Strata and surface movement induced by mining under open-pit final slope is a huge threat to mine safety. Physical model test is an important method to study mining-induced strata and surface movement laws. Because of rock joints predominantly control rock mass deformation and failure, thus physical model test leaving out of consideration of rock joints is difficult to reflect the influence of rock joints on rock mass deformation. Therefore, this paper presents a three-dimensional physical model test considering simplified dominant rock joints. This test process includes the design of testing equipment, the construction of physical model with dominant rock joint sets, conduction of mining and deformation monitoring. And mining under eastern final slope of Yanqianshan iron mine was selected as a case to study the behavior of mining-induced strata and surface movement.

For improving the tracking accuracy and model switching speed of maneuvering target tracking in nonlinear systems, a new algorithm named interacting multiple model fifth-degree spherical simplex-radial cubature filter (IMM5thSSRCKF) is proposed in this paper. The new algorithm is a combination of the interacting multiple model (IMM) filter and fifth-degree spherical simplex-radial cubature filter (5thSSRCKF). The proposed algorithm makes use of Markov process to describe the switching probability among the models, and uses 5thSSRCKF to deal with the state estimation of each model. The 5thSSRCKF is an improved filter algorithm, which utilizes the fifth-degree spherical simplex-radial rule to improve the filtering accuracy. Finally, the tracking performance of the IMM5thSSRCKF is evaluated by simulation in a typical maneuvering target tracking scenario. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has better tracking performance and quicker model switching speed when disposing maneuver models compared with IMMUKF, IMMCKF and IMM5thCKF.

Organisms in the wild have cryptic life stages that are sensitive to changing environmental conditions and can be difficult to survey. In this study, I used mark-recapture methods to repeatedly survey Anaea aidea (Nymphalidae) caterpillars in nature, then modeled caterpillar demography as a hidden Markov process to assess if temporal variability in temperature and density influence the survival and growth of A. aidea over time. Individual encounter histories result from the joint likelihood of being alive and observed in a particular stage, and I included hidden states by separating demography and observations into parallel and independent processes. I constructed a demographic matrix containing the probabilities of all possible fates for each stage, including hidden states, e.g., eggs and pupae. I observed both dead and live caterpillars with high probability. Peak caterpillar abundance attracted multiple predators, and survival of fifth instars declined as per capita predation rate increased through spring. A time lag between predator and prey abundance was likely the cause of improved fifth instar survival estimated at high density. Growth rates showed an increase with temperature, but the most likely model did not include temperature. This work illustrates how state-space models can include unobservable stages and hidden state processes to evaluate how environmental factors influence vital rates of cryptic life stages in the wild.

Food systems will need to undergo considerable transformation. To be better prepared for and resilient to uncertainty and disturbances in the future, resource users and managers need to further develop knowledge about the food and farming system, with its dominating feedback structures and complexities, and to test robust and integrated system-based solutions. This paper investigates how participatory system dynamics modeling can be adapted to groups at the community level with low or no formal educational background. The paper also analyzes the refinement of workshop participants’ mental models as a consequence of a participatory system dynamics intervention. For this purpose, we ran two workshops with small-scale farmers in Zambia. Analysis of workshop data and post-workshop interviews shows that participatory system dynamics is well adaptable to support an audience-specific learning-by-doing approach. The use of pictures, objects and water glasses in combination with the basic aspects of causal loop diagramming makes for a well-balanced toolbox. Participants acquire understanding that is also relevant beyond systems thinking in that is offers a range of practical insights such as a critical evaluation of common food security strategies.

The Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, a cornerstone of modern software engineering, offers a robust framework for developing dynamic user interfaces. This paper conducts a broad analysis of MVC’s deployment across various sectors, emphasizing its critical role in technological advancement and market integration. By examining implementation strategies in web development, mobile applications, and enterprise solutions, the study illustrates how MVC enhances application manageability, promotes efficient code reuse, and facilitates parallel development. The paper explores the adoption of MVC principles within major technologies such as Java, .NET, and JavaScript frameworks, underlining its widespread acceptance. Additionally, the analysis covers the preferential use of MVC frameworks within diverse market sectors including technology enterprises, educational institutions, e-commerce, and financial services, which leverage MVC for superior data management and user experience. Emerging trends such as the shift towards the Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) architecture and the integration of MVC with artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies are also discussed. This comprehensive review not only reaffirms MVC’s enduring relevance but also its adaptive evolution in response to emerging technological demands and market needs.

Here we will model the curvature and contraction of space-time using as a basis the equation of state of an ideal gas and the Hawking´s equation for the temperature of a black hole. We will use this mathematical model to hypothesize that the Boltzmann´s constant depends on the state of matter, that is, there is a known Boltzmann´s constant for flat space-time and an effective Boltzmann´s constant for curved space-time. This model will allow us to quantify the structure of space-time and will serve as a basis to determine the origin of gravity and the origin of elementary particles. Using the Shannon-Boltzmann-Gibbs entropy relation, we will demonstrate that information is not lost and depends on the state of matter, the information is encoded and depends on the effective Boltzmann´s constant.

The Aether Physics Model (APM) presents a radical reinterpretation of fundamental physics, offering potential solutions to long-standing problems in Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity. This paper explores the core concepts and equations of the APM, demonstrating how they provide a unified framework for understanding the nature of space, time, matter, and fundamental forces. We examine the implications of the APM's quantized Aether structure, the role of the Singularity and Gforce, and the reinterpretation of fundamental constants and forces. The model's predictions regarding dark matter, neutron content in stable matter, and the unification of forces are discussed, along with potential experimental tests. Additionally, we introduce the loxodrome concept and toroidal particle topology as central elements in explaining fundamental particles and forces. While highly speculative, the APM offers a thought-provoking alternative to standard physics models and warrants further investigation.

