Light alloys machining is a widely implemented process that have usually used in presence of cutting fluids to reduce the wear impact and increase tool life. However, current environmental protection policies require their elimination in order to improve process sustainability. This fact forces to work under aggressive cutting conditions, producing adhesion wear that affects the integrity of the part surface. This study describes cutting tool wear mechanisms in machining of UNS A92024 samples under dry cutting conditions. EDS analysis showed the different composition of the adhered layers, while roughness was also positively affected by the change of the cutting geometry produced in the tool.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a structural review of the progress made on detection and localization of leaks in pipelines by using approaches based on the Kalman filter. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first review on the t opic. In particular, it is the first to try to draw the attention of the leak detection community to the important contributions that use the Kalman filter as the core of a computational pipeline monitoring system. Without being exhaustive, we try to gather the results from different research groups and present them in a unified fashion. For this reason, we propose a classification of the current approaches based on the Kalman filter. For each of the existing approaches within this classification, the basic concepts, fundamental results, and relations with the other approaches are discussed in detail. The review starts from a short summary of basic concepts about state observers. Then, a brief history of the use of the Kalman filter for diagnosing leaks is described by mentioning the most outstanding approaches. At last, we briefly discuss some emerging research problems, such as the leak detection in pipelines transporting heavy oils, and we discuss the main challenges and some open problems.

For efficient electrode development in an electrolysis system, Fe₂O₃, MnO, and heterojunction Fe₂O₃-MnO materials were synthesized via a simple sol-gel method. These particles were coated on a Ni-foam electrode, and the resulting material was used as an electrode to be used during an oxygen evolution reaction (OER). A 1000-cycle OER test in a KOH alkaline electrolyte indicated that the heterojunction Fe₂O₃-MnO/NF electrode exhibited the most stable and highest OER activity: it exhibited a low overvoltage (n) of 370 mV and a small Tafel slope of 66 mV/dec. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that the excellent redox performance contributed to the synergy of Mn and Fe, which enhanced the OER performance of the Fe₂O₃-MnO/NF electrode. Furthermore, the effective redox reaction of Mn and Fe indicated that the structure maintained stability even under 1000 repeated OER cycles.

Laser ablation of silicon under an external applied magnetic field with different orientations was investigated in respect to the scanning direction and polarisation of the laser beam, by observation of the ablation patterns and debris deposition. Ultra-short ∼230 fs laser pulses of 1030 nm wavelengths were used in the single and multi-pulse irradiation modes. Ablation with an externally applied magnetic B-field (B ≈ 0.1 T) is shown to strongly affect debris formation. The mechanism of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) wave can explain the ablated periodic patterns observed with alignment along the magnetic field lines.

Despite considerable progress in the diagnosis of various diseases, an ideal, simple tool for diagnosing patients with respiratory tract infections has not yet been invented. Many simple diagnostic tests are widely available to most doctors, provided they are aware of the prevalence of primary immunodeficiency. Other, more accurate studies are available only to immunologists. The aim of the study was to investigate the occurrence of dependence between selected physical parameters of serum such as: electrical conductivity, electrical permeability, dielectric loss factor, and selected parameters of the immune system. In addition, we have also included the ionogram (Na, K, Cl, Ca, Mg) and glucose concentration. As a result of research, the statistically significant, but very weak correlations between impedance magnitude |Z| and platelet counts (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV) and chloride ions (Cl-) were found. The statistically significant differences according |Z| between children with and without deficiency in parameters of the immune system were noticed. Values of |Z| are higher in the case of children without deficiency in parameters of the immune system. The method of impedance measurements presented in our work is significantly easier then biosensors presented by other scientists. Taking into account our results, it can be stated that this method is promising for fast and easy detection of immunological disorders.

Photosynthetic function, photoprotection, and the response of related proteomics of mulberry (Morus alba L.) seedling leaves under NaCl and NaHCO3 stress with the same Na+ concentration (100 mmol•L-1) were studied by using photosynthetic gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence techniques combined with TMT proteomics. The results showed that NaCl stress had no significant effect on photosystem II (PSII) activity in mulberry seedling leaves, and the expressions of the related proteins, OEE3-1 and PPD4, of the PSII oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) and the antenna proteins, CP24 10A, CP26, and CP29, of LHCII in the leaves also increased to varying degrees. The photosystem I (PSI) activity in the leaves of mulberry seedling also increased, and the expressions of some proteins, PsaF, PsaG, PsaH, PsaL, PsaN, and Ycf4, in PSI increased significantly under NaCl stress. Under NaHCO3 stress, the activity of PSII and PSI and the expression of their protein complexes and the electron transfer-related proteins significantly decreased. NaCl stress had little effect on RuBP regeneration during dark reaction in the leaves and the expressions of glucose synthesis related proteins and net photosynthetic rate (Pn) did not decrease significantly. The leaves could adapt to NaCl stress by reducing stomatal conductance (Gs) to increase water use efficiency (WUE). Under NaHCO3 stress, the expression of dark reaction-related proteins was mostly down-regulated, and Gs was significantly reduced, which indicated that non-stomatal factors were important reasons for the significant inhibition of carbon assimilation. In the photoprotective mechanism under NaCl stress, the expression of cyclic electron flow (CEF) related proteins, ndhH, ndhI, ndhK, and ndhM, involved in NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (NDH) and the key enzyme of the xanthophyll cycle, violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) were up-regulated. In addition, the ratio of xanthophyll cycle components (A+Z)/(V+A+Z) was increased. The expressions of proteins FTR and Fd-NiR, which are related to Fd-dependent ROS metabolism and nitrogen metabolism, were also significant up-regulated under NaCl stress, which can effectively reduce the electronic pressure on Fd. Under NaHCO3 stress, the expressions of CEF-related proteins, VDE, ZE, FTR, Fd-NiR, Fd-GOGAT, SGAT, and GGAT, were significant down-regulated, and the photoprotective mechanism, like the xanthophyll cycle, CEF, and photorespiration, might be damaged, resulting in the inhibition of PSII activity and carbon assimilation in leaves of mulberry seedling under NaHCO3 stress.

Cigarette butts, also known as tobacco product waste (TPW), are the single most collected item in environmental trash cleanups worldwide. This study used an online survey tool (Qualtrics) to assess knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions about this issue among individuals representing the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA). The FCA has about 683 members on its listserv, including non-governmental tobacco control advocacy groups that support implementation of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Respondents (n = 65) represented countries from all six WHO regions. The majority (82%) had heard the term TPW, and all considered TPW as an environmental harm at some level. Additionally, 29% of respondents failed to identify that “cigarette filters make smoking easier.” Most (73%) correctly identified TPW components; however, fewer (60%) correctly identified the composition of cigarette butts. The majority (57%) were unfamiliar with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Product Stewardship (PS) as possible environmental intervention strategies. Respondents expressing opinions concurred that adding a litter fee to fund TPW programs will aid in reducing tobacco use and reduce the environmental impacts of TPW (100%); that prevention, reduction, and mitigation of TPW could be an important part of international tobacco control programs (98%); and that banning smoking in outdoor venues could reduce TPW (95%). Only 16% reported effective prevention or clean-up efforts in their countries. Weighted rankings revealed that respondents’ saw the national government, the tobacco industry, and state governments as most important in addressing TPW. The results of this research will inform continuing international discussions by the FCTC Conference of the Parties (COP) regarding environmental policies that may be addressed within FCTC obligations.

This paper studies the impact of agricultural subsidies and product certification on the use rate of green pesticides based on experimental economics. We found that agricultural subsidies effectively increased the utilization rate of green pesticides. If the agricultural subsidies raised from 20% to 100%, the green pesticides’ using rate increased by 438.51%. We also found that product certification increased the utilization rate of green pesticides by 376.16%%.The increase of agricultural subsidies is more effective than the product certification. Under a higher proportion of agricultural subsidies, farmers’ behavior will maintain “status bias”. Therefore, there are three suggestions proposed. Firstly, because of high price of green pesticides and lower production, the subsidies for agricultural materials should raise greatly to effectively improve the utilization rate of green pesticides. It is recommended that green pesticide provided free of charge in some wealthy areas. Secondly, both subsidies and product certification can improve the use rate of green pesticides. However, since the effect of agricultural subsidies is better than product certification, and farmers may have status bias. Therefore, it is recommended to give priority to the substantial increase on the proportion of agricultural subsidies, and then to product certification.

Two isotropic pitches were prepared by air blowing and nitrogen distillation method using ethylene tar (ET) as a raw material. And correspondent carbon fibers were obtained through conventional melt spinning, stabilization and carbonization. The structures and properties of resultant pitches and fibers were characterized and their differences were discussed in this work. The results showed that introduction of the oxygen by air blowing method could quickly increase the yield and softening point of pitch. Moreover, the air blown pitch (ABP) composed of linear methylene chains of aromatic molecules while the nitrogen distilled pitch (NDP) mainly contained polycondensed aromatic rings, which was due to the oxygen containing functional groups existed in ABP could impede order stack of pitch molecules and form methylene bridge structure, instead of aromatic condensed structure like NDP. Meanwhile, the spinnability of ABP was not decreased even containing 2.31 wt% oxygen. In contrast, ABP had narrower molecular weight distribution, which contributed to better stabilization properties and higher tensile strength of carbon fiber. The tensile strength of carbon fibers from ABP was reached to 860 MPa with fiber diameter of about 10 μm, which was higher than that of NDP-derived carbon fibers of 640 MPa.

HD-Zip proteins are unique to plants, and contain a homeodomain closely linked to a leucine zipper motif, which are involved in dimerization and DNA binding. Based on homology in the HD-Zip domain, gene structure and the presence of additional motifs, HD-Zips are divided into four families, HD-Zip I–IV. Phylogenetic and bioinformatics analysis of HD-Zip genes using transcriptomic and genomic datasets from a wide range of plant species indicate that the HD-Zip protein class was already present in green algae. Later, HD-Zips experienced multiple duplication events that promoted neo- and sub-functionalizations. HD-Zip proteins are known to control key developmental and environmental responses, and a growing body of evidence indicates a strict link between members of the HD-Zip II and III families and the auxin machineries. Interactions of HD-Zip proteins with other hormones such as brassinolide and cytokinin have also been described. However, it is striking that among the genes regulated by REV, a HD-Zip III protein playing a key role in apical development, are genes that mediate ABA signaling. Furthermore, HAT1 and HAT3, two HD-Zip II proteins involved in key developmental processes, repress ABA biosynthesis and signaling, indicating an essential role of these factors in adjusting development to changing environment.

Regional declines of the Korean fir (Abies koreana) have been observed since the 1980s on the subalpine region. To explain this decline, it is fundamental to investigate the degree to which environmental factors have contributed to plant distributions on diverse spatial scales. We applied a hierarchical regression model to determine quantitatively the relationship between the abundance of Korean fir (seedlings) and diverse environmental factors across two different ecological scales. We measured Korean fir density and the occurrence of its seedlings in 102 (84) plots nested at five sites and collected a range of environmental factors at the same plots. Our model included hierarchical explanatory variables at both site-level (weather conditions) and plot-level (micro-topographic factors, soil properties, and competing species). The occurrence of Korean fir seedlings was positively associated with moss cover and rock cover but negatively related to dwarf bamboo cover. On site-level, winter precipitation was significantly positively related to the occurrence of seedlings. A hierarchical Poisson regression model revealed that Korean fir density were negatively associated with slope aspect, topographic position index, Quercus mongolica cover, and mean summer temperature. Our results suggest that drought and competition with other species are factors which halt the survival of Korean fir. We can predict that the population of Korean fir will continue to decline on the Korean Peninsula due to rising temperatures and seasonal drought, and only a few Korean fir will survive on northern slopes or valleys where competition with dwarf bamboo and Q. mongolica can be avoided.

Murine herpesvirus-68 (MHV-68) productively infects the mouse lungs, exhibiting a complex pathology characteristic of both acute viral infections and chronic respiratory diseases. We sought to discover proteins differentially expressed in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from mice infected with MHV-68. Mice were infected intranasally with MHV-68. After 9 days, as the lytic phase of infection resolved, differential BAL proteins were identified by 2D electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. Of 23 unique proteins, acute phase proteins, vitamin A transport, and oxidative stress response factors Pdx6 and EC-SOD (Sod3) were enriched. Correspondingly, iNOS2 was induced in lung tissue by 7 days post infection. Oxidative stress was partly a direct result of MHV-68 infection, as reactive oxygen species (ROS) were induced in cultured murine NIH3T3 fibroblasts and human lung A549 cells infected with MHV-68. Finally, mice were infected with a recombinant MHV-68 co-expressing inflammatory cytokine murine interleukin 6 (IL6) showed exacerbated oxidative stress and soluble type I collagen characteristic of tissue recovery. Thus, oxidative stress appears to be a salient feature of MHV-68 pathogenesis, in part caused by lytic replication of virus and IL6. Proteins and small molecules in lung oxidative stress networks therefore may provide new therapeutic targets to ameliorate respiratory virus infections.

The design of biomaterial platforms able to release bioactive molecules is mandatory in tissue repair and regenerative medicine. In this context, electrospinning is a user-friendly, versatile and low-cost technique, able to process different kinds of materials in micro- and nano-fibers with a large surface area-to-volume ratio for an optimal release of gaseous signalling molecules. Recently, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the endogenous gasotramsmitter hydrogen sulfide (H2S), as well as its ability to stimulate relevant biochemical processes on the growth of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), have been investigated. Therefore, in this work, new poly(lactic) acid fibrous membranes (PFM), doped and functionalized with H2S slow-releasing donors extracted from garlic, were synthetized. These innovative H2S-releasing mats were characterized for their morphological, thermal, mechanical and biological properties. Their antimicrobial activity and effects on the in vitro human cardiac MSC growth, either in the presence or in the absence of oxidative stress, were here assessed. On the basis of the results here presented, these new H2S-releasing PFM could represent promising and low-cost scaffolds or patches for biomedical applications in tissue repair.

