based on the conservation principles of cultural routes to find out how different tools of tourism affect the conservation and development of the historical region. It was found that although many efforts have been made by tourism decision-makers to protect and develop cultural routes there are still many problems and challenges in the process of tourism development along cultural routes. We close the paper by making a few recommendations for decision makers and researchers concerning future routes’ tourism planning and study.

Cooperative and self-enforceable water allocation is a key instrument to manage geopolitical conflict induced by water scarcity, which necessitates concerning the cooperative willingness of the agents and considering their heterogeneity in geography, climate, hydrology, environment and social economy. Based on a multi-indicator system that contains asymmetric information on water volume contribution, current water consumption, water economic efficiency and efforts for eco-environmental protection, this study proposed a water allocation framework by combining the asymmetric power index approach with bankruptcy theory for solving the transboundary water allocation problem under scarcity. The proposed method was applied to the Yellow River Basin in northern China, which is mainly shared by nine provincial districts and frequently suffers from severe water shortage, and its results were compared with six alternative methods. The results highlight the necessity of quantifying agent’s willingness to cooperate under the background of asymmetric negotiation power when making decisions on transboundary water allocations. The proposed method allows to perform transboundary water allocations through simultaneous consideration of the agent’s cooperation willingness, asymmetric negotiation power as well as disagreement allocation points, which ensure the stability, fairness and self-enforceability of allocation results. Therefore, it can offer practical and valuable decision-making insights for transboundary water management under water scarcity.

Background Indicators to evaluate progress towards timely access to safe surgical, anaesthesia, and obstetric (SAO) care were proposed in 2015 by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. Despite being rapidly taken up by practitioners, datapoints from which to derive them were not defined, limiting comparability across time or settings. We convened global experts to evaluate and explicitly define - for the first time - the indicators to improve comparability and support achievement of 2030 goals to improve access to safe affordable surgical and anaesthesia care. Methods and findings The Utstein process for developing and reporting guidelines through a consensus building process was followed. In-person discussions at a two day meeting were followed by an iterative process conducted by email and virtual group meetings until consensus was reached. Participants consisted of experts in surgery, anaesthesia, and obstetric care, data science, and health indicators from high, middle, and low income countries. Considering each of the six indicators in turn, we refined overarching descriptions and agreed upon data points needed for construction of each indicator at current time (basic data points), and as each evolves over 2-5 (intermediate) and >5 year (full) timeframes. We removed one of the original six indicators (one of two financial risk protection indicators was eliminated) and refined descriptions and defined data points required to construct the 5 remaining indicators: geospatial access, workforce, surgical volume, perioperative mortality, and catastrophic expenditure. Conclusions To track global progress toward timely access to quality SAO care, these indicators – at the basic level - should be implemented universally. Intermediate and full evolutions will assist in developing national surgical plans, and collecting data for research studies.

A significant part of the global economy is focused on financial technologies, such as digital wallets, a rapidly growing sector. In 2020, 2.4 billion people used digital banking services globally, and this figure is projected to rise to 3.6 billion by 2026. This study aims to evaluate the current state and future trends in research on digital wallets using scientific databases. The methodology employed was a scoping review that analyzed 778 documents after the eligibility process. The terms used were “digital wallet,” “mobile wallet,” and “e-wallet.” Results indicate that India, the United States, and China lead in digital wallet research. Factors such as data security, ease of use, and integration with traditional payment systems significantly influence the adoption of digital wallets. Despite numerous studies, this article provides the first in-depth bibliometric analysis using Scopus and Web of Science. There has been an exponential research increase over the last decade, with a shift towards technological adoption and innovation. Less developed but key topics such as “digital wallets,” “blockchain,” and “block-chain” are fundamental yet have potential for further development. Driving themes like “electronic money,” “e-wallet,” and “electronic commerce” are central and highly developed, indicating their relevance and high research activity.

