The use of motion capture has increased from last decade in a varied spectrum of applications like film special effects, controlling games and robots, rehabilitation system, animations etc. The current human motion capture techniques use markers, structured environment, and high resolution cameras in a dedicated environment. Because of rapid movement, elbow angle estimation is observed as the most difficult problem in human motion capture system. In this paper, we take elbow angle estimation as our research subject and propose a novel, markerless and cost-effective solution that uses RGB camera for estimating elbow angle in real time using part affinity field. We have recruited five (5) participants of (height, 168 ± 8 cm; mass, 61 ± 17 kg) to perform cup to mouth movement and at the same time measured the angle by both RGB camera and Microsoft Kinect. The experimental results illustrate that markerless and cost-effective RGB camera has a median RMS errors of 3.06° and 0.95° in sagittal and coronal plane respectively as compared to Microsoft Kinect.

A numerical study of the flow over a NACA aerofoil is presented in this paper. The numerical simulations are achieved with the computer code CFX and the computational domain is created by the computer tool ANSYS ICEM CFD. The CFX code is based on the finite volume method to solve the equations of mass, momentum and energy. The purpose of this paper is to determine the pressure distribution, flow patterns and the forces acting on the airfoil. Effects of the attack angle and Reynolds number on the velocity and pressure distribution, on the lift and drag coefficients are also explored.

The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between the external friction angle of cereal kernels and the roughness of a steel friction plate. The experiment was performed on the kernels of five principal cereals: wheat, rye, barley, oats and triticale. Flat seed units composed of three spaced kernels joined by adhesive tape were analyzed in each experimental variant. The external friction angle of flat seed units was determined on 9 steel friction plates with different roughness. Measurements were performed in 3 replications with a photosensor device which registered the external friction angle of cereal kernels. On friction plates with surface roughness Ra=0.36 to Ra=6.72, the average values of the angle of external friction ranged from 17.56° in rye kernels to 34.01° in oat kernels. The greatest similarities in the angle of external friction were observed between wheat and triticale kernels, whereas the greatest differences were noted between barley and oat kernels and between barley and triticale kernels. Friction plates made of ST3S steel should be characterized by the lowest surface roughness to minimize energy consumption during grain processing. The optimal surface roughness of steel friction plates was determined at Ra=0.9.

The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between the external friction angle of cereal kernels and the roughness of a steel friction plate. The experiment was performed on the kernels of five principal cereals: wheat, rye, barley, oats and triticale. Flat seed units composed of three spaced kernels joined by adhesive tape were analyzed in each experimental variant. The external friction angle of flat seed units was determined on 9 steel friction plates with different roughness. Measurements were performed in 3 replications with a photosensor device which registered the external friction angle of cereal kernels. On friction plates with surface roughness Ra=0.36 to Ra=6.72, the average values of the angle of external friction ranged from 17.56° in rye kernels to 34.01° in oat kernels. The greatest similarities in the angle of external friction were observed between wheat and triticale kernels, whereas the greatest differences were noted between barley and oat kernels and between barley and triticale kernels. Friction plates made of ST3S steel should be characterized by the lowest surface roughness to minimize energy consumption during grain processing. The optimal surface roughness of steel friction plates was determined at Ra=0.9.

To understand SARS-CoV-2 microevolution, this study explored the genome-wide frequency, gene-wise distribution, and molecular nature of all point-mutations detected across its 71,703 RNA-genomes deposited in the GISAID repository, till 21 August 2020. Globally, nsp1/nsp2/nsp3/ nsp11 and orf7a/orf3a/S were the most mutation-ridden non-structural and structural genes respectively. Phylogeny based on 4,618 spatiotemporally-representative genomes revealed that entities belonging to the early lineages are mostly spread over Asian countries (including India, the biggest hotspot of the pandemic) whereas the recently-derived lineages are more globally distributed. Of the total 16,602 polymorphism-bearing sites in the pan-genome, 11,037 and 4,965 involved transitions and transversions, which in turn were predominated by cytidine-to-uridine and guanosine-to-uridine conversions, respectively. Positive selection of nonsynonymous mutations (dN/dS >1) in most of the structural, but not non-structural, genes indicated that SARS-CoV-2 has already harmonized its replication/transcription machineries with the host’s metabolic system, while it is still redefining virulence/transmissibility strategies at the molecular level.

Supply chain management requires regular updates of the location of assets, which can be enabled by low power wide area networks, such as Sigfox. While it is useful to localize a device simply by its communication signals, this is very difficult to do with Sigfox because of wide area and ultra narrowband nature. On the other hand, installing a satellite localization element on the device greatly increases its power consumption. We investigated using information about nearby Wi-Fi access points as a way to localize the asset over the Sigfox network, so without connecting to those Wi-Fi networks. This paper reports the location error that can be achieved by this type of outdoor localization. By using a combination of two databases, we could localize the device on all 36 test locations with a median location error of 39 m. This shows that the localization accuracy of this method is promising enough to warrant further study, most specifically the minimal power consumption.

Background: The goal of the study was to analyze variations in central, perifoveal, and peripheral retinal thickness (RT) and choroidal thickness (CT) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) measured with ultra-wide-field optical coherence tomography (UWF-OCT). Additionally, correlations between RT and CT in the central, perifoveal, and peripheral sectors and the presence of selected systemic factors were evaluated. Methods: A total of 74 consecutive adult diabetic patients with DME and 75 healthy controls were included. Study participants were divided into three groups: DME patients without panretinal photocoagulation (PRP; 84 eyes), DME patients after PRP (56 eyes), and healthy controls (125 eyes). RT and CT were analyzed in three zones: a central circle of 3 mm diameter (Central), a ring contained between a centered 9 mm circle and the central 3 mm circle (Perifoveal), and a second, more peripheral ring between centered 18 mm and 9 mm circles (Peripheral). Additionally, DME subgroups were analyzed according to the correlation of RT and CT with age, axial length, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), diabetes duration, insulin therapy duration, body mass index (BMI), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values, intravitreal injection (IVI) count, and the advancement of retinopathy assessed by the simplified diabetic retinopathy severity scale (DRSS). Results The increase in RT in the far peripheral sectors in DME patients was not significant. The increase in central and perifoveal RT and CT in PRP-naïve DME patients was strongly associated with poorer BCVA. Patients with DME after PRP presented with BCVA improvements significantly related to the number of IVIs. The amount of DME and RT in peripheral sectors were both independent of systemic factors such as BMI, duration of diabetes, duration of insulin intake, retinopathy severity, and HbA1c levels. Conclusion Peripheral retinal sectors in DME patients are less affected in terms of increase in their thickness compared to central ones. UWF-OCT provides valuable information on retinal and choroidal involvement in diabetic retinopathy complicated by DME.

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is an emerging wide bandgap semiconductor promising a wide range of important applications. However, mass production of high-quality crystalline Ga2O3 still suffers from limitations associated with poor reproducibility and low efficiency. Low-temperature grown amorphous Ga2O3 demonstrates comparable performance with its crystalline counterparts. Lanthanide Er3+-doped Ga2O3 (Ga2O3: Er) possesses great potential for developing light-emitting devices, photodetectors and optical waveguides. The host circumstance can exert a crystal field around the lanthanide dopants and strongly influence their photoluminescence properties. Here we present a systematical study of the impact of amorphous-to-crystalline transition on the upconversion photoluminescence in Ga2O3: Er thin films. Through controlling the growth temperature of Ga2O3: Er films, the upconversion luminescence of as-grown thin films are strongly enhanced over 100 times. Moreover, the variation of photoluminescence reflects the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation of the Ga2O3: Er thin films. These results will aid further design of favorable optoelectronic devices integrated with lanthanide-doped Ga2O3 thin films.

The development of modern genomic tools has sped up the breeding program of food crops. More recently, genomic resources are being developed for tropical forages and will be key resources for developing climate resilient high yielding forage varieties. In this study, we present a genome-wide association study for biomass yield and feed quality traits in buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L. aka Pennisetum ciliare L.,). Genome-wide markers generated using the DArTSeq platform and mapped onto the reference genome of Setaria italica were used for the genome-wide association study. The results revealed several markers associated with biomass yield and feed quality traits. A total of 78 marker trait associations were identified with R2 values ranging from 0.138 to 0.236. The marker trait associations were distributed across different chromosomes. Of these associations, the most marker trait associations (23) were observed on Chr9, followed by Chr5 with 12. The fewest number of marker trait associations were observed on Chr4 with 2. In terms of traits, 17 markers were associated with biomass yield, 24 with crude protein, 26 with TDN, 14 with ADF, 10 with NDF and six with DMI. Twenty of the identified markers were associated with at least two traits. The identified marker trait associations provide a useful genomic resource for future improvement and breeding of buffel grass.

The small satellite market continues to grow year after year. A compound annual growth rate of 17% is estimated during the period between 2020 and 2025. Low-cost satellites can send a vast amount of images to be post-processed at the ground to improve the quality and extract detailed information. In this domain lies the resolution enhancement task, where a low-resolution image is converted to a higher resolution automatically. Deep learning approaches to Super-Resolution (SR) reached the state-of-the-art in multiple benchmarks; however, most of them were studied in a single-frame fashion. With satellite imagery, multi-frame images can be obtained at different conditions giving the possibility to add more information per image and improve the final analysis. In this context, we developed and applied to the PROBA-V dataset of multi-frame satellite images a model that recently topped the European Space Agency’s Multi-frame Super Resolution (MFSR) competition. The model is based on proven methods that worked on 2D images tweaked to work on 3D: the Wide Activation Super Resolution (WDSR) family. We show that with a simple 3D CNN residual architecture with WDSR blocks and a frame permutation technique as data augmentation better scores can be achieved than with more complex models. Moreover, the model requires few hardware resources, both for training and evaluation, so it can be applied directly from a personal laptop.

Background: The variability of the obtained results of manual tests assessing the angle of strabismus depends on the experience, skills, and training of the examiner. The authors hope that the new measuring device will provide a more sensitive and repeatable method for detecting small strabismus angles compared to the gold standard – PCT. The purpose of this article is to present an innovative strabismus angle demonstration device, called Strabiscan, to present automated measurements of eye deviation, and to compare the obtained results of these measurements to the traditional manual method. Methods: In patients with the manifest strabismic disease (n = 30) and a group of healthy subjects (n = 30), a detailed history was taken and routine ophthalmologic examinations were performed, including best-corrected distance visual acuity, assessment of refractive error using an autorefractometer after cycloplegia, biomicroscopic evaluation of the anterior segment of the eye, and evaluation of the eye fundus by indirect ophthalmoscopy. Subsequently, each patient and healthy subjects were subjected to a prismatic cover-uncover test using a manual method, and then the presence of strabismus was detected and its angle assessed using demonstration Strabiscan device. Results: In the control group, using the Strabiscan demonstration device, small-angle latent strabismus ≤3DP was diagnosed in 83% of patients, and >3DP in 13%. In contrast, using the prismatic cover-uncover test, latent strabismus ≤3DP was diagnosed in only 13% of patients, and latent strabismus with an angle >3DP in 13% of patients. No statistically significant differences were noted in the measurements of strabismus angles made by the different methods. Conclusions: The Strabiscan demonstration device allows quick and accurate assessment of the strabismus angle. Compared to the prismatic cover-uncover test, it has a higher sensitivity for detecting low-angle latent strabismus. Measurements with the Strabiscan do not require the presence of additional co-assistants for the test.

The LED light source is an important light source for indoor visible light communication. It has the characteristics of a large divergence angle and a high transmission rate. Therefore, using LED as the light source for visible light full-duplex communication can not only satisfy the lighting requirements but also transmit information at high speed. To analyze the factors that affect the optical power of the indoor single-light source visible light communication uplink receiving end, an indoor visible light communication model was established, and mathematical calculation formulas were derived based on the model establishment, and the maximum movable range formula of the retroreflective end under specific conditions was derived; The reliability of the formula was verified with the help of Zemax simulation software. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that increasing the movement range of the retroreflective end can be achieved by increasing the lens diameter, reducing the focal length, and increasing the link distance.