Flood frequency analysis at large scales, essential for the development of flood risk maps, is hindered by the uncertainty in outputs of process-based hydrological models and the scarcity of gauge flow data. We develop a Bayesian hierarchical model (BHM) based on the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution for regional flood frequency analysis at high resolution across North America. Our model leverages annual maximum flow data from ≈20000 gauged stations and a dataset of 130 static catchment-specific covariates to predict extreme flows at all catchments over the continent as well as their associated statistical uncertainty. Additionally, a modification is made to the data layer of the BHM to include daily gauge discharge data when available, which improves the precision of the discharge level estimates. We validated the model using a hold-out approach and found that its predictive power is very good for the GEV distribution location and scale parameters and improveable for the shape parameter, which is notoriously hard to estimate. The resulting discharge return levels yield satisfying agreement when compared with available design peak discharge from various government sources. Assessment of the covariates’ contributions to the model also informs on the most relevant underlying factors influencing flood-inducing peak flows. The key covariates in our model are temperature-related bioindicators, the catchment drainage area and geographical location.

A previous related paper dealing with the density relaxation of polystyrene (PS) has shown that the equilibrium relaxation time (eq) has a purely exponential temperature dependence (ETD) below ≈ 100ºC. Such an ETD is now also confirmed based upon available dielectric-spectra data for PS. By combining the ETD behavior of eq (or aT) at low temperatures with a VFTH behavior at higher temperatures (based mainly on available recoverable-shear-compliance data), a composite correlation for eq (or aT) is developed which is continuous with continuous slope at a crossover temperature which is found to be 99.22ºC, where eq = 92.15 sec. This composite representation is shown to describe (without any adjustable parameters) available independent data for the segmental-relaxation time over a finite range both above and below Tcrossover (i.e. the glass-transition temperature).

In response to increasing urbanization and the need for infrastructure resilient to natural hazards, this study introduces an AI-driven predictive model designed to assess the risk of soil liquefaction. Utilizing advanced ensemble machine learning techniques, the model integrates geotechnical and geographical data to accurately predict the potential for soil liquefaction in urban areas, with a specific focus on Yokohama, Japan. This methodology leverages comprehensive datasets from geological surveys and seismic activity to enhance urban planning and infrastructure development in smart cities. The primary outputs include detailed soil liquefaction risk maps that are essential for effective urban risk management. These maps support urban planners and engineers in making informed decisions, prioritizing safety, and promoting sustainability. The model employs a robust combination of neural networks and gradient boosting decision trees to analyze and predict data points, assessing soil susceptibility to liquefaction during seismic events. Notably, the model achieves high accuracy in predicting soil classifications and N-values, which are critical for evaluating soil liquefaction risk. Validation against an extensive dataset from geotechnical surveys confirms the model’s practical effectiveness. Moreover, the results highlight the transformative potential of AI in enhancing geotechnical risk assessments and improving the resilience of urban areas against natural hazards.

We examine the impact of temperature (T) on the Seebeck coefficient S, i.e., the T dependence of S for the single-component molecular conductor Pd(dddt)_2] (dddt = 5,6-dihydro-1,4-dithiin-2,3-dithiolate) with a half-filled band, where the coefficient is obtained from a ratio of the thermal conductivity to the electrical conductivity. The conductor exhibits Dirac electrons with a nodal line, which shows the energy variation around the chemical potential and the density of states (DOS) with a minimum. Using a three-dimensional tight-binding (TB) model in the presence of both impurity and electron--phonon (e--p) scatterings, we study the Seebeck coefficient S_y for the molecular stacking and the most conducting direction. The impact of T on S_y exhibits a sign change, where S_y > 0 with a maximum at high temperatures and S_y < 0 with a minimum at low temperatures. The T dependence of S_y suggests that the contribution from the conduction (valence) band is dominant at low (high) temperatures.The result is examined using a spectral conductivity \sigma_y(\epsilon,T) as a function of the energy $\epsilon$ close to the chemical potential \mu. Further, the Seebeck coefficients for perpendicular directions (x and z) are examined, to show both S_x and S_z being positive and no sign change in contrast to S_y.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is caused by the full mutation in the FMR1 gene on the Xq27.3 chromosome region. It is the most common monogenic cause of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and inherited intellectual disability (ID). Besides ASD, ID and other issues, individuals with FXS may exhibit sleep problems and impairment of circadian rhythm (CR). The Drosophila melanogaster models of FXS, such as dFMR1B55, present excellent model for research in the FXS field. During this study, sleep pattern and CR in dFMR1B55 mutants were analyzed, using a new platform based on continuous high-resolution videography in integration with a highly-customized version of software. This methodology provides more sensitive results, which could be crucial for all further research in this model of fruit flies. The study revealed that dFMR1 B55 male mutants can be considered weak rhythmic flies rather than totally arrhythmic, and present a good alternative animal model of genetic disorder, which includes impairment of CR and sleep behavior. The combination of videography and software used in the current study should be recommended as a gold-standard methodology for such further research.

This paper presents a new semi-explicit algorithm for parameters estimation in a time-fractional generalization of dual-phase-lag heat conduction model with the Caputo fractional derivatives. It is shown that this model can be derived from a general linear constitutive relation for the heat transfer by conduction when the heat conduction relaxation kernel contains the Mittag-Leffler function. The model can be used to describe heat conduction phenomena in a material with power-law memory. The proposed algorithm of parameters estimation is based on the time integral characteristics method. The explicit representations of the thermal diffusivity and the fractional analogues of the thermal relaxation time and the thermal retardation are obtained via a Laplace transform of the temperature field and utilized in the algorithm. An implicit relation is derived for the order of fractional differentiation. In the algorithm, this relation is resolved numerically. An example illustrates the proposed technique.