Recent developments in flexible printed heaters (FPH) for wearable thermal applications, driven by the advancement of printed electronics, show great promise in revolutionizing patient care through the development of wearable flexible heaters for medical applications. Wearable heaters with high thermal stability, heat uniformity, safety, flexibility, comfort, biocompatibility, and power efficiency are desirable for stand-alone medical thermotherapy applications. This paper reviews recent advancements in the design of FPHs for wearable thermal applications. Materials for FPHs, fabrication methods, designs, temperature control mechanisms, medical applications, and performance analysis of specific FPHs are all thoroughly discussed. Materials for FPHs, such as conductive and substrate materials, have received special attention, along with the heater design parameters. Finally, the challenges and future directions for developing FPHs for wearable medical applications are addressed.

Thanks to several Vitis vinifera backcrosses with an initial V. vinifera L. × V. rotundifolia (previously Muscadinia rotundifolia) interspecific cross, the MrRUN1/MrRPV1 locus (resistance to downy and powdery mildews) was introgressed in genotypes phenotypically close to V. vinifera varieties. To check the consequences of introgressing parts of the V. rotundifolia genome on gene expression during fruit development, we conducted a comparative RNA-seq study on single berries from different V. vinifera cultivars and V. vinifera × V. rotundifolia hybrids, including ‘G5’ and two derivative microvine lines, ‘MV102’ (resistant) and ‘MV32’ (susceptible) segregating for the MrRUN1/RPV1 locus. RNA-Seq profiles were analyzed on a comprehensive set of single berries from the end of the herbaceous plateau to the ripe stage. Pair-end reads were aligned both on V. vinifera PN40024.v4 reference genome, V. rotundifolia cv ‘Trayshed’ and cv ‘Carlos’, and to the few resistance genes from the original V. rotundifolia cv ‘52’ parent available at NCBI. Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) led to classifying the differentially expressed genes into 15 modules either preferentially correlated with resistance or berry phenology and composition. Resistance positively correlated transcripts predominantly mapped on the 4-5 Mb distal region of V. rotundifolia chromosome 12 beginning with the MrRUN1/MrRPV1 locus, while the negatively correlated ones mapped on the orthologous V. vinifera region, showing this large extremity of LG12 remained recalcitrant to internal recombination during the successive backcrosses. Some constitutively expressed V. rotundifolia genes were also observed at lower density outside this region. Genes overexpressed in developing berries from resistant accessions, either introgressed from V. rotundifolia, or triggered by these in the vinifera genome, spanned various functional groups, encompassing calcium signal transduction, hormone signaling, transcription factors, plant–pathogen-associated interactions, disease resistance proteins, ROS and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. This transcriptomic insight provides a foundation for understanding the disease resistance inherent in these hybrid cultivars and suggests a constitutive expression of NIR NBS LRR triggering calcium signaling. Moreover, these results illustrate the magnitude of transcriptomic changes caused by the introgressed V. rotundifolia background in backcrossed hybrids, on a large number of functions largely exceeding the ones constitutively expressed in single resistant gene transformants.

This study aims to enhance multimodal transportation systems by mitigating CO2 emissions and enhancing operational efficiency. It introduces a novel centralized cargo concentration approach tailored for regions facing geographical challenges. The method proposes for direct transportation of cargo from its loading origin to export ports, bypassing intermediate hubs. The mathematical model determines the most efficient means of transport for each route, factoring in variables like distance, volume, and cargo type. Research results indicate that, in scenarios with a high concentration of cargo, multiple hubs may not be necessary, which could streamline transportation and logistics operations. Modal preferences vary based on regional dynamics and cargo characteristics, with rail and sea transport emerging as preferable options under specific circumstances, surpassing the efficacy of road transport. The proposed model showcases reductions in both logistics costs and CO2 emissions compared to road-centric scenarios. It underscores the strategic integration of diverse transportation modes as pivotal for enhancing efficiency and sustainability. This study furnishes a framework adaptable to optimizing multimodal transportation systems in regions sharing similar geographical and logistical attributes.