The flow field around a delta wing is substantially altered by the impact of the active flow control technique. The present study involves the sharp-edged delta wing of 65 deg sweep angle with different active flow control configurations. The blowing was employed as an active flow control method on the top surface of the delta wing. The various configurations considered are the baseline delta wing, delta wing with blowing holes located at 1.62%, 3.24% and 4.86% of root chord from the leading edge to the centre of the blowing holes. The computation is performed using the commercial software ANSYS Fluent. Unsteady, incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equation and the shear-stress transport k-ω turbulence model are employed. The angles of attack varied in the range of 0^o < α < 35^o and Reynolds number is 2.64 x10⁶ and the jet momentum coefficient is fixed at 0.05. The blowing of air from the injection region enhances the strength of the leading-edge vortices resulting in the delay of the vortex breakdown. The performance of the delta wing is greatly improved while using the blowing method specifically for the blowing holes located at 3.24% of root chord from the leading edge as compared to without the blowing method.

Despite their anti-icing ability, hydrophobic coatings have the disadvantages of easy falling off and poor wear resistance, resulting in insufficient durability of ice/snow melting. To improve the surface stability and durability of superhydrophobic coatings, nanoparticle/epoxy coatings were prepared with three types of nanoparticles, two types of dispersion methods, three types of application methods and two types of introduction methods of epoxy resin. Water contact angles, ice adhesion force and icing rate of asphalt concrete coated with hydrophobic coatings were tested. The molecular structures of coatings were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The surface morphology of hydrophobic coatings was observed using Scanning electron microscopy. Results indicated that nano-ZnO, TiO2 and SiO2 particles can be modified into hydrophobicity by stearic acid. The hydrophobic coating could improve the hydrophobicity of concrete, reduce the adhesion strength of ice and asphalt concrete and delay the beginning icing time. Moreover, The dosages of stearic acid, nanoparticle and epoxy resin need to be in a certain range to ensure the best hydrophobicity and durability of coatings.

This research focuses on exploring gravitational lensing of the wormhole in Einstein-bumblebee gravity with an antisymmetric tensor. The Gibbons and Werner technique based on the Gauss-Bonnet theorem is utilized to calculate the bending angle of light. The effects of non-plasma and plasma medium on the bending angles are investigated. Furthermore, we examine the deflection angle $\Tilde{\alpha}$ in relation to the impact parameter $\sigma$ and minimal radius $r_{0}$ in both non-plasma and plasma mediums. Our findings indicate that the deflection angle is positively correlated with $r_{0}$, meaning that larger values of $r_{0}$ result in larger deflection angles and smaller values of $r_{0}$ result in smaller deflection angles. On the other hand, the deflection angle $\Tilde{\alpha}$ is inversely related to the impact parameter $\sigma$.

As one of the common techniques for measuring coseismic deformations, optical image correlation techniques are capable of overcoming the drawbacks of inadequate coherence and phase blurring which can occur in radar interferometry, as well as the problem of low spatial resolution in radar pixel offset tracking. However, the scales of the correlation window in optical image correlation techniques typically influence the results, the conventional SAR POT method faces a fundamental trade-off between the accuracy of matching and the preservation of details in the matching window size. This study regards co-seismic deformation as a two-dimensional vector, and develops a new post-processing workflow called VACI-OIC to reduce the dependence of shift estimation on the size of the matching window. This paper takes the coseismic deformations in both the east-west and north-south directions into account at the same time, treating them as vectors, while also considering the similarity of displacement between adjacent points on the surface. Herein, the angular continuity index of the coseismic deformation vector was proposed as a more reasonable constraint condition to fuse the deformation field results obtained by optical image correlation across different matching window. Taking the earthquake of 2021 in Maduo, China, as the study area, the deformation with the highest spatial resolution in the violent surface rupture area was determined (which could not be provided by SAR data). Compared to the results of single-scale optical correlation, the presented results were more uniform (i.e., more consistent with published results). At the same time, the proposed index also detected the strip fracture zone of the earthquake with impressive clarity.

F-type ATP synthases play a key role in oxidative and photophosphorylation processes producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for most biochemical reactions in living organisms. In contrast to the mitochondrial FOF1-ATP synthases those of chloroplasts are known to be mostly monomers with approx. 15% fraction of oligomers interacting presumably non-specifically in a thylakoid membrane. To shed light to the nature of this difference we studied interactions of the chloroplast ATP synthases using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) method. Here, we report evidence of I-shaped dimerization of solubilized FOF1-ATP synthases from spinach chloroplasts at different salinity. The structural data were obtained by SAXS and showed dimerization in response to changes in ionic strength. The best model describing SAXS data was two ATP-synthases connected through F1/F1’ parts, presumably via their δ-subunits, forming dimers with the “I” shape. Such I-shaped dimers might possibly connect the neighboring lamellae in thylakoid stacks assuming that the FOF1 monomers comprising such dimers are embedded in different thylakoid membranes. If this type of dimerization exists in nature, it might be one of the pathways of inhibition of chloroplast FOF1-ATP synthase for preventing of ATP hydrolysis in dark, when salinity in plant chloroplasts is rising. Together with a redox switch inserted into a γ-subunit of chloroplast FOF1 and lateral oligomerization, an I-shaped dimerization might comprise a subtle regulatory process of ATP synthesis and stabilize the structure of thylakoid stacks in chloroplasts.

This study introduces a new procedure for three-component spectral matching of seismic ground acceleration records. The procedure involves preserving the phase angle and varying the Fourier amplitudes to match the spectra of the recorded records with a provided target spectrum that represents the spectral values of ground motions in three orthogonal directions. Several three-component recorded records were matched against two target response spectra to test the method. An accurate convergence was achieved in the velocity and displacement records. In addition, the scales among the components’ magnitude were maintained, creating realistic three-component ground motions. Such ground motion inputs are important to qualify critical structures sensitive to three-component motions. Our proposed procedure is novel because the present practices are mostly created based on one-component ground motions.

A novel scheme that can simultaneously measure the Doppler frequency shift (DFS) and angle of arrival (AOA) of microwave signals is proposed. At the signal receiving unit (SRU), two echo signals and the reference signal are modulated by a Sagnac loop structure and sent to the central station (CS) for processing. At the CS, two low-frequency electrical signals are generated after polarization control and photoelectric conversion. The DFS without direction ambiguity and wide AOA measurement can be real-time acquired by monitoring the frequency and power of the two low-frequency electrical signals. In the simulation, an unambiguous DFS measurement with errors of ±3×10-3 Hz and a -90° to 90° AOA measurement range with errors of less than ±0.5° are realized. The safety and robustness of the system to environmental disturbance are improved, and it is more suitable for the modern electronic warfare system.

Increased definite power, reduced cost, and dynamic construction are the important features required by electric motors for various applications. One such motor accommodating all the requisites mentioned above is Switched reluctance. Applications pertaining to small, commercial, and EV find Switched reluctance machine as a developing competitor to the conventional induction and permanent magnet motors. Though SRMS contribute a considerable number of advantages over induction motors and permanent magnet motors, the primary disadvantages pertaining to SRMs are the torque ripple, especially at high-speed operation, and the resulting acoustic noise. These disadvantages may not always be detrimental to the systems in entirely all cases, but depending on the application to be employed, torque ripple and acoustic noise form are detrimental to the system. This paper reviews the technology status and recent trends in the minimization of torque ripples switched reluctance machines.

Advanced manufacturing techniques, aimed at implants with high dependability, flexibility, and low manufacturing costs, are crucial in meeting the growing demand for high-quality products like biomedical implants. Incremental sheet forming is a promising flexible manufacturing approach for rapidly prototyping sheet metal components using low-cost tools. Titanium and its alloys are used to shape most biomedical implants because of its superior mechanical qualities, biocompatibility, low weight, and great structural strength. The poor formability of titanium sheets at room temperature, however, limits their widespread use. The goal of this research is to show that gradual sheet formation of a titanium biomedical implant is possible. The possibility of creative and cost-effective concepts for the manufacturing of such complicated shapes with significant wall angles is explored in this study. A numerical simulation based on finite element modeling as well as a design process tailored to metal forming is used to complete the development. The mean of uniaxial tensile tests with a constant strain rate was used to study the flow behavior of the studied material. To forecast the crack, the obtained flow behavior was modeled using the behavior model and failure model.

Particle deposition on the surface of the drying chamber poses the main drawback in the spray drying process, which reduces the product recovery and affects the quality of the product. In view of this, the potential application of chemical surface modification to produce a hydrophobic surface that reduces the powder adhesion (biofouling) on the wall of the drying chamber was investigated in this study. The hydrophobic Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) solution was used in the vertical dipping method at room temperature to determine the optimum coating parameters on borosilicate glass and stainless-steel substrates, which were used to mimick the wall surface of the drying chamber, to achieve highly hydrophobic surfaces. A single-factor experiment was used to define the range of the PDMS concentration and treatment duration using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) was used to study the effects of the concentration of the PDMS solution (X1, %) and the treatment duration (X2, hr) on the contact angle of the substrate (°), which reflected the hydrophobicity of the surface. A three-dimensional (3D) response surface was constructed to examine the influence of the PDMS concentration and treatment duration on the contact angle readings, which serve as an indicator of the surface's hydrophobic characteristic. Based on the optimisation study, the PDMS coating for the borosilicate glass achieved an optimum contact angle of 99.33° through the combination PDMS concentration: X1 = 1% (w/v) and treatment time X2 = 4.94 hr, while the PDMS coating for the stainless-steel substrate achieved an optimum contact angle of 98.31° with PDMS concentration: X1 = 1% (w/v) and treatment time X2 = 1 hr. Additionally, the infrared spectra identified several new peaks that appeared on the PDMS-treated surfaces, which represented the presence of Si-O-Si, Si-CH3, CH2, and CH3 functional groups for the substrates coated with PDMS. Furthermore, the surface morphology analysis using the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) showed the presence of significant roughness and uniform nanostructure on the surface of PDMS-treated substrates, which indicated the reduction of wettability and the potential effect on unwanted biofouling on the spray drying chamber.

In this paper, we study the gravitational lensing by some black hole classes within the non-linear electrodynamics in weak field limits. First, we calculate an optical geometry of the non-linear electrodynamics black hole then we use the Gauss-Bonnet theorem for finding deflection angle in weak field limits. The effect of non-linear electrodynamics on the deflection angle in leading order terms is studied. Furthermore, we discuss the effects of the plasma medium on the weak deflection angle.

This work attempted to fabricate superhydrophobic fabric via simple immersion technique. Textile fabrics were coated with silica nanoparticles prepared from tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) to obtain sufficient roughness with hydrophobic surface chemistry. Then the coated fabrics were treated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to reduce the surface energy. The effects of PDMS concentration on the surface morphology and superhydrophobicity of as-prepared fabric were investigated. The morphology and the composition of superhydrophobic fabric was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The results revealed the formation of spherical silica nanoparticles with average particle size of 250 nm throughout the fabric surface. The possible interactions between silica nanoparticles and APTES, as well as the fabrics were elucidated. Investigating the hydrophobicity of fabrics via water contact angle (WCA) measurement showed that the treated fabric exhibits excellent water repellency with a water contact angle as high as 151° and a very low water sliding angle. It also found that the treated fabric maintained most of its hydrophobicity against repeated washing. The comfort properties of the obtained superhydrophobic fabrics in term of air permeability and bending length did not reveal any significant changes.

In this article, we demonstrate the weak gravitational lensing in the context of Bocharova-Bronnikove-Melnikov-Bekenstein (BBMB) black hole. To this desire, we derive the deflection angle of light in a plasma medium by BBMB black hole using the Gibbons and Werner method. First, we obtain the Gaussian optical curvature and implement the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to investigate the deflection angle for spherically symmetric spacetime of BBMB black hole. Moreover, we also analyze the graphical behavior of deflection angle by BBMB black hole in the presence of plasma medium.

Membranes based on sulfonated synditoactic polystyrene were thoroughly characterized by contrast variation SANS over a wide Q-range in dry and hydrated states. The film samples were prepared by solid-state sulfonation that allowed a uniform sulfonation of only the amorphous phase while preserving the crystallinity of the membrane. The samples were loaded with different guest molecules in either the amorphous (fullerenes) or the crystalline (toluene) regions, in order to vary the neutron contrast or to reproduce the conditions enabling an increased resistance of the membranes to chemical decomposition. The use of uni-axially deformed film samples and contrast variation with different H2O/D2O mixtures allowed for the identification and characterization of different structural levels with sizes between nm and μm, which form and evolve in the membrane morphology in dry and hydrated states and produce scattering features on different detection sectors and at different detection distances after the sample, depending on their size and orientation.

