An electrocardiograph (ECG) reflects the health of the human heart and is used to help diagnose arrhythmia and myocardial infarction(MI) in clinical practice. Early diagnosis of arrhythmia helps implement preventive measures and plays a crucial role in saving a patient's life. With the increasing demand of clinicians for ECG analysis technology, intelligent detection and diagnosis of ECG signals has become a more efficient means to assist physicians in diagnosing cardiovascular diseases. This paper introduces an ECG diagnosis approach based on an ensemble deep learning combination of CNN(convolutional neural network) and SLAP(stacked-long short term memory architecture for prediction) architecture. ECG data is denoised and further divided into single heartbeats to achieve data standardization and sample diversity. Adam optimizer and BCEwithlogitsloss multi-classification loss function were used to enhance the model effect, and the system achieved the classification effect of 99.3% average accuracy, 99.0% F1-value, and 99.2% sensitivity in MIT-BIH standard database classification. It also shows good generalization ability on the Tianchi data set.

Neurological / neurovascular disorders constitute the leading cause of disability and second leading cause of deaths in the world. Some of the major neurological / neurovascular disorders or diseases include stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injury, neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, etc. Their pathophysiology is considered as highly complex and has been blamed as the main obstacle in the development of any drugs for these diseases. In this review, we have described the endothelin system, their involvement in neurovascular disorders, importance of endothelin B receptors (ETBRs) as a novel potential drug target, and its agonism by IRL-1620 (INN - sovateltide), which we are developing as a drug candidate for treating the above-mentioned neurological disorders / diseases. We have highlighted the results of our pre-clinical and clinical studies related to these diseases. The phase I, safety and tolerability study of sovateltide has shown it as a highly safe and well tolerable compound at tested dosages, while pre-clinical and clinical phase II studies have demonstrated its efficacy in treating acute ischemic stroke, where it is currently being developed as a “First in Class” drug. Its testing in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), acute spinal cord injury and neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is currently being carried out and are at different stages of drug development. Successful completion of these studies will prove the involvement of ETBRs signaling in neurological / neurovascular diseases and help in development of novel neurological drugs in future.

Independent Learning Independent Campus (MBKM) is a program to develop an educational ecosystem that is in harmony with learning in higher education and the needs of industry. The limited link and match between universities and the business and industrial world in Indonesia are obstacles in realizing Indonesia as a developed country in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 era. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of the Independent Learning Independent Campus (MBKM) program on improving the performance of Ibn Khaldun University Bogor. The method used in this study is descriptive statistics with quantitative analysis. The sample that participated in this study consisted of all active students, lecturers, and administration staff. The research data was obtained through distribution to 6100 students, 233 lecturers, and 150 education staff. The research stages include socializing the understanding of MBKM, filling out the survey, calculating the distribution of respondents' filling, and concluding the assessment category using the weighted mean score (WMS) method. Based on the result, the implementation of MBKM in University of Ibn Khaldun Bogor based on all indicators can conclude that MBKM improve the performance of Ibn Khaldun Bogor University in the good category with an average percentage assessment criteria above 75%

The capabilities of a quadcopter in the hover mode for low-altitude sensing of atmospheric turbulence with high spatial resolution in urban areas characterized by complex orography are investigated. The studies were carried out in different seasons (winter, spring, summer, and fall), and the quadcopter hovered in the immediate vicinity of ultrasonic weather stations. The DJI Phantom 4 Pro quadcopter and AMK-03 ultrasonic weather stations installed in different places of the studied territory were used in the experiment. The smoothing procedure was used to main regularities in the behavior of the longitudinal and lateral spectra of turbulence in the inertial and energy production ranges. The longitudinal and lateral turbulence scales were estimated by the least-square fit method with the von Karman model as a regression curve. It is shown that the turbulence spectra obtained with DJI Phantom 4 Pro and AMK-03 generally coincide with minor differences observed in the high-frequency region of the spectrum. In the inertial range, the behavior of the turbulence spectra shows that they obey the Kolmogorov-Obukhov “5/3” law. In the energy production range, the longitudinal and lateral turbulence scales and their ratio measured by DJI Phantom 4 Pro and AMK-03 agree to a good accuracy. Discrepancies in the data obtained with the quadcopter and the ultrasonic weather stations at the territory with complex orography are explained by the partial correlation of the wind velocity series at different measurement points and the influence of the inhomogeneous surface.

Attracting and retaining international students has been widely discussed in higher education settings. Increasing the number of international students has become an indispensable strategy for national and global competition. This study focuses on effective strategies and international students' issues regarding satisfaction in the most popular STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs. We designed a structural equation modeling (SEM) method to determine the effect of institutional mediation between push factors and satisfaction factors for the development of better strategies by which to attract and retain international students. Taking Taiwan as an example, this study employed a self-designed questionnaire to collect data: 485 degree-seeking international students in STEM programs were invited and successfully participated in this study during spring 2021. IBM SPSS 26 and AMOS 26 (Analysis of Moment Structure) were used to carry out the data analysis. We employed reliability, factor, and SEM analyses. This study assumed that the impact of push factors can be modified by institutional situations and result in international students’ satisfaction with their learning and environment and regarding migration policy. The results revealed that the predictors, mediation, and criteria were significant at the 0.05 or 0.01 levels. The findings suggest that push factors impact international students’ satisfaction when using institutional leadership and international strategy. The results of the bootstrap with a generalized least square method showed that the SEM model fit in 2000 bootstrap samples. The effect of institutional mediation can provide useful information for STEM programs to boost their future recruitment and retention strategies. This study provides an innovative approach to the detection of issues among international students in specific programs. These findings can enrich our knowledge regarding attracting and retaining global students in higher education settings.

We apply a well known technique of theoretical physics, known as Geometric Algebra or Clifford algebra, to linear electrical circuits with non-sinusoidal voltages and currents. We rederive from the first principles the Geometric Algebra approach to the apparent power decomposition. The important new point consists in a choice of a natural convenient basis in the Clifford vector space which simplifies considerably the presentation. Thus we are able to derive a number of general results which are missing in the former papers. In particular, a natural correspondence with the Current Physical Components approach is shown.

Background: Supportive supervision has lately been gaining traction in various national health systems as an effective way of boosting the performance of community health workers in a constructive and sustainable way. However, not much is known about the basis/mandate of supportive supervision and its approach in maternal and child health programs in India. The current analysis contributes to a clearer understanding of the paradigms within which supportive supervision is envisioned to operate within India and identifies potential strengths and areas requiring attention. Method: Document analysis of implementation documents such as guidelines/ operational manuals/operationalization modules/ training modules of nationally implemented maternal and child health programs, with data extraction according to a pre-determined domain-based template. Results: Many of the documents reviewed do not mention supportive supervision at all. In the few documents where supportive supervision is mentioned, the paradigms within which it is supposed to operate (who will do it, when will it be done, how to do it, training and logistic support, reporting formats, etc.) have not been clearly identified in most programs. Conclusion: Even though supportive supervision is being increasingly identified as an effective way of performative improvement in national health programs in India, more effort needs to be put into identifying and enforcing the tenets of supportive supervision in practice, in order to bring about the desired change.

This paper investigates the path following control problem for a unmanned surface vehicle (USV) in the presence of unknown disturbances and system uncertainties. The simulation study combines two different types of sliding mode surface based control approaches due to its precise tracking and robustness against disturbances and uncertainty. Firstly, an adaptive linear sliding mode surface algorithm is applied, to keep the yaw error within the desired boundaries and then an adaptive integral non-linear sliding mode surface is explored to keep an account of the sliding mode condition. Additionally, a method to reconfigure the input parameters in order to keep settling time, yaw rate restriction and desired precision within boundary conditions is presented. The main strengths of proposed approach is simplicity, robustness with respect to external disturbances and high adaptability to static and dynamics reference courses without the need of parameter reconfiguration.

Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) is a framework which refers to a relatively recent type of legal requirements for access to and/or use of “genetic resources”. They are based on diverse national and regional laws and regulations, which mostly result from the implementation of the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its supplementary agreement, the Nagoya Protocol. Their ambition is to achieve fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources as an incentive to conserve and sustainably use them. This paper describes the experiences, practical constraints and complexities encountered by users of genetic resources when dealing with ABS legislation, with a focus on users from the private sector. We provide insights on how ABS laws have fundamentally changed the way of working with genetic resources in the hope that it inspires re-thinking of the ABS framework, to better support the overall objectives of the CBD.

Eating disorders (ED) are characterized by alterations in eating behavior. The genetic factors shared between ED diagnoses have been underexplored. The present study aimed to perform a genome-wide association study on individuals with disordered eating behaviors in the Mexican population, blood methylation quantitative trait loci (blood-meQTL) analysis, and in silico function prediction by different algorithms. The analysis included a total of 1803 individuals. Genome-wide association study and blood-meQTL analysis were performed by logistic and linear regression. In silico functional variant prediction, phenome-wide, and transcriptome-wide association studies by different algorithms were analyzed. In the genome-wide association study, we identified 44 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) associated at a nominal value and 7 blood-meQTL at a genome-wide umbral. The SNPs were enriched in genome-wide associations of the metabolic and immunologic domains. In the in silico analysis, the SNP rs10419198 located on an enhancer mark could change the expression of PRR12 on blood, adipocytes, and brain areas that regulate food intake. The present study supports the previous associations of genetic variation in the metabolic domain with ED.

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is regarded as a component of metabolic syndrome, which has insulin resistance (IR) as the primary physiopathological event. The aim of study was to establish the association between IR, assessed using triglyceride and glucose index (TyG), and histopathological features of NAFLD lesions. Methods: The study included patients with metabolic syndrome. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting lipid profiles and liver enzymes were measured. IR was assessed by TyG index. Liver biopsy was performed for assessment steatosis and fibrosis. Results: TyG index had a mean value of 8.93 ± 1.45, with a higher value in the patients with overweight (p=0.002) and obesity (p=0.004) than in the patients with normal weight. TyG index mean value of 8.78 ± 0.65 in subjects without NASH, 8.91 ± 0.57 in patients with borderline NASH and 9.13 ± 0.55 in patients with definite NASH. Significant difference was found between subjects without NASH and the ones with definite NASH (p=0.004). The analysis of the area under the ROC curve proved that TyG index is a predictor for NASH (p=0.043). Conclusion: TyG index is a facile tool used to identify individuals at risk for NAFLD, but not for the progression of liver lesions.

Artificially designed, chimeric peptide-based recombinant vaccines are novel approaches to combat the phylogenetically diverse Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Virus (FMDV) strains. Among seven distinct serotypes, only serotype O and A are dominantly circulating in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries of Asia, where transboundary transmission, recurrent outbreaks and emergence of novel lineages FMDV are highly prevalent. The objective of this study was to develop multi-epitope recombinant peptides, procuring immunogenicity against circulating diverse subtypes of FMDV serotype O and A. Two chimeric peptides, named B1 (41.0 kDa) and B3 (39.3 kDa), have been designed to incorporate potential B-cell and T-cell epitopes selected from multiple FMDV strains, including previously reported and newly emerged sub-lineages. After expression, characterization and immunization of guineapigs with considerable antigen load of B1 and B3 followed by the serological assays revealed the significant protective immunogenicity, developed from the higher (100 µg) doses of both antigens, against most of the currently prevalent serotype O and A strains of FMDV. The efficient expression, antigenic stability, and multivalent immunogenic potency of the chimeric peptides strongly indicate their credibility as novel vaccine candidates for FMDV serotypes O and A circulating in Bangladesh and surrounding territories.

Since the exploitation of mineral resources results in the release of radionuclides, and consuming radionuclides affects public health in the short and long term. A case study of the environmental radiation impact from coal mining and germanium processing was carried out in southwest China. The coal mines contain germanium and uranium and have been exploited for more than 40 years. The farmlands around the site of coal mining and germanium processing have been contaminated by the solid waste and mine water in some extend since then. Samples of crops have been collected from contaminated farmlands in research area. The research area covers a radius of 5 km, in which there are 2 coal mines located. 210Pb and 210Po have been analyzed as the key radionuclides during monitoring program. The average activity concentrations of 210Pb and 210Po in the crops were 1.38 and 1.32 Bq/kg in cereals, 4.07 and 2.19 Bq/kg in leafy vegetables and 1.63 and 1.32 Bq/kg in root vegetables. The annual effective doses due to the ingestion of 210Pb and 210Po in consumed crops have been estimated for adult residents living in research area. The average annual effective dose was 0.336mSv/a, while the minimum was 0.171 mSv/a and the maximum was 0.948 mSv/a. The results show that crops grown on contaminated farmland contained an enhanced level of radioactivity concentration. Ingestion doses of local residents in research area were significantly higher than the China average level of 0.112 mSv/a, and the world average level of 0.042 mSv/a through 210Pb and 210Po in crops intake respectively.