Solar radiation impacts diverse aspects of city life, such as harvesting energy with PV panels, passive heating of buildings in winter, cooling loads of air-conditioning systems in summer, and urban microclimate. Urban digital twins and 3D city models can support solar studies in the process of urban planning and provide valuable insights for data-driven decision support. This study examines the calculation of solar incident radiation at the city scale in Sofia using remote sensing data for the large shading context in a mountainous region and 3D vector building data. The building footprints and the terrain are preprocessed using GIS. The solar calculation uses a raytracing algorithm in 3D CAD at the city scale. To evaluate the performance, two cases were considered at the city and district scale, respectively. The total face count of meshes for the simulations constituted approximately 2 000 000 faces. 64379 roofs for the whole city and 4796 buildings for one district were selected. All calculations were performed in one batch and visualized in a 3D web platform. Using a 3D CAD environment establishes a seamless process of updating 3D models and simulations while preprocessing in GIS ensures working with large-scale datasets. The proposed method showed moderate computation time for both cases and could be extended to include reflected radiation and dense photogrammetric meshes in the future.

Emerging semiconductor devices often lack accurate analytical models. The same is usually true of any devices working under extreme conditions like cryogenic temperatures. The usual workaround involves the use of approximation models, usually based on lookup tables or neural networks individually fitted to measurement data. In the case of experimental devices or ones working under extreme conditions, the number of units available for measurement is limited. As a result, the number of approximation-model instances is too small to enable a statistical simulation of even middle-sized circuits, which is a necessary step in integrated-circuit design since it provides the realistic picture of the circuit’s behavior in the presence of manufacturing process variations. Approximation models using structure parameters as inputs do exist in the literature, but are only useful if the end user knows the statistical distributions of those parameters, which is not usually the case. We propose a technique based on generative machine learning, namely the variational autoencoder, that uses only a small sample of devices to capture the essential features of their I–V curves under process variations and subsequently generates an arbitrary number of similarly disturbed curves. The model trained on as few as 20 instances per device type is shown to precisely reproduce the distributions of period and power consumption of a ring oscillator.

The Double U-pipe ground heat exchanger, recognized for its straightforward process, cost-effectiveness, high heat exchange efficiency, and low thermal resistance, stands as the predominant ground heat exchanger type in today's shallow geothermal energy development and utilization. Recent years have seen significant research into the heat transfer influencing factors and heat exchange performance of Double U-pipe ground heat ex-changers via experimental testing methods. Yet, studies integrating numerical simulation with in-situ testing have been less frequent. Drawing on the cylindrical heat source model theory and the outcomes of regional in-situ thermal response tests, this paper develops a Double U-pipe ground heat transfer model by establishing physical, mathematical, and heat transfer geometric models. It assesses the impact of varying inlet temperatures, flow rates, and initial ground temperatures on heat exchange efficiency under heating conditions. The results validate the precision of the double U-pipe ground heat exchanger model based on in-situ testing. They show that enhancing the temperature differential between the inlet and initial temperatures, elevating the initial ground temperature, and moderately increasing the flow rate can boost the system's heat exchange efficiency.

The digital transformation of critical infrastructures, such as energy or water distribution systems, is essential for their smart management. Faster issue identification and smoother services enable better adaptation to consumers' evolving demands. However, these large-scale infrastructures are often outdated. Their digital transformation is crucial to enable them supporting societies. This process must be carefully planned, providing guidance that ensures that the data they rely on is dependable and that the system remains fully operational during the transition. This paper presents a formal model that supports reliable data acquisition in legacy critical infrastructures, facilitating their evolution towards a data-driven smart system. Our model provides the foundation for a flexible transformation process while generating dependable data for system management. We demonstrate the model's applicability in a use case within the water distribution domain and discuss its benefits.

This work continues the review and illustrative application to energy systems of the “Fourth-Order Best-Estimate Results with Reduced Uncertainties Predictive Modeling” (4th-BERRU-PM) methodology. The 4th-BERRU-PM methodology uses the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) principle to incorporate fourth-order experimental and computational information, in-cluding fourth (and higher) order sensitivities of computed model responses with respect to model parameters. The 4th-BERRU-PM methodology yields the fourth-order MaxEnt posterior distribution of experimentally measured and computed model responses and parameters, in the combined phase-space of model responses and parameters. The 4th-BERRU-PM methodology encompasses fourth-order sensitivity analysis (SA) and uncertainty quantification (UQ), which were reviewed in the accompanying work (Part 1), as well as fourth-order data assimilation (DA) and model calibration (MC) capabilities, which will be reviewed and illustrated in this work (Part 2). The applicability of the 4th-BERRU-PM methodology to energy systems is illustrated by using the Polyethylene-Reflected Plutonium (acronym: PERP) OECD/NEA reactor physics benchmark, which is modeled using the linear neutron transport Boltzmann equation, involving 21976 im-precisely known parameters. This benchmark is representative of “large-scale computations” such as those involved in the modeling of energy systems. The result (“response”) of interest for the PERP benchmark is the leakage of neutrons through the outer surface of this spherical benchmark, which can be computed numerically and measured experimentally. The impact of the high-order sensitivities of the response with respect to the PERP model parameters is quantified for “high-precision” parameters (2% standard deviations) and “medium-precision” parameters (5% standard deviations). Analyzing the best-estimate results with reduced uncertainties for the 1st- through 4th-order moments (mean values, covariance, skewness, and kurtosis) produced by the 4th-BERRU-PM methodology for the PERP benchmark indicates that, even for systems mod-eled by linear equations (e.g., the PERP benchmark), retaining only first-order sensitivities is insufficient for reliable predictive modeling (including SA, UQ, DA, MC). At least second-order sensitivities should be retained in order to obtain reliable predictions.