Traditional winglets are designed as fixed devices attached at the tips of the wings. The primary purpose of the winglets is to reduce the lift-induced drag, therefore improving aircraft performance and fuel efficiency. However, because winglets are fixed surfaces, they cannot be used to control lift-induced drag reductions or to obtain the largest lift-induced drag reductions at different flight conditions (take-off, climb, cruise, loitering, descent, approach, landing, and so on). In this work, we propose the use of variable cant angle winglets which could potentially allow aircraft to get the best all-around performance (in terms of lift-induced drag reduction), at different flight phases. By using computational fluid dynamics, we study the influence of the winglet cant angle and sweep angle on the performance of a benchmark wing at Mach numbers of 0.3 and 0.8395. The results obtained demonstrate that by adjusting the cant angle, the aerodynamic performance can be improved at different flight conditions.

Background A body composition monitor (BCM) has a role not only in determining over-hydration (OH) but also as an aid to nutritional assessment. For dialysis patient-specific clinical applications of BCM, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between body composition parameters and OH in healthy Chinese individuals. Methods This cross-sectional study involved 314 healthy individuals with a mean age of 45.7±13.1 years. BCM measurements were performed while the subjects were fasting. Results The mean OH level was 0.379±0.81 L. Lean tissue index (LTI) and Lean tissue mass (LTM) were significantly higher in males (p<0.001), while fat tissue index (FTI) was significantly higher in females (p<0.001). In univariate correlation analysis, FTI, Fat, and ATM had a negative correlation with OH in females and all subjects (p<0.05), while LTM and BCM had a positive correlation in all subjects (p<0.05). There was a significant negative correlation between phase angle (PhA) and OH in males, females, and all subjects (r=-0.634, p<0.001; r=-0.666, p<0.001; r=-0.484, p<0.001, respectively). In multivariate linear regression analysis, PhA (b=-1.266, p<0.001), LTM (b=0.987, p<0.001), age (b=-0.307, p<0.001) were independent predictors of OH. Conclusions This study demonstrated that age, LTM and especially PhA, had important roles in predicting OH in healthy Chinese individuals. In the future, PhA may aid in clinical assessment by helping to titrate dry weight among hemodialysis patients with malnutrition.

Energy dissipation is one of the most important factors in choosing stepped spillways. However, few studies are about energy dissipation with different horizontal face angles. In this paper, the realizable k-ε turbulence model was used to study the flow field and energy dissipation rates of different stepped spillways with five horizontal face angles in the skimming flow regions. It shows that the free water surfaces and energy dissipation rates change with horizontal face angles and the energy dissipation rates initially decrease and then increase as the horizontal face angle increases. And the horizontal face angles cause the great changes of flow field.

Solar energy is derived from photons of light coming from the sun in a form called radiation. Solar energy finds extensive application in air and water heating, solar cooking, as well as electrical power generation, depending on the way of capturing, converting and distribution. To enable such application, it is necessary to analyze the horizontal tilt angle of horizontal surfaces – in order that when the solar energy reaches the earth surface to be completely absorbed. This paper tends to describe the availability of solar radiation for south-facing flat surfaces. The optimal monthly, seasonal, and annual tilt angles have been estimated for Pristina. The solar radiation received by the incident plane is estimated based on isotropic sky analysis models, namely Liu and Jordan model. The annual optimum tilt angle for Pristina was found to be 34.7°. The determination of annual solar energy gains is done by applying the optimal monthly, seasonal and annual tilt angles for an inclined surface compared to a horizontal surface. Monthly, seasonal and annual percentages of solar energy gains have been estimated to be 21.35%, 19.98%, and 14.43%. Losses of solar energy were estimated by 1.13 % when a surface was fixed at a seasonal optimum tilt angle, and when it was fixed at an annual optimum tilt angle, those losses were 5.7%.

Stem/progenitor cell transplantation is a potential novel therapeutic strategy to induce angiogenesis in ischemic tissue, which can prevent major amputation in patients with advanced peripheral artery disease (PAD). Thus, clinicians can use cell therapies worldwide to treat PAD. However, some cell therapy studies did not report beneficial outcomes. Clinical researchers suggested that classical risk factors and comorbidities may adversely affect the efficacy of cell therapy. Some studies have indicated that the response to stem cell therapy varies among patients even in those harboring limited risk factors. This suggested the role of undetermined risk factors, including genetic alterations, somatic mutations, and clonal hematopoiesis. Personalized stem cell-based therapy can be developed by analyzing individual risk factors. These approaches must consider several clinical biomarkers and perform studies (such as genome-wide association studies (GWAS)) on disease-related genetic traits and integrate the findings with those of transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) and whole-genome sequencing in PAD. Additional unbiased analyses with state-of-the-art computational methods, such as machine learning-based patient stratification, are suited for predictions in clinical investigations. The integration of these complex approaches into a unified analysis procedure for the identification of responders and non-responders before stem cell therapy, which can decrease treatment expenditure, is a major challenge to increase the efficacy of therapies.

Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is characterized by the presence of glutamate de-carboxylase autoantibodies (GADA). LADA has intermediate features between type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. In addition, genetic risk factors for both types of diabetes are present in LADA. Nonetheless, evidence about the genetics of LADA in non-European populations is scarce. This study aims to perform a genome-wide association study with a phenome-wide association study of LADA in a southeastern Mexican population. We included 59 patients diagnosed with LADA from a previous study and 3121 individuals without diabetes from the MxGDAR/ENCODAT database. We utilized the GENESIS package in R to perform the GWAS of LADA and PLINK for the PheWAS of LADA features. Nine polymorphisms reach the nominal association level (1x10-5) in the GWAS. The PheWAS showed that rs7305229 is genome-wide associated with serum GADA levels in our sample (p=1.84x10-8). rs7305229 is located downstream FAIM2 gene; previous reports associate FAIM2 variants with childhood obesity, body mass index, body adiposity measures, lymphocyte CD8+ activity, and anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies. Our findings reveal that rs7305229 affects the GADA levels in patients with LADA from southeastern Mexico. More studies are needed to determine if this risk genotype exists in other populations with LADA.

Middle East region experiences a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D, yet most genetic studies on Vitamin D have focused on European populations. Furthermore, there is a lack of research on the genomic risk factors affecting the elderly population, who are more susceptible to health burden. We investigated the genetic determinants of 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in elderly Lebanese individuals (n=199) through a whole exome-based genome-wide association study. We identified new loci with suggestive evidence of an association with Vitamin D levels, including rs141064014 in the MGAM gene (P-value of 4.40 × 10−06) and rs7036592 in PHF2 (P-value of 8.43 × 10−06). A meta-analysis of the Lebanese data and the largest European genome-wide association study confirmed consistence replication of numerous variants, including rs2725405 in SLC38A10 (P-value of 3.73 x 10-08). Despite the lower performance of European-derived polygenic risk scores compared to the European estimations, it still effectively predicted Vitamin D deficiency among elderly Lebanese individuals. Our findings provide novel insights into the genetic mechanisms of Vitamin D deficiency in Middle Eastern elderly populations, facilitating the development of personalized approaches for more effective management of hypovitaminosis D. Additionally, we demonstrated that whole exome-based genome-wide association study is an effective method for identifying genetic components associated with phenotypes.

With the vast amount of goods being shipped around the world, there is a need to track and manage various types of assets, particularly shipping containers. Logistics industries dealing with small facilities, shipments, equipment, and vehicles must be tracked. There are many applied asset tracking systems such as Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacon, and Long-Range Radio (LoRa). This paper presents these systems and focuses on locating assets using LoRaWAN technology, which has a positive impact on the responsive and sustainable cities in Egypt. IoT-based Long Range (LoRa) is a low-power, wide-area communication technology that uses radio frequencies to transmit data over long distances. The extended range, low power consumption, low maintenance, and the ability to store location data when the end node that needs to connect to the asset is out of the gateway's coverage make LoRa a good choice for developing asset-tracking applications. This paper introduces a real-time tracking experiment as a result of a project implementation, whose goals are aligned with industry, innovation, and infrastructure and Sustainable Cities and Communities, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) No. 9 and 11.

Based on the topology of wide area protection system (WAPS), after studying the reliability of hardware system and information flow in the WAPS and establishing the reliability assessment model, the multi-service reliability analysis method with multi monitoring and protection tasks in WAPS was proposed. In the model, the impact of network quality of service (QoS) such as information flow loss and delay, is studied. On the base of the model, the multi-service reliability evaluation method is employed to analyze the reliability of a WAPS of IEEE14 node power system, and the key nodes of the WAPS is given, which provides a basis for improving the reliability of the WAPS.

Background: Recent studies have found forward head posture (FHP) to be associated with altered physiology, however, there is a lack of research into whether FHP is associated with altered gait parameters when cognitively challenged. The current study was undertaken to investigate the changes in gait parameters in asymptomatic individuals with FHP when a cognitive dual task is introduced during walking. Methods: Ninety asymptomatic participants were recruited, 45 having FHP defined as having a craniovertebral angle (CVA) &lt; 50, and 45 sex and age-matched controls having normal head posture (NHP) defined as CVA &gt; 55. All participants walked along a 10 meter platform under a control condition (no cognitive load) with 3 consecutive trials while an optical motion-capture system consisting of 8 infrared cameras was used to assess gait kinematics. Secondly, participants were assessed under a dual task cognitive load condition (3 trials while performing simple addition, counting backwards, and answering yes or no questions) to identify the impact on gait kinematics compared to the control condition. Results: Under the single task condition, there were no significant differences for any gait parameter, however, under the dual task condition, 12/13 gait parameters were significantly altered for the FHP group compared to the NHP group (p &lt; .01). A calculation of dual task cost (DTC) percentage showed significant increases in all gait parameters in participants with FHP (p &lt; .02). Correlations between the CVA and gait parameters were not significant for the single task condition, but all gait parameters were correlated to CVA for the dual task condition (p &lt; .01). The correlation between CVA and DTC for all gait variables were also significant (p &lt; .04). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that FHP significantly increases the cognitive cost during walking, highlighting the importance of proper postural alignment for maintaining cognitive function under a dual task condition. Addressing FHP through targeted interventions could improve both physical and cognitive health, enhancing overall well-being and daily functioning.

Ice accumulation poses considerable challenges in transportation, notably in the domain of general aviation. The present study combines the strengths and limitations of conventional aircraft de-icing techniques with the emerging trend toward all-electric aircraft. The study aims to utilize laser-induced graphene (LIG) technology to create a multifunctional surface, seamlessly integrating hydrophobic properties with efficient electrical heating to mitigate surface icing effectively. We investigated the utilization of a 10.6 μm CO2 laser for direct writing on polyimide (PI), a widely-used insulating encapsulation material. From the thermomechanical perspective, our initial analysis using COMSOL Multiphysics software revealed that when the laser power P exceeds 5 W, the PI substrate experience ablative damage. The experimental results show that when P ≤ 5W, an increase in power has a positive impact on the quality, surface porosity, roughness reduction, line-spacing reduction, and water contact-angle enhancement of the graphene. Conversely, when P &gt; 5 W, higher power negatively affects both the substrate and the graphene structure by inducing excessive ablation. However, it influences the graphene line height positively and is consistent with overall experimental-simulation congruence. Furthermore, the incorporation of high-quality graphene resulted in a surface that exhibited higher contact angles (CA &gt; 120°), lower energy consumption, and higher heating efficiency compared to the use of traditional electrically heated materials for anti-icing applications. The potential applications of this one-step fabrication method extend across various industries, particularly aviation, marine engineering, and other ice-prone domains. Moreover, the method has extensive prospects for addressing pivotal challenges associated with ice formation and serves an innovative and efficient anti-icing technology.