Since the electro-hydraulic servo shaking table exists many nonlinear elements, such as, dead zone, friction and blacklash, its acceleration response has higher harmonics which result in acceleration harmonic distortion, when the electro-hydraulic system is excited by sinusoidal signal. For suppressing the harmonic distortion and precisely identify harmonics, a combination of the adaptive linear neural network and least mean M-estimate (ADALINE-LMM), is proposed to identify the amplitude and phase of each harmonic component. Namely, the Hampel’s three-part M-estimator is applied to provide thresholds for detecting and suppressing the error signal. Harmonic generators are used by this harmonic identification scheme to create input vectors and the value of the identified acceleration signal is subtracted from the true value of the system acceleration response to construct the criterion function. The weight vector of the ADALINE is updated iteratively by the LMM algorithm, and the amplitude and phase of each harmonic, even the results of harmonic components, can be computed directly online. The simulation and experiment are performed to validate the performance of the proposed algorithm. According to the experiment result, the above method of harmonic identification possesses great real-time performance and it has not only good convergence performance but also high identification precision.

Land Surface Temperature (LST) is a basic parameter in energy exchange between the land and atmosphere and is frequently used in many sciences such as climatology, hydrology, agriculture, ecology, etc. LST time series data have usually deficient, missing and unacceptable data caused by the presence of clouds in images, presence of dust in atmosphere and sensor failure. In this study, Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) algorithm was used to resolve the problem of missing and outlier data caused by cloud cover. The region studied in the present research included an image frame of MODIS with horizontal number 22 and vertical number 05 (h22v05). This image involved a large part of Iran and Turkmenistan and Caspian Sea. In this study, MODIS LST sensor (MOD11A1) was used during 2015 with 1×1 Km spatial resolution and day/night LST data (daily temporal resolution). The results of the data quality showed that cloud cover caused 36.37% of missing data in the studied time series with 730 day/night LST images. Further, the results of SSA algorithm in reconstruction of LST images indicated the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 2.95 K between the original and reconstructed data in LST time series in the study region. In general, the findings showed that SSA algorithm using spatio-temporal interpolation in LST time series can be effectively used to resolve the problem of missing data caused by cloud cover.

The effect of the acetylene and hydrogen gases mixture ratios in direct low-temperature vacuum carburization was investigated. The gas ratio is an important parameter for producing the free radicals in the carburization. The free radicals can remove the natural oxide film by the strong reaction of the hydrocarbons, and then thermodynamically activity can be increased. When the gas ratio was below 1, the supersaturation expanded austenite layers were formed on the surface of the AISI 316L stainless steel, which had the maximum carbon solubility up to 11.5 at.% at 743 K, were formed. On the other hand, when the gas ratio was above 1, the carbon concentration of them remained low even if the process time was enough increased to reach the maximum carbon solubility. As a result, the carbon concentration underneath the surface was determined to be highly dependent on the gas mixture ratio of acetylene and hydrogen. In conclusion, it is necessary to restrict the ratio of acetylene and hydrogen gases to total mixture gases to form the expanded austenite layer with the high carbon concentration in the direct low-temperature vacuum carburization.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with a suitable photosensitizer molecule is a promising anticancer treatment. We evaluated two chlorin molecules as potential photosensitizers, methyl pyropheophorbide a (MPPa) and N-methoxyl purpurinimide (NMPi), against A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells in vitro as well as in A549 tumor-bearing mice in vivo. Cell viability, microscopy, and FACS analyses were performed for the in vitro studies. MPPa and NMPi showed high phototoxicity in vitro, which was dependent on the concentration of the photosensitizers as well as the light irradiation time. In the animal study, tumor volume change, tumor surface alterations, and H&E and TUNEL staining analyses were performed and compared between small (tumor volume of <50 mm³) and large (tumor volume of >50 mm³) size of initial tumors. MPPa and NMPi showed high anticancer efficacy against small-size tumors, indicating that early treatment with PDT is effective. Especially, repeated two times PDT with NMPi allowed almost complete eradication against small-size tumors. However, MPPa and NMPi were not effective against large-size tumors. In conclusion, the two chlorin derivatives, MPPa and NMPi, show good anticancer efficacy as promising photosensitizers for PDT in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, their activity in vivo was significantly dependent on the initial tumor size in mice, which confirms the importance of early cancer treatment.

A total of five protoclones were successfully cultured on PDA medium out of regenerated twenty two colonies of Termitomyces protoplast and further studied. Liquid MYG grown mycelial tissue is used for protoplast isolation by enzymatic digestionin a mixture containing Lysing enzyme 2% and Cellulase R10 2% in 0.6 M mannitol. The incubation conditions like temperature, shaking and time were standardized at 24ºC, 60 rpm and 10 hours, respectively for healthy protoplasts liberation. The purified protoplasts showed an average yield of 1.2 × 10⁷ cells/gm tissue with 31.60 ± 9.31% regeneration efficiency on specific medium and 77.12 ± 2.72% viability by FDA test. Four ISSR primers were used in this study resulting a total of 27 reproducible bands with mean value of 6.75. They showed similar banding pattern in all the lines with zero percent polymorphism ranged from 280 bp–2700 bp. The amplified rRNA-ITS gene showed ~600 bp size in gel and found a single restriction site for enzyme HaeIII in all the protoclones and parent with similar fragment size in all.

The vibration signal of the engine contains strong background noise and many kinds of modulating components, which is difficult to diagnose. Variational mode decomposition (VMD) is a recently introduced adaptive signal decomposition algorithm with a solid theoretical foundation and good noise robustness compared with empirical mode decomposition (EMD). VMD can effectively avoid endpoint effect and modal aliasing. However, VMD cannot effectively eliminate the random noise in the signal, so the random decrement technique is introduced to solve the problem. Based on the crankshaft bearing fault simulation experiment, the four kinds of wear state vibration signals are decomposed by VMD, and the modal components with smaller permutation entropy are selected as fault components. Then the fault component is processed by the random decrement technique, and the Hilbert envelope spectrum of the fault component is obtained. Compared with the fault feature extraction method based on EMD and EEMD, the feature extraction results of the proposed method are better than those of the above two methods. The simulation analysis and the simulation test of the crankshaft bearing fault verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Effect of abrasive shape on the three-body abrasion behaviors of monocrystalline silicon was investigated by Molecular dynamics modelling. The axial ratio of abrasive particle was varied from 1.00, i.e., a complete sphere, to 0.40 to mimic abrasive shape. The particle’s movement turns toward sliding from rolling when the axial ratio becomes less than a critical value 0.46. In the abrasion process, the friction force and normal force showed an approximately sinusoid-like fluctuation for the rolling ellipsoidal particles, while the front cutting of particle caused that friction force increased and became larger than normal force for sliding particles. The phase transformation process was tracked under different particle’ movement patterns. The Si-II and Bct5 phase producing in loading process can partially transform to Si-III/Si-XII phase and backtrack to original crystal silicon under pressure release, which also occurred in the abrasion process. The secondary phase transformation showed difference for particles’ rolling and sliding movements after three-body abrasion. The rolling of particle induced the periodical and inhomogeneous deformation of substrates, while the sliding benefited producing high-quality surface in CMP process. This study aiming to construct more precise model to understand the wear mechanism benefits evaluating the MEMS wear and CMP process of crystal materials.

A wide variety of pump and treat methods like chemical precipitation, adsorption, ion exchange and reverse osmosis have been trialled for many decades for fluoride removal from groundwater, but the problem of fluoride contaminated water remains in many parts of the world largely because these processes require constant monitoring, are expensive to implement and maintain at decentralised scale due to lack of reticulation infrastructure, and possess sludge disposal problem. This paper presents an overview of various fluoride removal processes and the limitations associated with each process and the application of in-situ permeable reactive barrier for remediating fluoride contaminated groundwater is explored, which displays the potential to be a cost effective, low maintenance and energy intensive technology.

Background: Whole-body computed tomography (WBCT) is commonly employed for primary screening in pediatric patients experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) without prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). This study aimed to evaluate the cause of OHCA on WBCT and compare WBCT findings between ROSC and non-ROSC groups in non-traumatic pediatric OHCA cases in an emergency department (ED) setting. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 27 pediatric patients (mean age: 32.4 months; median age: 10 months) who experienced non-traumatic OHCA without prehospital ROSC and were transported to our tertiary care hospital between January 2013 and December 2023. WBCT scans were performed to investigate the cause of OHCA, with recorded findings in the head, chest, abdomen, and subcutaneous tissues. Results: In all cases, the direct causes of OHCA were undetermined, and WBCT identified no fatal findings. Statistical comparisons of CT findings between the ROSC and non-ROSC groups revealed significant differences. The non-ROSC group had a higher incidence of brain swelling, loss of cerebral gray-white matter differentiation, symmetrical lung consolidation/ground-glass opacity, cardiomegaly, hyperdense aortic walls, narrowed aorta, gas in the mediastinum, and hepatomegaly compared to the ROSC group. Conclusions: Although WBCT did not provide the direct cause of OHCA, it clarified several indicative findings for non-ROSC. These imaging findings could support clinical decision-making, offering objective criteria for discontinuing resuscitation in pediatric OHCA cases where prehospital ROSC is absent.

Rat H9c2 cardiomyocytes overexpressing the abscisic acid (ABA) hormone receptors LANCL1 and LANCL2 have an increased mitochondrial proton gradient, respiration and vitality after hypoxia/reoxygenation. Our aim was to investigate the role of the ABA/LANCL1-2 system in ROS turnover in H9c2. H9c2 cells were retrovirally infected to induce overexpression or silencing of LANCL1 and LANCL2, without or with the concomitant silencing of the transcription factor ERRα. Enzymes involved in radical production or scavenging were studied by qPCR and Western blot. Mitochondrial proton gradient and ROS were measured with specific fluorescent probes. ROS generating enzymes decreased, ROS-scavenging enzymes increased, and mitochondrial ROS were reduced in LANCL1/2-overexpressing vs. control cells infected with the empty vector, while the opposite occurred in LANCL1/2-silenced cells. Knock-down of ERRα abrogated all beneficial effects on ROS turnover in LANCL1/2 overexpressing cells. Taken together, these results indicate that the ABA/LANCL1-2 system controls ROS turnover in H9c2 via ERRα. The ABA/LANCL system emerges as a promising target to improve cardiomyocyte mitochondrial function and resilience to oxidative stress.

Sublingual vaccines offer the benefits of inducing mucosal immunity to protect against respiratory viruses, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza, while also enabling needle-free self-administration. Previously, we developed a sublingual vaccine formulated with the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain antigen and Poly(I:C) adjuvant in nonhuman primates, cynomolgus macaques. This study examined the immune and inflammatory responses elicited by the sublingual influenza vaccine containing hemagglutinin (HA) antigen and Poly(I:C) adjuvant and assessed the safety of this vaccine in nonhuman primates. The Poly(I:C)-adjuvanted sublingual vaccine induced both mucosal and systemic immunities. Specifically, the sublingual vaccineproduced HA-specific secretory IgA antibodies in saliva and nasal washings, and HA-specific IgA and IgG were detected in the blood. This vaccine appeared to be safe, as judged from the results of blood tests and plasma C-reactive protein levels. Notably, sublingual vaccination neither increased the production of inflammation-associated cytokines—IFN-alpha, IFN-gamma, and IL-17—in the blood, nor upregulated the gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines—IL12A, IL12B, IFNA1, IFNB1, CD69, and granzyme B—in white blood cells. Moreover, DNA microarray analyses revealed that sublingual vaccination evoked both enhancing and suppressing expression changes in genes associated with immune-related responses in cynomolgus monkeys. Therefore, the sublingual vaccine with Poly(I:C) adjuvant is safe and creates a balanced state of enhancing and suppressing the immune-related response.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related mortality worldwide. In order to improve its overall survival, early diagnosis is required. Since current screening methods still face some pitfalls, such as high false positive rates for low-dose computed tomography, researchers are still looking for early biomarkers to complement existing screening techniques in order to provide a safe, faster and more accurate diagnosis. Biomarkers are biological molecules found in body fluids, such as plasma, that can be used to diagnose a condition or disease. Metabolomics has already shown to be a powerful tool in the search for cancer biomarkers since cancer cells are characterised by impaired metabolism, resulting in an adapted plasma metabolite profile. The metabolite profile can be determined using nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR. Although metabolomics and NMR metabolite profiling of blood plasma are still under investigation, there is already evidence for its potential for early-stage lung cancer diagnosis, therapy response, and follow-up monitoring. This review highlights some key breakthroughs in this research field, where the most significant biomarkers will be discussed in relation with their metabolic pathways and in light of the altered cancer metabolism.

The purpose of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) for stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in the treatment of non-metastatic prostate cancer. This study was a phase 1 dose escalation trial conducted in Japan. Patients with histologically proven prostate cancer without lymph node or distant metastasis were enrolled. The prescribed doses were 42.5, 45, or 47.5 Gy in five fractions. Dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was defined as grade (G) 3+ gastrointestinal or genitourinary toxicity within 180 days after SBRT completion and a 6 plus 6 design was used as the method of dose escalation. A total of 16 patients were enrolled, with 6 in the 42.5 Gy group and 10 in the 45 Gy group. No DLT was observed in the 42.5 Gy group. In the 45 Gy group, one patient experienced G3 rectal hemorrhage, and another had G4 rectal perforation, leading to the determination of 42.5 Gy as the MTD. None of the patients experienced biochemical recurrence or death during the follow-up period. We concluded that SBRT for non-metastatic prostate cancer at 42.5 Gy in 5 fractions could be safely performed, but a total dose of 45 Gy increased severe toxicity.