Natural carotenoids are secondary metabolites that exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. These types of compounds are in high demand by pharmaceutical, cosmetic, textile and food industries, leading to the search for new natural sources of carotenoids. In recent years, the production of carotenoids from bacteria has become of great interest for industrial applications. In addition to carotenoids with C40-skeletons, some bacteria have the ability to synthesize characteristic carotenoids with C30-skeletons. In this regard, a great variety of methodologies for the extraction and identification of bacterial carotenoids has been reported and this is the first review that condenses much of this information. To understand the diversity of these carotenoids, we present their biosynthetic origin in order to focus on the methodologies employed in their extraction and characterization. Special emphasis has been made on high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) for the analysis and identification of bacterial carotenoids. We end up this review showing their potential commercial use of bacterial carotenoids. This review is proposed as a guide for the identification of these metabolites, which are frequently reported in new bacteria strains.

Objective: The combination of docetaxel (DTX) with Laser-Activated NanoTherapy (LANT), as a treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC) may enhance the therapeutic efficacy of lower doses of DTX, thereby minimizing the effective dosage, side effects and treatment times. Material and methods: Three HNSCC cell lines, Detroit 562, FaDu, and CAL 27, were treated with four combinations of DTX + LANT to evaluate DTX dose reduction and cell viability. Results: The 1 nM DTX + 5 nM LANT combination was the most effective treatment, increasing cell death over its corresponding DTX monotreatment with approximately 86.6%, 80.7%, and 92.1% cell death for Detroit 562, FaDu, and CAL 27, respectively. In Detroit 562, the 1 nM DTX + 5 nM LANT combination treatment resulted in the highest percentage of DTX dose reduction at 84.6%; in FaDu and CAL 27, the 0.5 nM DTX + 5 nM LANT combination treatment resulted in the highest percentage of DTX dose reduction at 78.2% and 82.4%, respectively. Conclusion: LANT may increase the therapeutic efficacy of DTX at significantly lower doses, which could improve patient outcomes.

A simple underwater noise model suitable for use with explosives in the decommissioning of oil and gas subsea structures is introduced and evaluated against data from five projects in the US. The performance of the model is compared to four existing models for open water blasts, and for the severance of well conductors and piles. Simulated received underwater sound pressure levels were significantly correlated with measurements for all scenarios. The maximum total error achieved between simulations and measurements was 3.5%, suggesting that predictions are accurate to within 4% of the average measurement. A low relative bias was observed in the simulations when compared to measured values, suggesting only a small systematic underestimate (≤ 1% of average measurement) for most severance operations and a small overestimate (1.34%) for open water blasts.

This paper summarizes the estimates of the total changes in sales, expenses, and income of participants of the horticulture research and extension programs at the Mississippi State University - Coastal Research and Extension Center for the past five years. Major items outline the estimation procedures for the past five years. The average annual values were used in estimating the total economic impacts of added gross sales, expenses, and incomes of participants in horticulture events. The cumulative total impacts reach $8.7 million in sales, 76 jobs, $1.4 million in labor income, $2.4 million in value-added, and $0.4 million in local, state, and federal taxes. In addition, the total willingness to pay for the horticulture program by the adult participants reached $1.8 million. In comparison, the annual public spending on the horticulture program averaged $1.4 million, creating additional substantial economic impacts to the region.

The need for new technologies into healthcare services has been stressed. However, little is known about the effectiveness of digital interventions integrated in psychosomatic rehabilitation processes. Data from 724 patients from psychosomatic rehabilitation clinics were analyzed for effectiveness of digital trainings examined by a change in symptoms related to depression, anxiety, stress and loneliness from pre- to post-rehabilitation. Rehabilitation satisfaction was examined in association with reaching rehabilitation goals and satisfaction with communication. Mixed repeated measures analysis of covariances, analysis of covariances, and hierarchical stepwise regression analyses were performed. Results indicated a superior effectiveness for the intervention group receiving all offered digital treatments in addition to the regular face-to-face rehabilitation program with regard to symptoms of depression, F(2,674)=3.93, p<.05, ηp2=.01), and anxiety, F(2,678)=3.68, p<.05, ηp2=.01), post-rehabilitation with large effect sizes for both depression (d=1.28) and anxiety (d=1.08). In addition, rehabilitation satisfaction was positively associated with reaching rehabilitation goals and perceived communication with healthcare workers. Digital interventions appeared effective in supporting mental health of psychosomatic rehabilitation patients post-rehabilitation. This finding supports the inclusion of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary digital and face-to-face treatment programs and call for more implementations of new technologies in a context of complexity to improve health and healthcare service.

Our study provides guidelines on how to build long-term customer relationship in the non-contract mechanism context. More specifically, the findings show that special, social, and core benefits influence calculative commitment, and operational and special benefits influence affective commitment. This study also supports that calculative and affective commitment play a crucial role in understanding multi-channel agencies’ loyalty. In sum, this study revealed that calculative and affective commitment can be considered as partial or full mediators in the relationship between RBs (relational benefits) and loyalty. This study not only contributed to the existing SET (social exchange theory) and RBs paradigm but also provided practical implications for food distribution management.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) may sometimes unexpected loss of life. It affects the heart and blood vessels of body. CVD plays an important factor of life since it may cause death of human. It is necessary to detect early of this disease for securing patients life. In this chpter two exclusively different methods are proposed for detection of heart disease. The first one is Pattern Recognition Approach with grammatical concept and the second one is machine learning approach. In the syntactic pattern recognition approach initially ECG wave from different leads is decomposed into pattern primitive based on diagnostic criteria. These primitives are then used as terminals of the proposed grammar. Pattern primitives are then input to the grammar. The parsing table is created in a tabular form. It finally indicates the patient with any disease or normal. Here five diseases beside normal are considered. Different Machine Learning (ML) approaches may be used for detecting patients with CVD and assisting health care systems also. These are useful for learning and utilizing the patterns discovered from large databases. It applies to a set of information in order to recognize underlying relationship patterns from the information set. It is basically a learning stage. Unknown incoming set of patterns can be tested using these methods. Due to its self-adaptive structure Deep Learning (DL) can process information with minimal processing time. DL exemplifies the use of neural network. A predictive model follows DL techniques for analyzing and assessing patients with heart disease. A hybrid approach based on Convolutional Layer and Gated-Recurrent Unit (GRU) are used in the paper for diagnosing the heart disease.

The ryanodine receptor (RyR) is a Ca2+ release channel in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of skeletal and cardiac muscles and plays a key role in excitation-contraction coupling. The activity of the RyR is regulated by many intracellular factors such as divalent cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+), nucleotides, associated proteins, and reactive oxygen species. Since these intracellular factors change depending on the condition of the muscle, e.g., exercise, fatigue, or disease states, the RyR channel activity will be altered accordingly. In this review, we describe how the RyR channel is regulated under various conditions and discuss the possibility that the RyR acts as a sensor for change in the cellular environment of muscles.

Microfluidic lab-on-chip devices are widely being developed for chemical and biological studies. One of the most commonly used types of these chips is perfusion microwells for culturing multicellular spheroids. The main challenge in such systems is the formation of substantial necrotic and hypoxic zones within the cultured spheroids. Herein, we propose a novel acoustofluidic integrated platform to tackle this bottleneck problem. We show that such an approach enhances cell viability and shrinks necrotic and hypoxic zones in these spheroid-on-a-chip platforms without the need to increase the flow rate, leading to a significant reduction in costly reagents' consumption. Proof-of-concept, designing procedures, and finite element numerical simulation are discussed in details. Also, the effects of acoustic and hydrodynamic parameters on the cultured cells are investigated. The results show that by increasing acoustic boundary displacement amplitude (d0), the spheroid’s proliferating zone enlarges greatly. Moreover, it is shown that by implementing d0=0.5 nm, the required flow rate to maintain the necrotic zone below 13% will be decreased 12 times compared to non-acoustic chips.

The Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a global pandemic that has affected millions of people worldwide. The advent of vaccines, however, has permitted some restitution. Aside from the respiratory complications of the infection, there is also a thrombotic risk attributed to both the disease alongside the vaccine. There are no reliable data for the risk of thromboembolism in SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients managed out with the hospital setting. A literature review was performed to identify the pathophysiological mechanism of thrombosis from the SARS-CoV-2 infection including the role of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme receptors. The impact of the vaccine and likely mechanisms from thrombosis following vaccination was also clarified. Finally, the utility of the vaccines available against the multiple variants is also highlighted. The systemic response to SARS-CoV-2 infection is still relatively poorly understood, but several risk factors have been identified. The roll-out of the vaccines worldwide has also allowed the lifting of lockdown measures and a reduction in the spread of the disease. The experience of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, however, has highlighted the crucial role of epidemiological research and the need for ongoing studies within this field.

Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) have distinct clinical features, both diseases may coexist in a patient because they share similar risk factors such as smoking, male sex, and old age. Patients with both emphysema in upper lung fields and diffuse ILD are diagnosed with combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE), which causes substantial clinical deterioration. Patients with CPFE have higher mortality compared with patients who have COPD alone, but results have been inconclusive compared with patients who have idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Poor prognostic factors for CPFE include exacerbation, lung cancer, and pulmonary hypertension. The presence of interstitial lung abnormalities, which may be an early or mild form of ILD, is notable among patients with COPD, and is associated with poor prognosis. Various theories have been proposed regarding the pathophysiology of CPFE. Biomarker analyses have implied that this pathophysiology may be more closely associated with IPF development, rather than COPD or emphysema. Patients with CPFE should be advised to quit smoking and undergo routine lung function tests, and pulmonary rehabilitation may be helpful. Various pharmacologic agents may be beneficial in patients with CPFE, but further studies are needed.

Clinical education is a method that is applied to formal nurse education as a step to provide real and direct learning experiences in the nursing environment correctly and effectively. The success of education in a clinical setting certainly requires the support of teaching nurses (clinical instructors) who have credibility and competence in terms of knowledge, attitudes and skills and are actively involved in professional activities. The diversity of backgrounds of nurses and students, including patients, certainly contributes to a shift in paradigms and perspectives for the nursing environment both in education and in clinical settings in health services. Responding to this cultural diversity, it is important to prepare knowledge and understanding related to transcultural nursing issues, intercultural communication and clinical education which explores the socio-cultural elements in the implementation of staff, students and patients. Purpose: The purpose of this literature review is to identify the extent to which nurse educators play a role by including socio-cultural and transcultural aspects in efforts to develop the quality of education in clinical practice environments in the millennium era. Method: The method of writing this article uses 11 literature review, the publication year period 2019,2020 and 2021 with sources from 4 databases such as science Direct, Scopus, ProQues and Elsevier. The review guidelines used are based on Prisma and the Joanna Briggs Institutute. The level of eligibility is identified through the title, abstract, research methodology as well as the type of scholarly journal and full text. Results: The results of the reviews found are presented in a narrative form. The results of the review study found that there were 11 articles explaining the competence of clinical education based on the socio-cultural approach, which is an educational strategy in the clinical area that integrates transcultural elements of nursing, intercultural communication, collaboration, self-directed with the principles of openness, honesty, and mutual respect in the implementation of team interaction and collaboration. The development of interpersonal relationships is also an important role that educators must have in helping to introduce the nurse orientation process to the organizational environment and other professional teams so that the achievement of satisfaction with clinical education is able to improve the performance of nurses and students perfectly. Conclusion: Clinical education which is supported by the competence of nurse educators (clinical instructors) who have individual and professional competences has a role to play in improving clinical learning outcomes by both students and nurses with a socio-cultural and transcultural strategic approach that will create satisfaction with the achievement of clinical competence and performance effectively.