The Cobb angle is critical in assessing adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients. This study aimed to evaluate the error in selecting the cranial and caudal limit vertebrae on AIS digital X-rays of experienced and novice observers and its correlation with the error in measuring the Cobb angle and determining the length of the scoliotic curves. Using the TraumaMeter v.873 software, eight raters (four experienced and four novices) independently evaluated 68 scoliotic curves on 42 AIS X-rays across three sessions one month apart according to Hopkins’ criteria of absolute reliability. Two spine specialist experts using the Cobb method established the gold standard measurements. The percentage of error in the selection of the cranial vertebrae (the most-tilted vertebra above the apex) is higher than in the caudal vertebrae (the most-tilted vertebrae below the apex) (44.7%, CI95% 41.05-48.3 compared to 35%, CI95% 29.7-40.4). The error in the choice of the most tilted vertebrae, in number of vertebrae per scoliotic curve, was MBE (mean bias error) =0.45, CI95% 0.38-0.52 in the cranial and MBE=0.35, CI% 0.69-0.91 in the caudal. The percentage of errors in the choice of boundary vertebrae is lower for the experienced than for the novices, both in cranial and caudal. The experienced chose at least one boundary vertebrae incorrectly in 52% of the meas-urements and the novices in 65.1%. The error in the Cobb angle did not depend on the number of boundary vertebrae chosen incorrectly (r=0.198, p=0.111). Of the 50% of Cobb angle measurements closest to the actual value, 55.4% (454) were obtained by incorrectly selecting at least one boundary vertebra. There was a positive correlation (r=0.673, p=0.000) between the error in selecting the boundary vertebrae and the error in determining the length of the scoliotic curves. The error in quantifying the length of scoliotic curves was MBE=0.43, CI95% 0.35-0.51 vertebrae per curve. We can conclude that errors in selecting boundary vertebrae are common among experienced and novice observers, with a greater frequency of error in the cranial vertebrae. There is no correlation between the error in selecting the boundary vertebrae and the error in measuring the Cobb angle. Contrary to the consensus, the accuracy of determining the length of the scoliotic curve is limited by the Cobb method’s reliance on the correct selection of boundary vertebrae. Inappropriate choice of boundary vertebrae leads to an estimated error in determining the length of the scoliotic curves of 0.805 vertebrae for each boundary vertebra chosen incorrectly.

Background and Objectives: The existing recommendations for female pelvic magnetic susceptibility weighted imaging MRI (FP-SWI) have not been optimized to capture the disease characteristics of the female pelvis. Therefore, it is imperative to explore acquisition parameters before conducting larger-scale studies. To establish optimized flip angle (FA) for acquiring FP-SWI to improve the image quality of female pelvic lesion sites. Materials and Methods: To evaluate signal quality and lesion conspicuity, regions of interest (ROIs) were manually drawn within the lesion on SWI sequences. Signal intensity was measured within the ROIs. Additionally, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated for SWI sequences acquired at three FA: 10°, 15°, and 20°. Finally, a qualitative assessment of anatomical detail visualization, geometric distortion extent, artifacts, and lesion clarity was performed using a four-point scale. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was employed to compare the qualitative evaluation parameters. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated to determine the consistency of subjective ratings between two observers. Results: FA=10° showed significantly higher SNR than FA=15° and 20° in most anatomical regions (P&lt;0.05), while the CNR was significantly higher than FA=15° and 20° (P&lt;0.05). Compared with FA=15° and 20°, the image quality of FA=10° was significantly higher, with less distortion and ghosting, and better image contrast (P&lt;0.05). Lesions with FA=10° exhibited higher clarity compared to FA=15° and 20° (P&lt;0.05). Conclusions: The image quality of FP-SWI images at FA=10° exceeds that at FA=15° and 20°. We recommend that when conducting SWI examination of the female pelvic cavity, the FA value should be set at 10° to stabilize the SWI sequence and improve image quality.

Evaluating of long-term satellite-derived ocean color products using in-situ measurements is essential to ensure data quality and integrity. In this study, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) products were evaluated and analyzed by using long-term OC-CCI in-situ data from 2012 to 2021. The results demonstrate that the root mean square difference of VIIRS Rrs product accuracy in most bands is better than 0.002 (sr-1) when considering its average life span of 12 years. However, the VIIRS Rrs products in shorter wavelength bands (e.g., at 412 nm) had significantly lower accuracy in general and a long-term bias over the recent years. The annual precision of VIIRS Rrs products showed a declining trend especially in coastal or eutrophic waters. This accuracy deterioration of the VIIRS Rrs products suggests a strong need for continuous monitoring of its performance and further efforts on improving the atmospheric correction algorithm to specifically deal with satellite records at high SZAs and OZAs.

The research paper provides a mathematical framework for understanding phase shift in wave phenomena, bridging theoretical foundations with real-world applications. It emphasizes the importance of phase shift in physics and engineering, particularly in fields like telecommunications and acoustics. Key equations are introduced to explain phase angle, time delay, frequency, and wavelength relationships. The study also introduces the concept of time distortion due to a 1° phase shift, crucial for precise time measurements in precision instruments. The research also addresses infinitesimal wave energy loss related to phase shift, enriching our understanding of wave behavior, and impacting scientific and engineering disciplines.

This study entailed the design and analysis of a 400 m-class underwater glider operated by a bladder-type buoyancy engine. The underwater glider was designed for high-speed movement with a maximum velocity of 2 knots. The shape of the hull was designed to reduce water resistance using the Myring hull profile equation. The reliability was verified by performing simulations using resistance coefficients. The relationship between the control value of the ballast discharged from the buoyancy engine and the glider's speed according to the path angle was analyzed. Further, the relationship between the optimal glide angle and the design control value of the ballast was derived, and the optimal glider speed was estimated accordingly. Based on the analysis results, a bladder-type buoyancy engine was developed, and the maximum speed of the tested underwater glider was measured via sea trials.

Psychological readiness following Anterior Cruciate ligament Reconstruction (ACLR) correlates with different return to sport outcomes. However, the relationship between strength and power and psychological readiness remains unexplored. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the Anterior Cruciate Ligament Return to Sport After Injury (ACL-RSI) scores and various hamstrings and quadriceps strength and power variables. Twelve participants (20.7±2.5 years old; 174.2±7.5 cm; 70.2±8.5 kg; 18.2±8.3% of body fat) who had an ACLR nine months or more before the study completed the ACL-RSI questionnaire and isokinetic strength testing of the hamstrings and quadriceps (60°.s-1 and 180°.s-1). Based on ACL-RSI scores, they were divided into “cases” and “controls”, deemed not psychologically ready and psychologically ready to return to previous sport performance (PILOS), respectively. The main findings are that quadriceps’ and hamstrings’ rate of torque development (RTD) and time since surgery were determinants of psychological readiness following ACLR. Furthermore, compared to controls cases showed significantly lower angle-specific quadriceps and hamstrings torque close to extension and lower RTD, but no difference in peak torque. These results suggest that physiotherapists should facilitate athletes’ RTS by focusing on the restoration of RTD and strength at angles close to full knee extension.

In order to perform multi-degree-of-freedom motion measurements of marine machinery such as ship-borne mechanical platform in an absolute environment without a reference, absolute measurement methods using acceleration sensors and tilt gyroscopes are typically employed. However, due to the influence of wave forces on ship-borne mechanical platform, the coupling between different degrees of freedom can cause mutual interference, resulting in significant sensor measurement disturbances that make efficient computation and real-time analysis challenging. Specifically, when ship-borne mechanical platform swings, the proof mass of the acceleration sensor produces an undesirable signal output in the vertical direction, which leads to imprecise acceleration integration, thereby affecting accurate motion collection and posture estimation. To address these challenges, by analyzing the influence of the inclination angle of the ship-borne mechanical platform on the sensor measurement, and using the working principle of the acceleration sensor and angle sensor, a correction method for the motion measurement of the ship-borne mechanical platform based on multi-sensor fusion is proposed. In this article, we first analyze the influence of inclination angle on the integral effect in the heave direction. Then the configuration using four groups of acceleration sensors to correct the integral effect is proposed. Finally, the optimal inclination angle is determined through Kalman filtering based on the measured value of angle sensors and estimated values from the acceleration sensor sets. Experiments have proved that the average error of the corrected heave displacement signal is 25.34 mm, which is better than the integral displacement signal of a single acceleration sensor. At the same time, the acceleration sensor is used to calculate the roll angle and pitch angle of the ship-borne mechanical platform, and combined with the angle sensor signal to perform Kalman filtering, which filters out the errors caused by the shaking and instability of the mechanical platform, and can more accurately estimate the true inclination of the platform. Therefore, this method can enhance the precision and accuracy of the ship-borne mechanical platform motion signal acquisition, providing more valuable experimental data for research in marine engineering and related fields.

This study aimed to compare the efficacies and safety of enhanced and standard monofocal intraocular lenses (IOLs) in eyes with early glaucoma. Patients with concurrent cataracts and open-angle glaucoma (OAG) were enrolled. They underwent cataract surgery with IOL implantation. Manifest refraction; monocular uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), uncorrected intermediate visual acuity (UIVA), and uncorrected near visual acuity (UNVA); visual field (VF); contrast sensitivity (CS); defocus curves and questionnaires were assessed three months postoperatively. Thirty-four and 38 patients had enhanced and standard monofocal IOLs, respectively. The enhanced monofocal IOL provided better UIVA than the standard monofocal IOL (p = 0.003) but similar UDVA, CDVA and UNVA. The enhanced monofocal IOL had more consistent defocus curves than the standard monofocal IOL, especially at -1 (p = 0.042) and -1.5 (p = 0.026) diopters. The enhanced monofocal IOL provided better satisfaction (p = 0.019) and lower spectacle dependence (p = 0.004) than the standard monofocal IOL for intermediate vision, with similar VF and CS. In conclusion, the enhanced monofocal IOL is recommended for patients with OAG because they provide better intermediate vision, higher satisfaction, and lower dependence on spectacles than standard monofocal IOL, without worsening other visual outcomes.

Background: Prismatic cover test (PCT) is a gold standard assessment of strabismus angle, however it has a significant number of disadvantages which are eliminated in Strabiscan device. Methods: Patients with strabismus (n = 30) and a group of healthy subjects (n = 30) were given a detailed history and underwent ophthalmologic examinations (best corrected visual acuity assessment, cycloplegic autorefractometry, biomicroscopic examination of anterior and posterior part of the eye). Each patient and healthy subjects were then subjected to the PCT, and then the presence of strabismus was detected, and its angle assessed using a Strabiscan demonstrator. Statistical analysis was done with Statistica software. Results: No statistically significant differences were noted in the measurements of strabismus angles made by the differing methods. Among the control group, using the Strabiscan demonstration device, low-angle latent strabismus ≤3PD was diagnosed in 83% of patients, and >3PD in 13% of patients. Those using the PCT, on the other hand, diagnosed latent strabismus ≤3PD in only 13% of patients, and latent strabismus with an angle >3PD in 13% of patients. Conclusion: The Strabiscan demonstration device provides quick and accurate assessment of the strabismus angle.

We describe the behavior of mixtures of stearic acid (SA) and its hydroxylated counterpart 12-hydroxystearic acid (12-HSA) in aqueous mixtures at room temperature, as function of the 12-HSA/(fatty acid) mole ratio R. The morphologies of the self-assembled aggregates are obtained by a multi-structural approach that combines confocal and cryo-TEM microscopies with Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) and Wide-Angle X-Rays Scattering (WAXS) measurements, coupled with rheology measurements. Fatty acids are solubilized by an excess of ethanolamine counterions, so that their heads are negatively charged. The behavior is driven by the competition between mixing entropy and enthalpic effects. A clear trend towards partitioning between the two types of fatty acids is observed, presumably driven by the favorable formation of a H-bond network between hydroxyl OH function on the 12th carbon. For all R, the self-assembled structures are locally lamellar, with bilayers composed of crystallized and strongly interdigitated fatty acids. At high R, multi-lamellar tubes are formed, similarly as for pure aqueous solutions of 12-HSA. The doping by a low amount of SA molecules only slightly modify the dimensions of the tubes (radius and length), and slightly decreases the bilayers rigidity. The solutions have a gel-like behavior originating from entanglements between tubes and show a yield stress. At intermediate R, a partial local partitioning occurs between the two types of fatty acids. The tubes coexist in solution with helical ribbons. The two structures possibly merge to form very long snaky objects with straight and curved parts. The rigidity of the bilayers and the rheological behavior of the solutions are very similar to those of the high R case. At low R, local partitioning also occurs, and the architecture of the self-assemblies associates the two morphologies of the pure fatty acids systems, respectively 2-D planar bilayers for SA and the tubes describe above for the 12-HSA molecules: they are facetted objects with planar domains enriched in SA molecules, capped with curved domains enriched in 12-HSA molecules. The rigidity of the bilayers is strongly increased, as well their storage modulus, compared to systems with larger R. The solutions remain however viscous fluids in this regime of low R.