Saliva, as a diagnostic medium, offers a promising alternative to blood by virtue of its non-invasive collection, which enhances patient compliance, especially in paediatric and geriatric populations. In this study, we assessed the utility of saliva as a non-invasive medium for measuring V. cholerae-specific serum antibodies in naturally infected individuals. We tested paired serum and saliva samples obtained from a total of 63 cholera patients enrolled in a cohort study. Vibriocidal antibodies assay (IgM/IgG) as markers for accurate determination was used to determine cholera specific antibody levels. Using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, we found that the best cut-off that maximizes (sensitivity + specificity) is 10 titers. At this saliva titer, the sensitivity is 76.9% (95%CI: 60.9%, 87.7%) and specificity is 80.0% (95%CI: 56.6%, 92.5%). Using Spearman’s correlation coefficient, we also found evidence of a positive correlation between Vibrio Cholerae saliva and serum antibodies (rho=0.66, p&lt;0.001). In conclusion, saliva-based diagnostic cholera tests has high diagnostic accuracy, and would be advantageous, cheaper, and quicker for early diagnosis of severe cholera outcomes.

Melasma is a challenging skin condition which involves both structural and functional skin alterations. Despite the availability of various treatment options, the management remains complex. This is the first study to investigate topical application of Rosa Damascena stem cell exosomes when used concomitantly with microneedling in women and men with facial melasma. We recruited 20 subjects with Fitzpatrick skin types I-III, exhibiting melasma of varying severity. The modified Melasma Area and Severity Index (mMASI) and Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS) were utilized to evaluate treatment response. The treatment protocol involved microneedling followed by exosome application over four or five sessions, at 4-week intervals. Ninety percent of subjects demonstrated a significant improvement in mMASI scores, while only 10% showed no change. GAIS assessment further supports overall improvement, with just 10% categorized as "not changed". Tolerability was favorable, with mild, transient side effects. Our findings suggest promising outcomes with this combined therapy, underscoring its potential as a safe and effective approach for treating melasma, particularly in severe and moderate cases. However, further research with larger sample sizes and control arms is warranted to validate these findings and explore long-term efficacy.

An increase in plant-sourced (PS) nutrient intake is promoted in support of a sustainable diet. PS dietary minerals and proteins have bioactive properties that can affect bone health and the risk of fracture. In a group randomised, cross-over, design, this study evaluated the post-ingestion, temporal pattern of change in arterialised ionised calcium (iCa), parathyroid hormone (PTH), C-terminal crosslinked telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) and procollagen type 1 amino-terminal propeptide (P1NP) for 4 hours following ingestion of a novel supplement (SUPP) containing a PS marine multi-mineral + PS protein isolate. A diurnally matched intake of mineral water was used as a control (CON). Compared to baseline, the change in iCa concentration was 0.022 (95%CI, 0.006 to 0.038, p = 0.011) mmol/l greater in SUPP than CON, resulting in a -4.214 (95%CI, -8.244 to -.183, p = 0.042) pg/mL mean reduction in PTH, a -0.64 (95%CI, -0.199 to -0.008, p = .029) ng/mL decrease in the biomarker of bone resorption, CTX, and no change in biomarker of bone formation, P1NP. Used as a dietary supplement, or by incorporation into a food matrix, the promotion of PS marine multi-mineral and PS protein isolates may contribute to a more sustainable diet and overall bone health.

Stream chemistry effectively integrates watershed ecosystem processes on both spatial and temporal scales. Streams of coastal areas integrate a more homogeneous, flat topography wherein there can be interactions between the stream and the body of water into which it drains, especially where tidal fluxes occur. The present study assessed water quality of Thompson Bayou, which comes to the campus of the University of West Florida in a wetland after flowing through 4 km of commercial and private property with associated impacts on water quality. Sampling was carried out for one year at eight discrete sites along Thompson Bayou from the UWF campus to the Escambia River. We used a portable field meter to measure temperature, pH, dissolved O2 (DO), and specific conductivity (SC). Except for temperature, all variables exhibited a spatial pattern of significant variation with distance, with consistent increases in DO and SC as the stream approached the river. These variables also exhibited a temporal pattern of significant seasonal variation, including—and especially—temperature. Data suggest that spatial and temporal patterns of water quality of Thompson Bayou are determined by (1) processing of water by the wetland, (2) interactions of the stream channel with upland forest stands, and (3) the tidal hydrology of the Escambia River.