With the continuous development of the mining industry, the world's major mines have gradually entered the intelligent stage. In the intelligent underground mine, the operation road of the underground transportation equipment is very complicated, and the monitoring and control of the underground traffic has become a problem to be solved in the intelligent underground mine. Therefore, on the basis of solving the practical problems of underground mines, the concept paper discusses the possibility of the rail transit monitoring system being applied to underground mines through the summary and induction of the related literature and propose the design for the CBTC system to solve the problems in the underground mine rail transportation. As the mining engineers, we put forward the concept of this design for the CBTC system in this concept paper, but we need to continue to work hard for the future development of the underground mines. And the concept paper serves as a guide to the Tossing out a brick to get a jade gem, has implications for the development and the future of the underground mine transportation.

Four new zoonotic coronaviruses outbreak occurred in the past two decades. The first coronavirus outbreak happened in 2003 and was named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-1 (SARS-CoV-1), followed by Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2013, and by Swine Acute Diarrhoea Syndrome (SADS) in 2017. In late December 2019, a patient from Wuhan Seafood Wholesale Market, China, was admitted to Huang's hospital with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) of apparently unknown etiology, which later was diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2-induced coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 was identified from another clade within the subgenus Sarbecovirus of the genus Betacoronavirus. This new CoV variant showed 96.2% similarity at whole-genome level to bat coronavirus. Based on genetic studies, pangolin, bats, and snakes are suspected to be a possible intermediate host of this virus, but further research is in progress to determine how this virus appeared and what is the exact source of infection. The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has higher transmissibility, contagiosity and pathogenicity compared to that of SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV. SARS-CoV-2 swiftly spread from continent to continent and is persistently causing a shocking global public health concern albeit the rate of infected cases and mortality is relatively decreasing over time. In this review, we provide an update on the origin, transmissibility, etiology, epidemiology, and evolution of COVID-19. We also highlight the current diagnostics, therapies, and prognostics for SARS-CoV-2. Eventually, we report and provide our humble opinion about the preventive strategies to control the ongoing related pandemic situation at global and individual levels, considering the international public health emergency and possible future epidemics and pandemics.

This study aimed to quantify the extent of heavy metal, non-metal and metalloid level of Campomanesia adamantium pulp obtained from area crossed by road of the high large vehicle traffic and intensive agriculture modern farm, and for monitoring the health risks associated with pulp human consumption. For this purpose, three spots located between this area, ripe fruits were collected in roadside, bush and margin-farm. Pulp samples were digested by microwave-assisted equipment, and mineral elements were quantified by ICP OES. The mineral elements average demonstrated no statistical difference observed between this pulp (p > 0.05). The heavy metals and metalloid concentrations that exceeded FAO/WHO standards are ordered Pb > As > Mo > Co > Ni > Mn > Cr. Therefore, among these metalloid and heavy metals, As, Pb and Cr were found higher in farm-margin > roadside > bush (1.5 × 10^-3, 1.1 × 10^-3 and 6.2 × 10^-4) respectively. Therefore, As is the most important metalloid with higher levels in farm-margin, roadside and bush (1.5 × 10^-3, 1.1 × 10^-3 and 6.2 × 10^-4 > 10^-6–10^-4 and 3.33, 2.30 and 1.34 > 1) respectively, to total cancer risk and hazard quotient, if 100 g daily of pulp are consumed.

Background: There is a strong comorbidity between mood disorders and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Increased levels of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) and nitro-oxidative stress toxicity (NOSTOX) partially underpin this comorbidity.Aims: To examine the associations of RONS/NOSTOX biomarkers with MetS after adjusting for the significant effects of mood disorders (major depression, and bipolar type 1 and 2), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), tobacco use disorder (TUD), and male sex.Methods: The study included subjects with (n=65) and without (n=107) MetS and measured levels of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH), nitric oxide metabolites (NOx), malondialdehyde (MDA), and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) and computed z unit-weighted composite scores which reflect RONS/NOSTOX. The study included 105 patients with mood disorders, 46 with GAD, and 95 with TUD.Results: MetS was associated with increased levels of MDA and AOPP, independently from mood disorders, TUD, sex and GAD. Atherogenicity and insulin resistance (IR) were significantly associated with a NOSTOX composite score. Mood disorders, TUD, GAD, male sex and MetS independently contribute to increased RONS/NOSTOX. The RONS/NOSTOX profile of MetS was different from that of GAD, which showed increased SOD1 and NOx levels. TUD was accompanied by increased SOD1, LOOH and MDA, and male sex by increased LOOH and AOPP.Conclusions: MetS is characterized by increased lipid peroxidation with aldehyde formation and chlorinative stress, and atherogenicity and IR are strongly mediated by RONS/NOSTOX. Partially shared RONS/NOSTOX pathways underpin the comorbidity of MetS with mood disorders, GAD, and TUD.

In MBSE there is yet no converged terminology. The term ’system model’ is used in different contexts in literature. In this study we elaborated the definitions and usages of the term ’system model’, to find a common definition. 104 publications have been analyzed in depth for their usage and definition as well as their meta-data e.g., the publication year and publication background to find some common patterns. While the term is gaining more interest in recent years it is used in a broad range of contexts for both analytical and synthetic use cases. Based on this three categories of system models have been defined and integrated into a more precise definition.

Blockchain technology can achieve decentralization, multi-party verification, anti-tampering, anonymity, traceability of transactions, and the application of distributed ledger. Countries around the world continue to seek the blockchain business models, technologies and applications, and have different visions and policies for the development of blockchain. This study conducts a comparative policy framework of theoretical analysis of the blockchain technology between the USA and China. Using the innovative policy tools proposed by Rothwell and Zegveld, the above mentioned governments are analyzed from the viewpoint of twelve policy tools. The results show that the USA and China all prefer to use “Environmental-side” policy. The USA has paid more attention to “Legal and regulatory”, “Public services” and “Procurement”. China has the highest proportion of policies in “Political tools”, followed by “Legal & regulatory”, while “Scientific and technical”, “Education” and “Overseas agent” come in third . The blockchain technology has developed vigorously among industries and its applications have gradually diversified. The results are provided to various stakeholders as a reference for policy planning.

In this article, the geometry of pseudoparallel, Ricci-generalized pseudoparallel and 2-Ricci-generalized pseudoparallel invariant submanifolds of an almost $\alpha$-cosymplectic $(\kappa,\mu,\nu)$ space has been searched under the some conditions. We also give some characterizations for such submanifolds. I think that obtained new results contribute to differential geometry.

Selective laser melting (SLM) is a commonly used laser powder bed technique where the final properties are influenced by many different powder related properties, such as particle size distribution, chemical composition and flowability. In applications where high hardness, wear resistance, strength and good heat properties are required, high speed steels (HSS) are widely used today. HSS has high carbon content and are therefore considered as unweldable. The rapidly growing implementation of AM technologies has led to a growing range of new applications and demands for new alloys and properties. The interest in being able to manufacture HSS by SLM without cracking is therefore increasing. In SLM, it is possible to preheat the base plate to a few hundred degrees Celsius which has been used for HSS and proved successful due to reduced thermal gradients. In this study, the properties of SLM produced high speed steel PEARL Micro®2012 with a carbon content of 0.61 wt.-% have been investigated and compared to those of a forged and rolled PM-HIP counterpart ASP®2012.

Reliable prediction of sustainable energy consumption is the key to designing environmental friend buildings. In this study, two novel hybrid intelligent methods, namely grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA), wind-driven optimization (WDO), and biogeography-based optimization (BBO) is employed to optimize the multitarget prediction of heating loads (HLs) and cooling loads (CLs) in heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Concerning the optimization of applied hybrid algorithms, a series of swarm-based iteration is performed, and the best structure for the abovementioned methods are proposed. Besides, through sensitivity analyzing the relationship between the HLs and CLs and influential factors are highlighted. In other words, the GOA, WDO, and BBO algorithm are mixed with a class of feedforward artificial neural networks (ANN), which called MLP (multi-layer perceptron) to predict the HLs and CLs. According to the provided sensitivity analysis, the WDO with swarm size = 500 proposes the most proper-fitted terms after it has been combined with optimized MLP. The proposed WDO-MLP (training (R2 correlation=0.977 and RMSE error=0.183) and testing (R2 correlation=0.973 and RMSE error=0.190)) provided accurate prediction in the heating load and (training (R2 correlation=0.99 and RMSE error=0.147) and testing (R2 correlation=0.99 and RMSE error=0.148)) presents the most-fit prediction in the cooling load.

Conformal radiotherapy is a primary treatment in head and neck cancer, which putative adverse effects depend on relatively low doses of radiation delivered to increased volumes of normal tissues. Systemic effects of such treatment include radiation-induced changes in serum lipid profile, yet dose- and volume-dependence of these changes remain to be established. Here we analyzed levels of choline-containing phospholipids in serum samples collected consecutively during the radiotherapy used as the only treatment modality. The LC-MS approach applied in the study enabled the detection and quantitation of 151 phospholipids, including (lyso)phosphatidylcholines and sphingomyelins. No statistically significant differences were found in the pre-treatment samples from patients with different location and stage of cancer. To compensate for potential differences between schemes of radiotherapy the biologically effective doses were calculated and used in the search of correlations with specific lipid levels. We found that the levels of several phospholipids depended on the maximum dose delivered to the gross tumor volume and total radiation energy absorbed by the patient’s body. Increased doses correlated with increased levels of sphingomyelins and reduced levels of phosphatidylcholines. Noteworthy, serum phospholipid levels were associated mainly with volumes of normal tissues irradiated with relatively low doses (i.e., total accumulated dose 20 Gy), which indicated the importance of such effects on the systemic response of the patient’s organism to IMRT.

Fatigue loading is critical to fibre reinforced polymer composites due to their anisotropic and heterogenous nature. This study investigated the tensile fatigue behaviour of polyester and vinyl ester based GFRP laminates to understand the critical aspects of failure mode and fatigue life under cyclic loading. GFRP laminates with two different resin systems (polyester and vinyl ester), two different stress ratios (0.1 and 0.5) and two different environmental conditions (air and water) were investigated at an applied stress of 80%, 60% and 40% of the ultimate capacity. Based on the investigated parameters (i.e., resin types, stress ratio, environmental conditioning and maximum applied stress), a fatigue model was proposed. Results show that the resin system plays a great role in fatigue failure mode while the stress ratio and environmental condition significantly affect the tensile fatigue life of GFRP laminates. The types of resin used in GFRP laminates and environmental conditions as input parameter in the proposed fatigue model is a unique contribution.

Abstract: The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and then Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) are the most important and widely used data sources in the forecasting of drought, flood, and water resources management. However, since this sensor’s data is primarily used for tropical regions, it is necessary to evaluate the accuracy for optimal use of the data across varying climatic and physiographic conditions. In this study, the accuracy of the satellite data for a span of 17 years (2000-2017) for three climatic zones has been explored using synoptic ground station data. The climates include a) arid and low rainfall, b) semi-arid and low rainfall, and c) humid and high rainfall. We evaluated satellite data accuracy in drought and wet conditions based on the Standard Precipitation Index (S.P.I.) and different seasons. For available ground control stations, 13 stations were used in the humid, seven stations in a semi-arid climate, and 12 stations in the dry climate. The results show that the monthly precipitation product of GPM (IMERG product) and TRMM (TMPA/3B43 product) overestimate the rainfall. In the arid climate, the precipitation is estimated 43%, in the semi-arid environment 50%, and in the humid weather 11% more than the ground-based data on average. Therefore, to use satellite data in different climates, it is necessary to make corrections to obtain precise results. Based on 32 ground stations, the correction coefficient has a positive relationship with average precipitation and altitude and an inverse relationship with the latitude. Further in-depth investigations showed that the accuracy of satellite data in wet conditions is higher than the accuracy of normal circumstances, and the accuracy of normal conditions is more accurate than drought conditions. Besides, the accuracy of satellite data in wet or dry conditions increases with increasing time scales. The highest accuracy was obtained for a 12-month time scale and the lowest accuracy for the 3-month time scale of drought conditions in the arid climate.

The mangrove plant Acanthus ilicifolius and its relative, A. mollis, have been previously proved to possess diverse pharmacological effects. Therefore, evaluating the differentially expressed proteins of these species under tidal flooding stress is essential to fully exploit and benefit from their medicinal values. The roots of A. ilicifolius and A. mollis were exposed to 6 h of flooding stress per day for 10 days. The dry weight, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content, anatomical characteristics, carbon and energy levels, and two-dimensional electrophoresis coupled with MALDI-TOF/TOF MS technology were used to reveal the divergent flooding resistant strategies. A. ilicifolius performed better under tidal flooding stress, which was reflected in the integrity of the morphological structure, more efficient use of carbon and energy, and a higher percentage of up-regulated proteins associated with carbon and energy metabolism. A. mollis could not survive in flooding conditions for a long time, as revealed by incomplete cell structures of the roots, less efficient use of carbon and energy, and a higher percentage of down-regulated proteins associated with carbon and energy metabolism. Energy provision and flux balance played a role in the flooding tolerance of A. ilicifolius and A. mollis.