The main goal of this paper is to study the weak gravitational lensing by Horndeski black hole in weak field approximation. In order to do so, we exploit the Gibbons-Werner method to the optical geometry of Horndeski black hole and implement the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to accomplish the deflection angle of light in weak field region. Furthermore, we have endeavored to extend the scale of our work by comprising the impact of plasma medium on the deflection angle as properly. Later, the graphical influence of the deflection angle of photon on Horndeski black hole in plasma and non-plasma medium is examined.

The adoption of Pump as Turbines (PATs) both in small scale hydroelectric plants and water supply systems has brought different advantages, the most recognized being cost-effectiveness as compared to other hydroturbines. However, due to their lack of flow control ability, their intolerance to off-design operations constitutes one tough shortfall. Moreover, this technology’s newness leads to PAT flow dynamics still being ununderstood even to date. Therefore, this study intends to numerically investigate the mixed flow PAT’s pump mode flow dynamics for five operating conditions expanding from optimum (1QBEP) to deep part-load (0.41 QBEP) conditions. Moreover the effect of runner blade angle on the same has been investigated where three angles namely -2°, 0°, and 2° have been considered. PAT flow stability was found to deteriorate as the flow decreased, where associated pressure pulsation level worsened at different flow zones. In addition, the blade angle increase led correspondingly increasing flow unsteadiness and pressure pulsation levels, where the pulsation frequencies from rotor-stator interactions were dominant for most of flow zones. This study’s findings are of a crucial importance to both scientific and engineering communities as they contribute to thorough understanding of PAT flow dynamics.

.With the increasing use of carbon fiber reinforced plastics in various area, carbon fiber composites based on prepregs have attracted attention in industries and academia research. However, prepreg manufacturing processes are costly, and the strength of structures varies depending on the orientation and defects (pores and delamination). For non-contact evaluation of internal defects, we proposed lock-in infrared thermography to investigate orientation angles after a compression test. We also conducted a drop-weight impact test to study the behaviour of the composites after impact according the fibers orientation for composite fabricated using unidirectional carbon fiber prepregs. Using CAI tests, we determined the residual compressive strength and confirmed the damage modes using a thermal camera. The results of the drop weight impact tests show that the specimen laminated at 0° suffered the largest damage because of susceptibility of the resin to impact. In contrast, the specimens oriented in of 0°/90° and +45°/–45° directions transferred more than 90% of the impact energy back to the impactor because of the lamination of fibers in the orthogonal directions. Furthermore, the specimens that underwent complete damage in the impact tests were subjected to the lock-in method and showed internal delamination and cut fibers. With the finite elements analysis, the damage of each ply could be observed. Moreover, the temperature differences in the residual compression tests were not significant.

Purpose is to o review the pathogenic mechanism for ocular hypertension and glaucoma development after pars plana vitrectomy. Both acute and chronic causes are considered and special attention is paid to the theories and clinical evidence on the risk of developing Open Angle Glaucoma (OAG) after Pars Plana Vitrectomy (PPV). Most existing scientific literature on the issue agree on the role of ascorbate as an oxygen scavenger within the vitreous chamber. Oxygen tension in the vitreous and anterior chamber is maximum inn proximity of the retinal surface and endothelium, respectively and steeply decreases toward the lens; on both sides, and trabeculate. Vitreous removal and, to a lesser extent, liquefaction, greatly reduces oxygen tension gradient in vitreous chamber while cataract extraction has similar effects on anterior chamber oxygen gradients. Oxygen derivatives originated from the cornea and retina are actively reduced by the vitreous gel and/or the crystalline lens. Vitreous removal and cataract extraction reduce drastically this function. Most reported clinical series confirm this hypothesis although protocol difference and follow-up length greatly impact the reliability of results.

In this paper, first we use the optical metrics of black-bounce traversable wormholes to calculate the Gaussian curvature. Then we use the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to obtain the weak deflection angle of light from the black-bounce traversable wormholes. Then we investigate the effect of dark matter medium on weak deflection angle using the Gauss-Bonnet theorem. We show how weak deflection angle of wormhole is affected by the bounce parameter $a$. Using the Gauss-bonnet theorem for calculating weak deflection angle shows us that light bending can be thought as a global and topological effect.

In this paper, we discuss the weak gravitational lensing in the context of stringy black holes. Initially, we examine the deflection angle of photon by charged stringy black hole. For this desire, we compute the Gaussian optical curvature and implement the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to investigate the deflection angle for spherically balanced spacetime of stringy black hole. We also analyze the influence of plasma medium in the weak gravitational lensing for stringy black hole. Moreover, the graphical impact of coupling constant $\alpha$, impact parameter $b$ , black hole charge $Q$ on deflection angle by charged stringy black hole has been studied in plasma as well as non-plasma medium.

Running on a non-motorized, curved-deck treadmill is thought to improve gait mechanics. It is not known, though, if the change in gait carries over to running on a motorized treadmill or level ground. To determine the effect of running on a curved non-motorized treadmill (CNT) on gait characteristics measured during a subsequent bout of running on a traditional motorized treadmill (TMT). Sixteen healthy college-aged participants, age (mean±SD) 20.4±1.6 years volunteered to have their gait analyzed while running on a TMT and CNT. After familiarization and warm-up on both treadmills, each subject completed five, 4-minute bouts of running alternating between traditional motorized and curved non-motorized treadmills: TMT-1, CNT-1, TMT-2, CNT-2, and TMT-3. Variables of interest included step length (m), stride length (m), imbalance score (%), and step angle (°) and were measured using Optogait gait analysis equipment. Differences in gait char acteristics among TMT-1, TMT-2, and TMT-3 can be attributed to running on the CNT. The results show that running on a CNT resulted in significant changes in gait characteristics. These findings suggest that running on a CNT can significantly alter gait characteristics may result in improvements in running gait that persist to subsequent running on a TMT.

Purpose: To compare the therapeutic efficacy and safety of dorzolamide/timolol fixed-combination in newly diagnosed primary open angle glaucoma patients. Methods: In this prospective, interventional case series, newly diagnosed primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) patients that had not been treated for glaucoma were included. Patients were started on Cosopt twice a day (BID) for 1 month and then switched to three times a day (TDS) for additional 1 month. Patients underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examination, diurnal intraocular pressure (IOP), blood pressure (BP) and 24-hours heart rate (HR) measurements at baseline, month 1( BID), and month 2( TDS). IOP, systolic and diastolic pressures were measured at 8:00 AM,12:00 AM, 4:00 PM, 8:00 PM and 12:00 PM. Throughout the study, all adverse events were recorded and monitored by the investigators. Results: In 31 POAG patients that completed the study ,mean baseline IOP was 23.1±3.15 mmHg . IOP was decreased significantly 16.5 ± 2.21 at 1 month (P < 0.0001) and 13.9 ± 2.23 mmHg at 1 and 2 month follow up. (P < 0.0001) IOP was significantly lower in month 2 compared to month 1 (P = 0.0004). While Cosopt BID significantly reduced the mean 24-hour systolic BP and mean 24-hour HR from baseline (P < 0.0001), the mean 24-hour systolic BP and HR remained unchanged 2ith Cosopt TDS compared to BID (P = 0.62). Conclusions: Cosopt TDS has a superior IOP-lowering effect than Cosopt BID in POAG patients with comparable safety profile.

Background: developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is a condition characterized by abnormal hip development in infancy. Early diagnosis allows for effective treatment, while late presentation often necessitates complex surgical interventions. Current recommendations advise screening between the 6th and 8th week postnatal using ultrasound, typically employing the Graf method. However, there's no universal consensus on whether ultrasound screening significantly increases treatment compared to clinical examination-guided ultrasound. This study aims to explore the feasibility of prenatal ultrasound for early identification of DDH risk. Methods: This prospective observational study involved 100 pregnant women undergoing fetal hip ultrasound during the second and third trimesters. Using the modified Graf method, alpha and beta angles were calculated on the fetus. Postnatally, alpha and beta angles were compared with prenatal values. Results: Prenatal ultrasound at 24th week showed inconclusive results because of the difficulty in identification of Graf landmarks, while ultrasound at 34th week has proved to be a reliable and safe method for quantitative determination of alpha and beta angles. Significant correlations were found between prenatal and postnatal alpha and beta angles. Moreover, significant differences in prenatal alpha and beta values were observed in patients developing mature/immature hips postnatally. Conclusions: Prenatal diagnostics show promise for predicting infant hip development. Further research is warranted to validate correlation strength and clinical applicability.

The field of neurology has undergone a profound transformation over the past two decades, shifting from traditional clinical and pathological approaches to a more genetically informed perspective. This essay explores the drastic turn in neurology from classical disciplines to neurogenetics, examining the factors that have contributed to this shift and the implications for clinical practice and research. The traditional approach to neurology, grounded in clinical examination, neuroanatomy, and neuropathology, has been effective in diagnosing and treating many conditions but has had limitations in understanding the etiology of complex and rare neurological disorders. The emergence of neurogenetics has been driven by advancements in genetic technologies, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) and genome-wide association studies (GWAS), as well as the recognition of the genetic basis of many neurological disorders. This shift has led to more accurate diagnoses, targeted treatments, and a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying neurological disorders. However, challenges remain, including the complexity of genetic architecture and the ethical implications of genetic testing. The future of neurogenetics holds great promise for improving the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of neurological conditions, with new technologies and interdisciplinary approaches poised to further advance the field.

The reflection and transmission spectra of a metamaterial formed by omega-shaped elements with pre-calculated optimal parameters on a silicon substrate have been recorded in the terahertz range at oblique incidence for the s- and p- polarizations of the incident wave. The spectra were interpreted within the dipole radiation theory of electromagnetic waves. Both measurement results and analysis provide evidence sup-porting the presence of a pronounced polarization anisotropy impact in the reflection and transmission of the metamaterial. The potential of these materials to be utilized in the development of devices that control the polarization properties of THz radiation across a wide spectral range is examined.

In recent, Chae found that, at weak gravitational acceleration g_N≲10⁻⁹ms⁻², the observed orbit of the wide binary stars is not accordant with current theory of binary star. Here, we present, this finding should be an observational evidence for that Newtonian theory of orbit perturbation is still valid in galactic scale.

The alternating stress caused by periodic high-pressure injection and extraction in gas storage can potentially induce fault slippage, compromising the sealing integrity of faults within these facil-ities. Understanding the mechanical behavior of faults under alternating stress is crucial for en-suring the long-term stability and safety of gas storage operations. To explore the impact of fault dip angle and fault gouge strength on fault slip characteristics, fault samples were prepared with uniaxial compressive strengths of 20.1, 30.2, 42.4, and 51.4 MPa at two distinct dip angles. Triaxial compression experiments were conducted under alternating stress conditions corresponding to operational pressures at a specific gas storage in China. Results indicate that faults with dip angles of 30° and 45° tend to fail at their weakest points. Increasing strength of fault gouge shifts failure mechanisms from interfacial failure between gouge and surrounding rock towards internal gouge failure, often accompanied by shear failure across sections, resulting in characteristic "X"-shaped conjugate shear failures. The decrease in the ratio of bedrock strength to fault gouge strength elucidates the observed phenomena of initial reduction followed by increased fault deformation. Transition points for faults with 30° and 45° dips occur around the strength ratios of 1.7/1 and 1.2/1, respectively. Fault damage exhibits a negative correlation with fault gouge strength and a positive correlation with fault dip angle. Samples with higher strength fault gouge at a 30° dip angle generally incur less damage compared to those with lower strength fault gouge at a 45° dip angle. Moreover, higher maximum static friction coefficients denote greater fault resistance to slipping, with 30° faults consistently demonstrating superior resistance compared to 45° faults. Additionally, higher strength fault gouge consistently enhances slip resistance under identical dip angles.