The importance of detecting and diagnosing the imminence of aneurysm rupture before it occurs cannot be overstated. However, this process is often time-consuming and challenging, with variability in conclusions not uncommon among experts. Furthermore, current state-of-the-art models in medical image segmentation suffer from limited availability of large annotated datasets for training, exacerbated by an immense data imbalance. In most segmentation tasks, 3D segmentation is preferred due to its capacity to leverage more contextual information. However, these models require more data, which is constrained by the aforementioned issues. In the realm of current diagnosis models, those lacking geographic context are notably ineffective. To address these issues, the aim is to develop a model pipeline to accurately detect cerebral intracranial aneurysms and diagnose rupture imminence through 3D magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and tabular input, augmented with the implementation of neuro-symbolic ai. The utilization of data fusion to tackle the lack of context in tabular models is proposed, leveraging extracted geographical features from a segmentation model. To enhance segmentation results and tackle the data imbalance in aneurysm segmentation, a two-stage model pipeline that extracts contextual geographic features before aneurysm segmentation is suggested. Segmentation results are additionally improved through ensemble techniques and novel preprocessing techniques. Finally, a neuro-symbolic aspect is introduced to enhance model diagnosis, interpretability and performance. The multi-step Integrated Neuro-Symbolic Analysis Pipeline for Cerebral Aneurysm Rupture Diagnosis is introduced.

It has been known that dimensional constants such as ℏ, c, G, e, and k are merely human constructs whose values and units vary depending on the chosen system of measurement. Therefore, the time variation of dimensional constants lacks operational significance due to their dependence on them. It is well-structured and represents a valid discussion. However, this fact only becomes a meaningful debate within the context of a static or present universe. As well-established theoretically and observationally, the current universe is undergoing accelerated expansion, wherein dimensional quantities, like the wavelength of light, also experience redshift phenomena elongating over cosmic time. In other words, in an expanding universe, dimensional quantities of physical parameters vary with cosmic time. From this perspective, there exists the possibility that dimensional constants, such as the speed of light, could vary with the expansion of the universe. In this review paper, we contemplate under what circumstances the speed of light may change or remain constant over cosmic time, and discuss the potential for distinguishing these cases observationally.

Microarray gene expression analysis is a powerful technique used in cancer classification and research to identify and understand gene expression patterns that can differentiate between different cancer types, subtypes, and stages. However, microarray databases are highly redundant, inherently nonlinear, and noisy. Therefore, extracting meaningful information from such a huge database is a challenging one. The paper adopts the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Mixture Model (MM) for dimensionality reduction and utilizes the Dragonfly optimization algorithm as the feature selection technique. The classifiers employed in this research are Nonlinear Regression, Naïve Bayes, Decision Tree, Random Forest and SVM (RBF). The classifiers' performances are analyzed with and without feature selection methods. Finally, Adaptive Moment Estimation (Adam) and Random Adaptive Moment Estimation (RanAdam) hyper-parameter tuning techniques are used as improvisation techniques for classifiers. The SVM (RBF) classifier with the Fast Fourier Transform Dimensionality Reduction method and Dragonfly feature selection achieved the highest accuracy of 98.343% with RanAdam hyperparameter tuning compared to other classifiers.

In recent years, the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in accounting has grown in many domains, including auditing. AI permits auditors to evaluate large data sets and rapidly identify discrepancies and sequences in audit. This means auditors can review all of a client's transactions via a low time and effort. This entails auditing firms investing heavily in technological infrastructure as well as training their human resources to use cutting-edge AI technologies. Thus, this research sought to investigate the impact of the use of AI techniques by Jordanian external auditors in fraud risk assessment, the moderating effect of auditor size. The descriptive analytical method was used by distributing 280 questionnaires electronically to auditors employed in auditing firms operating in Jordan, The result reveals that AI techniques are extremely beneficial in fraud risk assessment at all levels, and the relationship between the use of AI techniques and the assessment of fraud risk has improved as auditor size has increased.

In a context of increasingly necessary energy transition, precise modelling of profiles for low-voltage (LV) network consumers is crucial to enhance hosting capacity. Typically, load curves for these consumers are estimated through measurement campaigns conducted by Distribution System Operators (DSO) for a representative subset of customers or through the aggregation of load curves from household appliances within a residence. With the instrumentation of smart meters becoming more common, a new approach to modelling profiles for residential customers is proposed to make the most of the measurements from these meters. The disaggregation model estimates the load profile of customers on a low-voltage network by disaggregating the load curve measured at the secondary substation level. By utilizing only the maximum power measured by Linky smart meters, along with the load curve of the secondary substation, this model can estimate the daily profile of customers. For 48 secondary substations in our dataset, the model obtained an average symmetric mean average percentage error (SMAPE) error of 4.91% in reconstructing the load curve of the secondary substation from the curves disaggregated by the model. This methodology can allow the estimation of the daily consumption behaviors of the low-voltage customers. In this way, we can safely envision solutions that enhance the grid hosting capacity.