(1) Background: Although diagnostic criteria for massive hemorrhage with organ dysfunction such as disseminated intravascular coagulation associated with delivery have been empirically established based on clinical findings, strict logic has yet to be used to establish numerical criteria. (2) Methods: A dataset of 107 deliveries with ≥2,000 g of blood loss, among 13,368 deliveries from nine national perinatal centers in Japan between 2020 and 2023 was obtained. Twenty-three patients had fibrinogen levels &lt;170 mg/dl, which is the initiation of coagulation system failure per our previous reports. Three of these patients had hematuria. We used six machine learning methods to identify the borderline criteria dividing the fibrinogen/fibrin/fibrinogen degradation product (FDP) planes, using 15 coagulation fibrinolytic factors. (3) Results: The boundaries of hematuria development on a two-dimensional plane of fibrinogen and FDP were obtained. If the FDP–fibrinogen/3–60 (mg/dl) value is positive, this indicates hematuria; otherwise, the case is non-hematuria, as demonstrated by the support vector machine method that seemed the most appropriate. (4) Conclusions: The borderline criterion dividing the fibrinogen/FDP plane for patients with hematuria that could be considered organ dysfunction in massive hemorrhage during delivery was obtained using artificial intelligence, and this method seemed to be useful.

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by hyperreactivity in the airways, which can lead to significant lung damage if not properly managed. While placebos—medications with no active therapeutic ingredients—are sometimes used in clinical trials to gauge the effectiveness of asthma treatments, their long-term use raises concerns. Placebos work primarily through psychological mechanisms by enhancing patients’ expectations of treatment. However, prolonged reliance on placebo treatment in asthma could potentially mask symptoms, delay proper management, and lead to undetected lung damage or other adverse effects. This study explores the potential risks and consequences associated with long-term placebo use in asthma management.

This research paper introduces a novel analytical and geometrical modelling approach for calculating the stiffness matrix of knitted composites. Knitted composites have gained significant attention due to their unique mechanical properties and potential applications in various industries. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of knitted composites, encompassing different types, shapes, and categories. Furthermore, it explores various modelling techniques, including analytical, geometrical, and experimental models, to accurately predict the stiffness properties of knitted composites. A thorough literature review is conducted, and detailed explanations, case studies, and relevant citations are provided to support the claims made in this paper.

In this work, the properties of a composition based on synthetic rubber ethylene-propylene ter-polymer and polymers with functional groups of the mixture are studied. Low efficiency of some compositions based on ethylene and propylene copolymer limits their use in the production of tires and rubber products. Therefore, we conducted a study to improve the disadvantages of SREPT-60 using butyl rubber + choro polyisoprene + butadiene-nitrile + butadiene styrene rubber and adding a plasticizer to the composition = α, methacrylate-(bis-diethylene glycol phthalate) -(btegf-9) The data obtained showed that a number of its indicators of rubber based on them were improved. Tear resistance, resistance to repeated stretching increased, adhesion of the composition to metal, chemical resistance increased, the degree of swelling in benzene and gasoline-benzene mixture decreased. Compositions based on the mixture SREPT-60 using butyl rubber + choro polyisoprene + butadiene-nitrile + butadiene styrene rubber and adding a plasticizer to the composition = α, methacrylate-(bis-diethylene glycol phthalate) -(btegf-9) +Dioctyl phthalate: (70:20:10) have high resistance to swelling in an aggressive environment (Benzene, gasoline, alcohol, acid, oil, etc.) mixture.

Toxic metal wastewater is a challenge for exposed terrestrial, aquatic environments and the recyclability of the water, prompting inputs for the development of promising treatment methods. Consequently, the rGO/ZnONP nanocomposite was synthesized at room temperature for four hours and was tested for adsorption of cadmium and lead in wastewater. The optimized nanocomposite had the lowest band gap energy (2.69 eV) and functional group interactions were at 516, 1220, 1732, 3009, and 3460 cm-1. The nanocomposite showed saturation of ZnO nanoparticles on rGO with a weight percentage of zinc (60.02 %), oxygen (22.96 %), and carbon (16.58 %), and the micrograph showed slight agglomeration on the sheet surface. The nanocomposite’s D and G band intensities were almost the same constituting the ZnO presence on rGO from the raman spectrum. The adsorption equilibrium time for cadmium and lead was reached within 10 and 90 minutes with efficiencies of ~ 100 %. Sips and Freundlich were best fitting the cadmium and lead adsorption data (R2 ~ 1), therefore the adsorption was a multilayer coverage for lead and a mixture of heterogenous and homogenous coverage for cadmium adsorption. Both adsorptions were best fitted by the pseudo first order model, suggesting the multilayer coverage dominance. The adsorbent was reused for three and seven times for cadmium and lead. The nanocomposite showed selectivity towards lead (95 %) and cadmium (100 %) in the interfering wastewater matrix. Conclusively, the nanocomposite may be embedded within upcoming lab-scale treatment plants which could lead to further upscaling and serving as industrial wastewater treatment material.

The exponential growth of user-contributed data provides a comprehensive basis for assessing collective perceptions of landscape change. A variety of possible public data sources exist, such as geospatial data from social media or Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). Key challenges with such ‘opportunistic’ data sampling are variability in platform popularity and bias due to changing user groups and contribution rules. In this study, we use five case studies to demonstrate how intra- and inter-dataset comparisons can help to assess the temporality of landscape scenic resources, such as identifying seasonal characteristics for a given area, or testing hypotheses about shifting popularity trends observed in the field. By focusing on the consistency and reproducibility of temporal patterns for selected scenic resources and comparisons across different dimensions of data, we aim to contribute to the development of systematic methods for disentangling the perceived impact of events and trends from other technological and social phenomena included in the data. The proposed techniques may help to draw attention to overlooked or underestimated patterns of landscape change, fill in missing data between periodic surveys, or corroborate and support field observations. Despite limitations, the results already provide a comprehensive basis for developing indicators with a high degree of timeliness for monitoring perceived landscape change over time.

- Early and accurate detection of pneumonia from chest X-ray images is crucial for timely treatment and patient care. In study presents a robust computational framework leveraging the CheXnet algorithm, a deep learning model, to identify pneumonia from chest X-rays. Developed a neural network architecture trained on a substantial dataset of chest X- ray images labeled as 'Normal' and 'Pneumonia'. The user- friendly interface of the system allows for seamless uploading of images, with the model subsequently providing predictions, a confusion matrix, accuracy metrics, and layer activations visualizations. The algorithm's performance was rigorously evaluated, with a confusion matrix indicating a high number of true positives and true negatives. Specifically, the model detected pneumonia with an accuracy of 92.47%, as shown by the results displayed in the system's interface. The precision, recall, and F1-score for pneumonia detection were 0.90, 0.96, and 0.93 respectively, with the overall system achieving an accuracy of 0.91 across the test set of 624 images. Visualizations of the neural network layers reveal the complex feature mappings the model uses to differentiate between normal and pathological findings. These insights could be vital for enhancing the interpretability of deep learning models in medical diagnostics. The Results indicate that the CheXnet-based neural network is a promising tool for automating pneumonia detection in clinical settings, which can assist radiologists in the diagnostic process and potentially improve patient outcomes through earlier intervention.

Abstract: Online services have transformed into a boon for various industries and globalization as a whole. One of the ventures reliant upon the Web is finance. Pattern prediction and risk reduction in the stock market and other financial decisions are made possible by some technologies. These technologies promise to expand innovation, knowledge, and efficiency opportunities in the financial sector. Finance frequently uses machine learning technology to identify risks based on probabilistic statistics and historical data to support investment decisions. Additionally, it can be utilized for risk assessment and risk management planning. Internet technology, which enables real-time data analysis, streamlined transactions, and improved customer communication, has particularly benefited the financial sector. However, these advancements come with significant challenges, such as the need for robust online credit protection and security threats. This study looks at how advanced machine learning methods are used in the financial sector and focuses on how they have changed credit scoring, algorithmic trading, and predictive modeling.

Molecular transport and quantum tunneling of H2 and H2O molecules through nanoporous gra-phene is studied using computational modeling and first principles density functional theory. It is demonstrated that molecules with sufficiently high kinetic energies can tunnel through the na-nopores. It is also demonstrated that molecules can be trapped in front of the nanopore or behind it. These investigations help us learn the behavior of molecules in and around nanopores of gra-phene. They also help us learn fundamentals of molecular tunneling. We believe, nanoporous gra-phene can play important roles for gas separation and nanofiltration.

Brain tumors are frequently classified with high accuracy using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and better comprehend the spatial connections among pixels in complex pictures. Due to their tiny receptive fields, the majority of deep convolutional neural network (DCNN)-based techniques overfit and are unable to extract global context information from more significant regions. While dilated convolution retains data resolution at the output layer and increases the receptive field without adding computation, stacking several dilated convolutions has the drawback of producing a grid effect. To handle gridding artifacts and extract both coarse and fine features from the images, this research suggests using a dilated parallel deep convolutional neural network (PDCNN) architecture that preserves a wide receptive field. To reduce complexity, initially, input images are resized and then grayscale transformed. Data augmentation has since been used to expand the number of datasets. Dilated PDCNN makes use of the lower computational overhead and contributes to the reduction of gridding artifacts. By contrasting various dilation rates, the global path uses a low dilation rate (2,1,1), while the local path uses a high dilation rate (4,2,1) for decremental even numbers to tackle gridding artifacts and extract both coarse and fine features from the two parallel paths. Using three different types of MRI datasets, the suggested dilated PDCNN with the average ensemble method performs better. The accuracy provided by the Multiclass Kaggle dataset-III, Figshare dataset-II, and Binary tumor identification dataset-I is 98.35%, 98.13%, and 98.67%, respectively. In comparison to state-of-the-art techniques, the suggested structure improves results by extracting both fine and coarse features, making it efficient.

We introduce Get Free Copy (getfreecopy.com), a web-based platform designed to streamline the search for biomedical literature across major repositories like arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, and PubMed Central (PMC). Addressing challenges posed by paywalls and fragmented databases, it offers a unified interface for efficient retrieval of free, legitimate copies of biomedical literature. The platform's implementation involves a Node.js backend and dynamic front-end display, enhancing accessibility and research efficiency. As an open-source project, Get Free Copy represents a significant contribution to the open-access movement, inviting global researcher collaboration for further development.

Soil moisture can be an important indicator of climate change in humid and semi-arid areas. This indicator can more efficiently propose different public policies related to climate change than just using precipitation and temperature data. Given the above, the objective of this study is to evaluate changes in soil moisture in the state of Pernambuco during the period 1961-2021, using the System of Hydrological Response Units for Pernambuco. In this study, two river basins in the state of Pernambuco that represent the different climatic conditions of the state will be chosen. The results show that in the coastal region, there is a tendency towards more saturated soils, and in the semi-arid region, there is a tendency towards drier soils. With these results, it is possible to conclude that public policy decisions for the economy, environment, and society must consider this vital water balance variable.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing approaches in plant disease management and phy-topathological research. This review analyzes current applications and future directions of AI in addressing evolving agricultural challenges. Plant diseases annually cause 10-16% yield losses in major crops, prompting urgent innovations. Artificial intelligence (AI) shows aptitude for auto-mated disease detection and diagnosis utilizing image recognition techniques, with reported accuracies exceeding 95% and surpassing human visual assessment. Forecasting models inte-grating weather, soil, and crop data enable preemptive interventions by predicting spa-tial-temporal outbreak risks weeks in advance at 81-95% precision, minimizing pesticide usage. Precision agriculture powered by AI optimizes data-driven, tailored crop protection strategies boosting resilience. Real-time monitoring leveraging AI discerns pre-symptomatic anomalies from plant and environmental data for early alerts. These applications highlight AI's proficiency in il-luminating opaque disease patterns within increasingly complex agricultural data. Machine learning techniques overcome human cognitive constraints by discovering multivariate correla-tions unnoticed before. AI is poised to transform in-field decision making around disease pre-vention and precision management. Overall, AI constitutes a strategic innovation pathway to strengthen ecological plant health management amidst climate change, globalization, and agri-cultural intensification pressures. With prudent and ethical implementation, AI-enabled tools promise to enable next-generation phytopathology, enhancing crop resilience worldwide.Artificial Intelligence, Phytopathology, Emerging Disease, Climate Change, Control diseases.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is associated with reorganization of hippocampal neuronal net-works, gliosis, neuroinflammation, loss of integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in humans and animal models. More than 30% of epilepsies remain intractable and characterization of the molecular mechanisms involved in BBB dysfunction is essential to the identification of new thera-peutic strategies. In this work, we induced status epilepticus in rats by injection of the proconvul-sant drug pilocarpine that leads to TLE. Using RT-qPCR, double immunohistochemistry and con-focal imaging, we studied at different time points of epileptogenesis (latent phase, 3, 7, 14 days; chronic phase, 1 and 3 months) the regulation of reactive glia and vascular markers. In the hippo-campus, increased expression of mRNA encoding the glial proteins GFAP and Iba1 confirmed neu-roinflammatory status. We report for the first time the concomitant induction in endothelial cells, pericytes and basement membrane of the BBB of specific proteins CD31, PDGFR and ColIV, that peaks at the same time points as inflammation. The altered expression of these proteins occurs ear-ly in TLE, during the latent phase, suggesting that they could be associated with early rupture and pathogenicity of the BBB that will contribute to the chronic phase of epilepsy.