The study aimed to analyze thoracic and lumbar erector spinae muscle activations during 3D elongation exercises in individuals with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Participants included 24 adolescents, meeting specific criteria such as a Cobb angle between 10° and 20°, and not having undergone surgical or brace treatments. EMG data were collected to evaluate muscle activations. The study found no significant interaction between exercise type and the side of the curve, but a significant main effect of exercise type on muscle activation, irrespective of Cobb angle. Different exercise types significantly affected muscle activity, with the highest activations in the TheraBand exercise, followed by manual and without equipment conditions. This suggests that exercise type significantly impacts muscle engagement in AIS patients, providing valuable insights for targeted exercise program design. The study, however, focused on short-term muscle activation, not long-term Cobb angle progression, pointing to the need for further research in this area.

The flow properties of pellets or granules are crucial for further processing the drug dosage forms. Optimal compression or filling the multiparticulate dosage forms into capsules is influenced by forces between discrete particles, which could be partially characterized by flow properties. Several techniques were developed for the examination of flowability, including static and dynamic methods applying empirical studies and the up-to-date chaos theory; however newest methods seem only to be powerful with the supplement of empirical principles. Our experiments try to refine both the technique of analysis and the methods by finding new, alternative ways. Our approach to the flowability measurements was to set up a dynamic time-dependent model which combines empirical observations and the chaos theory on a geometrical basis, thus find new aspects regarding flow properties of pellets and granules that could be relevant for drug developers.

Many probability-based uncertainty quantification (UQ) schemes require a large amount of sampled data to build credible probability density function (PDF) models for uncertain parameters. Unfortunately, the data collected in compressor blades of aero-engine are mostly limited due to expensive and time-consuming tests. In this paper, we develop a preconditioner-based data-driven polynomial chaos (PDDPC) method that can efficiently deal with uncertainty propagation of limited sampled data. The calculation accuracy of PDDPC method is closely related to the sample size of collected data. Therefore, the influence of sample size on PDDPC method is investigated using a nonlinear test function. Subsequently, we consider the real manufacturing errors of stagger angle for compressor blades. Under three different operating conditions, PDDPC method is applied to investigate the effect of stagger angle error on UQ results of multiple aerodynamic parameters of a two-dimensional compressor blade. The results show that as the sample size of measured data increases, UQ results of aerodynamic performance obtained by PDDPC method gradually converge. There exists a critical sample size that ensures accurate UQ analysis of compressor blades. The probability information contained in the machining error data is analyzed through Kullback-Leibler divergence, and the critical sample size is determined. The research results can make a valuable reference for the fast and cheap UQ analysis of compressor blades in practical engineering.

Star image registration is the most important step in the application of astronomical image differencing, stacking and mosaicking, which requires high robustness, accuracy and real--time of the algorithm, but there is no high--performance registration algorithm in this field. In this paper, we propose a star image registration algorithm that relies only on radial module features (RMF) and rotation angle features (RAF), which has excellent robustness, high accuracy, and good real--time performance. The test results on a large amount of simulated and real data show that the comprehensive performance of the proposed algorithm is significantly better than the four classical baseline algorithms in the presence of rotation, insufficient overlapping area, false stars, position deviation, magnitude deviation and complex sky background, which is a more ideal star image registration algorithm.

The authors recently proposed a method for on-site dosimetry by a combination of radiochromic film and portable colorimeter. To test and expand the applicability of this method, dosimetric properties of radiochromic reactions were examined for six combinations of two popular Gafchromic films (EBT3 and EBT-XD) and three commercially-available portable colorimeters (nix pro2, nix spectro2 and Spectro1 Pro; abbreviated to “NixP”, “NixS” and “SpoP”, respectively). EBT3 and EBT-XD were irradiated with 160 kV X-rays at 0.3 to 40Gy and 1 to 80 Gy, respectively, and the radiation-induced color levels of RGB and CMMK components were measured with the three colorimeters. Angle dependence was examined by reading at 15° intervals. As results, it was judged that all combinations would work effectively as tools for on-site dosimetry. NixP and NixS showed advantages that they were applicable to a wider dose range for both films, while Spo1 worked better in a lower dose range. On the other hand, Spo1 had an advantageous feature of no angular dependence in reading films, while NixP and NixS showed significant angle-dependent changes. These differences were presumed to attribute to the different geometries of LED light emission; it came from all directions (ring-shape source) in Spo1, 4 directions in NixP, and 8 directions in NixS. These findings would expand the applicability of the proposed on-site dosimetry method to various occasions.

The bridge crane is often used in a complex environment, often subject to interference of all loads. Some uncertainties factors often have an inevitable impact on its swing. So the force situation of the bridge crane during a working cycle is analyzed, and a three-dimensional dynamic mathematical model of the bridge crane is built. Through the simulation analysis of the model under the action of driving force and wind load, the change law of the swing angle of the bridge crane is studied. Then, the fuzzy control theory is used to determine the control parameter in the anti sway control process. The position, swing angle deviation and deviation rate of the bridge crane are taken as the input, and the parameter correction is obtained after the fuzzification by using the center of gravity method, the anti sway fuzzy control system of the bridge crane is designed and simulated. The research results show that the fuzzy PID anti sway controller can not only improve the adaptability of the control system, but also overcome the large overshoot, quickly restrain the swing, and effectively realize the anti sway function of the bridge crane.

Underwater acoustic spiral sources are able to generate spiral acoustic fields where the phase depends on the bearing angle. It allows to estimate the bearing angle relatively to a receiver by subtracting the phases of a spiral and a circular wavefront, and finds application in the bearing angle estimate with a single hydrophone, e.g., for unmanned underwater vehicles localization. This paper presents a new prototype for a spiral acoustic source, which is able to generate the required wavefronts, and is composed of four monopoles in the same piezoceramic cylinder. This paper reports the prototyping and the acoustic tests performed in a water tank where the spiral source was characterized in terms o Transmitting Voltage Response, phase, and horizontal and vertical directivity patterns. A receiving calibration method for the spiral source is proposed and shows a maximum angle error of 1 degree when the calibration and the operation are carried under the same conditions and a mean angle error up to 6 degrees for frequencies above 25 kHz when the same conditions are not fulfilled.

Low charge density nanometric ions were recently shown to bind strongly to neutral hydrated matter in aqueous solution. This phenomenon, called (super-)chaotropic effect, arises from the partial dehydration of both, the nano-ion and the solute, leading to a high gain in enthalpy. Here, we investigate the chaotropic effect of the polyoxometalate α-PW12O403- on the triblock copolymer P84: (EO)19(PO)43(EO)19 with (EO)19 the polyethoxylated and (PO)43 the polypropoxylated chains. The combination of phase diagrams, spectroscopic (nuclear magnetic resonance) and scattering (small angle neutron/X-ray scattering) techniques reveals that (i) below the micellization temperature of P84, PW12O403- exclusively binds to the propylene oxide moiety of P84 unimers and (ii) above the micellization temperature, PW12O403- mostly adsorbs on the ethylene oxide micellar corona. The preferential binding of the PW12O403- to the PPO chain over the PEO chains suggests that the binding is driven by the chaotropic effect and reinforced by the hydrophobic effect. At higher temperatures, the copolymer micellization leads to the displacement of PW12O403- from the PPO chain to the PEO chains. This study deepens the understanding of the subtle interplay between the chaotropic and hydrophobic effects in complex salt-organic matter solutions.

Drought decreases grain yield of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], and understanding the mechanism(s) related to drought tolerance is critical for sustaining sorghum production. Variation in root and shoot traits associated with drought tolerance were analyzed to provide an integrated view of factors that underlie the drought tolerance of sorghum. The plants were grown in the root column up to the five-leaf stage, then exposed to either 0.9 fraction of transpirable soil water (FTSW) or 0.4 FTSW for five days. In another experiment, at the five-leaf stage, stress was imposed for 14 days. Various root and shoot traits associated with drought tolerance were recorded. The seminal root angle of IS13540 was lower (24.4) than IS23143 (42.6). Drought stress increased the maximum root length (40%) and total root length (58%) of IS13540 than its irrigated control. In contrast, the maximum root length and total root length were decreased in IS23143. Similarly, across the lines, drought stress decreased stomatal conductance (37%), transpiration rate (42%), photosynthetic rate (40%), photosystem II quantum yield (20%), photochemical quenching (44%), and total dry matter production (34%) than irrigated control. An increased transpiration rate was observed in IS23143 than IS13540 under irrigated and drought stress. In IS23143, the reduction in photosynthetic rate under drought may be a combination of stomatal and non-stomatal factors. However, in IS13540, the reduction is especially by the stomatal factors. It is evident that IS13540 is a drought-tolerant line, and tolerance is related to a deep prolific root system and reduced tran-spiration rate.

To investigate the effect of acidic nanoparticles on proton conductivity, permeability and fuel cell performance, a commercial Nafion® 117 membrane was impregnated with zirconium phosphates (ZrP) and sulfated zirconium (S-ZrO2) nanoparticles. The tensile test, water uptake, methanol crossover, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to assess the ca-pacity of nanocomposite membrane to function in a fuel cell. The modified Nafion® membrane obtained the higher water uptake and a lower water content angle than the commercial Nafion® 117 membrane, indicating that it has a greater impact on conductivity. Under strain rates of 40, 30 and 20 mm/min, the nanocomposite membranes demonstrate more stable thermal deterioration and higher mechanical strength, which offers tremendous promise for fuel cell applications. When compared to 0.113 S/cm and 0.013 S/cm, respectively, of commercial Nafion® 117 and Nafion® ZrP membranes, the modified Nafion® membrane with ammonia sulphate acid had the highest proton conductivity of 7.891 S/cm. When tested using a direct single cell methanol fuel cell, it had the highest power density of 183 m. cm-2 which is better than commercial Nafion® 117 and Nafion® ZrP membranes.

High-performance motor drives that operate in harsh conditions require an accurate and robust angular position measurement to correctly estimate the speed and reduce the torque ripple produced by angular estimation error. For that reason, a resolver is used in motor drives as a position sensor due to its robustness. A resolver-to-digital converter (RDC) is an observer used to get the angular position from the resolver signals. Most RDCs are based on angle tracking observers (ATOs). On the other hand, generalized predictive control (GPC) has become a powerful tool in developing controllers and observers for industrial applications. However, no GPC-based RDC with zero steady-state error during constant speed operation was proposed. This paper proposes an RDC based on a second-order difference GPC (SOD-GPC). In SOD-GPC, the second-order difference operator is applied to design a GPC model with two embedded integrators. Thus, the SOD-GPC is used to design a type-II ATO whose steady-state angle estimation error tends to zero during constant speed operation. Simulation and experimental results prove that the proposed RDC system has better performance than other literature approaches.

In this paper, by considering Einstein-Hilbert-Bumblebee (EHB) gravity around global monopole field, we derive exactly a black hole spacetime metric. To test the effect of global monopole field and bumblebee field, which causes the spontaneous Lorentz symmetry breaking, we calculate the weak deflection angle using the Gauss-Bonnet theorem.

In this paper, we use a new asymptotically flat and spherically symmetric solution in the generalized Einstein-Cartan-Kibble-Sciama (ECKS) theory of gravity to study the weak gravitational lensing and its shadow cast. To this end, we first compute the weak deflection angle of generalized ECKS black hole using the Gauss–Bonnet theorem in plasma medium and in vacuum. Next by using the Newman-Janis algorithm without complexification, we derive the rotating generalized ECKS black hole and in the sequel study its shadow. Then, we discuss the effect of the ECKS parameter on the shadow of the black hole and weak deflection angle. In short, the goal of this paper is to give contribution to the ECKS theory and look for evidences to understand how the ECKS parameter effects the gravitational lensing.

The outdoor field test of the 4-terminal III-V on Si tandem photovoltaic module (specifically, InGaP/GaAs on Si) was investigated and performance model, considering spectrum change affected by fluctuation of atmospheric parameters, was developed and validated. The 4-terminal III-V on Si tandem photovoltaic module had about 40 % advantage in seasonal performance loss compared with standard InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs 2-terminal tandem photovoltaic module. This advantage is expanded in (subarctic zone) < (temperate zone) < (subtropical zone).