Natural language Processing (NLP) has significantly transformed in the last decade, especially in the field of Language Modeling. Large Language Models (LLMs) have achieved SOTA performances on Natural Language Understanding (NLU) and Natural Language Generation (NLG) tasks by learning language representation in self-supervised ways. This paper provides a comprehensive survey to capture the progression of advances in Language Models. In this paper, we examine the different aspects of Language Models, which started with a few million parameters but have reached the size of a trillion in a very short time. We also look at how these LLMs transitioned from task-specific to task-independent to task-and-language-independent architectures. This paper extensively discusses different pre-training objectives, benchmarks, and transfer learning methods used in LLMs. It also examines different fine-tuning and In-Context learning techniques used in downstream tasks. It also explores how LLMs can perform well across many domains and datasets if sufficiently trained on a large and diverse dataset. Next, it discusses how, over time, the availability of cheap computational power and large datasets have improved LLM’s capabilities and raised new challenges. As part of our study, we also inspect LLMs from the lens of scalability to see how their performance is affected by the model’s depth, width, and data size. Lastly, we provide an empirical comparison of existing trends and techniques and a comprehensive analysis of where the field of LLM currently stand.

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

A significantly reduced stress concentration effect and a stable deformation behavior are exhibited by the arc-like S-shaped auxetic structure. Analytical works beyond the bar and hinge method to capture structural effects, such as bending, shearing, etc., in the S-structure are scarce in the literature. The deformation pattern of the S-structure is dominated by bending and shearing within the linear elastic region. In this work, Timoshenko beam theory is used to derive closed-form expressions for overall elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio. This agrees well with the results of finite element simulations. An adjusted R-square value of over 0.99 and almost 0.82 is obtained for elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio, respectively. From parametric studies, it’s established that under quasi-static transverse load, strut thickness and the angle `α’ are the most important parameters for controlling elastic modulus, specific energy absorption, negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR) effect, and relative density of the entire auxetic structure. Also, it’s found that energy absorption and elastic modulus increase together. Interestingly, the elastic modulus of the structure under transverse load lies in the range from 3 MPa to 250 MPa, which means this structure is compliant enough and can be used in cushioning, packaging, soft robotics applications, etc.

Coastal dunes worldwide are increasingly under pressure from the adverse effects of human activities. Therefore, more and more restoration measures are being taken to create conditions that help disturbed coastal dune ecosystems regenerate or recover naturally. However, many projects lack (open-access) monitoring observations needed to signal whether further actions are needed, and hence to learn by doing. This submission presents an open access data set of 37 high-resolution digital elevation models and 24 orthomosaics collected before and after the excavation of five artificial foredune trough blowouts ("notches") in winter 2012/2013 in the Dutch Zuid-Kennemerland National Park, one of the largest coastal dune restoration projects in northwest Europe. These high-resolution data provide a valuable resource for improving understanding of the biogeomorphic processes that determine the evolution of restored dune systems, as well as developing guidelines to better design future restoration efforts with foredune notching.

Process mining offers significant services in the development of digital threads and digital twin applications for healthcare. One of the sub-emerging case studies is the use of patients’ location data in process mining analyses. While the streamlining of published works is focused on introducing process discovery algorithms, there is a necessity to address challenges beyond that. Literature analysis indicates that explainability, reasoning, and characterizing the root causes of process drifts in healthcare processes is an important but overlooked challenge. In addition, incorporating domain-specific knowledge into process discovery could be a significant contribution to process mining literature. To address this, we present the DIAG approach that consists of a meta-model and an algorithm that enables diagnosing in process mining through an ontology-driven approach. With DIAG, we modeled the healthcare semantics in a process mining application and diagnosed the causes of drifts in patients’ pathways. We performed an experiment in a hospital living lab to examine the effectiveness of the DIAG approach.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 continues to impact human health globally, with airborne transmission being a significant mode for transmission. In addition to tools like vaccination and testing, counter-measures that reduce viral spread in indoor settings are critical. This study aims to assess the efficacy of UV-C light, utilizing the Violett sterilization device, as a countermeasure against airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the highly susceptible Golden Syrian hamster model. Methods: Two cohorts of naïve hamsters were subjected to airborne transmission from experimentally infected hamsters; one cohort was exposed to air treated with UV-C sterilization, while the other cohort was exposed to un-treated air. Results: Treatment of air with UV-C light prevented the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from experimentally exposed hamster to naïve hamsters. Notably, this protection was sustained over a muti-day exposure period during peak viral shedding from hamsters. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the efficacy of the UV-C light to mitigate airborne SARS-CoV-2 transmission. As variants continue to emerge, UV-C light holds promise as a tool to reduce infections in diverse indoor settings, ranging from healthcare facilities to households. This study reinforces the urgency of implementing innovative methods to reduce airborne disease transmission and safeguard public health against emerging biological threats.

To investigate the variation patterns of spectral characteristics of main branches in fruit trees due to uneven distribution of growth, pruning, and fruit quality, as well as to determine the optimal fruit vi-bration harvesting, a vibration differential model of tree branches was constructed using the concen-trated mass method. A three-dimensional model of the fruit tree was built using finite element software. The spectral characteristics of each branch were obtained using the linear sweep frequency method. The method of changing the mass of each branch was employed to simulate the variation in branch mass. The frequency of occurrence, mean acceleration, and coefficient of variation of the inherent frequencies were used as evaluation indicators. The results revealed that when the vibration frequency of the fruit tree was at the peak frequency in the tree trunk spectrum, the frequency of occurrence and mean accel-eration were optimal. And the coefficient of variation of branch acceleration was less than 1, indicating a moderate dispersion. Additionally, reducing the branch mass resulted in an increase in the peak fre-quency of the tree trunk spectrum. Therefore, the growth, pruning, and uneven distribution of the branches in fruit trees can alter the spectral characteristics. When harvesting fruit by vibration, selecting the peak frequency in the trunk vibration spectrum as the excitation force frequency yields the best fruit detachment.