To investigate the effect of nitrogen (N) application on carbon metabolism and yield of flag leaves and grains of spring wheat under drip irrigation in Xinjiang, a split - plot design was adopted from 2020 to 2021, with strong gluten wheat Xinchun 37 (XC37) and medium gluten wheat Xinchun 6 (XC 6) as the main plot factor and different nitrogen application rates as subplot factor. Four nitrogen application rates of 0, 210, 255 and 300 kg·hm-2 (CK2, B1, A1 and CK1, respectively) were set to analyze and compare the nitrogen response of key enzyme activity, soluble sugar, sucrose and starch content in flag leaves and grains to control yield formation. The results showed that with the increase of nitrogen application, Sucrose phosphate synthetase (SPS) and sucrose synthetase (SS) in flag leaves, SS in seeds, activities of adenosine diphosphate pyrophosphorylase (ADPG - PPase), soluble starch synthase (SSS), bound starch synthase (GBSS) and starch branching enzyme (SBE) in seeds, contents of soluble sugar and sucrose and yield in flag leaves increased first increasing and then decreasing. The A1 treatment (255 kg·hm-2) showed significant differences compared to other treatments, with increases of 7.95–158.33%, 8.69–155.12%, 7.65–53.25%, 5.41–62.83%, 2.85–85.52%, 3.08–57.30%, 8.87–79.16%, 9.33–196.55%, 9.43–112.78%, and higher levels of amylose, amylopectin, and total starch content than other treatments by 1.86–30.38%, 10.58–83.69%, and 7.96–63.09%, respectively. Correlation and stepwise regression analysis indicate highly significant positive correlation between yield and solube sugar and sucrose of flag leaves and grains, as well as their key emzymes and starch. Among them, soluble sugar in grains, amylopectin, and sucrose in grains have the greatest impact on the yield of XC37, determining 84.5% of its yield. SSS, soluble sugars in grains, amylopectin, and SBE have the greatest impact on the yield of XC 6, determining 80.4% of its yield. The starch shows a highly significant positive correlation with ADPG - PPase, SSS, GBSS, and SBE. There is a significant interaction effect between nitrogen application rate and variety, with better performance observed in Xinchun 37 compared to Xinchun 6. Under drip irrigation conditions in arid areas, nitrogen application of 255 kg·hm-2 can effectively regulate the metabolism of sucrose to starch in flag leaves and grains of spring wheat, which is conducive to the accumulation of starch in grains and the formation of yield.

A recent study reported that micro-osteoperforations (MOPs) accelerated tooth movement by activating alveolar bone remodeling. However, very little is known about the relationship between MOPs and external apical root resorption during orthodontic treatment. In this study, in order to investigate the mechanism which MOPs accelerate tooth movement without exacerbating the progression of root resorption, we measured the volume of resorbed root, and performed the immunostaining for the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-end-labelling method (TUNEL) exposed MOPs during rat experimental tooth movement. Male Wistar rats (11 week old) were divided into 3 groups: 10-g orthodontic force (optimal force) applied to the maxillary first molar (optimal force: OF group), 50-g orthodontic force application (heavy force: HF group) and 10-g force application plus 3 small perforations of the cortical plate (OF+MOPs group). On days 1, 4, 7, 10 and 14 after force application, the tooth movement and root volume were investigated by micro-computed tomography. Furthermore, the expression levels of apoptotic cells in pressure sides of periodontal ligament (PDL) and surround hard tissues were determined by TUNEL staining. The OF+MOP group exhibited a 1.8-fold increase in tooth movement on days 7, 10 and 14 compared with the OF group. On days 14, the HF group had a higher volume of root loss than the OF and OF+MOP groups. On the same day, the number of TUNEL-positive cells in the HF group increased at the root (cementum) site whereas that in the OF group increased at the alveolar bone site. Furthermore, that in the OF + MOP group increased at the alveolar bone site compared with the OF group. These results suggest that MOPs accelerate orthodontic tooth movement without exacerbating the progression of root resorption.

A herbarium is a library of preserved dried samples of vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, algae and/or lichens and is maintained for educational and scientific purposes, and provides detailed information on taxonomy, systematic, biodiversity, ecological and evolutionary research studies. Globally, there are more than 3,000 active public herbaria that preserve around 400 million exsiccates. In Brazil there are 216 active herbaria, of which 162 are indexed in the Index Herbariorum and in the Central region there are 21 herbaria. In this context, the Herbarium of the University of Brasília (international code UB) was founded in 1963 together with the Department of Botany of UnB and is located at the Institute of Biological Sciences of the Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília and it is fifth largest herbarium in Brazil and presents approximately 277 thousand samples. In this study, we present here the bryophytes collection at the UB Herbarium. The collection of bryophytes of UB herbarium has 30,902 samples of all continents and 79 countries and most come from Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, United States of America and Argentina.

Wheat is widely grown in the Mediterranean region, where plants frequently face water shortages. Recently, more attention to rationalizing irrigation water has been increased due to the adoption of sustainable agricultural systems. Therefore, two field trials were conducted at the Agriculture Research Station of Nubaria, Egypt, in two consecutive seasons (2017/2018 and 2018/2019) to examine three irrigation regimes' effects, i.e., 60, 80, and 100% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) combined with foliar ascorbic acid (AsA) or vitamin B2 (VB2) on yield and water productivity of wheat in two separate experiments. A split-plot design was used with three replicates. Irrigation treatments occupied the main plots, while the subplot in the first experiment was placed by ascorbic acid (AsA) and vitamin B2 in the second experiment. Results indicated that 100% ETc produced higher wheat yield and its attributes and insignificantly surpassed 80% ETc. Compared to the unsprayed plots, the foliar application of 6 mM ascorbic acid or 2.0 mM vitamin B2 significantly increased grain yield, components, and water use efficiency. The interaction between irrigation regimes (100% ETc or 80% ETc) and foliar application of 6.0 mM ascorbic acid or 2.0 mM vitamin B2 resulted in the highest values with no significant difference. Foliar application of ascorbic acid or vitamin B2 saved 20% of irrigation water while yielding a reduction that did not exceed 10%. The biplot graph of treatments x traits (TT) was a useful statistical tool for examining the impact of treatments on yield and its characteristics and identifying the links between these factors. Results suggest that riboflavin or ascorbic acid may have a potential role as an effective antioxidant for enhancing the tolerance for drought stress in wheat.

Metal halide perovskites have shown excellent optoelectronic properties, including high photoluminescence quantum yield, tunable emission wavelength, narrow full-width at half-maximum and low-cost solution-processed fabrication, which make it exhibit great potential as the emission layer materials of light emitting diodes. With the joint efforts of researchers from different disciplines, there has been a significant progress in the improvement of external quantum efficiency (EQE) and stability of perovskite light emitting diodes (PeLEDs) in recent few years, especially in green PeLEDs with EQE over 30%. In this review, we firstly introduce the basic device structure of PeLEDs, as well as the factors influencing EQE and stability of PeLEDs. Secondly, the development of lead-based and lead-free PeLEDs are summarized systematically. Thirdly, challenges of PeLEDs are discussed in detail, including low EQE of blue PeLEDs, poor device stability and EQE roll-off. Finally, some suggestions and perspectives of the future research directions for PeLEDs are proposed.

Emerging research has revealed a complex bidirectional interaction between the gut microbiome and cannabis. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that the gut microbiota can significantly influence the pharmacological effects of cannabinoids. One notable finding is the ability of the gut microbiota to metabolise cannabinoids, including Δ^9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This metabolic transformation can alter the potency and duration of cannabinoid effects, potentially impacting their efficacy in cancer treatment. Additionally, the capacity of gut microbiota to activate cannabinoid receptors through the production of secondary bile acids underscores its role in directly influencing the pharmacological activity of cannabinoids. While the literature reveals promising avenues for leveraging the gut microbiome-cannabis axis in cancer therapy, several critical considerations must be accounted for. Firstly, the variability in gut microbiota composition among individuals presents a challenge in developing universal treatment strategies. The diversity in gut microbiota may lead to variations in cannabinoid metabolism and treatment responses, emphasising the need for personalised medicine approaches. The growing interest in understanding how the gut microbiome and cannabis may impact cancer has created a demand for up-to-date, comprehensive reviews to inform researchers and healthcare practitioners. This review provides a timely and invaluable resource by synthesizing the most recent research findings and spotlighting emerging trends. A thorough examination of the literature on the interplay between the gut microbiome and cannabis, specifically focusing on their potential implications for cancer, is presented in this review to devise innovative and effective therapeutic strategies for managing cancer.

Reactions of N‚N'-bis(3-methylpyridyl)oxalamide (L1), N,N’-bis(3-methylpyridyl)adipoamide (L2) and N,N’-bis(3-methylpyridyl)sebacoamide (L3) with tricarboxylic acids and Cu(II) salts afforded {[Cu(L1)(1,3,5-HBTC)]·H2O}n (1,3,5-H3BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid), 1, {[Cu1.5(L2)1.5(1,3,5-BTC)(H2O)2]·6.5H2O}n, 2, [Cu(L2)0.5(1,3,5-HBTB)]n (1,3,5-H3BTB = 1,3,5-tri(4-carboxyphenyl)benzene), 3, [Cu4(L3)(OH)2(1,3,5-BTC)2]n, 4, {[Cu3(L3)2(1,3,5-BTB)2]·2.5MeOH·2H2O}n, 5, and {[Cu3(L3)2(1,3,5-BTB)2 ]·DMF·2H2O}n, 6, which have been structurally characterized by using single crystal X-ray crystallography. Complexes 1 – 4 form a 2D layer with the {44.62}-sql topology, a 2D layer with the (4.62)2(42.62.82)-bex topology, a 3-fold interpenetrated 3D net with the (412.63)-pcu topology and a 3D framework with the (410.632.83)(42.6)2(43.63) topology, respectively, whereas 5 and 6 are 3D frameworks with the (63)2(64.82)(68.85.102) topology. Complex 5 shows a better iodine-adsorption factor of 290.0 mg g-1 at 60 oC for 360 minutes than the other ones, revealing that the flexibility of the spacer ligand governs the structural diversity and the adsorption capacity.

Polyethyleneimine (PEI) has been reported to have good potential for the adsorption of metal ions. In this work, PEI was covalently bound to NiFe2O4@SiO2 nanoparticles to form the new adsorbent NiFe2O4@SiO2–PEI. The material allowed magnetic separation and was characterized via powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier-transform IR spectroscopy (FT-IR), and thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA). The adsorption of CrO42‒, Ni2+, and Pb2+ ions from aqueous solutions was studied at different pH, temperatures, metal ion concentration, and adsorbent dosage. Maximum adsorption capacities of 149.23, 156.68, and 161.25 mg/g were obtained for CrO42‒, Ni2+, and Pb2+, respectively under optimum conditions using 0.075 g of the adsorbent material 250 mg/L ion concentration, at pH = 6.5 and room temperature.

The accuracy of star position simulation is the key factor affecting the accuracy of ground calibration test of spacecraft attitude measurement system. To solve the impact of nonimaging polarized stray light on the simulation accuracy of star position in the optical engine of the system, the generation mechanism of non-imaging polarized stray light has been investigated, and an optimization method for polarization balance of the optical engine is proposed. The mathematical model of the incident light aperture angle and the ideal polarization parameter of the optical engine thin film is established, and the optimization evaluation function of polarization balance of the optical engine is constructed. An optical engine polarization balance film with the corresponding full-band binomial attenuation is <0.001 and the phase delay is <1°. Experimental results show that the simulation accuracy of the weak starlight simulation system is improved by 1.64 times using polarization balanced optical engine.

Somerateofmutationisinevitable,eveningenesthatthemselvesdeterminethemutation rate. Because mutation in these genes can alter the mutation rate, variation in the mutation rate is inevitable. This simple line of reasoning is corroborated by a handful of empirical studies that found mutation-rate variation in natural and laboratory populations. The evolutionary consequences of mutation-rate variation in natural populations can be many and can be difficult to predict, as selection on such variation can be both direct and indirect. For example, lineages with increased mutation rate will have increased adaptability in the long term but decreased overall fitness in the short term because most fitness mutations are immediately deleterious. In spite of its great relevance to basic and applied science, the rate of mutation to mutator phenotype continues to be essentially unknown. The reasons for this gap in our knowledge are largely methodological; in general, a mutator phenotype cannot be observed directly but must instead be inferred from numbers of some neutral “marker” mutation that can be observed directly: different mutation-rate variants will produce this marker mutation at different rates. Here, we derive the expected distribution of numbers of the marker mutants observed, accounting for the fact that some of the mutants will have been produced by a mutator phenotype that itself arose by mutation during the growth of the culture. This development makes possible a novel experimental protocol for estimating the rate of mutation to mutator phenotype. Simulated experiments using biologically-reasonable parameters that employ this protocol show that such experiments in the lab can give us fairly accurate estimates of the rate of mutation to mutator phenotype. Although our ability to estimate mutation-to-mutator rates from simulated experiments is promising, we view this study as a proof-of-concept study and only a first step towards practical empirical estimation.