The geometry of Poincare disk itself is interpreted without any mapping to dierent spaces. Our approach might be one of the shortest and is intended for educational contribution.

The aim of this report is to evaluate the segmental rib index (RI) from T1-T12 spinal level in mild and moderate idiopathic scoliosis (IS) curves of thoracic, thoracolumbar and lumbar type by gender. The relationship of segmental RI to the frontal plane radiological deformity presented as the Cobb angle and to the posterior truncal surface deformity presented as the scoliometric readings of Angle of Trunk Rotation (ATR) in these patients is also assessed. Any statistical significant rela-tionship of these parameters would be very important for biomechanical relations of the rib cage (RC) deformity presented as the rib hump deformity (RHD) and the deformity in the spine and it would thus provide valuable information about scoliogeny. The segmental rib index (RI) is presented in 83 boys and girls with mild and moderate IS. The measurements include the scoliometric readings for truncal asymmetry (TA), the Cobb angle assessment and the segmental RI from T1-T12. The statistical package SPSS 23 was used for statistical analysis. The TA is documented and the Cobb angle is presented by gender and curve type. The segmental RI of thoracic, thoracolumbar and lumbar curves are presented for the first time. The correlations of the segmental RI to surface deformity presented as the rib hump deformity (RHD) in all IS patients and particularly in thoracic curves, to Cobb angle by gender and age and the comparison of the segmental RI index of asymmetric but not scoliotic children to the scoliotic peers by curve (in thoracic, thoracolumbar, lumbar curves) in boys and girls are presented. The findings emphasize the significant protagonistic role of the thoracic asymmetry in relation to the spinal deformity mainly in girls for the thoracic and in boys for the thoracolumbar curves. The cut-off point of age of the examined scoliotics is 14 years, that is when the RI shows stronger correlation with the spinal deformity, namely when the thoracic deformity is decisively effective to the developing thoracic spinal deformity, in terms of Cobb angle. In summary, the results of this study provide aetiological implications for IS, as far as the role of thorax is con-cerned.

The main aim of this work is to present a step-by-step procedure to model and analyze the power loss distribution of three-level Gallium Nitride (GaN) inverters. It has been applied to three distinct three-phase three-levels voltage source inverters utilized in electric traction drives: Active Neutral Point Clamped, Neutral Point Clamped and T-Type Neutral Point Clamped. The proposed analytical power loss modelling, combined to an equivalent representation of the electrical machine demonstrated to be a viable solution to achieve a time-saving and low computational burden simulation platform, leading to satisfying accuracy results. This has been confirmed by comparing the results carried out from the simulations of a 110kW permanent magnet synchronous motor drive and those determined by considering a simplified circuital representation based on the proposed analytical power loss modelling.

Flow over a cluster of three equally spaced circular cylinders was studied by numerical simulation on base of the turbulent mode k-kl-ω for two incidence angles β=0° and 60°, at different Reynolds number,in this paper, flow interference pattern characteristics between cylinders, characteristics of force parameters and Strouhal number of each cylinder with different spacing ratios ranging from 1.5 to 4 at Re 8×104, 2×105and 2×106 had been obtained. At incidence angle β=0° and 60°, the wake was nearly symmetric if S/D≥2.0; at β=60°,S/D=1.5 and Re=2×105, the asymmetric periodic flow pattern occurred in the wake region which leaded to the significant effect on the surface mechanical parameters and Strouhal number which was found for the first time; the periodic flow regime of the wake region also occurred at S/D=1.35 and 1.5, without the same phenomenon at S/D=1.7 and 2.0; the phenomenon of periodic flow regime of the wake region was intrinsic and related to Reynolds number and space ratio. in addition, characteristics of force parameters of three cylinders mainly were affected by the interference between cylinders, at 1.5&lt;S/D&lt;4, which leaded to that the drag coefficient of three cylinders reduced with different Reynolds numbers. At incidence angle 60°, in subcritical and critical regime, the Strouhal numbers of the upstream cylinders were more than that of single cylinder, and with the enlargement of spacing ratio, the Strouhal number decreased; for the downstream cylinder , the Strouhal number is far less than that of single cylinder and with the enlargement of spacing ratio, the Strouhal number increases, which were another prominent flow inference influence. The results indicated the effect of flow interference between cylinders subjected to a cross flow over a cluster of three equally spaced cylinders on the flow pattern,surface mechanical parameters and Strouhal number.

Long-range HNCO NMR spectra for proteins show crosspeaks due to 1JNC, 2JNC, 3JNCg and h3JNC couplings. The h3JNC couplings are transmitted through hydrogen bonds and are correlated to hydrogen bond lengths. We collected long-range HNCO data at a series of temperatures for four protein states. P22i and CUS-3i are six-stranded beta-barrel I-domains from phages P22 and CUS-3 that share less than 40% sequence identity. The cis and trans states of the C-terminal domain from pore-forming toxin hemolysin ΙΙ (HlyIIC) arise from isomerization of a single G404-P405 peptide bond. For P22i and CUS-3i the hydrogen bonds detected by NMR agree with those observed in the corresponding domains from cryoEM structures of the two phages. Hydrogen bond lengths derived from the h3JNC couplings, however, are poorly conserved between the distantly related CUS-3i and P22i domains and show differences even between the cis and trans states of HlyIIC. This is consistent with hydrogen bond lengths being determined by local differences in structure rather than the overall folding topology. With increasing temperature hydrogen bonds typically show an apparent increase in length, which has been attributed to protein thermal expansion. Some hydrogen bonds are invariant with temperature, however, while others show apparent decreases in length suggesting they become stabilized with increasing temperature. Considering the data for the three proteins in this study and previously published data for ubiquitin and GB3, lowered protein folding stability and cooperativity correlates with a larger range of temperature responses for hydrogen bonds. This suggests a partial uncoupling of hydrogen bond energetics from global unfolding cooperativity as protein stability decreases.

The three-pronged sliding universal coupling is a new kind of three-pronged coupling. To study its kinematic and dynamic characteristics, directional cosine matrices are utilized as tools to analyze the coordinate systems by establishing simplified geometric models and corresponding motions. Through the analysis of the motions of the input and output shafts and employing the method of single-force element, a set of equilibrium equations for the forces acting on the output shaft and the input shaft are formulated for solution analysis. The research indicates that during the rotation process, there exists a small angular difference between the input shaft and the intermediate shaft, demonstrating the quasi-constant angular velocity characteristics of the new tripod sliding universal coupling. The curves of the forces and torques acting on each component of the coupling approximate sinusoidal curves. The optimal operating angle range for the new tripod universal coupling is at angle , during which the system exhibits good transmission and mechanical performance.

Centimeter-level localization and rotation angle estimation of flatbed trucks are major problems in unmanned forklift automated loading scenes. To solve it, this study proposes a method for high-precision positioning and rotation angle estimation of flatbed trucks based on BeiDou and vision. First, an unmanned forklift equipped with a ToF camera and double antenna mobile receiver for BeiDou positioning collects depth images and localization data near the front and rear endpoints of the flatbed. Then DDRNet-23-slim was used to segment the flatbed from the depth image and extract the straight lines at the edges of the flatbed using the Hough transform and compute the set of intersection points of the lines. A neighborhood feature vector was designed to locate the endpoint of a flatbed from a set of intersection points by feature screening. Finally, the relative coordinates of the endpoints were converted to a customized forklift navigation coordinate system by BeiDou positioning, and rotation angle estimation was performed by the front and rear endpoints. Experiments showed that the endpoint positioning error was less than 3 cm and the rotation angle estimation error was less than 0.1°. The precision of the method meets the demand for automated flatbed truck loading by unmanned forklifts.

This study delves into the complex dynamics of Underwater Wireless Optical Communication (UWOC) in varied Harbor water conditions. Focusing on four distinct types of Harbor water, the research employs the Monte Carlo method to simulate photon transmission and analyze critical UWOC characteristics. Key parameters such as the transmitted full divergence angle, received aperture, and Field of View (FOV) are meticulously evaluated for their impact on communication efficacy. The study first explores the relationship between laser power variation, attenuation length, and divergence angle, revealing how different water qualities influence received power and time delay spread. Notably, the received normalized power loss and time delay spread are found to be more significantly affected by communication distance than water quality. In addition, under the condition of small received aperture and FOV, the influence on normalized power loss and time spread is more obvious in Harbor water. The findings offer novel insights into the challenges of UWOC in Harbor waters, particularly in terms of light scattering and absorption properties, and contribute to the optimization of communication systems in such complex underwater environments. Furthermore, the analysis of time pulse spread in turbid water quality is of great significance for the analysis and improvement of underwater wireless optical timing, ranging and positioning.

The available direct gas dynamic tables provide the area ratio and the Prandtl-Meyer(P-M) angle of isentropic expansion of gas as functions of the Mach number. But finding the value of the Mach number in terms of area ratio or P-M angle requires an inverse function. Currently, the Mach number is determined by either interpolation from the direct gas dynamics tables, or the application of non-linear equation solvers using numerical methods. Both methods are approximate. In this paper inverse functions for Mach number in the form of Taylor’s series expansions are reported to develop the so-called inverse tables. The advantage of this approach is that the Mach number with a greater accuracy, referred to as nearly exact can be obtained by reading from the inverse table. In the presentation, the necessary equations and new tables that can be used by the scientific community will be disseminated. The data and computer programs are made available on GitHub through https://github.com/anillals/Inverse-gas-dynamic-tables- and-codes. A paper describing the complete mathematical steps in the derivation of the equations can be found at https://rdcu.be/dgrlf

Current methods for the hardening step of functional coatings over different materials imply the use of high temperatures, high energy consumption or long periods of time, which have repercussions on the speed and cost of the product. We report here a simple and low cost methodology for the functionalization of low cost stainless steel, which is modular, depending of the functionality pursued: a levelling layer for smooth the surface of the material, an “easy to clean” property, or both of them. The research is based on sol-gel coatings cured under UV light without requiring high thermal hardening processes making it applicable to plastics and other sensible materials and possessing high chemical and thermal stability. The film ensures lower processing costs, and higher rates of hardening if the adequate medium-pressure lamps are employed. This formulation is also well defined for scaling up the process, so it is possible to perform a continuous coating in large areas by employing mild processing conditions (low temperature, atmospheric pressure). In addition, the sol gel solution was fully characterized and studied in order to guarantee a long service life before deposition, with a focus on industrial applications in the domestic sector.

The electron Transport layer (ETL) plays a crucial role in solar cell technology, particularly in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), where nanostructured TiO2 films have been investigated as superior ETL’s compared to compact TiO2. In this study we explore the nanocolumnal growth of TiO2 in the anatase phase, for bilayer thin films by magnetron sputtering (MS) technique and glancing angle deposition (GLAD). By optimizing the growth parameters, we achieved the formation of TiO2 nanocolumns with a cross-sectional diameter ranging from 50 to 75 nm. The average thickness of the films exceeded 12.71 ± 0.5µm , while the filaments exhibited an inclination angle close to 70◦ , corresponding to the deposition angle. Furthermore, we observed a correlation between the quality of the initial layer and enhanced growth of the TiO2 nanocolumns.

Noise in requirements has been known to be a defect in software requirements specifications (SRS). Detecting defects at an early stage is crucial in the process of software development. Noise can be in the form of irrelevant requirements that are included within a SRS. A previous study had attempted to detect noise in SRS, in which noise was considered as an outlier. However, the resulting method only demonstrated a moderate reliability due to the overshadowing of unique actor words by unique action words in the topic-word distribution. In this study, we propose a framework to identify irrelevant requirements based on the MultiPhiLDA method. The proposed framework distinguishes the topic-word distribution of actor words and action words as two separate topic-word distributions with two multinomial probability functions. Weights are used to maintain a proportional contribution of actor and action words. We also explore the use of two outlier detection methods, namely Percentile-based Outlier Detection (PBOD) and Angle-based Outlier Detection (ABOD), to distinguish irrelevant requirements from relevant requirements. The experimental results show that the proposed framework was able to exhibit better performance than previous methods. Furthermore, the use of the combination of ABOD as the outlier detection method and topic coherence as the estimation approach to determine the optimal number of topics and iterations in the proposed framework outperformed the other combinations and obtained sensitivity, specificity, F1-score, and G-mean values of 0.59, 0.65, 0.62, and 0.62, respectively.