Exposure of experimental rodents to controlled cycles of light, food, and temperature is important when investigating alterations in circadian cycles that profoundly influence health and disease. However, applying such stimuli simultaneously is difficult in practice. Our aim was to design, build, test, and open-source describe a simple device that subjects a conventional mouse cage to independent cycles of physiologically relevant environmental variables. The device is based on a box enclosing the rodent cage to modify the light, feeding, and temperature environments. The device provides temperature-controlled air conditioning (heating or cooling) by a Peltier module and includes programmable feeding and illumination. All functions are set by a user-friendly front panel for independent cycle programming. Bench testing with a model simulating the CO2 production of mice in the cage showed: a) suitable air renewal (by measuring actual ambient CO2), b) controlled realistic illumination at the mouse enclosure (measured by a photometer), c) stable temperature control, and d) correct cycling of light, feeding, and temperature. The cost of all the supplies (retail purchased by e-commerce) was &lt; 300 US$). Detailed technical information is open-source provided, allowing for any user to reliably reproduce or modify the device. This approach can considerably facilitate circadian research since using one of the described low-cost devices for any mouse group with a given light-food-temperature paradigm allows for all the experiments to be performed simultaneously, thereby requiring no changes in the light/temperature of a general-use laboratory.

This paper aims to understand better how attitudes towards the environment could influence preferences and willingness to pay for the development of sustainable tourism products on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. A hybrid choice model is estimated to analyse how different latent constructs related to environmental concerns affect individuals’ preferences for a set of sustainable tourism activities. The data used in the analysis is obtained from a discrete choice experiment where different scenarios with nature-based tourism packages are created. A set of measurement indicators allowed us to gain insight into the underlying latent structure regarding the individuals’ attitudes towards the environment. The analysis consists of integrating these attitudes into a choice model, focusing on a market segment primarily comprised of potential customers who are young residents and non-residents. Results reveal significant heterogeneity in preferences and willingness to pay for the various activities under study when attitudinal latent factors are incorporated into the model. Our findings provide valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners promoting sustainable tourism products.

Artificial intelligence algorithms have gained widespread adoption in the field of air conditioning load prediction. However, their prediction accuracy is substantially influenced by the quality of training samples. Training samples that lack relevance to the predicted moments can introduce interference into the neural network's learning process, potentially leading to a state of local convergence during its iterative process. This, in turn, diminishes the robustness and generalization capabilities of the prediction model. To enhance the prediction accuracy of air conditioning load prediction models based on artificial intelligence algorithms, this study presents an artificial intelligence algorithm prediction model based on the method of sample similarity sample screening. Initially, the comprehensive similarity coefficient between samples is computed using the gray correlation analysis method, enriched with enhancements in information entropy. Subsequently, a subset of closely related samples is extracted from the original dataset and employed as the training dataset for the artificial intelligence prediction model. Finally, the trained artificial intelligence algorithm prediction model is deployed for air conditioning load prediction. The results illustrate that the method of screening training samples based on sample similarity effectively improves the prediction accuracy of BP neural network (BPNN) and extreme learning machine (ELM) prediction models. However, it is important to note that this approach may not be suitable for genetic algorithm BPNN (GABPNN) and support vector regression (SVR) models.

Cloud platforms are widely employed in today's educational context to enhance collaborative learning and the overall quality of the teaching-learning process. In 2016, Nextcloud was im-plemented in the Faculty of Chemical Engineering at the Technological University of Havana "José Antonio Echeverría" (CUJAE), Cuba. Subsequently, an evaluative phase was conducted to ensure the continuous development of the platform. The objective was to assess the use and ac-ceptance of the Nextcloud platform from the perspective of students and professors in the Fac-ulty. An exploratory, non-experimental, and cross-sectional study was conducted. Data was col-lected through observation and a survey. Matomo Analytics tool was employed for observation, revealing low visitation numbers. The survey was based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model. Better results were obtained in positive acceptances compared to negative ones, both for professors and students. It is concluded that the evaluation of the Next-cloud platform is infrequently used by users; however, there were higher positive acceptances than negatives from the perspectives of both students and professors.

High Vacuum Flat Plate Collectors (HVFPCs) are the only type of Flat Plate Thermal Collectors capable of producing thermal energy for middle-temperature applications (until 180 °C). As the trend of research plans to develop new Selective Solar Absorbers to extend the range of HVFPC application until 250 °C, it is necessary to correctly evaluate the collector efficiency up to such temperature to predict the energy production accurately. We propose an efficiency model for these collectors based on the selective absorber optical properties. The proposed efficiency model explicitly includes the radiative heat exchange with the ambient, which is the main source of thermal losses for evacuated collectors at high temperatures. It also decouples the radiative losses that depend on the optical properties of the absorber adopted from the other thermal losses due to HVFPC architecture. The model has been validated by applying it to MT-Power HVFPC manufactured by TVP-Solar, and it has been used to predict the efficiency and energy production of HVFPC equipped with new, optimized selective solar absorbers developed in recent years.

Disassembly is a pivotal technology to enable the circularity of electric vehicle batteries by applying circular economy strategies that extend the life cycle of their components, like remanufacturing and repurposing, or by using efficient recycling to reintegrate the gained materials in producing new battery systems. This paper aims to develop a multi-method self-configuring simulation model for investigating disassembly scenarios while considering the battery design as well as the configuration and layout of the disassembly station. We demonstrate the developed model in a case study using a battery of Mercedes-Benz and the automated disassembly station of the project DeMoBat at Fraunhofer IPA. Furthermore, we introduce two disassembly scenarios, the component-oriented and the accessibility-oriented disassembly, and compare them using the simulation model to determine several indicators, such as the frequency of tool change, the number and distribution of robot routes, the tool utilization, and the disassembly time.