The aim of this study is to prepare redox-sensitive nanophotosensitizers for targeted delivery of chlorin e6 (Ce6) against cervical cancer. For this purpose, Ce6 was conjugated with β-cyclodextrin (bCD) via disulfide bond creating nanophotosensitizers that were fabricated for redox-sensitive delivery of Ce6 against cancer cells. bCD was treated with succinic anhydride to synthesize suc-cinylated bCD (bCDsu). After that, cystamine was attached to the carboxylic end of bCDsu (bCDsu-ss) and the amine end group of bCDsu-ss was conjugated with Ce6 (bCDsu-ss-Ce6). Chemical composition of bCDsu-ss-Ce6 was confirmed with 1H and 13C NMR spectra. bCDsu-ss-Ce6 nanophotosensitizers were fabricated by dialysis procedure. They formed small particles with an average particle size of 152.0±23.2 nm and they showed improved singlet oxygen (SO) generation in the aqueous solution under light irradiation and was significantly higher than that of Ce6 alone. Ce6 release rate from bCDsu-ss-Ce6 nanophotosensitizers was accelerated by addition of glutathione (GSH), indicating that bCDsu-ss-Ce6 nanophotosensitizers have re-dox-sensitive photosensitizer delivery capacity. bCDsu-ss-Ce6 nanophotosensitizers have low in-trinsic cytotoxicity against CCD986Sk human skin fibroblast cells as well as Ce6 alone. However, bCDsu-ss-Ce6 nanophotosensitizers showed improved Ce6 uptake ratio, higher reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and phototoxicity compared to those of Ce6 alone. GSH addition resulted in higher Ce6 uptake ratio, ROS generation and phototoxicity than those of Ce6 alone, indicating that bCDsu-ss-Ce6 nanophotosensitizers have redox-sensitive biological activity in vitro against HeLa human cervical cancer cells. At tumor xenograft model using HeLa cells, bCDsu-ss-Ce6 nanophotosensitizers efficiently accumulated in the tumor rather than normal organs, i.e. fluores-cence intensity in tumor tissues was significantly higher than those of other organs while Ce6 alone did not specifically target tumor tissue. These results indicated higher anticancer activity of bCDsu-ss-Ce6 nanophotosensitizers, by efficiently inhibiting growth of tumor in in vivo animal tumor xenograft study.

Acute respiratory viruses (ARVs) are leading cause of diseases in human worldwide. High risk individuals including children and elderly could potentially develop severe illness that could result in hospitalization or death in the worst case. Most common ARVs are Human respiratory syncytial virus, Human Metapneumovirus, Human Parainfluenza Virus, rhinovirus, coronaviruses (including SARS and MERS CoV), adenoviruses, Human Bocavirus, enterovirus (-D68 and 71), and influenza viruses. The olfactory deficits due to ARVs infection is a common symptom among patients. This mini review provides an overview of the role of SARS-CoV-2 and other common ARVs in the development of human olfactory pathophysiology. We highlight the critical need for understanding the signaling underlying the olfactory dysfunction and the development of therapeutics for this wide-ranging category of AVRs to restore the altered or loss of smell in affected patients.

Red fruits such as grapes and blueberries are known for their high content of bioactive compounds and antioxidants. In Mediterranean winemaking, traditional sun drying can be replaced by controlled airflow chamber drying which provides better quality, higher phenolic content, and increased antioxidants. This study aimed to increase the sugar content and phenolic compounds of the must by drying the fruits to 50% of their original moisture content. Two musts were prepared by combining fresh grapes and dried blueberries (M1), and the other using dried grapes and fresh blueberries (M2), followed by fermentation at 25 ºC with M05 Mead and X5 yeast strains. Must M2 showed the highest level of phenolic compounds, A520, total anthocyanins and antioxidant activity. During fermentation, the anthocyanin content increased mainly in the dried blueberry macerates, which raised between 4 to 5.5-fold. More bioactive compounds were extracted from wines produced by yeast inoculation despite shorter maceration times. Sensory analysis demonstrated consumer acceptance of the wines in terms of color, flavor and aroma. In conclusion, the use of red grapes in the production of blueberry red wine proved to be effective, providing sugars and higher must yields, while the dried fruits improved the fermentable sugar content and the levels of bioactive compounds, increasing the antioxidant capacity of the resulting red fruit wines.

The increasing global demand for energy and the pressing challenge of environmental pollution necessitates a paradigm shift towards sustainable energy sources. Hydrogen, a viable renewable energy carrier, has the potential to substantially alleviate these concerns. This review offers a comprehensive exploration of the technologies imperative to the production and operation of fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), ranging from various fuel cell types, hydrogen storage methods, fueling station logistics, batteries in hydrogen vehicles, and the emerging influence of artificial intelligence and quantum computing. An analytical overview of global adoption patterns reveals significant geographical disparities, with the United States and South Korea at the forefront of FCV integration, primarily in the form of passenger cars, followed by buses and trucks. Asia emerges as the region with the highest proportion of FCVs. This paper also delves into the diverse challenges facing FCV implementation, shedding light on the essential role of continued investment in the evolution of sustainable transportation systems. Furthermore, it provides insights into the varying contributions of different companies in the field, demonstrating the collective effort required to advance this promising technology. The comprehensive exploration provided in this review aids in understanding the opportunities, challenges, and potential of hydrogen as an integral player in the future of sustainable transportation. The increasing need for energy carriers and the rise of environmental pollution have driven the exploration of renewable energy sources, with hydrogen being a promising option.

The type of implant at the fracture site has effects not only from biological perspective but also from mechanical perspective in fracture healing. Biodegradable implants such as magnesium (Mg) based alloys have shown faster secondary bone healing properties as compared to bioinert implants such as titanium (Ti). The general reasoning behind this is the benefit of Mg from biocompatibility perspectives. We study the effect of Ti and Mg as base materials for implants with their different mechanical properties. The focus of our work is on the displacements at the fracture site of the tibia and their influence on the stimulus for bone healing. We have found that in comparison to Ti, Mg implants have minimal stress shielding problem, only which led to better mechanical stimulus at the fracture site.

Recanalization poses challenge in coil embolization for cerebral aneurysms. Establishing predictive models for post-embolization recanalization is important for clinical decision-making. However, conventional statistical and machine learning (ML) models may overlook critical parameters during the initial selection process. In this study, we automated the identification of significant hemodynamic parameters using a PointNet-based deep neural network (DNN), leveraging their inherent 3D features. Further feature analysis was conducted utilizing saliency mapping, an explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) technique. The study encompassed the analysis of velocity, pressure, and wall shear stress (WSS) in both pre- and post-coiling models derived from computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations for 59 aneurysms. Velocity was identified as the most pivotal parameter, supported by the lowest P-value from statistical analysis and the highest area under the curves (AUROC)/precision-recall curves (AUPRC) values from DNN model. Moreover, visual XAI analysis revealed robust injection flow zones with notable impingement points in pre-coiling models, as well as pronounced interplay between flow dynamics and the coiling plane were important 3D features in identifying the recanalized aneurysms. The combination of DNN and XAI was found to be an accurate and explainable approach not only at predicting post-embolization recanalization but also at discovering unknown features in the future.

In this research, a computation algorithm is established for a fractional order 2D fuzzy heat equation. In this study, Elzaki transform and HPM fusion is produced. Computing the desired outcome in series yields a fast convergence on an appropriate response. Examples are provided to support the conclusions, which are then compared with a particular approach to show the effectiveness and potential of the suggested approach. Two crisp equations—one for the lower bound solution and one for the upper bound solution are constructed from the input fuzzy fractional heat equation. The contour and surface representations of the approximate and exact results are offered for the lower and upper-bound solutions. The l∞-error norm is used in this study to validate the numerical convergence aspect. Together with the absolute inaccuracy, the approximate and exact solutions are matched. It has been demonstrated that the proposed regime will make it feasible to work with fuzzy fractional partial differential equations in a wide range of dimensions.

Bioactive lipids are involved in cellular signalling events with links to human disease. Many of these are involved in inflammation under normal and pathological conditions. Despite being attractive molecules from a pharmacological point of view, detection and quantification of lipids has been a major challenge. Here, we have optimised a liquid chromatography dynamic multiple reaction monitoring targeted mass spectrometry (LC-dMRM-MS) approach to profile eicosanoids and fatty acids in biological samples. In particular, by applying this analytic workflow to study a cellular model of Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML), we found that intra- and extra-cellular 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), intracellular Arachidonic Acid (AA), and extracellular Prostaglandin F_2α (PGF_2α), 5-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-HETE), Palmitic acid (PA, C16:0) and Stearic acid (SA, C18:0) were altered in response to immunomodulation by type I Interferon (IFN-I), a currently approved treatment for CML. Our observations indicate changes in eicosanoid and fatty acid metabolism with potential relevance in the context of cancer inflammation and CML.

Since the development of CBCT had been utilized in dentistry, the images of the CBCT can assist the surgeon to evaluate the anatomy carefully. Despite the value of the radiology evaluation, the implant procedures may require additional consideration rather than only evaluating the anatomical factors. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the predictability of using CBCT alone to plan for implant placement on the edentulous patient digitally CBCT images were analyzed by clinicians, measuring the ridge heights and widths of 4 selected implant sites in the maxillary and 2 selected implant sites in the mandibular arches for 91 patients planning for the implant-supported overdenture. (A total of 47 patients out of the 91 had completed the implant placement on the edentulous ridge, contributing to 55 upper and/or lower arches (136 dental implants). . Both predictabilities are low, implying the CBCT planning for implant placement on the edentulous ridge is not a good index and is insufficient to predict the surgical procedures as a solo method. The finding of this study indicates that digital planning by CBCT is insufficient to serve as an individual tool to predict implant procedures. Further information and evaluation must be considered for implant placement on the edentulous ridge.

Coptisine (Cop) exerts a neuroprotective effect in central nervous system disease, particularly ischemic stroke. However, its protective mechanism is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of Cop on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (IR) rats with a middle cerebral artery occlusion model by integrating a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolomics approach with biochemical assessment. Our results showed that Cop could improve neurobehavioral function and decrease the ischemia size in IR rats. In addition, Cop was found to decrease inflammatory mediators (e.g., prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and attenuate oxidative stress response (e.g., increase the superoxide dismutase (SOD) expression and decrease 8-iso-PGF2α level). Furthermore, GC-MS based cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) metabolomics analysis indicated that Cop influenced the level of glycine, 2,3,4-trihydroxybutyric acid, oleic acid, glycerol, and ribose during IR injury. Cop exhibited a good neuroprotective effect against cerebral IR injury and metabolic alterations which might be mediated through its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory property.

The utilization of lignocellulosic biomass as an alternative energy source presents a promising opportunity to achieve a future energy system that is clean and free from CO2 emissions. To realize this potential, it is crucial to develop effective techniques for converting biomass and organic solid waste into secondary energy sources. Among the available options, hydrogen production stands out due to its numerous advantages, including its cleanliness, versatility in conversion and utilization technologies, high energy efficiency, and dense energy content per unit weight. This article offers a comprehensive overview of different conversion pathways and important technologies for generating hydrogen from biomass and organic solid waste. It specifically focuses on the thermochemical conversion process, which shows promise as an economically viable approach. While certain thermochemical conversion processes are still in the developmental phase, utilizing organic biomass for hydrogen production is widely recommended due to its ability to yield higher amounts of end products and its compatibility with existing facilities. However, it should be noted that this method necessitates a substantial amount of energy due to its endothermic nature. The article also explores alternative hydrogen conversion technologies and their potential for utilizing organic biomass as a feedstock, while addressing the challenges and limitations associated with these methods.

The layout of deep chamber for coal-gangue separation (DCCS) based on the horizon of the weak stratum can affect the stability of its surrounding rocks. First, the work summarized the main structural characteristics of DCCS. Similar simulation tests were performed to analyze the deformation and failure law of surrounding rocks of DCCS under different horizons of the weak stratum. Then, 60 numerical simulation schemes were designed by considering the lateral pressure coefficient and the thickness and horizon of the weak stratum. A comprehensive evaluation method was proposed for the stability of surrounding rocks. The optimal layout methods of the DCCS were determined based on the thickness and horizon of the weak stratum in different ground stress fields. If the thickness of the weak stratum was large and lateral pressure coefficient λ &lt; 0.6 or λ &gt; 1, the stability of surrounding rocks was optimal to arrange the side of DCCS along the weak stratum. When 0.6 ≤ λ ≤ 1, the optimal approach for controlling surrounding rocks was to position the floor of DCCS along the weak stratum. If the thickness of the weak stratum was small and λ&lt;0.6 or λ&gt;1, the stability of surrounding rocks was optimal to arrange the side of DCCS near roof along the weak stratum. When 0.6 ≤ λ ≤ 1, the optimal approach for controlling surrounding rocks was to arrange the side of DCCS near the floor along the weak stratum. The results can provide an important theoretical reference for the spatial layout and support design of DCCS.

Hf1-xZrxO2 (HZO) thin films are versatile materials suitable for advanced ferroelectric semiconductor devices. Previous studies have shown that the ferroelectricity of HZO thin films, can be stabilized by doping them with group III elements at low concentrations. While doping with Y improves the ferroelectric properties, there has been limited research on Y-HZO thin films fabricated using atomic layer deposition (ALD). In this study, we investigated the effects of Y doping cycles on the ferroelectric and electrical properties of as-deposited Y-HZO thin films with vaying compositions fabricated through ALD. The Y-HZO thin films were stably crystallized without the need for post-thermal treatment and exhibited transition behavior depending on the Y-doping cycle and initial composition ratio of the HZO thin films. These Y-HZO thin films offer several advantages, including enhanced dielectric constant, leakage current density, and improved endurance. Moreover, the optimized Y-doping cycle induced a phase transformation that resulted in Y-HZO thin films with improved ferroelectric properties, exhibiting stable behavior without fatigue for up to 1010 cycles. These as-deposited Y-HZO thin films show promise for applications in semiconductor devices that require high ferroelectric properties, excellent electrical properties, and reliable performance with a low thermal budget.

Multi-chiplet technique is expected to be a promising solution to achieve high-density system integration with low power consumption and high usage ratio. This technique can be integrated with glass interposer to accomplish a competitive low fabrication cost compared with the silicon-based interposer architecture. In this study, process-oriented stress simulation is performed by the element activation and de activation technique in finite element analysis architecture. Submodeling technique is also utilized to mainly conquer the scale mismatch and difficulty in mesh gridding design. It is used as well to analyze the thermomechanical responses of glass interposer with chiplet arrangement and capped epoxy molding compound (EMC) during curing. A three-factor, three-level full factorial design is applied using the analysis of variance method to explore the significance of various structural design parameters on stress generation. Analytic results reveal that the maximum first principal stresses of 130.75 and 17.18 MPa are introduced on the sidewall of Cu-filled via and the bottom of glass interposer, respectively. Moreover, the EMC thickness and through glass via pitch are the dominant factors in the adopted vehicle. They significantly influence the stress magnitude during heating and cooling.