The object detection task is usually affected by complex backgrounds. In this paper, a new image object detection method is proposed, which can perform multi-feature selection on multi-scale feature maps. By this method, a bidirectional multi-scale feature fusion network is designed to fuse semantic features and shallow features to improve the detection effect of small objects in complex backgrounds. When the shallow features are transferred to the top layer, a bottom-up path is added to reduce the number of network layers experienced by the feature fusion network, reducing the loss of shallow features. In addition, a multi-feature selection module based on the attention mechanism is used to minimize the interference of useless information on subsequent classification and regression, allowing the network to adaptively focus on appropriate information for classification or regression to improve detection accuracy. Because the traditional five-parameter regression method has severe boundary problems when predicting objects with large aspect ratios, the proposed network treats angle prediction as a classification task. The experimental results on the DOTA dataset, the self-made DOTA-GF dataset and the HRSC 2016 dataset show that, compared with several popular object detection algorithms, the proposed method has certain advantages in detection accuracy.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the weak deflection angle of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity in the presence of plasma medium. To attain our results, we implement the Gibbons and Werner approach and use the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to Einstein gravity to acquire the resulting deflection angle of photon's ray in the weak field limit. Moreover, we illustrate the behavior of plasma medium and non-plasma mediums on the deflection of photon's ray in the framework of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity. Similarly, we observe the graphical influences of deflection angle on Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity with the consideration of both plasma and non-plasma mediums. Later, we observe the rigorous bounds phenomenon of the greybody factor in contact with Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity and calculate the outcomes, analyze graphically for specific values of parameters.

The logarithmic correction to Bekenshtein$-$Hawking entropy in the framework of 4D Einstein - Gauss - Bonnet gravity coupled with nonlinear electrodynamics is obtained. We explore the black hole solution with the spherically symmetric metric. The logarithmic term in the entropy has a structure similar to the entropy correction in the semi-classical Einstein equations which mimics the quantum correction to the area low. The energy emission rate of black holes and energy conditions are studied. The quasinormal modes of a test scalar field are investigated. The gravitational lensing of light around BHs was studied. We calculated the deflection angle for some model parameters.

There is an accelerating requirement for ocean sensing where autonomous vehicles can play an essential role in assisting engineers, researchers, and scientists with environmental monitoring and collecting oceanographic data. This paper is performed to develop a rigid sail for the autonomous sailing drone. Our study aims to numerically analyze the aerodynamic characteristics of curvy twin sail and compare it with wing sail. Because racing regulations limit the sail shape, only the two-dimensional geometry was open for an optimization. Therefore, this study’s first objective was to identify the aerodynamic performance of such curvy twin sails. Simultaneously, a secondary objective was to estimate the effect of the sail’s spacing and shapes. A viscous Navier-Stokes flow solver is used for the numerical aerodynamic analysis. The 2D aerodynamic investigation is a preliminary evaluation. The results have shown that the curvy twin sail designs have improved lift, drag, and driving force coefficient compared to the wing sails. The spacing between the port and starboard sails of curvy twin sail is an important parameter. The spacing is 0.035L, 0.07L, and 0.14L shows the lift coefficient reduction because of dramatically stall effect, while flow separation is improved with spacing is 0.21L, 0.28L, and 0.35L. Significantly, the spacing 0.28L shows the maximum high pressure at the lower area and the small low pressure area at leading edges, so the highest lift is generated.

We report fabrication of crystalline microresonators of high quality (Q) factors with a controllable wedge angle on lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI). Our technique relies on femtosecond laser assisted chemo-mechanical polish which allows us to achieve ultrahigh surface smoothness as critically demanded by high Q microresonator applications. We show that by refining the polish parameters, Q factors as high as 4.7 × 10⁷ can be obtained and the wedge angle of the LNOI can be continuously tuned from 9° to 51°.

In this paper, we are interested in a model of exact asymptotically flat charged hairy black holes in the background of dilaton potential. We study the weak gravitational lensing in the spacetime of hairy black hole in Einstein-Maxwell theory with a non-minimally coupled dilaton and its non-trivial potential. In doing so, we use the optical geometry of the flat charged hairy black hole for some range of parameter $\gamma$. For this purpose, by using Gauss-Bonnet theorem, we obtain the deflection angle of photon in a spherically symmetric and asymptotically flat spacetime. Moreover, we also investigate the impact of plasma medium on weak gravitational lensing by asymptotically flat charged hairy black hole with a dilaton potential. Our analytically analyses show the effect of the hair on the deflection angle in weak field limits.

In this paper, we proposed a new model of non-linear electrodynamics with parameter. Firstly, we study the weak limit approximation and by using the Gauss Bonnet theorem, we obtain the deflection angle of photon from magnetized black hole and effect of bnon-linear electrodynamics. In doing so, we find the corresponding optical metric after that we calculate the Gaussian curvature which is used in Gauss Bonnet theorem. Then we show the deflection angle in the leading order terms. We also analyzed that our results reduces into Maxwell's electrodynamics and RN solution with the reduction of parameters. Moreover, we also investigate the graphical behavior of deflection angle w.r.t correction parameter, black hole charge and impact parameter.

In this paper, the ductile fracture mechanism is discussed. The results of the numerical and experimental analyses are used to estimate of the onset of the crack front growth . It is assumed that the ductile fracture in front of the crack starts at the location along the crack front where the accumulated effective plastic strain reaches a critical value. It is also assumed that the critical effective plastic strain depends on the stress triaxiality and the Lode angle. The experimental programme was performed using five different specimen geometries, three different materials and three different temperatures of +20°C, -20°C and -50°C. Using the experimental data and the results of the finite element computations, the critical effective plastic strains are determined for each material and each temperature. However, before the critical effective plastic strain is determined, a careful calibration of the stress–strain curves was performed after modification of the Bai–Wierzbicki procedure. Finally, by analysing the experimental results recorded during the interrupted fracture tests and scanning microscopy observations, the research hypothesis is verified.

The new unique technology for granulation of metals and nonmetallic melts is presented in the paper. It was created on the newly developed controlled film flow disintegration with rapid cooling of the droplets and solidified granules in amorphous state. Three new phenomena discovered by us created the base for 3 different methods for granulation of metals and nonmetallic melts in a wide range of granules’ sizes. Electromagnetic resonance method allows producing granules of metals in the range of 1 mm and over. The soliton-like vibrational regime is available for production of any granulation material in the range 0.1-1 mm. Moreover, the shockwave regime is applicable for producing particles from 10 micrometers by size. All methods produce particles of the stated size with a narrow distribution by size: deviation from the average size no more than 50%. The other known methods do not produce granules with such high cooling rate, which can realize the amorphous state and cannot regulate size of particles in such bright but narrow range from 10 micrometers to 1-2 mm.

Background: Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is a complex autoimmune disease, and the exact pathogenesis remains to be elucidated. Methods: We conducted summary data-based Mendelian randomization (SMR) analysis and performed functional mapping and annotation using FUMA to explore genetic loci that are po-tentially involved in the pathogenies of IgAN. Both analyses used summarized data of a recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) on IgANs, which included 477,784 Europeans (15,587 cases and 462,197 controls) and 175,359 East Asians (71 cases and 175,288 controls). We performed separate SMR analysis using CAGE and GTEx eQTL data. Results: Using the CAGE eQTL data, our SMR analysis identified 32 probes tagging 25 unique genes that were pleiotropically/potentially causally associated with IgAN, with the top three probes being ILMN_2150787 (tagging HLA-C, PSMR=2.10×10-18), ILMN_1682717 (tagging IER3, PSMR=1.07×10-16) and ILMN_1661439 (tagging FLOT1, PSMR=1.16×10-14). Using GTEx eQTL data, our SMR analysis identified 24 probes tagging 24 unique genes, with the top three probes being ENSG00000271581.1 (tagging XXbac-BPG248L24.12, PSMR=1.44×10-10), ENSG00000186470.9 (tagging BTN3A2, PSMR=2.28×10-10), and ENSG00000224389.4 (tagging C4B, PSMR=1.23×10-9). FUMA analysis identified 3 independent, significant and lead SNPs, 2 genomic risk loci and 39 genes. Conclusion: We identified many genetic variants/loci that are potentially involved in the patho-genesis of IgAN.

An innovative wireless sensor network (WSN) based on Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) technology for 3D accurate superficial monitoring of ground deformations, as landslides and subsidence, is proposed. The system has been designed and developed as part of an European Life+ project, called Wi-GIM (Wireless Sensor Network for Ground Instability Monitoring). The details of the architecture, the localization via wireless technology and data processing protocols are described. The flexibility and accuracy achieved by the UWB two-way ranging technique is analysed and compared with the traditional systems, such as robotic total stations (RTSs), Ground-based Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (GB-InSAR), highlighting the pros and cons of the UWB solution to detect the surface movements. An extensive field trial campaign allows the validation of the system and the analysis of its sensitivity to different factors (e.g., sensor nodes inter-visibility, effects of the temperature, etc.). The Wi-GIM system represents a promising solution for landslide monitoring and it can be adopted in conjunction with traditional systems or as an alternative in areas where the available resources are inadequate. The versatility, easy/fast deployment and cost-effectiveness, together with the good accuracy, make the Wi-GIM system a possible solution for municipalities that cannot afford expensive/complex systems to monitor potential landslides in their territory.

Aiming at the limitations of single-functionality, limited applicability, and complex designs prevalent in current metasurfaces, we propose a terahertz multifunctional and multiband tunable metasurface utilizing a VO2-metal hybrid structure. This metasurface structure comprises a top VO2-metal resonance layer, a middle polyimide dielectric layer, and a gold film reflective layer at the bottom. This metasurface exhibits multifunctionality, operating independently of polarization and incident angle. The varying conductivity states of the VO2 layers, enable the metasurface to achieve various terahertz functionalities, including single-band absorption, broadband THz absorption, and multiband perfect polarization conversion for linear (LP) and circularly polarized (CP) incident waves. Finally, we believe that the functional adaptability of the proposed metasurface expands the repertoire of options available for future terahertz device designs.

Glaucoma poses a serious public health concern as it is the second leading cause of blindness after cataracts, while also being the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Glaucoma is more prevalent among Black, Latino, and Asian populations and it is essential to examine both racial and ethnic disparities that exist in treatment and prevention. As the number of people with glaucoma continues to grow, it is important to review aspects of this condition in order to better care for those affected. This article will review significant forms of glaucoma and what differentiates them in a diagnosis, treatment options, and recommendations on prevention and improving awareness

With growing regulations on ship emissions, specifically carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides, this study emphasizes the critical need for improving the performance of existing ship diesel engines. Focusing on easily modifiable injection conditions within the fuel system, the research aims to enhance combustion characteristics for operational ships. The study provides a concise analysis of the combustion performance improvements achievable in the field. The study employed a range of calculation conditions, spanning from fuel injection pressures of 20 MPa to 160 MPa, injection timing from 15 degrees before top dead center (BTDC) to 5 degrees after top dead center (ATDC), and spray angles varying between 10 degrees and 50 degrees. A comprehensive analysis was conducted, focusing on fuel distribution behavior, combustion dynamics, carbon monoxide (CO) production and extinction, as well as nitrogen oxide (NO) production. This thorough examination aimed to provide insights into the complex interplay of these factors in order to optimize combustion performance in ship diesel engines. The analysis indicated that substantial unburned fuel occurred at injection pressures below 40 MPa and spray angles less than 20 degrees. This issue was significantly mitigated when injection pressures exceeded 80 MPa or a spray angle of 40 degrees was employed. High flame propagation speeds were observed at injection pressures over 80 MPa and injection timings before BTDC 10. Carbon monoxide emissions were notably low when injection pressures exceeded 80 MPa and a 40-degree spray angle was used. Nitrogen oxide emissions were minimized under conditions of injection pressure below 40 MPa, injection timing after BTDC 5 degrees, and a spray angle between 30 and 40 degrees. The study concludes that the most effective injection conditions for concurrently reducing fuel consumption, minimizing incomplete combustion products, and lowering nitrogen oxide emissions in the target engine are optimal when the injection pressure is set at 80 MPa, the injection timing is positioned at 5 degrees before top dead center (BTDC), and the spray angle is maintained at 40 degrees.