Geospatial knowledge in massive academic papers can provide knowledge services such as location-based research hotspot analysis, spatio-temporal data aggregation, research results recommendation, etc. However, geospatial knowledge often exists implicitly in literature resources in unstructured form, which is difficult to be directly accessed and mined and utilized for rapid production of massive thematic maps. In this paper, we take the geospatial knowledge of the area studied as an example and introduce its extraction method in detail. An integrated feature template matching and random forest classification algorithm is proposed for accurately identifying research areas from the abstract texts of academic papers and producing thematic maps. Firstly, the precise recognition of geographical names is achieved step by step based on BiLSTM-CRF algorithm and improved heuristic disambiguation method; then, the area studied is extracted by the designed integrated feature recognition template of area studied using random forest classification algorithm, and a fast thematic map is designed for the knowledge of area studied, topic and literature. The experimental results show that the area studied recognition accuracy can reach 97%, the F-value is 96%, and the recall rate reaches 96%, achieving high accuracy and high efficiency of area studied extraction in text. Based on the geospatial knowledge, the thematic map can achieve the effect of fast map formation and accurate expression.

We previously developed a highly sensitive and specific anti-PDPN mAb, LpMab-23 (mouse IgG1, kappa). In this study, we produced a humanized IgG1 version (humLpMab-23) and its defucosylated form (humLpMab-23-f) of an anti‑PDPN mAb to potentiate the ADCC activity. The humLpMab-23 could recognize PDPN‑overexpressed Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 (CHO/PDPN) and PDPN-positive PC-10 and LN319 cells by flow cytometry. Furthermore, we found that humLpMab-23-f exerted ADCC and complement-dependent cytotoxicity against CHO/PDPN, PC-10 and LN319 cells in vitro and exhibited potent antitumor activities in the xenograft models. These results indicated that humLpMab-23-f could be useful for an antibody treatment regimen for PDPN-positive human cancers.

In this paper, the problem of autonomous optimal absolute orbit keeping for a satellite mission in Low Earth Orbit using electric propulsion is considered. The main peculiarity of the approach is to support small satellite missions in which the platform is equipped with a single thruster nozzle which provides acceleration on a single direction at a time. This constraint implies that an attitude maneuver is necessary before or during each thrusting arc to direct the nozzle into the desired direction. In this context, an attitude guidance algorithm specific for the orbit maneuver has been developed. A Model Predictive Control scheme is proposed, where the attitude kinematics are coupled with the orbital dynamics in order to obtain the optimal guidance profiles in terms of satellite state, reference attitude, and thrust magnitude. The proposed control scheme is developed exploiting Formation Flying techniques where the reference orbit is that of a virtual spacecraft that the main satellite is required to rendezvous with. In addition to the controller design, the closed loop configuration is presented supported by numerical simulations. The efficacy of the proposed autonomous orbit keeping approach is shown in several application scenarios.

The paper proposes a game theory model of price oligopoly with a heterogeneous product, where total demand depends linearly on the minimum market price. This model develops the Bertrand oligopoly for the case of imperfect price elasticity of demand. The most interesting result is an asymmetric Nash equilibrium with different prices and sales in the situation of symmetric oligopolists. The asymmetry is explained by the fact that a decrease in the minimum market price leads not only to a reallocation of consumers among firms, but also to an increase in total demand. Modifications of a two-stage game with a leader and followers and the price discrimination model are also considered. Microeconomic substantiation of the model is given on the basis of the spatial differentiation approach.

Modern war is sudden and rapid, and once the battle starts, the demand for equipment maintenance and guarantee will show an outburst situation, which puts equipment maintenance and guarantee capability to a severe test. To accurately grasp the civil-military integration of aviation maintenance and guarantee capabilities, it is necessary to evaluate their capabilities. To this end, the evaluation indicator system is established by using the three-dimensional indicator system construction model of "maintenance task → task demand → capability demand", and the evaluation method based on intuitionistic fuzzy entropy and normal grey cloud model is proposed, using intuitionistic fuzzy entropy theory to determine the expert weights and indicator weights, and the grey cloud model theory to determine the capability evaluation level. Finally, the application process of the evaluation model is demonstrated through specific examples, and the evaluation results are analyzed to verify the effectiveness of the evaluation model.

Modern war is sudden and rapid, and once the battle starts, the demand for equipment maintenance and guarantee will show an outburst situation, which puts equipment maintenance and guarantee capability to a severe test. To accurately grasp the civil-military integration of aviation maintenance and guarantee capabilities, it is necessary to evaluate their capabilities. To this end, the evaluation indicator system is established by using the three-dimensional indicator system construction model of "maintenance task → task demand → capability demand", and the evaluation method based on intuitionistic fuzzy entropy and normal grey cloud model is proposed, using intuitionistic fuzzy entropy theory to determine the expert weights and indicator weights, and the grey cloud model theory to determine the capability evaluation level. Finally, the application process of the evaluation model is demonstrated through specific examples, and the evaluation results are analyzed to verify the effectiveness of the evaluation model.

Temporal lobe epilepsy is a common, chronic disorder with spontaneous seizures that is often refractory to drug therapy. A potential cause of temporal lobe epilepsy is primary brain injury, making prevention of epileptogenesis after the initial event an optimal method of treatment. Despite this, no preventive therapy for epilepsy is currently available. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of anakinra, lamotrigine, and their combination on epileptogenesis using the rat lithium-pilocarpine model of temporal lobe epilepsy. The study showed that the treated and untreated animals showed no significant difference in the number and duration of seizures. However, the severity of seizures was significantly reduced after treatment. Anakinra and lamotrigine, alone or in combination, significantly reduced neuronal loss in the CA1 hippocampus compared to the control group. However, the drugs administered alone were found to be more effective for CA3 than their combination. The treatment alleviated the impairments in activity level, exploratory behavior and anxiety, but had a relatively weak effect on TLE-induced impairments in social behavior and memory. The efficacy of the combination treatment did not differ from that of anakinra and lamotrigine monotherapy. These findings suggest that anakinra and lamotrigine, alone or in combination, may have clinical utility in preventing epileptogenesis.