CC16 plays many protective roles within the lung; however, the complete biological functions, es-pecially regarding the pulmonary epithelium during infection, remain undefined. We have previ-ously shown that CC16 deficient (CC16-/-) mouse tracheal epithelial cells (MTECs) have enhanced Mp burden, compared to CC16 sufficient (WT) MTECs; therefore, in this study, we wanted to fur-ther define how the pulmonary epithelium responds to infection in the context of CC16 deficiency. Using mass spectrometry and quantitative proteomics to analyze proteins secreted apically from MTECs grown at an air-liquid interface, we investigated the protective effects that CC16 elicits within the pulmonary epithelium during Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) infection. When chal-lenged with Mp, WT MTECs have an overall reduction in apical protein secretion, whereas CC16-/- MTECs have increased apical protein secretion compared to their unchallenged controls. Fol-lowing Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) assessment, many of the proteins upregulated from CC16-/- MTECS (unchallenged and during Mp infection) were related to airway remodeling, which were not observed by WT MTECs. These findings sug-gest that CC16 is instrumental in providing protection within the pulmonary epithelium during respiratory infection with Mp, the major causative agent of community-acquired pneumoniae.

Transition delaying is of great importance for the drag and heat flux reduction of hypersonic flight vehicles. The first mode within low frequency and the second mode within high frequency exist simultaneously during the transition of hypersonic boundary layer. This paper proposes a novel bi-frequency synthetic jet to suppress low- and high-frequency disturbances at the same time. Orthogonal table and variance analysis are used to compare the control effects of jet with different frequencies, amplitudes and positions. Linear stability analysis results show that, low frequency synthetic jet can suppress the first mode when it is arranged upstream of synchronization point, while the second mode control effect is relatively weak. The higher the high frequency is, the stronger the suppression effect is on the first mode. For the second mode, the suppression effect is only at f2=89.09kHz. The larger the amplitude, the weaker the promoting effect for the first mode and the second mode, and the more obvious the suppressing effect. For the cases with synthetic jet downstream of synchronization point, all levels of the three parameters promote the unstable mode. In terms of the growth rate with the spanwise wave number, the control effect of the same factor and level under different spanwise wave number is different. In order to obtain the optimal control effect on transition, the three factors and the arrangement position of the synthetic jet should be selected as follows: the position is arranged in the upstream, with f1 = 17.82kHz, f2 = 89.9kHz, a =0.007, so that the maximum growth rate of the first mode is reduced by 9.06% and that of the second mode is reduced by 1.28% compared with the uncontrolled state.

Palpation is a simple but effective method to differentiate tumors from healthy tissues. Development of miniaturized tactile sensors embedded on endoscopic or robotic devices are the key toward precise palpation diagnosis and the subsequent timely treatment. This paper reports on the fabrication and characterization of a novel tactile sensor with mechanical flexibility and optical transparency that can be easily mounted on soft surgical endoscopes and robotics. Utilizing the pneumatic sensing mechanism, the sensor offers a high sensitivity of 1.25 mbar and negligible hysteresis, enabling the detection of phantom tissues with different stiffnesses ranging from 0 to 2.5 MPa. Our configuration combining pneumatic sensing and hydraulic actuating also eliminates electrical wiring from the functional elements located at the robot end-effector, thereby enhancing the system safety. The optical transparency path in the sensors together with its mechanical sensing capability open interesting possibility in early detection of solid tumor as well as in the development of all in-one soft surgical robots that can perform visual/mechanical feedback and optical therapy.

The effects of methyl jasmonate (MeJ) on growth and taxoid formation in the cell culture of Himalayan yew was investigated for elucidate the specifics of the action of phytohormones on dedifferentiated plant cells in vitro. The characteristics of the same suspension culture of Taxus wallichiana was compared in 2017 ("young culture") and in 2022 ("old culture") - 1.5 or 6 years after culture induction, respectively. Cells were grown in flasks and bioreactors, MeJ (100 µM) was added at the exponential growth phase. It was found that cell culture demonstrated good growth (dry weight (DW) accumulation 10–18 g/l, specific growth rate µ = 0.15–0.35 day-1) regardless of "age", cultivation system and MeJ addition. UPLC–ESI-MS analysis showed the presence of C14-hydroxylated taxoids (yunnanxane, taxuyunnanine C, sinenxane C, sinenxane B) in cell biomass in the amounts comparable to plants. The content of C14-OH taxoids during 5 years of cultivation increased by 3-5 times. It was 0.2–1.6 mg/g DW for "young culture” and 0.6-10.1 mg/g for “old culture” depending on cultivation conditions. The ratio of individual compounds changed also: in the "young culture" was predominant yunnanxane, in the "old culture" - sinenxane C. Important that C13-hydroxylated taxoids were found in trace amounts only in the "young culture” (below 0.05 mg/g DW) and were not detected in the "old culture”. The response to MeJ was radically different depending on culture’s «age». In the “young culture”, exogenous MeJ had no effect on the content of C14-OH com-pounds, but significantly (almost 10 times) increased the content of C13-OH compounds. In particular, paclitaxel concentration was elevated up to 0.12–0.19 mg/g DW, which is comparable to its content in the bark of yew trees. By contrast, MeJ added to the "old culture” had minor effect on the synthesis of C13-OH toxoids that appeared in trace amounts only (below 3.5 µg/g DW for paclitaxel) but notably increased the content of C14-OH compounds (1.5–2.0 times in flasks and 5–8 times in bioreactors). These findings suggest that hormonal signaling in dedifferentiated yew cells grown in vitro is different from that in plants and change with culture age. This might be a result of the high level of heterogeneity of cells in vitro and their constant auto-selection for proliferate intensity which leads to predominant formation of C14-OH taxoids versus C13-OH taxoids and modified cell response to exogenous MeJ treatment. These results have both fundamental and practical biotechnological application.

Surgical ciliated cysts occur primarily in the maxilla after radical maxillary sinus surgery. We report a first case of a surgical ciliated cyst that developed in the infratemporal fossa 25 years after the patient sustained severe facial trauma. The patient complained of mandibular pain and limited mouth opening. The patient’s condition was completely resolved 5 months after marsupialization via Le Fort I osteotomy. Surgical morbidities can be minimized by proper diagnosis and less invasive surgery.

Tidal stream energy is a renewable energy resource that might be developed to offset carbon emissions. A tidal energy demonstration (TED) area has been designated in Minas Passage, Bay of Fundy, for testing and installing marine hydrokinetic (MHK) turbines. Regulations require quantification of the potential for MHK turbine installations to harm local populations of marine animals. Here we use acoustic telemetry to quantify probability that post smolt Inner Bay of Fundy salmon encounter a turbine installation at the TED area. Previous work has quantified detection efficiency of Innovasea HR acoustic tags as a function of current speed and range from a moored HR2 receiver and also demonstrated that drifters carrying HR tags will be effectively detected when the drifter track crosses the array of HR2 receivers in Minas Passage. Salmon smolts were tagged and released in Gaspereau and Stewiacke Rivers, Nova Scotia, in order that the HR2 receiver array could monitor seaward migration of the post smolts through Minas Passage and particularly through the TED area. Presently we demonstrate methods by which tag signals detected by the HR2 array can be used to estimate the expected number of times that a post smolt would encounter a single near-surface MHK turbine installation during its seaward migration.

As two commonly-used non-selective herbicides, glyphosate (GP) and diquat (DQ) are easily co-resided in lateritic paddy soil due to the rich iron/aluminum oxides, nevertheless there is limited information on their co-impact on microbial diversity and community structure in this type soil. In this study, the short-term effects of combined GP and DQ on soil microbial diversity and community structure shifts were investigated in lateritic paddy soil from a tropical agricultural region (Hainan, China) based on 16S rRNA and ITS high-throughput sequencing technology. The results showed that mixed herbicides promoted the abundance of Streptomyces in bacteria (0.45-1.84%) and Curvularia in fungi (0.01-5.85%), while GP and DQ had inhibitory effects on the abundance of Streptomyces (0.13-2.21%) and Curvularia (0.03-1.13%), which were significantly different with their single exposure (p < 0.05); the combined application of the two herbicides aggravate the adverse effect on the diversity of soil fungal community (p < 0.05), although their mixture did not have a greater impact on the soil bacteria abundance/diversity and fungi abundance (p > 0.05). Results suggested that the combined application of GP and DQ affected the fungal diversity although they did not cause other significant negative effects on soil microorganisms, hinting that more attention should be paid to the mixed effect caused by GP and DQ on specific fungal populations in lateritic paddy soil.

Abstract: Heavy metals (HMs) contamination is one of the main among abiotic factors affecting crop productivity and also threatens human health via consuming metal contaminated crops as a food source. Over the past few years, HMs have drawn a lot of attention due to their increased use for commercial purposes and their harmful effects on plants and other life forms, thus threatening human survival. However, in recent years, several methods have been adopted to combat the harsh effects of HMs. After phytohormones, use of mineral nutrients such as selenium (Se) in the prevention of HM stress has been explored by the researchers more recently. Selenium is an important micronutrient widely known for its antioxidant properties in both plants and animals. Exogenous Se inhibits metal uptake and its translocation and also improves the antioxidant system, thus imparts resistance to HM toxicity in plants. Moreover, Se also regulates the production of various osmolytes in cells that helps in developing cell osmolarity. Selenium also induces the production of different types of secondary metabolites (SMs) that are also involved in plant's secondary defense mechanisms to different stresses. Uptake of mineral nutrients is a vital process for plant growth and development, which is also positively correlated with Se under metalloid toxicity. However, in order to understand the exact mechanism of Se in HM tolerance, different metabolic processes stimulated by Se and their pathways need to be explored. Hence, this review focuses on the role of Se on nutritional status, antioxidants metabolism, interaction with phytohormones and its role in the regulation of various genes involved in Se induced HM tolerance. Thus, this study will help researchers in the future for the improvement of HM tolerance via Se application in plants.

Berberis koreana Palibin is an endemic plant native to Korea. In this study, we aimed to study seed germination in this species using a water imbibition experiment, gibberellic acid (GA3) treat-ment (0, 10, 100, or 1000 mg·L−1), cold stratification (0, 2, 4, 8, or 12 weeks at 4 °C), a move-along experiment, and phenology studies. In the water imbibition experiment, the weight of the seeds increased by more than 120% in 24 h. Analysis of the internal and external morphological char-acteristics of the seed revealed that the embryo was already fully grown from the fruit and did not grow thereafter. The final germination percentages for cold stratification at 0, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks at 4 °C were 12, 32, 59, 59, and 71%, respectively. In the move-along experiment and phe-nology studies, a longer low-temperature treatment period resulted in a higher germination percentage. However, the GA3 treatment had little effect on seed germination. Our results indi-cate that B. koreana exhibits intermediate physiological seed dormancy.

Fake news detection has become a significant topic based on the fast-spreading and detrimental effects of such news. Many methods based on deep neural networks learn clues from claim content and message propagation structure or temporal information, which have been widely recognized. However, such models (i) ignore the fact that information quality is uneven in propagation, which makes semantic representations unreliable. (ii) Most models do not fully leverage spatial and temporal structure in combination. (iii) Finally, internal decision-making processes and results are non-transparent and unexplained. In this study, we develop a trust-aware evidence reasoning and spatiotemporal feature aggregation model for more interpretable and accurate fake news detection. Specifically, we first design a trust-aware evidence reasoning module to calculate the credibility of posts based on a random walk model to discover high-quality evidence. Next, from the perspective of spatiotemporal structure, we design an evidence-representation module to capture the semantic interactions granularly and enhance the reliable representation of evidence. Finally, a two-layer capsule network is designed to aggregate the implicit bias in evidence while capturing the false portions of source information in a transparent and interpretable manner. Extensive experiments on two benchmark datasets indicate that the proposed model can provide explanations for fake news detection results, as well as can achieve better performance, boosting 3.5% in F1-score on average.

Co-based catalysts have gained significant attention in recent years due to their excellent ability to activate C-H bonds and high selectivity towards olefins, despite being a non-noble and environmentally unfriendly metal. However, further improvements are necessary for practical utilization, particularly in terms of activity and anti-carbon deposition capacity. In this study, we synthesized Al₂O₃ nanorods with abundant pentacoordinated Al³⁺ (Al³⁺_penta) sites. The supported Co on the Al₂O₃ nanorod (Co/Al₂O₃-NR) exhibited higher selectivity (&gt;96% propylene selectivity) and stability (deactivation rate 0.15 h^-1), compared to Co supported on an Al₂O₃ nanosheet with fewer pentacoordinated Al³⁺ sites. Various characterizations confirmed that Co(II) mainly exists as CoAl₂O₄ rather than Co₃O₄ in the form of Co/Al₂O₃-NR, which inhibits the reduction of Co(II) to Co0 and improves catalyst stability accordingly.