The process of international migration causes a situation of vulnerability in people's health and greater difficulty in coping with disease. Furthermore, the adversities suffered during migration can trigger reactive signs of stress and cause anxious, depressive, confusional and somatic symptoms. This article studies the relationships between psychosocial risk, psychological distress and somatization in immigrants from 4 communities: Maghrebis, Sub-Saharans, South Americans and South Asian. A cross-sectional study was carried out with questionnaires on 602 immigrants who were surveyed in the Primary Care Centres of an urban area of Catalonia. The instruments used were the Demographic Psychosocial Inventory (DPSI), the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and the Somatic Symptom Inventory (SSI). The average psychosocial risk obtained was 0.35, with the highest values in the sub-Saharan community. Psychological distress showed a mean value of 0.66, with the sub-Saharan community scoring the lowest in all dimensions except depression. The average somatization values were 1.65, with the sub-Saharan community scoring the least. The female gender is a risk factor for somatization and psychological distress. Perceived psychosocial risk is a predictor of psychological distress, but not somatization, suggesting that the use of more adaptive coping strategies could minimize the effect of the migration process on somatizations.

Temperature is one of the most important range-limiting factors for many seaweeds. Driven by the recent climatic changes, rapid northward shifts of species’ distribution ranges can potentially modify the phylogeographic signature of Last Glacial Maximum such as increased genetic diversity at lower latitudes. To explore this question in detail in the kelp Saccharina latissima, we used microsatellites and double digest RAD-sequencing derived SNPs on S. latissima sporophytes sampled within 11 sites spanning the entire European Atlantic latitudinal range of this species. In addition, we checked for statistical correlation between genetic marker allele frequencies and three environmental proxies (sea surface temperature, salinity, and water turbidity). Our findings revealed that genetic diversity was significantly higher for the northern localities compared to the southern ones in contrast to the expected phylogeographic pattern. This suggests that the southernmost S. latissima populations are negatively affected by the recent climatic changes but also that the recolonization of S. latissima range following the LGM may have occurred from northerly refugia. Seven SNPs and 12 microsatellite alleles were found to be significantly associated with at least one of the three environmental variables. We discuss the potential adaptive functions of the genes associated with the outlier markers and the importance of these markers for successful conservation and aquaculture strategies for S. latissima in this age of rapid global change.

This paper investigates empirically the effect of export diversification (i.e., both export product diversification and services export diversification) on financial openness, using a sample of 119 countries (including both developed and developing countries) over the period 1985-2014. Based on the Blundell and Bond's two-step system Generalized Methods of Moments, the analysis has revealed that both export product diversification and services export diversification influence positively financial openness. However, this outcome hides differentiated effects across countries in the full sample. Specially, countries with a very high real per capita income experience a positive effect of export concentration on financial openness, while for countries with a relatively lower per capita income, it is rather export diversification that drives positively financial openness. Interestingly, the effect of export diversification on financial openness depends on the size of external shocks that affect domestic economies, as well as countries' economic growth performance. Overall, these findings add to the empirical literature on the effect of international trade on financial openness by showing that both export product diversification and services export diversification matter for financial openness.

Chemotherapy treatment based on Cisplatin (CDDP) is established as the drug of choice for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Malignant tumors respond to microenvironment alteration through a dynamic balance of mitochondrial fission and fusion. HNSCC is known to have hypoxic conditions, yet the effects and underlying mechanisms of hypoxia on chemosensitivity and mitochondrial dynamics remain unclear. We found that hypoxia promoted mitochondrial fission and CDDP sensitivity in HNSCC cells. Importantly, Mff was shown to be correlated with chemosensitivity in clinical samples of HNSCC that underwent a hypoxic condition. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 α-subunit (HIF-1α) dramatically increased Mff transcriptional expression and directly bound to Mff. Hypoxia enhanced the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and upregulated the expression of Mff via HIF-1α in HNSCC cells. ROS depletion in HNSCC cells attenuated HIF-1α, Mff expression, and mitochondrial fission. Moreover, a knockdown of Mff suppressed hypoxia-induced mitochondrial fission and decreased CDDP chemosensitivity in vivo and in vitro. Our findings revealed that the hypoxia-induced release of ROS promoted mitochondrial fission and CDDP chemosensitivity via the regulation of HIF-1α/Mff in HNSCC cells, indicating that Mff may serve as a new biomarker to predict neoadjuvant chemosensitivity in HNSCC patients

In this study, we report a detailed experimental and theoretical investigation of three glycols, namely ethane-1,2-diol, 2-methoxyethan-1-ol and 1,2-dimethoxy ethane. For the first time, the X-Ray spectra of the latter two liquids was measured at room temperature, and they were compared with the newly measured spectrum of ethane-1,2-diol. The experimental diffraction patterns were interpreted very satisfactorily with molecular dynamics calculations, and suggest that in liquid ethane-1,2-diol most molecules are found in gauche conformation, with intramolecular hydrogen bond between the two hydroxyl groups. Intramolecular H-bonds are established in the mono-alkylated diol, but the interaction is weaker. The EDXD study also evidences strong intermolecular hydrogen-bond interactions, with short O···O correlations in both systems, while longer methyl-methyl interactions are found in 1,2-dimethoxy ethane. X-Ray studies are complemented by micro Raman investigations at room temperature and at 80°C, that confirm the conformational analysis predicted by X-Ray experiments and simulations.

The dynamics involving market competition and the challenges of dealing with empowered customers, means that creating and delivering relevant customer experience (CX) of service, is as important as creating product or services. Several studies have treated customer experience as though a front-desk, sales-point affair with the customer in the retailing environment, negating the critical role of organization-wide efforts in the overall customer experience management sequence. This review, however, adopts customer-centricity, as a theoretical lens to underscore the [re]configuration of organizational-level factors that are critical to adopting a high customer-experienced centred organization. Based on the review, we highlight conditions for adopting high customer experience management organization: (1) developing an integrated CX strategy, (2) CX-based knowledge management, (3) organizational re-design that supports CX-management, (4) top management commitment, (5) integrated CX IT systems, and (6) CX-oriented HR policies. These practices are only necessary conditions, but not sufficient, for creating, delivering, relevant and sustainable customer experience. However, more robust empirical studies are needed to advance the application of organization-wide customer experience management, which vary across industry, products/services, and sector.

Greek yogurt (GY), a high-protein-low-fat dairy product, particularly prized for its sensory and nutritional benefits, revolutionized the North American yogurt market in less than a decade, bringing with it new sustainability challenges. The standard production of GY generates large volumes of acid whey, a co-product that is a potential source of environmental pollution if not recovered. This study aims to assess the environmental performance of different technologies and identify the main factors for improving GY production. A complete life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to compare the standard technology (centrifugation) with two new technologies (fortification and ultrafiltration) to reduce acid whey volumes. Three milk protein concentrate alternatives were also assessed. Results show that the technology choice is not a clear discriminant factor. However, minimizing losses and wastage (accounting for 23 to 25% of the environmental impacts for all indicators) beyond the processing plant and selecting milk ingredients (accounting for 63 to 67% of the impacts) with low environmental impacts are key factors in improving the environmental performance of GY systems. From a methodological perspective, the results also highlight a shortcoming in the current International Dairy Federation LCA guidelines (2015) for treating the multifunctionality of GY systems.

Major depression is accompanied by increased IgM-mediated autoimmune responses to oxidative specific epitopes (OSEs). Nevertheless, these responses have not been examined in bipolar disorder type 1 (BP1) and BP2. IgM responses to malondialdehyde (MDA), phosphatidinylinositol, oleic acid, and azelaic acid were determined in 35 healthy controls, and 101 mood disorder patients, namely 47 major depressed (MDD), 29 BP1, and 25 BP2 patients. We also measured serum total peroxides, IgG to oxidized LDL (oxLDL), IgM to nitroso-adducts, and IgM/IgA directed to lipopolysaccharides (LPS). IgM responses to OSEs were significantly higher in MDD and BP1 as compared with controls and higher in MDD than in BP2. Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis showed that 57.7% of the variance in the clinical phenome of mood disorders was explained by number of episodes, IgM directed to OSEs and nitroso-adducts, IgG to oxLDL, and peroxides. There were significant specific indirect effects of IgA/IgM to LPS on the clinical phenome, which were mediated by peroxides, IgM OSEs, and IgG oxLDL. Using PLS we have constructed a data-driven nomothetic network which ensembled causome (increased plasma LPS load), adverse outcome pathways (namely neuro-affective toxicity), and clinical phenome features of mood disorders in a data-driven model. Based on those feature sets, cluster analysis discovered a new diagnostic class characterized by increased plasma LPS load, peroxides, autoimmune responses to OSEs and nitroso-adducts, and increased phenome scores. Using the new nomothetic network approach, we constructed a mechanistically transdiagnostic diagnostic class indicating neuro-affective toxicity in 74.3% of the mood disorder patients.

HLA class I alleles constitute established risk factors for non-infectious uveitis and preemptive genotyping of HLA class I alleles is standard practice in the diagnostic work-up. The HLA-A29 serotype is indispensable to Birdshot Uveitis (BU) and renders this enigmatic eye condition a unique model to better understand how the antigen processing and presentation machinery contributes to non-infectious uveitis or chronic inflammatory conditions in general. This review will discuss salient points regarding the protein structure of HLA-A29 using and how key amino acid positions impact the peptide binding preference and interaction with T cells. We discuss to what extent the risk genes ERAP1 and ERAP2 uniquely affect HLA-A29 and how the discovery of a HLA-A29-specific submotif may impact autoantigen discovery. We further provide a compelling argument to solve the long-standing question why BU only affects HLA-A29-positive individuals from Western-European ancestry by exploiting data from the 1000 Genomes Project. We combine novel insights from structural and immunopeptidomic studies and discuss the functional implications of genetic associations across the HLA class I antigen presentation pathway to refine the etiological basis of Birdshot Uveitis.

Molecular analysis is an easier means to identify and isolate a specific gene which has imperative function for growth, body composition , fat deposition, metabolic and skeletal traits as well as the molecular genetics selection on individual genes is a very efficient method to genetically improve economically important traits in chickens. Insulin- like growth factor 1 ( IGF-1)is a member of a heterogeneous group of peptides with important growth.Transforming growth factorβ ( TGF-β) belongs to a large family of growth and differentiation factors that play a pivotal role in a great variety of biological activities including morphogenesis, development and differentiation. DNA was extracted from 48 chickens sampled from three strains Lohman (17) , Sinai (24) and Gimmizah (7) IGF-1 gene and TGFβ2 gene were amplified using PCR protocol. Electrophoresis was carried out on the products of PCR , bands viewed on transilluminator. The size of IGF-1 gene was 675 bp while the size of TGFβ2 gene was 188bp. Sharp bands were purified and sequenced and used the dendrogram to show the relationships between other vertebrate species

The tumour-associated isoenzymes, hCA IX and hCA XII catalyze the hydration of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate and protons. These isoforms are highly overexpressed in many types of cancer, where they contribute for the acidification of the tumor environment promoting the tumor cell invasion and metastasis. In this work, in order to identify novel dual hCA IX and XII inhibitors, virtual screening techniques and biological assays were combined. A structure based virtual screening towards hCA IX and XII was performed using a database of approximately 26000 natural compounds. The best shared hits were submitted to a thermodynamic analysis and 3 promising best hits were identified and evaluated in terms of their hCA IX and XII inhibitor activity. In vitro biological assays are in line with the theoretical studies and revealed that Syringin, Lithospermic acid, and (-)- Dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol behave as good hCA IX and hCA XII dual inhibitors.