EphB2 is a member of the Eph family tyrosine kinase receptors. EphB2 binds to ephrin-B1, ephrin-B2, and ephrin-B3, which are critical regulators of vascular and nervous development through controlling cell migration and axon guidance. EphB2 is overexpressed in tumors, including glioma, breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and malignant mesothelioma, and it functions as a tumor promoter. Therefore, the development of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against EphB2 is essential for tumor diagnosis and therapy for EphB2-positive tumors. In this study, we developed novel mAbs for human EphB2 using the Cell-Based Immunization and Screening (CBIS) method. One of the established anti-EphB2 mAbs, Eb2Mab-3 (mouse IgG1, kappa), reacted with EphB2-overexpressed Chinese hamster ovary-K1 (CHO/EphB2) and an endogenously EphB2-expressing cancer cell line (LS174T) by flow cytometry. Using flow cytometry, the dissociation constant (KD) values of Eb2Mab-3 for CHO/EphB2 and LS174T were determined as 1.1 × 10−9 M and 3.6 × 10−10 M, respectively. These results indicated that Eb2Mab-3 possesses a high affinity for detecting EphB2 and could apply to tumor therapy.

Background: To compare photodynamic therapy 41 and the use of probiotics in reducing halitosis assessed through gas chromatography and microbiome analysis. Methods: Participants aged from 18 to 25 years, showing sulfide (SH2) ≥ 112 ppb on gas chromatography, were selected. They were divided into 4 treatment groups: Group 1 - Tongue Scraping; Group 2- Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy (aPDT); Group 3- Probiotics; Group 4- Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy (aPDT) and Probiotics. The halimetry process was performed before, immediately after the treatments, 7 days, 14 days and 30 days after the initial collection. The collections for later microbiological analysis were made along with the halimetry, for the microbiome analysis. Results: Treatment with aPDT or probiotics under these experimental conditions was not able to change the bacteria present in the biofilm of the tongue. Conclusions: More research is needed to know the behavior of the oral microbiome in the presence of halitosis and the effectiveness of new treatments.

Background: In the landscape of thoracic surgery, innovation continually drives progress, offering novel approaches to address complex pathologies while prioritizing patient well-being. Dual-portal robotic-assisted thoracic surgery DRATS represents the next frontier in this evolution. In this report we describe our experience with the DRATS approach for segmentectomy with the indocyanine green intersegmental plane identification. Methods: We presented the case of a patient who underwent a DRATS lingulectomy and lymphadenectomy stations 5, 6, 7, and 10 using the daVinci Surgical System. Results: The patient's postoperative course was uneventful with chest tube was removed in second post operative day. The final pathological analysis confirmed a low-grade malignant potential adenocarcinoma, with main diameter of 1.1 cm, at 3 cm from lung margins. 12 nodes were removed, from station 5,6,7,10,11, all of the free of metastases. Conclusions: Our initial observations suggest that Dual-Portal Robotic-Assisted Tho-racic Surgery (DRATS) demonstrates notable feasibility.

Sarcomas are a heterogenous group of tumours that commonly carry poor prognosis with limited therapeutic options. Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with sarcoma are a unique and under-studied patient population that have only achieved modest survival gains compared to other groups. We present our institutional experience of AYA with sarcoma who underwent comprehensive molecular profiling (CMP) using either large-panel targeted DNA sequencing or whole genome and transcriptome sequencing and evaluated the feasibility and clinical impact of this approach. Genomic variants detected were determined to be clinically relevant and actionable following the Molecular Tumour Board evaluation. Clinicians provided feedback regarding the utility of testing three months after reporting. Twenty-five patients who were recruited for CMP are included in this analysis. The median time from consent to final molecular report was 45 days (interquartile range 37-57). Potentially actionable variants were detected for 14 patients (56%) and new treatment recommendations were identified for 12 patients (48%). Pathogenic germline variants were identified in three patients (12%), and one patient had a change of diagnosis. Implementation for CMP for AYA with sarcoma is clinically valuable, feasible and should be increasingly integrated into routine clinical practice as technologies and turnaround times continue to improve.