Current generation witnesses a huge interest in optical waveguide due to their salient feature such as low cost, immune to electromagnetic interference, easy to multiplex, compact size, etc. These features of the optical fibers makes it an useful tool for various sensing applications including medicine, automotive, biotechnology, food quality control, aerospace, physical and chemical monitoring etc. Among all the reported application, the device has been widely exploited to measure the physical and chemical variation in surrounding environment. Optical fiber based temperature sensor plays a crucial role in this decade to detect high fever and tackle COVID like pandemic. Recognizing the major developments in the field of the optical fibers, this article aims to provide recent progress in temperature sensor utilizing several sensing configuration including standard fiber, photonic crystal fiber, and Bragg grating fibers. Additionally, the article also highlights the advantages, limitations, and future possibilities in this area.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are essential components of innate immunity across all species. AMPs have become the focus of attention in recent years as scientists are addressing antibiotic resistance, a public health crisis that has reached epidemic proportions. This family of peptides are a promising alternative to current antibiotics due to their broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and tendency to avoid resistance development. A subfamily of AMPs interact with metal ions to potentiate their antimicrobial effectiveness, as such they have been termed metalloAMPs. In this work, we review the scientific literature of metalloAMPs that enhance their antimicrobial efficacy when combined with the essential metal ion, zinc (II). Beyond the role played by Zn(II) as a cofactor in different systems, it is well-known that this metal ion plays an important role in innate immunity. Here, we classify the different types of synergistic interactions between AMPs and Zn(II) into three distinct classes. By better understanding how each class of metalloAMPs uses Zn(II) to potentiate their activity, researchers can begin to exploit these interactions in the development of new antimicrobial agents and accelerate their use as therapeutics.

High-grade gliomas are the most common and aggressive adult primary brain tumors with a median survival of only 12-15 months. Current standard therapy consists of maximal safe surgical resection followed by DNA-damaging agents, such as irradiation and chemotherapy that can delay but not prevent inevitable recurrence. Some have interpreted glioma recurrence as evidence of glioma stem cells which persist in a relatively quiescent state after irradiation and chemotherapy, before the ultimate cell cycle re-entry and glioma recurrence. Conversely, latent cancer cells with a therapy-induced senescent phenotype have been shown to escape senescence, giving rise to more aggressive stem-like tumor cells than those present in the original tumor. Therefore, approaches are needed to either eliminate or keep these glioma-initiating cells in a senescent state for a longer time to prolong survival. In our current study, we demonstrate that the radiation-induced cell cycle inhibitor P21 can provide a powerful route to induce cell death in short-term explants of PDXs derived from three molecularly diverse human gliomas. Additionally, cells not killed by P21 overexpression were maintained in a stable senescent state for longer than control cells. Collectively, these data suggest that P21 activation may provide an attractive therapeutic target to improve therapeutic outcomes.

Abstract: The empirical soil loss model, RUSLE, was used with a conjunction of remotely sensed data and geographic information system technology to delineate the soil erosion and watershed priorities in terms of conservation practices at seven boundary sub-watersheds (labeled as SW-00, SW-01, …, SW-06) between Iraq and Iran at Ali Al-Gharbi area, southern Iraq. The six factors of the RUSLE model, ie. the rainfall erosivity, the soil erodibility, the slope steepness length, the crop management, and management practice, were calculated or estimated using information from different data sources such as remotely sensed data and previous studies. The finding showed that the annual soil erosion loss ranges from 0 - 1890 (tons h-1 y-1) with an average of 0.66 (tons h-1 y-1). Values of soil erosion were classified into five classes: very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. The potential soil loss in the high and very high classes ranges from 14.84 to 1890 (tons h-1 y-1), and these classes occupy only 27 km2 of the study area, indicating that the soil loss is very low in the area being examined. In terms of the spatial distribution of soil loss, the northern and northeastern parts (mountains and hills) of the sub-watersheds where the slope is steeper are more likely to erode than the plain area in the southern and southeastern portions, indicating that slope, in addition to rainfall erosivity, has a dominant effect on the soil erosion rate. The study of soil erosion in the watersheds under consideration reveals that only the northern portions of the SW-00, SW-02, and SW-04 watersheds require high priority conservation plans; however, these portions are primarily located in mountain regions, making conservation plans implementation in these areas impractical. Due to low soil loss, other sub-watersheds, particularly SW-01, SW-03, SW-05, and SW-06, are given low priority.

3D reconstruction from a single 2D input is a classic problem in the field of computer vision. With the advancements in deep learning, the performance of 3D reconstruction has also significantly improved. The reconstruction task is more difficult for objects with no textures or complex deformations. This paper serves as a review of recent literature on 3D reconstruction from a single view, with a focus on deep learning methods from 2018 to 2021. Due to lack of standard datasets or 3D shape representation methods, it is hard make direct comparisons between all reviewed methods. However, this paper reviews different approaches for reconstructing 3d shape as depth maps, surface normals, point clouds and meshes; along with various loss functions and evaluation metrics used to train and evaluate these methods.

HepG2 cells reconstituted with Hepatitis B virus (HBV) entry receptor sodium taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP) are widely used as a convenient in vitro cell culture infection model for HBV replication studies. As such, it is pertinent that HBV infectivity is maintained at steady-state levels for accurate interpretation of in vitro data. However, variations in HBV infection efficiency due to imbalanced NTCP expression levels in the HepG2 cell line may affect experimental results. In this study, we performed single cell cloning of HepG2-NTCP-A3 parental cells via limiting dilution and obtained multiple subclones with increased permissiveness to HBV. Specifically, one subclone (HepG2-NTCP-A3/C2) yielded more than 4-fold higher HBV infection compared to the HepG2-NTCP-A3 parental clone. In addition, though HBV infectivity was universally reduced in the absence of polyethylene glycol (PEG), subclone C2 maintained relatively greater permissiveness under PEG-free conditions, suggesting the functional heterogeneity within parental HepG2-NTCP-A3 may be exploitable in developing a PEG-free HBV infection model. The increased viral production correlated with increased intracellular viral antigen expression as evidenced through HBcAg immunofluorescence staining. Further, these subclones were found to express different levels of NTCP, albeit with no remarkable morphology or cell growth differences. In conclusion, we isolated subclones of HepG2-NTCP-A3 which support efficient HBV production and thus provide an improved in vitro HBV infection model.

Microgrids are becoming popular nowadays because they provide clean, efficient, and low-cost energy. To use the stored energy in times of emergency or peak loads, microgrids require bulk storage capacity. Since microgrids are the future of renewable energy, the energy storage technology employed should be optimized to generate electricity. Batteries play a variety of essential roles in daily life and are used at peak hours and during a time of emergency. There are different types of batteries i.e., lion batteries, lead-acid batteries, etc. Optimal battery sizing of microgrids is a challenging problem, that limits modern technologies such as electric vehicles, etc. It is important to know different battery features such as battery life, battery throughput, and battery autonomy to get optimal battery sizing for microgrids. Mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) is an established technique for the integration and optimization of different energy sources and parameters for optimal battery sizing. A new MILP based dataset is introduced in this work. Support vector machine (SVM) is the machine learning application used to estimate the optimum battery size. The impact of feature selection algorithms on the proposed machine learning-based model is evaluated. The performance of the six best-performing feature selection algorithms is analyzed. The experimental results show that the feature selection algorithms improve the performance of the proposed methodology. Ranker search shows the best performance with a Spearman’s rank-ordered correlation constant of 0.9756, linear correlation constant of 0.9452, Kendall correlation constant of 0.8488 and root mean squared error of 0.0525.

Plants of the genus Monochoria have long been utilized in food, cosmetics, and traditional herbal treatment. Thailand has the highest species diversity of this genus and a new member, Monochoria angustifolia (G. X. Wang) Boonkerd & Tungmunnithum has been recently described. This plant is called “Siam Violet Pearl” as a common name or “ไข่มุกสีม่วงแห่งสยาม” as its vernacular name in the same meaning in Thai language. Despite their importance, few researches on Monochoria species have been conducted. This study, thus, provided the results to fill in this gap by: i) determining flavonoids phytochemical profiles of 25 natural populations of M. angustifolia covering the whole floristic regions in Thailand, and ii) determining antioxidant activity using various antioxidant assays to investigate the probable mechanism. The results revealed that M. angustifolia presented a higher flavonoid content than the outgroup, M. hastata. Our results also revealed that flavonoids might be used to investigate Monochoria evolutionary connections and for botanical authentication. The various antioxidant assays revealed that M. angustifolia extracts preferentially act through a hydrogen atom transfer antioxidant mechanism. Pearson correlation analysis indicated significant correlations emphasizing that the antioxidant capacity is most probably the result of a complex phytochemical combinations rather than of a single molecule. Altogether, these results showed that this new species provide an attractive alternative starting material with phytochemical variety and antioxidant potential for the phytopharmaceutical industry.

Background: LncRNA and pyroptosis play important roles in cancer development and tumor immune microenviroment. However, pyroptosis-related lncRNAs (PRLs) in ovarian cancer have not been identified and its impact on prognosis and immune response are not fully understood. Methods: Using pearson correlation analysis, PRLs were screened. Subsequently, we constructed a prognosis signature by using LASSO cox regression. In addition, the association between risk score and cancer immune environment was analyzed. Results: In TCGA-RNA-seq cohort (n=377), 32 prognostic PRLs were selected and a 7-gene signature were developed and had high accuracy in predicting the OS of ovarian cancer patients. Stratification analysis suggested that it might serve as an independent prognostic indicator. Except to clinical outcome, the signature was significantly associated with tumor immune microenvironment. Patients with high risk score exhibited lower infiltration abundance of MHC class Ⅰ cells, Type Ⅰ IFN response and immunotherapy response. In ovarian cancer, TYMSOS was highly expressed and its high expression was associated with worse OS. TYMSOS deletion in ovarian cancer cell lines inhibited the cell proliferation, invasion and migration, indicating that it might serve as a novel biomarker in ovarian cancer. Conclusions: The prognostic PRLs signature constructed in this work is available for prognostic prediction and immune microenvironment infiltration in ovarian cancer.

Background : The current corruption case in Indonesia are severely problematic since it is normalized by society. As a response, the current agenda of the Indonesian government to tackle it is by raising awareness of youth towards Indonesia’s corruption case. Aim : This study aims to knowing the importance of anti-corruption education and its applications among students. Method : The methodology of this study is the use of a qualitative survey on Faculty of Pharmacy students and interviews with representatives of students of the Faculty of Pharmacy. The population of this study is students of Airlangga University. The sample of this study is 52 students of class C the Faculty of Pharmacy Result : Students have awareness about corruption and even proposed that the current anti-corruption education is not enough to tackle corruption. Recommendation : The researcher suggests that students can be brave to campaign about the importance of anti-corruption education to the public. Limitation : The limitation of this study is that it is difficult to conduct research because in the online pandemic era, this results in delays in the research process.

Context: CYP21A2 deficiency represents 95% of congenital adrenal hyperplasia cases (CAH), a group of genetic disorders that affect steroid biosynthesis. The genetic and functional analysis provides critical tools to elucidate complex CAH cases. One of the most accessible tools to infer the pathogenicity of new variants is in silico prediction. Objective: Analyze the performance of in silico prediction tools to categorize missense single nucleotide variants (SNVs) of the CYP21A2. Methods: SNVs of the CYP21A2 characterized in vitro by functional assays were selected to assess the performance of online single and meta predictors. SNVs were tested separately or in combination with the related phenotype (severe or mild CAH form). In total, 103 SNVs of the CYP21A2 (90 pathogenic and 13 neutral) were used to test the performance of 13 single-predictors and four meta-predictors. Results: SNVs associated with the severe phenotypes were well categorized by all tools, with an accuracy between 0.69 (PredictSNP2) and 0.97 (CADD), and Matthews' correlation coefficient (MCC) between 0.49 (PoredicSNP2) and 0.90 (CADD). However, SNVs related to the mild phenotype had more variation, with the accuracy between 0.47 (S3Ds&GO and MAPP) and 0.88 (CADD), and MCC between 0.18 (MAPP) and 0.71 (CADD). Conclusion: From our analysis, we identified four predictors of CYP21A2 pathogenicity with good performance. These results can be used for future analysis to infer the impact of uncharacterized SNVs' in CYP21A2.

To achieve the near zero emission of wastewater in the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system in coal-fired power plant and better utilize the exhaust heat from flue gas, a feasible technology of spraying FGD wastewater in the flue duct for evaporation is discussed in the present study. A full-scale influencing factor investigation on the wastewater droplet evaporation performance is established under the Eulerian-Lagrangian model numerically. The dominant factors, including the characters of wastewater droplets, flue gas and the spray nozzles were analyzed under different conditions, respectively. Considering the multiple factors and conditions in the process, a Least-Square support vector machine (LSSVM) model is introduced to predict the evaporation rate based on the numerical results. Conclusions are made that the flue gas temperature and droplet diameter are of great importance in the evaporation process. The spray direction of droplet parallel with the flue gas flow direction is profitable for the dispersion of droplet, resulting the maximal evaporation rate. A double-nozzle arrangement optimized with relatively small flow rate is recommended. The LSSVM model can accurately predict the evaporation rate using the numerical results with different conditions.

The large production of non-degradable petrol-based plastics has become a major global issue due to its environmental pollution. Biopolymers produced by microorganisms such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are gaining potential as a sustainable alternative, but the high cost associated to their industrial production has been a limiting factor. Post-transcriptional regulation is a key step to control gene expression in changing environments and has been reported to play a major role in numerous cellular processes. However, limited reports are available concerning the regulation of PHA accumulation in bacteria, and many essential regulatory factors still need to be identified. Here, we review studies where the synthesis of PHA has been reported to be regulated at the post-transcriptional level, and we analyze the RNA-mediated networks involved. Finally, we discuss the forthcoming research on riboregulation, synthetic and metabolic engineering which could lead to improved strategies for PHAs synthesis in industrial production, thereby reducing the costs currently associated with this procedure.