Breast cancer develops from cells lining the milk ducts and slowly grows into a lump or a tumour. Breast cancer may be invasive or non-invasive. Invasive cancer spreads from the milk duct or lobule to other tissues in the breast, whereas, non-invasive ones lack the ability to invade other breast tissues. Non-invasive breast cancer is called in situ and may remain inactive for entire lifetime. Due to heterogeneity nature of breast, density as well as masses is variable in size and shape. A dataset of 18056 patients are collected from 20 Government Hospitals and 50 Private Hospitals in West Bengal before COVID-19 and after COVID-19. The classification of patients are made on three classes- Normal, Sign of Abnormality and Abnormality. The reports of MRIs of patients in January 2020 and February 2020 are collected from different hospitals. It is treated as dataset before COVID-19 . MRIS of patients in April 2020 and May 2020 are dataset during COVID-19. The entire datasets are accumulated for testing of any change in patients MRIS after the official announcement of new virus COVID-19 in March 2020. The aim of the paper is to make a comparison of any change in size and shape of masses of MRIs of patients before and after COVId-19. All collected MRIs reports are diagnosed by radiologists of hospitals.

COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is responsible for widespread mortality and economic loss across almost 212 countries. The distribution of disease prevalence is, however, uneven and likely dependent on the range of human behavior and/or the pathogen and environmental variables. Here in this research we examined the correlation between daily and total COVID-19 case reports from Bangladesh and meteorological variables (average temperature, average humidity, and average wind speed) against one another using Spearman rank and Kendall correlation tests to highlight significant meteorological variables in relation to COVID-19. The tests revealed that both temperature and humidity had a non-significant correlation with COVID-19 transmission amid epicenter (EC) and non-epicenter (NEC) areas. However, a weak (KCC: 0.168, p < 0.05; SCC: 0.271, p < 0.05) correlation was found for temperature in ECs. Wind speed showed moderate to strong correlation in ECs with a very high statistical significance to both daily new cases [(KCC: 0.494, p < 0.01); (SCC: 0.689, p < 0.01)] and total cases [(KCC: 0.426, p < 0.01); (SCC: 0.617, p < 0.01)]. The COVID-19 transmission was found to have a weak (KCC: 0.354, p < 0.01) to moderate (SCC: 0.465, p < 0.01) correlation with daily new cases; however, a moderate (KCC: 0.497, p < 0.01) to strong (SCC: 0.712, p < 0.01) correlation with total cases was found in NECs. The results suggest that temperature and humidity have little influence on COVID-19 transmission, but wind speed may have some influence. Countries should prioritize social engineering to modify human behavior in order to combat the spread of COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of acute lower respiratory infection globally. There are vaccines in pipeline to prevent it but a systematic review on immunogenicity and safety of vaccine is lacking. Methods: This systematic review of RSV vaccine clinical trials was undertaken using 4 databases. Searches were conducted using both controlled vocabulary terms such as ‘Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human’, ‘Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections’, ‘Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccines’, ‘Immunization’, ‘Immunization Programs’ and ‘Vaccines’ and corresponding text word terms. The searches for published papers were limited to clinical trials published from January 2000 to August 6th, 2018. RSV infection case was defined as RSV associated medically attended acute respiratory illness (MAARI) or RSV infection by serologically-confirmed test (Western Blot) during the RSV surveillance period. We calculated the relative risk of each vaccine trial with RSV infection case. Results: Of 4395 publications, 24 were included and data were extracted covering 4 major types of RSV vaccine candidates, these being live-attenuated/chimeric (n=9), recombinant-vector (n=10), subunit (n=1) and nanoparticle vaccines (n=4). For RSV infection cases, 7 trials were involved and none of them showed a vaccine-related increased MAARI during RSV surveillance season. Conclusion: LID ∆M2-2, MEDI M2-2, and RSVcps2 (live-attenuated) were considered the most promising vaccine candidates in infant and children. In the elderly, a nanoparticle F vaccine candidate was considered as a potential effective vaccine. Although no promising vaccine was identified from pregnant-women test, RSV F-024 subunit vaccine candidate and an RSV F nanoparticle vaccine showed encouraging results in healthy non-pregnant women.

The evaluation was conducted to find out whether the stipulated objectives of the policy are being followed, and at the same time find out whether the envisioned results of implementing such policy system have been achieved so far. The evaluation was expected to provide an opportunity for mending shortfalls of the whole system that would affect its sustainability and usefulness.A total of 33 participants were interviewed in this study and came from the study area (Nkhotakota District Council Office). Purposive sampling was used to select the participants. All study respondents were purposively selected where respondents considered having relevant information and they were interviewed to obtain wide range of perspectives.Seven themes were identified; knowledge on policy, limited stakeholder involvement, poor HIV and AIDS programming, ethical issues, future perspective of the policy, Other Recurrent Transaction (ORT) allocation, and availability of HIV and AIDS Committee. On knowledge on policy, the sub-themes included; objectives well outlined, and poor updates on the policy. On limited stakeholder involvement, the sub-themes were; lack of ownership, ignorance of involvement, and not involved/limited involvement. On the Poor HIV and AIDS programming theme, sub-themes identified were; exclusion of activities in the District Implementation Plan (DIP) and lack of funds. There was one sub-theme on ethical issues and future perspective.We found that the Nkhotakota District Council HIV and AIDS at workplace policy is not functioning properly due to poor coordination and lack of funding. However, there are some positives identified such as existence of the coordinating committee and allocation of funds through ORT. Although the system has been functional for some years in well-established structures, lack of participation by some stakeholders, non-inclusion of HIV and AIDS activities in the DIPs underpin its sustainability

Recent clinical SARS-CoV-2 studies link diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension to increased disease severity. In the US, racial and ethnic minorities and low socioeconomic status (SES) individuals are more likely to have increased rates of these comorbidities, lower baseline health, limited access to care, increased perceived discrimination, and limited resources, all of which increase their vulnerability to severe disease and poor health outcomes from SARS-CoV-2. Previous studies demonstrated the disproportionate impact of pandemic and seasonal influenza on these populations, due to these risk factors. This paper reviews increased health risks and documented health disparities of racial and ethnic minorities and low SES individuals in the US. Pandemic response must prioritize these marginalized communities to minimize the negative, disproportionate impacts of SARS-CoV-2 on them and manage spread throughout the entire population. This paper concludes with recommendations applicable to healthcare facilities and public officials at various government levels.

Laws and regulations make powerful contribution in addressing multitudes of public health concerns. We examined the Public Health Act (PHA) in Malawi to understand its relevance to the ever-growing and changing threats posed by infectious and non-infectious diseases. The current Public Health Act of Malawi came into effect in 1948 to protect and preserve public health. The Act has undergone several amendments, the last one being in 1975. It draws much of its inspiration and standards from the 19th century British laws on insanitary housing, poor ventilation, and drainage. Such laws are silent on emerging major public health concerns including non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes as well as road traffic injuries. This makes the Act outdated and ill equipped to address the 21st century public health concerns. Although supplementary legislation such as the HIV/AIDS Act and Mental Treatment Act have recently been enacted, they are yet to be consolidated into the Public Health Act. Consequently, existing policies and strategic plans that are meant to address gaps in public health and ensure coordinated effort lack support of laws and regulations. The Act also places great emphasis on mandatory vaccinations, quarantine and isolation against smallpox, a disease that has long been eradicated. Furthermore, although the Public Health Act outlines powers, duties and penalties, it fails to reinforce acceptable behaviour due to the insignificant penalties for noncompliance. There is a need for immediate and prompt revision and restructuring of the Public Health Act based on scientific evidence. Such laws require adequate consultation and interaction with key experts and stakeholders from a wide range of disciplines.

Corporate sustainability reporting, also known as Triple-bottom-line reporting, involves reporting nonfinancial and financial information to a broader set of stakeholders than just shareholders and seek to fortify an organization’s ability to manage key risks. The current case is that, the quality, rigor, and utility of sustainability reporting remains contentious with concerns about the suitability of the criteria or standards used to prepare the reports. Despite the rapid increase in the number of companies around the world adopting Global Reporting Initiative standards, little is known about the extent of practice of corporate sustainability reporting in public universities in Kenya. The study selected five universities that had their 2017-18 audited financial reports available online for the readers, which served as the main source of secondary data. The guidelines on corporate sustainability reporting was derived from literature review, which provided key indicators upon which the data from each university was evaluated. It was observed that almost all the institutions recognize the critical role of both internal and external independent audit of financial statements. In conclusion, financial reporting sustainability is guided by strict compliance to the factors of sustainability.

This study uses a recently developed theory and technique to examine post-acquisition evidence as to the motives for mergers and acquisitions(M&As), and decomposed the M/B ratio into three components: firm-specific error, time-series sector error, and long-run value-to-book. We make a multidimensional grouping according to the frequency of M&As , payment method, proportion of shares acquired, M/B ratio before the merger and total assets of the acquirers before the merge. The results confirm that M&As involve multiple motives, such as market timing, industry and economic shocks, agency and hubris. Using a sample of 2,035 M&As in China, we find that 59% are related to market timing, 68% are related to agency and hubris, 21% are related to industry and economic shocks, 51% are related to multiple motives. Our empirical research finds that the main motives for M&As of listed companies in China are value-decreasing, which have negative impact on the acquirers‘ sustainable development.

The formation of sinkholes in Winkler County, Texas is concerning due to the amount of oil and gas infrastructure and the potential for catastrophic losses. Evidences of new and potential sinkholes have been documented, and determining the cause of these sinkholes is paramount to mitigate the devastating consequences thereof. Studies shown that the Wink sinkholes result from both natural and anthropogenic influences. Data depicting land-cover changes, alterations in the hydrologic systems, climate changes, and oil and gas activity were analyzed in an effort to better understand the link between these processes and sinkhole formation. Results indicate that the combination of these processes lead to the current state; Land cover changes were highest in shrub versus grasses, undeveloped to developed and croplands. Rises in temperature and a decrease in precipitation indicate a shift towards a more arid climate. Changes to the hydraulic system are a direct result of these land cover changes while the groundwater quality depict an environment prone to dissolution. Historical oil and gas activities have created pathways of meteoric water infiltration to the underlying limestone and evaporite formation. The combination of these processes create an environment that accelerates sinkhole formations. Understanding these processes allows for the development and implementation of better land practices, better groundwater protections, and the need for monitoring and maintaining aging oil and gas infrastructure.

Since 2015, outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the Middle East have been caused by a new emerging viral lineage, A/ASIA/G-VII. In-vitro vaccine matching data indicated that this virus poorly matched (low r1-value) with vaccines that were being used in the region as well as most other commercially available vaccines. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of two candidate vaccines against challenge with a representative field virus from the A/ASIA/G-VII lineage. The results from an initial full dose protection study provided encouraging data for the A/MAY/97 vaccine, while the A22/IRQ/64 vaccine only protected 2/7 vaccinated animals. In view of these promising results, this vaccine was tested in a potency test (PD50) experiment in which 5 cattle were vaccinated with a full dose, 5 cattle with a 1/3 dose and 5 cattle with a 1/9 dose of vaccine. Vaccines were prepared as would be done during an emergency vaccination campaign using a double oil emulsion adjuvant. At 21 days post vaccination these vaccinated cattle and 3 control cattle were subsequently challenged intradermolingually with a field isolate from the A/ASIA/G-VII lineage. All cattle from the full vaccine dose, 4 cattle from the 1/3 vaccine dose and 2 cattle from the 1/9 vaccine dose were clinically protected against challenge with FMDV A/ASIA/G-VII, resulting in a heterologous potency of 6.5 PD50/dose. These data support previous studies showing that a high potency emergency vaccine can protect against clinical disease when challenged with a heterologous strain of the same serotype. Not only the r1-value of the vaccine, but also the homologous potency of a vaccine should be taken into account when advising vaccines to control an outbreak.

In this paper we show how to efficiently implement parallel discrete simulations on Multi-Core and GPU architectures through a real example of application: a cellular automata model of laser dynamics. We describe the techniques employed to build and optimize the implementations using OpenMP and CUDA frameworks. We have evaluated the performance on two different hardware platforms that represent different target market segments: high-end platforms for scientific computing, using an Intel Xeon Platinum 8259CL server with48cores and also an NVIDIA Tesla6V100 GPU, both running on Amazon Web Server (AWS) Cloud, and on a consumer-oriented platform, using an Intel Core i9 9900k CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI GPU. Performance results are compared and analysed in detail. We show that excellent performance and scalability can be obtained in both platforms, and we extract some important issues that imply a performance degradation for them. We also found that current Multi-Core CPUs with large core numbers can bring a performance very near to that of GPUs, even similar in some cases.