Wafer-scale blue micro-light-emitting diode (micro-LED) arrays are fabricated with a pixel size of 12 μm, a pixel pitch of 15 μm, and a pixel density of 1692 pixels per inch, achieved by optimizing the properties of e-beam-deposited and sputter-deposited indium tin oxide (ITO). Although the sputter-deposited ITO (S-ITO) films exhibit a densely packed morphology and lower resistivity compared to those of the e-beam-deposited ITO (E-ITO) films, the forward voltage (VF) values of a micro-LED with the S-ITO films are higher than those with the E-ITO films. The VF values for a single pixel and for four pixels with E-ITO films are 2.82 V and 2.83 V, respectively, while the corresponding values for S-ITO films are 3.50 V and 3.52 V. This was attributed to ion bombardment damage and nitrogen vacancies in the p-GaN layer. Surprisingly, the VF variations of a single pixel and of four pixels with the optimized E-ITO spreading layer from five different regions are only 0.09 V and 0.10 V, respectively. This extremely uniform VF variation is suitable for realizing micro-LED displays to be used in AR and VR applications, circumventing the bottleneck in the development of long-lifespan and high-brightness organic LED devices for industrial mass production.

Continuity of activities and projects are important for sustainably developing organizations, especially universities. The purpose of this research study is to find university development guidelines regarding waste management according to the green university ranking criteria for sustainable developments by studying and collecting the data covering the last five years (2019 - 2023) of Mahasarakham University. We also analyzed and synthesized lessons learned from the details of the operations and the factors involved in successes while comparing and providing suggestions for the operations in the next year. It was found that waste management that resulted in continuous developments that achieved the goals of Mahasarakham University consisted of the five guidelines. (1) Making green university policies and using them as the (key performance index) KPI of the divisions and also announcing the university's waste management policies by applying the principles of 3R (Reuse-Reduce-Recycle). (2) Allocating the budgets supporting the projects' activities according to the evaluation criteria. (3) Student and personnel participation as well as the mechanisms used by the committees from various administrative divisions such as Student Council, Student Association and clubs to drive the operations. (4) Identifying the main responsible individuals and committees for the green university who communicated and drove the operations while collecting, analyzing and preparing the data. (5) Follow-ups and evaluations of the project's activities with the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) processes for continuous and sustainable developments and improvements leading to the green university. With the above operations, Mahasarakham University's waste management scores of the six indices during 2019 - 3023 increased annually as follows: 900, 900, 1050, 1275 and 1350.

Cancer-associated cachexia (CAC) is a debilitating condition marked by muscle and fat loss, unresponsive to nutritional support, and contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality in patients with cancer. Immune dysfunction, driven by cytokine imbalance, contributes to CAC progression. This review explores the potential relationship between CAC and anti-cancer immune response in pre-clinical and clinical studies. Pre-clinical studies showcase the involvement of cytokines like IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and TGF-β, in CAC. IL-6 and TNF-α, interacting with muscle and adipose tissues, induce wasting through JAK/STAT and NF-κB pathways. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) exacerbate CAC by promoting inflammation. Clinical studies confirm elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, TNFα) and immune markers like neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with CAC. Thus, immunomodulatory mechanisms involved in CAC may impact the anti-neoplastic immune response. Inhibiting CAC mechanisms could enhance anti-cancer therapies, notably immunotherapy. R-ketorolac, a new immunomodulator, reversed weight loss and increased survival in mice. Combining these agents with immunotherapy may benefit patients with cancer experiencing CAC. Further research is vital to understand the complex interplay between tumor-induced immune dysregulation and CAC during immunotherapy.