Background: The Hengduan Mountains are one of the most species–rich mountainous areas in the world. The origin and evolution of such a remarkable biodiversity are likely to be associated with geological or climatic dynamics, as well as taxon-specific biotic processes (e.g., hybridization, polyploidization, etc.). Here, we investigate the mechanisms fostering the diversification of the endemic Himalopsyche martynovi complex, a poorly known group of aquatic insects. Methods: We used multiple allelic datasets generated from 691 AHE loci to reconstruct species and RaxML phylogenetic trees. We selected the most reliable phylogenetic tree to perform network and gene flow analyses. Results: Phylogenetic reconstructions and network analysis identified three clades, including H. epikur, H. martynovi sensu stricto and H. cf. martynovi. Himalopsyche martynovi sensu stricto and H. cf. martynovi present an intermediate morphology between H. epikur and H. viteceki, the closest known relative to the H. martynovi–complex. The gene flow analysis revealed extensive gene flow among these lineages. Conclusion: Our results suggest that H. viteceki and H. epikur are likely to have contributed to the evolution of H. martynovi sensu stricto and H. cf. martynovi via gene flow, and thus, our study provides insights in the diversification process of a lesser–known ecological group, and hints at the potential role of gene flow in the emergence of biological novelty in the Hengduan Mountains.

Due to the high effectiveness of cancer screening and therapies, the diagnosis of second primary cancers (SPCs) has increased in women with endometrial cancer (EC). However, there’s no previous literature mentioned about adequate evidence to support screening for SPCs in endometrial cancer. This study was aimed to develop effective risk prediction models of second primary endometrial cancer in women with obesity (Body-mass index; BMI > 25) and this study includes datasets of the incidence of SPCs and the other risks of SPCs in 4480 primary cancer survivors by a hospital-based cancer registry database. In our study, we found the obesity played a key role in SPCs. There’re 10 independent variables used as predicting variables, which corelated to obesity should be monitored for the early detection of SPCs in endometrial cancer. In conclusion, it is a promising SPCs prediction. The proposed scheme can support the important influence of obesity and clinical data representations in all cases after primary treatments. Our results suggested that obesity is still a crucial risk factor to SPCs in endometrial cancer.

3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) is a new psychoactive substance (NPS) and the most widespread and life-threatening synthetic cathinone of the “bath salts”. Preclinical research has proven the cocaine-like psychostimulant effects of MDPV and its potential for abuse. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid that has emerged as a new potential treatment for drug addiction. Here, we tested the effects of CBD (20 mg/kg) on MDPV (2 mg/kg)-induced conditioned place preference and MDPV (0.05 and 0.075 mg/kg/infusion) self-administration paradigm. We also assessed the effects of the combination of CBD, and MDPV (3 and 4 mg/kg) on anxiety-like behaviour using the elevated plus maze (EPM). CBD mitigated the MDPV-induced conditioned place preference. On the contrary, CBD administration throughout the MDPV (0.075 mg/kg/infusion) self-administration increased drug-seeking and taking behaviours, but only in the high-responders group of mice. Additionally, CBD exerted anxiolytic-like effects, but only in MDPV-treated mice. Taken together, our results indicate that CBD modulation of MDPV-induced motivational responses in mice vary depending on the requirements of the learning task, resulting in a complex response. More research attempting to decipher the behavioural and molecular interactions between CBD and MDPV is needed.

Tomato is exposure to diverse abiotic stresses. Cold stress is one of harsh environmental stresses and abnormal low temperature affects tomato growth and development including physio- logical disorders, flower drops, and abnormal fruit morphology, causing the decrease of tomato yield and a fruit quality. It is important to identify low temperature-(LT) tolerant tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cultivars relying on different fruit types. This study focused on analyzing physiological traits of 35 tomato accessions with three different fruit types (cherry, medium, and large sizes) under night temperature set-points of 15°C for normal temperature (NT) and 10°C for LT, respectively. Plant heights (PH) of most tomato accessions in LT were remarkably decreased compared to those in NT. The growth of leaf length (LL) and leaf width (LW) was reduced depending on the genotypes under LT. In addition, the number of fruits (NFR), fruit set (FS), fruit yield (FY), and marketable yield (MY) were negatively affected in LT. The variation was further investigated by the correlation analysis, the principal component (PCA), and the cluster analysis. Interestingly, positive correlations between different vegetative and reproductive traits were uncovered. Multivariate analysis including the PCA and hierarchical clustering classified LT-treated 35 tomato accessions into four major groups. The identified accessions were associated with vegetative and reproductive parameters on positive directions and might be utilized for breeding programs on selecting LT-tolerant cultivars.

Objectives: Multicentric Osteolysis, Nodulosis, and Arthropathy (MONA) syndrome is a rare genetic skeletal dysplasia. Its diagnosis can be deceptively similar to childhood-onset genetic skeletal dysplasias and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. We aimed to report the syndrome’s clinical and radiologic features with emphasis on skeletal manifestations. And establish relevant phenotype-genotype correlations. Methods: We evaluated two boys, 4-and-7-years-old with MONA syndrome. Both patients had consanguineous parents. We verified the diagnosis by correlating the outcomes of clinical, radiologic and molecular analysis. We specifically evaluated the craniofacial morphology and clinical and radiographic skeletal abnormalities. We contextualized the resultant phenotype-genotype correlations to publications on MONA and its differential diagnosis. Results: Skeletal manifestations were the presenting symptoms and mostly restricted to hands and feet in terms of fixed extension deformity of the metacarpophalangeal and flexion deformity of the interphalangeal joints with extension deformity of big toes. There were arthritic symptoms in the older patient especially of the wrists and minute pathologic fractures. The skeletal radiographs showed osteopenia/dysplastic changes of hands and feet. Both patients had variants in the matrix metalloproteinase2 gene which conformed to phenotype of previously reported literature in one patient while the other had a novel variant which conformed to MONA phenotype. Craniofacial abnormalities were present. However, minimal extra-skeletal manifestations. Conclusion: Overall, there is an emerging distinctive skeletal pattern of involvement in terms of both clinical and radiographic features. This includes age of onset and location of presenting skeletal manifestations, chronological order of joint affection, longitudinal disease progression, specifics of skeletal radiographic pathology and craniofacial features. Nevertheless, physicians are cautioned against differential diagnosis of similar genetic skeletal dysplasias and juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

The concept of DC power distribution has gained interest within the research community in the past years; especially due to rapid prevalence of solar PVs as a tool for distributed generation in DC microgrids. Various efficiency analyses have been presented for the DC distribution paradigm, in comparison to the AC counterpart, considering a variety of scenarios. However, even after a number of such comparative efficiency studies, there seems to be a disparity in the results of research efforts - wherein a definite verdict is still unavailable: 'Is DC distribution a more efficient choice as compared to the conventional AC system?' A final verdict is absent primarily due to conflicting results. In this regard, system modeling and the assumptions made in different studies play a significant role in affecting the results of the study. The current paper is an attempt to critically observe the modeling and assumptions used in the efficiency studies related to the DC distribution system. Several research efforts will be analyzed for their approach towards the system upon which they have performed efficiency studies. Subsequently, the paper aims to propose a model that may alleviate the shortcomings in earlier research efforts and be able to give a definite verdict regarding the comparative efficiency of DC and AC networks for residential power distribution.

The authors present a stereotypical case presentation of x-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) and provide a review of the pathophysiology and related pharmacology of this condition, primarily focusing on the FDA-approved medication burosumab. XLH is a renal phosphate wasting disorder caused by loss of function mutations in the PHEX gene (phosphate-regulating gene with homologies to endopeptidases on the X chromosome). Typical biochemical findings include elevated serum levels of bioactive/intact Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 (FGF23) which lead to i) low serum phosphate levels, ii) increased fractional excretion of phosphorus, and iii) inappropriately low or normal 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25-vitD). XLH is the most common form of heritable rickets and short stature in XLH patients is due to chronic hypophosphatemia. Additionally, XLH patients experience joint pain and osteoarthritis from skeletal deformities, fractures, enthesopathy, spinal stenosis, and hearing loss. Historically, treatment for XLH was limited to oral phosphate supplementation, active vitamin D supplementation, and surgical intervention for cases of severe bowed legs. In 2018, the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approved burosumab for the treatment of XLH and this medication has demonstrated substantial benefit compared with conventional therapy. Burosumab binds circulating intact FGF23 and blocks its biological effects in target tissues, resulting in increased serum inorganic phosphate (Pi) concentrations and increased conversion of inactive vitamin D to active 1,25-vitD.

Friction stir alloying (FSA) of commercially pure Cu with Ni, Zn, and Mg is implemented in the current study. The successfully fabricated alloy structure has been scrutinized in terms of mechanical and micro-structural standpoints. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed a uniform distribution of alloying elements and coalescence at the atomic level. The compositional and grain size heterogeneity is managed in the stir zone, which pave way for microstructural control using FSA. Thus, the present study carries significance for the development of novel materials whose fabrication requires temperature far below the melting point of base metals. Ultra-refinement of grains is found to accompany the alloying process, with ~ 440 nm being the smallest grain size. Maximum and average micro-hardness enhancement of 18.4 % and 6 % is observed for the fabricated alloy. Tensile properties have also been investigated and co-related with the micro-structural morphology. The shift towards grain bimodality has also been reported, which is a highly sought property in the present day, especially to overcome the strength-ductility trade-off.

Abstract The construction of a heterostructured nanowire array allows the manipulation of the interfacial, surface, charge transport, and transfer properties simultaneously, offering new opportunities to achieve multi-functionality for various applications. Herein, we developed a facile thermal evaporation and post-annealing method to synthesize ternary-Zn2SnO4/binary-ZnO radially heterostructured nanowire arrays (HNA). Vertically aligned ZnO nanowire arrays (3.5 μm in length) were grown on a ZnO-nanoparticle-seeded fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate by a hydrothermal method. Subsequently, the amorphous layer consisting of Zn-Sn-O complex was uniformly deposited on the surface of the ZnO nanowires via the thermal evaporation of the Zn and Sn powder mixture in vacuum, followed by post-annealing at 550 °C in air to oxidize and crystallize the Zn2SnO4 shell layer. The use of a powder mixture composed of elemental Zn and Sn (rather than oxides and carbon mixture) as an evaporation source ensures high vapor pressure at a low temperature (e.g., 700 °C) during thermal evaporation. The morphology, microstructure, and charge-transport properties of the Zn2SnO4/ZnO HNA were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Notably, the optimally synthesized Zn2SnO4/ZnO HNA shows an intimate interface, high surface roughness, and superior charge-separation and -transport properties compared with the pristine ZnO nanowire array.

In South Korea, in line with the increasing need for a reliable water supply following the continuous increase in water demand, the Smart Water Grid Research Group (SWGRG) was officially launched in 2012. With the vision of providing water welfare at a national level, SWGRG incorporated information and communications technology in its water resource management, aiming at the development of core technologies for a Smart Water Grid consisting of intelligent microgrids and a demonstration and tests of the developed technologies through a field operation in a living lab. The living lab was built in Block 112 of YeongJong Island, Incheon, South Korea (area of 17.4 km2, population of 8,000), where Incheon International Airport, a hub of Northeast Asia, is located. In this location, water is supplied through a single submarine pipeline, making the place optimal for responses to water crises and the construction of a water supply system during emergencies. From 2017 to 2019, ultrasonic wave type smart water meters and IEEE 802.15.4g advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) networks were installed at 527 sites of 958 consumer areas in the living lab, and core element technologies (intelligent water source management and distribution system, smart water distribution network planning/control/operation strategy establishment, AMI network and device development, integrated management of bi-directional smart water information), and operation solutions (smart water statistics information, real-time demand-supply analysis, decision support system, real-time hydraulic pipeline network analysis, smart DB management, and water information mobile application) were developed through a field operation and testing.

Aedes aegypti is inherently susceptible to arboviruses. The geographical expansion of this vector host species has led to the persistence of Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya human infections. These viruses take advantage of the mosquito’s cell to create an environment conducive for their growth. Arboviral infection triggers transcriptomic and protein dysregulation in Ae. aegypti and in effect, host antiviral mechanisms are compromised. Currently, there are no existing vaccines able to protect human hosts from these infections and thus, vector control strategies such as Wolbachia mass release program is regarded as a viable option. Considerable evidence demonstrates how the presence of Wolbachia interferes with arboviruses by decreasing cellular components vital for the pathogen and strengthening antiviral host responses. However, variation in the magnitude of Wolbachia’s viral inhibition that is neither due to strain nor density has been observed. Furthermore, the cellular mechanisms involved in the endosymbiont’s pathogen-blocking differs among hosts. This prompts the need to explore the cellular interactions between Ae. aegypti-arboviruses-Wolbachia and how these interactions overall affect the mosquito’s cell. Understanding what happens at the cellular and molecular level will provide evidence on the sustainability of Wolbachia vector control.

The worldwide spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has ubiquitously impacted many aspects of life. As vaccines continue to be manufactured and administered, limiting the spread of SARS-CoV-2 will rely more heavily on the early identification of contagious individuals occupying reopened and increasingly populated indoor environments. In this study, we investigated the utility of an impaction-based aerosol sampling system with multiple nucleic acid collection media. Heat-inactivated SARS-CoV-2 was utilized to perform bench-scale, short-range aerosol, and room-scale aerosol experiments. Through bench-scale experiments, AerosolSense Capture Media (ACM) and nylon flocked swabs were identified as the highest utility media. In room-scale aerosol experiments, consistent detection of aerosol SARS-CoV-2 was achieved at a concentration equal to or greater than 0.089 genome copies per liter of room air (gc/L) when air was sampled for eight hours or more at less than one air change per hour (ACH). Shorter sampling periods (~75 minutes) yielded consistent detection at ~31.8 gc/L of room air and intermittent detection down to ~0.318 gc/L at (1 and 6+ ACH respectively). These results support further exploration in real-world testing scenarios and suggest the utility of indoor aerosol surveillance as an effective risk mitigation strategy in occupied buildings.