The purpose of this systematic review is to provide second language acquisition (SLA) researchers with an overview of research trends in this field in the last ten years (2009-2019). In doing so, three international peer-reviewed journals, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Teaching Research, and The Modern Language Journal, were selected. 150 articles were systematically selected and analyzed. The analysis of data resulted in identifying six descriptive themes. Results showed that some areas of second language acquisition still need further exploration while some areas are of great interest for researchers. Some suggestions for future research as well as implications of the study were discussed in detail.

Purpose: Localization and mapping with LiDAR data is a fundamental building block for autonomous vehicles. Though LiDAR point clouds can often encode the scene depth more accurate and steadier compared with visual information, laser-based Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) remains challengeable as the data is usually sparse, density variable and less discriminative. The purpose of this paper is to propose an accurate and reliable laser-based SLAM solution. Design/methodology/approach: The method starts with constructing voxel grids based on the 3D input point cloud. These voxels are then classified into three types to indicate different physical objects according to the spatial distribution of the points contained in each voxel. A global environment model with Partition of Unity (POU) implicit surface is maintained along the process and located voxels are merged into it from stage to stage, through scan-to-model matching implemented by Levenberg-Marquardt method. Findings: We find a laser-based SLAM method. The method uses POU implicit surface representation to build the model and is evaluated on the KITTI odometry benchmark without loop closure. Experimental results indicate that the method achieves accuracy comparable to the state-of-the-art methods. Originality/value: We propose a novel, low-drift SLAM method, which falls into a scan-to-model matching paradigm, operates on point clouds obtained from Velodyne HDL64. The method is of value to researchers developing SLAM systems for autonomous vehicles.

The School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme (SFVS) implemented by the European Union during 2009/10 aims to improve the diet of school children and to support agricultural markets and environmental sustainability. The objective of this study was to characterize the SFVS implementation in Spain (2009-2017). A descriptive, longitudinal, observational and retrospective study was carried out based on document analysis of annual strategies of the SFVS. We studied the average budget for the EU, the number of students enrolled, the cost of the SFVS by student and by day, the duration of the SFVS, the quantity of fruits and vegetables (FV) per student, the variety of FV, the inclusion of local, seasonal and organic foods, and the education activities (EA). The results were studied by autonomous community (AC). The budget increased from 7.4 million euros in 2009/10 to 14.4 in 2016/17. Since 2014/15, the increase came from EU funds, the number of students increased from 18% in 2009 to 20% in 2016. The quantity of FV went from 2,579 to 4,000 tons, duration increased from 9.8 to 19.6 days and the variety of fruits and vegetables increased from 20 to 21 and from 5 to 6 respectively. In AC there were important variations in EA, in the number of enrolled students (7.4% to 45.6%), in the cost per student (2.3€ to 28€) and in the duration in days (5.6 to 70 days). The inclusion of local, seasonal and organic foods was identified in 5 of the 8 years studied. The development and reach of the SFVS in Spain is still insufficient to influence dietary patterns and health in the school population. However, the SFVS has generated an economic market for agricultural production.

The technique of obtaining information or data about any feature or object from afar, called in technical parlance as remote sensing, has proven extremely useful in diverse fields. In the ecological sphere, especially, remote sensing has enabled collection of data or information about large swaths of areas or landscapes. Even then, in remote sensing the task of identifying and monitoring of different water reservoirs has proved a tough one. This is mainly because getting correct appraisals about the spread and boundaries of the area under study and the contours of any water surfaces lodged therein becomes a factor of utmost importance. Identification of water reservoirs is rendered even tougher because of presence of cloud in satellite images, which becomes the largest source of error in identification of water surfaces. To overcome this glitch, the method of the shape matching approach for analysis of cloudy images in reference to cloud-free images of water surfaces with the help of vector data processing, is recommended. It includes the database of water bodies in vector format, which is a complex polygon structure. This analysis highlights three steps: First, the creation of vector database for the analysis; second, simplification of multi-scale vector polygon features; and third, the matching of reference and target water bodies database within defined distance tolerance. This feature matching approach provides matching of one to many and many to many features. It also gives the corrected images that are free of clouds.

We report on the field testing datasets and performance evaluation results obtained from a commercial property-based visually-clear solar window installation site in Perth-Australia. This installation was fitted into a refurbished shopping centre entrance porch, and showcases the potential of glass curtain wall-based solar energy harvesting in built environments. In particular, we focus on photovoltaic (PV) performance characteristics such as the electric power output, specific yield, day-to-day consistency of peak output power, and the amounts of energy generated and stored daily. The dependencies of the generated electric power and stored energy on multiple environmental and geometric parameters are also studied. An overview of the current and future application potential of high-transparency, visually-clear solar window-based curtain wall installations suitable for practical building integration is provided.

In this paper, we introduce the Prognostics and Health Management of gear bearing system using autoencoder neural networks. Bearings and gears are the most common mechanical components in rotating machines, and their health conditions are of great concern in practice. This study presents an outlier modeling method for forecasting the gear bearing system failure using the health indicators constructed from mechanical signal processing and modeling. Outlier modeling aims to find patterns in data that are significantly different from what is defined as normal. In the unsupervised outlier modeling setting, prior labels about the anomalousness of data points are not available. In such cases, the most common techniques for scoring data points for outlyingness include distance-based methods density-based methods, and linear methods. The conventional outlier modeling methods have been used for a long time to detect anomalous observations in data. However, this paper shows that autoencoders are a very competitive technique compared to other existing methods. The developed method is demonstrated using the IMS bearing data from NASA Acoustics and Vibration Database.

With proper processing and utilization, biofortified cassava may contribute to the nutritional status of the consumers, thus, the need for this study. High-quality cassava flour from white- (TME 419) and biofortified (TMS 01/1368) cassava varieties were produced at a commercial processing factory, after which the flour is composite with wheat flour to produce bread. The nutritional composition, physical properties and sensory quality of the composite bread were analyzed using standard methods. Results showed that composite bread from 20% biofortified cassava flour (20-YCF) had a higher value of total β-carotene (0.74 μg/g), moisture (37.83%) and ash (2.29%) contents. The fat (3.72%) and protein (12.83%) contents were higher in 20% white cassava flour (20-WCF) composite bread. The 20-YCF composite bread had the highest loaf volume (3286.2 cm3), elasticity (6.32), chewiness (40.51 N) and gumminess (6.41), 20-WCF composite bread had higher specific volume (3.59 cm3/g) and hardness (176.50 N). The 100% wheat bread had higher cohesiveness (0.10) and loaf weight (932.35 g). A significant negative correlation (r = - 0.98, p≤0.05) exist between bread hardness and protein content. The composite bread compared favourably with the 100% wheat bread in terms of weight and aroma, but, the 100% wheat bread was more acceptable.

Attitudes and behaviours towards the natural environment have been extensively studied in certain cultural settings during the last 40 years. In education, the teacher's ability to grasp the fundamentals of an academic subject may define his or her own attitudes towards that discipline; certainly the reverse is also valid. The correlations between affective and cognitive domains appear to play a significant role in teaching-learning dynamics. In this study we seek to assess whether the affective posture towards school sciences of a cohort of teachers in rural communities shows an association with their cognitive competence in the disciplines. The results of this study provide evidence that there is a statistically significant correlation between the cognitive and affective domains for in-service teachers. The affective domain, therefore, could serve as a predictor for cognitive competency and self-efficacy expectancies with respect to both content and career fulfilment.

Spatio-temporal Land-Use and Land-Cover (LULC) changes have been affecting geo-environmental and climate change globally. This study aims to analyze LULC changes in Bahir Dar city and its surrounds. Landsat 5 TM (1987), Landsat 7 ETM+ (2002) and Landsat 8 OLI (2017) and SPOT images, and aerial photographs, master plan map and Google Earth Landsat images were used to analyze changes. In Bahir Dar city and its surrounds, LULC has been changing in space and time. During 1987-2017, more than 50% of the study area was covered with cropland. Settlement areas have increased from 3.3% in 1987 to 9.13% in 2017. However, wetland vegetation, shrubland, grassland, forest, and waterbodies have degraded. These changes are mainly attributed to population growth and its effect on the environment. Land-use and land-cover is a serious problem and it causes land and environmental degradation, climate change and loss of the biological environment.

As a holistic medical school, Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) considers the human body as a dynamic and intricate network of interconnecting processes. Currently, systems biology and more precisely systems medicine and pharmacology can be an aid in providing rationalizations for many traditional medications and treatments and elucidating a great deal of knowledge they can offer to guide future research in medicine. Therefore, re-organization and standardization of traditional medicine data are requested more than ever before. To address this issue, we have constructed UNaProd, a Universal Natural Product database for materia medica of ITM. Primarily based on Makhzan al-Advieh, which is the most recent encyclopedia of materia medica in ITM with the largest number of monographs, this database was created using both text mining methods and manual editing. UNaProd is currently hosting to 2696 monographs from herbal to animal to mineral compounds in 16 diverse attributes such as origin and scientific name. In the current version, UNaProd is hyperlinked to IrGO and CMAUP databases for Mizaj and molecular features respectively and it is freely available at http://jafarilab.com/unaprod/.

As shown earlier, the algorithmic complexity, like Shannon information and Boltzmann entropy, tends to increase in accordance with the general law of complification. However, the algorithmic complexity of most material systems does not reach its maximum, i.e. chaotic state, due to the various laws of nature that create certain structures. The complexity of such structures is very different from the algorithmic complexity, and we intuitively feel that its maximal value should be somewhere between order and chaos. I propose a formula for calculation such structural complexity, which can be called - structuredness. The structuredness of any material system is determined by structures of three main types: stable, dissipative, and post-dissipative. The latter are defined as stable structures created by dissipative ones, directly or indirectly. Post-dissipative structures, as well as stable, can exist for an unlimited time, but at the micro level only, without energy influx. The appearance of such structures leads to the “ratchet” process, which determines the structuregenesis in non-living and, especially, in living systems. This process allows systems with post-dissipative structures to develop in the direction of maximum structuring due to the gradual accumulation of these structures, even when such structuring contradicts the general law of complification.

The controls of depositional environments on reservoir quality have been evaluated in terms of porosity and permeability of the Gabo Field, Niger Delta, Nigeria. Data used in this research include Well logs, Core data and photos, and grain size analysis for Wells 51 and 52 in the study area. Standard methods as applicable in petrophysical and sedimentological analysis has been adopted. Thirteen reservoir units have been identified in wells 51 and 52 which had 5 reservoirs cored each. The lithofacies units of the identified reservoirs across the study area, comprise pebbly sands, coarse -, medium -, fine- and very fine-grained sands, sandy mud, silty sands and heteroliths. The heteroliths – very fine-grained silty muds are highly bioturbated. Ophiomorpha and skolithos are the major trace fossils with sedimentary structures (ripple lamination, wavy lenticular and planar beds, cross bedded sands, coarsening and fining upward). The facies associations interpreted for the study area are Channel and Coastal barrier systems and the environment of deposition as distributary channel, upper and lower shoreface. The sedimentary processes that deposited facies ranged from high energy regimes, reworking by waves to low energy with periodic influx of silts and muds. The average porosity and permeability for reservoirs in Well 51 is 16.7% and 1317 Md, reservoirs in Well 52 is 28.2% and 2330Md whereas porosity range for the study area is 2% - 32% and permeability is 1.2 – 10600 Md. The reservoir quality reservoir of the sand units in Well 51 (7, 9 and 13) and Well 52 (5, 7, 9, 11 and 13) is excellent - good, this is because of the dynamics environments of deposition (upper shoreface and distributary channel) as well as the mechanisms that play out during deposition such as bioturbation, sorting, sedimentary structures formed. Whereas the poor quality across the reservoirs especially the lower shoreface and prodelta facies is as result of lack bioturbation, connectivity, multiplicity of burrows that may have been plugged by clay and intercalation of shale and sand (heteroliths). This research has shown that environments of deposition have direct influence the reservoir quality in terms of porosity and permeability.

For the task planning problem of the command and control architecture, the existing algorithms have problems such as low efficiency and poor re-planning quality under abnormal conditions. Based on the requirements of the current accusation architecture, this paper constructs a distributed command and control architecture model based on multi-agents, which makes use of the superiority of multi-agents in dealing with complex tasks. The concept of MultiAgents-HTN is proposed under the framework. The original hierarchical task network planning algorithm is optimized, the multi-agent collaboration framework is redefined, and the coordination mechanism of local conflict is designed. Taking the classical resource scheduling problem as the experimental background, the comparison between the proposed algorithm and the classical HTN algorithm is carried out. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has higher quality and higher efficiency than the existing algorithm, and the space anomaly is heavy during processing. The planning is more efficient, and the time is more complicated and superior in dealing with the same problem, with good convergence and adaptability. The conclusion proves that the distributed command and control architecture proposed in this paper has high practicability in related fields and can solve the problem of distributed command and control architecture in multi-agent environment.

We have shown that the use of evolutionary gravitational constants G, the speed of light c, and cosmological constant Λ in the Einstein’s field equations leads to a very simple model that fits the supernovae Ia data with a single parameter as well as the standard ΛCDM model with two parameters, and has the predictive capability superior to the latter. We have shown that at the current time G and c both increase as dG/dt = 5.4GH₀ and dc/dt = 1.8cH₀ with H₀ as the Hubble constant, and Λ decreases as dΛ/dt = −1.2ΛH₀. Negative finding on the variation of G with time derived from the analysis of lunar laser ranging data in several studies has been attributed to the fact that these studies did not consider the variation of c simultaneously with G.

Nowadays, the development or improvement of actuation mechanisms is a crucial topic for the achievement of dextrous manipulation using soft robots. Then, a primary target of research is the design of actuation and driving devices. Consequently, in this paper, we introduce a soft driving epicyclical mechanism that mimics human muscle behavior and fulfills motion requirements to achieve grasping gestures using a robotic finger. The prototype is experimentally assessed, and results show that our approach has enough performance for the implementation in grasping tasks. Furthermore, we introduce the basis for a new soft epicyclical mechanism merger with shape memory alloys to allow active stiffness control of the mechanism.

The development of the Internet of Things (IoT) has triggered a virtual wave of interconnection and intercommunication among an enormous number of universal things. This has caused an exceptional surge of colossal heterogeneous information, known as an information explosion. Until now, cloud computing has filled in as a proficient method to process and store these data. Still, it came to light that by utilizing just cloud computing, pesky issues like, the expanding requests of actual-time or speed-sensitive applications and the restrictions on system transfer speed could not be solved. Consequently, another computing platform, called fog computing has been advanced as a supplement to the cloud arrangement. Fog computing spreads the cloud administrations and services to the edge of the system, and brings processing, communications and reserving and storage capacity closer to edge gadgets and end-clients and, in the process, aims at enhancing versatility, low latency, transfer speed and safety and protection. This paper takes an extensive and wide-ranging view of fog computing, covering several aspects. At the outset is outlined the many-layered structural design of fog computing and its attributes. After that, chief advances like communication and inter-exchange, computing, reserving and storage, asset administration, naming, safety and safeguarding of privacy are delineated while showing how this backup and facilitate the installations and various applications. Then, numerous applications like augmented reality (AR), healthcare, gaming and brain-machine interface, vehicular computing, smart scenarios etc. are highlighted to explain the fog computing application milieu. Following that, it is shown that how, despite fog computing being a features-rich platform, it is dogged by its susceptibility to several security, privacy and safety concerns, which stem from the nature of its widely distributed and open architecture. Finally, some suggestions are advanced to address some of the safety challenges discussed so as to propel the further growth of fog computing.

A new variant of two-echelon routing problem is investigated, where the truck and the drone are used to cooperatively complete the deliveries of all parcels. The truck not only acts as a tool for parcel delivery, but also serves as a moving depot for the drone. The drone can carry several parcels and take off from the truck, while returning to the truck after completing the delivery. The energy consumption model for the routing process of the drone is analyzed, when it is utilized to deliver multiple parcels. A two-stage route-based modelling approach is proposed to optimize both the truck’s main route and the drone’s adjoint flying routes. A hybrid heuristic integrating nearest neighbor and cost saving strategies is developed to quickly construct a feasible solution. The simulated annealing algorithm is applied to improve the quality of the solution, where a Tabu list is employed to improve the search efficiency. Random instances at different scales are used to test the performance of the proposed algorithm. A case study based on the practical road network in Changsha, China, is presented, through which the sensitivity analysis is conducted with respect to some critical factors.

Fostering fruitful collaboration between chemistry and physics scholars, the analysis of the differences in the practical approach to single atoms in chemistry and in physics affords a number of conceptual outcomes pointing to a more balanced relationship between chemistry and physics.

In this paper, we propose a novel approach of video skimming by exploiting the fusion of video temporal information and keyword information representation extracted from multi-model video information including audio, text and visual indices. In addition, we introduce the brand-safe filtering and sentiment analysis in order to only reserve the user-friendly content in the video skim. In the experiment by using the videos from YouTube-8M dataset, we have proved that the semantic conservation in the video skim from the proposed approach highly outperforms the approaches by only partial information of the video in conserving the semantic content of the video.

One of the important features of polymethine (cyanine) dyes is isomerization around one of C–C bonds of the polymethine chain. In this review, spectral properties of the isomers, photoisomerization and thermal back isomerization of carbocyanine dyes, mostly meso-substituted carbocyanine dyes, are considered. meso-Alkyl-substituted thiacarbocyanine dyes are present in polar solvents mainly as cis isomers and, hence, exhibit no photoisomerization, whereas in nonpolar solvents, in which the dyes are in the trans form, photoisomerization takes place. In contrast, the meso-substituted dyes 3,3′-dimethyl-9-phenylthiacarbocyanine and 3,3′-diethyl-9-(2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)thiacarbocyanine occur as trans isomers and exhibit photoisomerization in both polar and nonpolar solvents. The behavior of these dyes may be explained by the fact that the phenyl ring of the substituent in their molecules can be twisted at some angle, removing the substituent from the plane of the molecule and reducing its steric effect on the conformation of the trans isomer. In some cases, photoisomerization of cis isomers of meso-substituted carbocyanine dyes is also observed (for some meso-alkyl-substituted dyes complexed with DNA and chondroitin-4-sulfate; for 3,3′-diethyl-9-methoxythiacarbocyanine in moderate polarity solvents). The cycle photoisomerization–thermal back isomerization of cyanine dyes can be used in various systems of information storage and deserves further investigation using modern research methods.

Copper, the highly toxicity micronutrient, plays two essential roles: it is a catalytic and structural cofactor for Cu-dependent enzymes, and it acts as a secondary messenger. In the cells, copper is imported by CTR1, a transmembrane high-affinity copper importer, and DMT1 (divalent metal transporter). In cytosol, enzyme-specific chaperones receive copper from CTR1 C-terminus and deliver it to their apoenzymes. DMT1 cannot be a donor of catalytic copper because it does not have cytosol domain which is required for copper transfer to the Cu-chaperons and following to cuproenzymes. Here we assume that DMT1 can mediate copper way required for regulatory copper pool. To verify this thought, we used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate H1299 cell line with CTR1 or DMT1 single knockout (KO) and CTR1/DMT1 double knockout (DKO). To confirm KOs of the genes qRT-PCR were used. Two independent clones for each gene were selected for further studies. In CTR1-KO cells, expression of the DMT1 gene was significantly increased. In subcellular compartments, copper concentration decreased dramatically in DKO cells. CTR1-KO cells, but not DMT1-KO, demonstrated reduced sensitivity to cisplatin and silver ions, agents that enter the cell through CTR1. The expression of genes, whose protein products require copper: HIF1α, XIAP, COMMD1, CCS, Cp, but not SOD1 and NF-kB, changed their level. Perhaps these data will help to understand how the disturbances of copper homeodynamics lead to the development of neurodegenerative and oncological disorders. Possibility of using CTR1 KO and DMT1 KO cells to study homeodynamics of catalytic and signaling copper selectively is discussed.

There are no studies that quantitatively compare life histories among scorpion species. Statistical procedures applied to 94 scorpion species indicate that those with larger bodies do not necessarily have larger litters or longer life cycles, opposite to some theoretical predictions.

We investigate the value distribution of dierence polynomials of entire and meromorphic functions, which can be viewed as the Hayman's conjecture. And we also study the uniqueness of dierence polynomials sharing a common value.

The VLSI industry is facing parasitic effects that trouble development in the nanoscale domain. However, instead of replacing the traditional MOSFET design, it would be more advantageous to apply different doping profiles and discerning which deal with specific parasitic effects the best. With a review of Gaussian doping, Uniform doping, and Delta doping profiles and analysis of the FET technology characteristics that use these doping profiles, a comparison can be made among them for integrated circuit design engineers. These doping profiles are compared based on how well they perform against non-ideal and ideal environments. Also, both digital and analog performance are measured to ensure the uniqueness of each doping profile that is present. After getting a list of benefits from each doping profile, it is derived to determine which doping profile works best against a host of parasitic effects and what type of application do these doping profiles have

This case study assessed marketing arrangements used by small scale farmers in the Lake Basin and Lower Eastern bean corridors of Kenya to determine which markets work for rural producers and what changes are needed to produce and supply sufficient quantities for trade. Using exploratory research, data was collected through focus group discussions with six farmer groups representing a total of 1255 bean farmers and key informant interviews with extension staff. The results indicated that 94% of the farmers produced beans before identifying buyers with only 6% participating in group marketing. Though spot-market transactions with brokers and traders provided ready cash for the farmers, formal buyers were perceived to be more reliable but difficult to find and, operated stringent requirements which were a barrier to entry. A theory of change to integrate smallholders into formal markets to sustainably produce and supply sufficient volumes for trade should entail a transformation agenda at four levels of the value chain: intensification of production through pure stand models with greater use of certified high yielding varieties; stable price guarantees; a market-driven research and extension service and; an enabling political, policy and business environment in the bean value chain. Further research is needed to pilot these changes in a case control study.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to compare the influence of corporate board characteristics on the extent of environmental disclosure quantity of listed firms in two leading emerging economies in Africa, South Africa (integrated reporting framework) and Nigeria (traditional reporting framework). Methods: The sample was comprised of 303 firms including environmentally sensitive companies purposively selected for content analysis study in South Africa (213) and Nigeria (90). We used both descriptive, multivariate and regression models to comparatively analyze the differences about corporate board characteristics as determinants of the extent of their environmental disclosure quantity. Results: The results reveal a more significant positive association between board characteristics and environmental disclosure in South Africa and less relevant association in Nigeria. Also, the results support that board independence arrangement may serve as bonding mechanisms in weak reporting environments, suggesting a substitutive relationship between board independence and the regulatory framework. Quiet revealing a board with environmental committee show a higher tendency to be ecologic transparent in both countries. However, in a traditional reporting framework, the environmental committee is not enough; its effect was insignificant and highly significant in the integrated reporting framework. Further revealed is the significant positive effect of industry membership influence on environmental disclosure. In all estimated models of South Africa sample show that 45% of environmentally sensitive industries significantly influence environmental disclosure, while 51% is environmentally polluting industries in Nigeria show less concern on environmental disclosure. Interestingly, Audit firm size (Big4) positively and statistically significantly associated with overall environmental reporting in both countries. The results are consistent with stakeholder theory, agency theory, institutional and legitimacy theory suggesting that a strong board size, independent members of the board with auditing experience, the active environmental committee in conjunction with solid audit reputation may reduce information asymmetry. Our findings will be helpful for policymakers and other regulators who are interested in environmental impact reporting.

This brief review highlights some current issues in Galactic stellar nucleosynthesis, and some recent laboratory studies by the Wisconsin atomic physics group that have direct application to stellar spectroscopy, in order to advance our understanding of the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The relevant publication history of the lab studies are summarized, and investigations into the abundances of neutron-capture and iron-peak elements in low metallicity stars are described. Finally, new initatives in near-infrared spectroscopy are briefly explored.

This article discusses the use of game design as a method for interdisciplinary project-based teaching in secondary school education to convey informatics and society topics. There is a lot of knowledge about learning games but little background on project-based teaching using game design as a method. We present the results of an analysis of student-created games and an evaluation of a student-authored database on learning contents found in commercial off-the-shelf games. We further contextualise these findings using a group discussion with teachers. Results underline the effectiveness of project-based teaching to raise awareness for informatics and society topics. We further outline informatics and society topics that are particularly interesting to students, genre preferences and potentially engaging game mechanics stemming from our analyses.

This paper describes a case study for applying of hybrid-electric propulsion system for a general aviation aircraft. The work was performed by a joint team of CIRA and the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Naples “Federico II”. Electric and hybrid electric propulsion for aircraft has gained widespread and significant attention over the past decade. The driver for industry interest has principally been the need to reduce emissions of combustion engine exhaust products and noise, but increasingly studies revealed potential for overall improvement in energy efficiency and mission flexibility of new aircraft types. The project goal was to demonstrate feasibility of aeronautic parallel hybrid-electric propulsion for a Light aircraft varying the mission profiles and the electric configuration. Through a creation, and application, of a global model, with software AMESim^®, in which it can be represented everything about the components chosen by the industrial partners, some interesting considerations are carried out. In particular, it was confirmed that with the only integration of state of the art technologies, for some particular missions, the advantages of aircraft hybrid-electric propulsion, for light aircraft, are notable.

The present study investigation, our results on characterization of commercially pure-Ti alloy brazed with metallic glass ribbons of Ti20Zr20Cu60-xNix (x = 30, 40, and 50) metallic glass ribbons were produced using a vacuum melt spinner. These ribbons were then used as filler materials for vacuum brazing of two Ti alloy plates at 1268, 1277 and 1279 K for a period of 10 min. Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The as-spun ribbons showed fully amorphous structure when examined on both surfaces by XRD and also verified by TEM investigation. The brazing joint of two Ti-plates using the metallic glass ribbon when brazed with Ni50 was found to be of very high strength. FESEM characterization of the cross-section of the brazed joints shows sub-micron size grains uniformly distributed in the matrix with brighter appearance. FESEM and EDX analysis revealed that the sub-micron grains are rich in Ti & Ni while the matrix phase mainly consisted of Ti. BSE image along with EDS Analysis indicated that the brazed joint has a presence of NiTi2 and Cu2 (Ni Zr) phases which could be responsible for increase in the strength of the brazed joint.

Wind turbine upgrades have been spreading in the recent years in the wind energy industry, with the aim of optimizing the efficiency of wind kinetic energy conversion. This kind of interventions has material and labor costs and it is therefore fundamental to estimate realistically the production improvement. Further, the retrofitting of wind turbines sited in harsh environments might exacerbate the stressing conditions to which wind turbines are subjected and consequently might affect the residue lifetime. This work deals with a case of retrofitting: the testing ground is a multi-megawatt wind turbine from a wind farm sited in a very complex terrain. The blades have been optimized by installing vortex generators and passive flow control devices. The complexity of this test case, dictated by the environment and by the features of the data set at disposal, inspires the formulation of a general method for estimating production upgrades, based on multivariate linear modeling of the power output of the upgraded wind turbine. The method is a distinctive part of the outcome of this work because it is generalizable to the study of whatever wind turbine upgrade and it is adaptable to the features of the data sets at disposal. In particular, applying this model to the test case of interest, it arises that the upgrade increases the annual energy production of the wind turbine of an amount of the order of the 2%. This quantity is of the same order of magnitude, albeit non-negligibly lower, than the estimate based on the assumption of ideal wind conditions. Therefore, it arises that complex wind conditions might affect the efficiency of wind turbine upgrades and it is therefore important to estimate their impact using data from wind turbines operating in the real environment of interest.

Orbit and clock products are used in real-time GNSS precise point positioning without knowing their quality. This study develops a new approach to detect orbit and clock errors through comparing geometry-free and geometry-based wide-lane ambiguities in PPP model. The reparameterization and estimation procedures of the geometry-free and geometry-based ambiguities are described in detail. The effects of orbit and clock errors on ambiguities are given in analytical expressions. The numerical similarity and differences of geometry-free and geometry-based wide-lane ambiguities are analyzed using different orbit and clock products. Furthermore, two types of typical errors in orbit and clock are simulated and their effects on wide-lane ambiguities are numerically produced and analyzed. The contribution discloses that the geometry-free and geometry-based wide-lane ambiguities are equivalent in terms of their formal errors. Although they are very close in terms of their estimates when the used orbit and clock for geometry-based ambiguities are precise enough, they are not the same, in particular, in the case that the used orbit and clock, as a combination, contain significant errors. It is discovered that the discrepancies of geometry-free and geometry-based wide-lane ambiguities are coincided with the actual time-variant errors in the used orbit and clock at the line-of-sight direction. This provides a quality index for real-time users to detect the errors in real-time orbit and clock products, which potentially improves the accuracy of positioning.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition that currently has no known cure. The principles of the expanding field of network medicine (NM) have recently been applied to AD research. The main principle of NM proposes that diseases are much more complicated than one mutation in one gene, and incorporate different genes, connections between genes, and pathways that may include multiple diseases to create full scale disease networks. AD research findings as a result of the application of NM principles have suggested that functional network connectivity, myelination, myeloid cells, and genes and pathways may play an integral role in AD progression, and may be integral to the search for a cure. Different aspects of the AD pathology could be potential targets for drug therapy to slow down or stop the disease from advancing, but more research is needed to reach definitive conclusions. Additionally, the holistic approaches of network pharmacology in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research may be viable options for the AD treatment, and may lead to an effective cure for AD in the future.

Music therapy has served as complementary and alternative medicine for various neurological disorders. Five Phases Music Therapy (FPMT) employs the theory of five phases and five music scales or tones (宫Gong (do), 商Shang (ri), 角Jue (mi), 徵Zhi (so) and 羽Yu (la)) to analyze and treat mind-body illness. In Chinese Medicine (CM), the five music scales are used to connect the human body and the universe, interpret personalities and constitution and analyze the influences of climatic changes on health. FPMT has a self-contained theory and routine of practice application. Large amounts of clinical and fundamental reports have been available and clinical benefits have been obtained. However more systemic clinic research esp. evidence-based and random controlled trials must be performed to validate and optimize its routines and biological and neurological mechanism must be further explored. It’s reasonable to believe that the effective music therapy will attract more attention from the world outside China with the introduction of FPMT.

In China, environmental pollution generated via industrialization as well as the profound changes in the social structure and gradual maturation of the social hierarchy have jointly contributed to the Chinese people's increased environmental consciousness and appeals for environmental justice (EJ). Because of the absence of an EJ theory and a lack of empirical research focused on China, this paper proposes a ‘Pyramid Model’ for China’s EJ research that involves the following three factors: basic demographic and socioeconomic factors, U.S.-based EJ principles, and Chinese characteristics. A nationwide pilot analysis of environmental inequity at the prefecture level is conducted by empirically studying the association of demographics and socioeconomic status with sources of industrial pollution in China. The prefecture-based results are shown to be robust and indicate that areas inhabited by ethnic minorities and western regions in China carry disproportionate environmental burdens. However, a different picture for migrants is presented, revealing that Chinese migrants are not currently exposed to greater levels of industrial pollution, and relevant interpretations of these findings are provided. The results also show that environmental inequality associated with income level, which is observed in the U.S., does not occur in China.

This paper proposes a method based on genetic algorithm (GA) for the security-constrained optimal dispatch of integrated natural gas and electricity networks, considering operating scenarios in both energy systems. The mathematical formulation of the optimization problem consists of a multi-objective function which aims to minimize both cost of thermal generation (diesel and natural gas) as well as the production and transportation of natural gas. The joint gas-electricity system is modeled by two separate groups of nonlinear equation, which are solved by the combination of Newton's method with the GA. The applicability of the proposed method is tested in the Belgian gas network integrated with the IEEE 14-bus test system and a 15-node natural gas network integrated with the IEEE 118-bus test system. The results demonstrate that the proposed method provides efficient and secure solutions for different operating scenarios in both energy systems.

Recent advances in sensor and platform technologies such as satellite systems, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), manned aerial platforms, and ground-based sensor networks have resulted in massive volumes of data is produced and collected about the earth. Processing, managing, and analyzing these data is one of the main challenges in 3D synthetic representation used in modeling and simulation (M&S) of the natural environment. M&S devices, such as flight simulators, traditionally require a variety of different databases to provide a synthetic representation of the world. M&S often requires integration of data from a variety of sources stored in different formats. Thus, for simulation of a complex synthetic environment, such as a 3D terrain model, tackling interoperability among its components (geospatial data, natural and man-made objects, dynamic and static models) is a critical challenge. Conventional approaches used local proprietary data models and formats. These approaches often lacked interoperability and created silos of content within the simulation community. Therefore, open geospatial standards are increasingly perceived as a means to promote interoperability and reusability for 3D M&S. In this paper, the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) CDB Standard is introduced. “CDB” originally refers to Common DataBase which is currently considered as a name with no abbreviation in the OGC community. The OGC CDB is an international standard for structuring, modeling, and storing geospatial information required in high performance modeling and simulation applications. CDB defines the core conceptual models, use cases, requirements, and specifications for employing geospatial data in 3D M&S. The main features of the OGC CDB Standard are described as run-time performance, full plug-and-play interoperable geospatial data store, usefulness in 3D and dynamic simulation environment, ability to integrate proprietary and open-source data formats. Furthermore, compatibility with the OGC standards baseline reduces the complexity of discovering, transforming, and streaming geospatial data into the synthetic environment and makes them more widely acceptable to major geospatial data/software producers. This paper includes an overview of OGC CDB version 1.0 which defines a conceptual model and file structure for the storage, access, and modification of a multi-resolution 3D synthetic environment data store. Finally, this paper presents a perspective of future versions of the OGC CDB and what the steps are for humanizing the OGC CDB standard with the other OGC/ISO standards baseline.

It is well known that working PV plants show several maintenance needs due to wiring and modules degradation, mismatches, dust and PV cells defects and faults. There are a wide range of studies that show the theoretical and some laboratory tests of how these circumstances may affect the PV production. Thus, it results mandatory to evaluate the whole PV plant performance and, then, it’s payback time, profitability and environmental impact or carbon footprint. However, very few studies include a systematic procedure to quantify and supervise the real degradation effects and faults impacts on the field. In this paper, the authors first conduct a brief review of the most frequent PV faults and degradation that can be found on real conditions operative PV Plants. Then, they propose and develop an innovative Geographic Information System application to locate and supervise them. The designed tool has been applied to either a large PV plant of 108 kWp and a small PV plant of just 9 kWp installed on a home rooftop. For the large PV plant, 24 strings of PV modules have been modelized and introduced into the GIS application and every module in the power plant has been studied including voltage, current, power, series and parallel resistance, fill factor, normalized PV curve to STC, thermography and visual analysis. For the small PV installation 3 strings of PV panels have been studied identically. It must be noticed that PV modules in this case include power optimizers. The precision of the study allows the researchers to locate and supervise up to a third part of every PV cell in the system, which are adequately georreferenciated. The developed tool allows both the researchers and the investors to increase control on the PV plant performance and conducts to a better planification of maintenance actuations and to evaluate several PV modules replacement strategies in a preventive maintenance programme. Found PV faults include hot spots, snail tracks, EVA discoloration, PV cells fractures, busbars discoloration, bubbles and Si discoloration.

This study investigated the effects of soil crust development on the underlying soil properties. The field sampling work was conducted in June 2016 in the Hobq Desert in Inner Mongolia, North China. Soil crust samples and 0–6, 6–12, 12–18, 18–24, 24–30 cm deep underlying soil samples were taken from five representative areas of different soil crust development stages. All samples were analyzed for physicochemical properties including water content, bulk density, aggregate content, organic matter content, enzyme activities, and microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen. The results showed that the thickness, water content, macroaggregate (>250 μm) content, organic matter content, microbial biomass and enzyme activities of the soil crusts gradually increased along the soil crust development gradient, while the bulk density of the soil crusts decreased. Meanwhile, the physicochemical and biological properties of the soils below the algal and moss crusts were significantly ameliorated when compared with the physical crust. Moreover, the amelioration effects were significant in the upper horizons (approx. 0–12 cm deep) and diminished quickly in the deeper soil layers.

The most important plastic resins used for wire coating are Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Nylon, Polysulfone and Low-high density polyethylene (LDPE / HDPE). In this article,the coating process is performed using elastic-viscous fluid as a coating material for wire coating in a pressure type coating die. The elastic-viscous fluid is electrically conducted in the presence of an applied magnetic field. The governing non-linear equations are modeled and then solved analytically by utilizing an Adomian decomposition method (ADM). The convergence of the series solution is established. The results are also verified by Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method (OHAM). The effect of different emerging parameters such as non-Newtonian parameters α and β, magnetic parameter M and the Brinkman number Br on solutions (velocity and temperature profiles) are discussed through several graphs. Additionally, the current result also compares with the published work already available in the literature.