For equivalent modeling of mixed wind farms (WFs), existing clustering indicators cannot consider the complex coupling characteristics between different types of wind turbines (WTs). This paper proposes a refined equivalent modeling method for mixed WFs based on artificial intelligence technology. Firstly, the electromechanical transient performance of mixed WFs is analyzed. The WT type, wind speed and direction, and voltage dip are considered the main factors affecting the external dynamic response of mixed WFs. Secondly, the equivalent node model is established, including the selection of independent and dependent variables. Then, the multiple artificial neural networks (ANNs) are trained one by one based on sample data, to explore the nonlinear relationship between the dependent variables and the independent variables. Finally, the electromechanical transient simulations of the power systems with a mixed WF is carried out by using the MATLAB platform. Simulation results show that the proposed model can reflect the external characteristics of the mixed WF in different wind scenarios and voltage dips.

This paper presents an original method of additive manufacturing of cylindrical parts with variable circumference thickness, which allows the control of the deposition of molten material using an algorithm for decomposing the part geometry into volumetric elements with known dimensional configuration. In the absence of a post-processor capable of controlling additive manufacturing on a 5-axis numerical control machine, control of the deposition of molten material is done using parameterized programs, which can control both the feed speeds of the machine tool axes and the specific functions of the printing equipment. Additive manufacturing can make a positive contribution to sustainable development compared to traditional manufacturing technologies, thus making a positive contribution for a sustainable future. The aim of the work is to make it possible to 3D print parts with variable wall thickness using a CNC machining centre. To obtain the variable thickness layer we have implemented an original method of deposition with molten material (FDM), the coordination of the system composed of physical elements respectively programmable elements, is realized through control functions materialized in parameterized part programs, the generated outputs being the variable speed of the machine axes on a circular trajectory, the angular positioning, the filament advance.

Applying the improved social network analysis method and the idea of rolling window regression, this paper explores the impact of HSR network on the quality of urbanization and its dynamics. Based on a sample of 273 cities in China over 2009–2019, we find that the high-speed railway network has an increasing positive effect on the quality of urbanization, which proves the existence of network effect. The empirical results further show that this effect is closely related to the cov-erage rate of high-speed rail network. In addition, heterogeneity analysis reveals that urban ag-glomeration cities are the main beneficiaries. Academically, our study provides a plausible expla-nation and evidence from network size differences for the two conflicting views of the HSR effect. Practically, we also propose some important policy implications for countries in different high-speed rail network construction stages.

Considering the aging society and budget constraints, a strategy for reforming public transportation welfare policies is essential for sustainability. Among the various transportation welfare policies, fare discount policies are provided to specific age groups, and most countries offer benefits to several public transportation. South Korea provides a fare-free policy limited to subways, and the need for policy modification is emerging due to sustainability problems caused by an aging society. Hence, the scope of the policy should be expanded to all travel modes, but the discount rate should be reduced, or the target group should be reduced in consideration of the budget. This study proposes a travel mode to focus on by city through the preference of the elderly. The latent class model is employed to classfy stated preference data collected from the survey. The estimation results show a significant preference heterogeneity depending on the level of subway supply by region, and a policy focused on subways would be more reasonable in cities with sufficient subway infrastructure. Hence, regarding sustainability, it may be more appropriate to focus on specific means than to provide the same discount policy for all public transport.

Based on the plate tectonic theory, using seismic, geology, and public literature data, the proto-type basins and lithofacies paleogeography during the main geological periods of the passive continental margin of East Africa are restored, and the architecture characteristics of the basins and the differences in sedimentary fillings are analyzed. Combined with the dissection of discovered oil and gas reservoirs, four types of hydrocarbon accumulation models are established, the favorable hydrocarbon accumulation combinations (plays), and the next exploration directions in this region are explored. The passive continental margin basins in East Africa experienced three proto-type stages: intracontinental aborted rift during the Late Carboniferous-Triassic Karoo period, intracontinental-intercontinental rift during the Jurassic period, and passive continental margin basin since the Cretaceous period. Affected by the difference in sedimentary filling thickness between the rift period and depression period, four types of passive continental margin basins are formed: rifted type, depressed type, faulted depression type, and reformed delta type. The maximum sedimentary thickness of the rifted basins during the rift period is greater than 3500 m, and that during the depression period is less than 4000 m, forming a "single-source structure type" hydrocarbon accumulation model. The exploration of rifted basins should focus on giant structural traps at the top of the rifted sequences. The maximum sedimentary thickness of the depressed basins during the depression period exceeds 4000 m, forming a "single-source fan group type" hydrocarbon accumulation model. The dominant exploration directions of depressed basins are sedimentary sand bodies and structural-lithologic traps during the depression and drift periods. The maximum sedimentary thickness of the faulted depression basins during the rift period is greater than 3500 m, and that during the depression period is greater than 4000 m, forming a "double-source and double-combination type" hydrocarbon accumulation model. The exploration of rifted basins should focus on giant slip-collapse-debris flow sedimentary sand bodies on the upper and middle slopes. In addition to the large sedimentary thickness of the early rift and the central depression, the delta thickness of the reformed delta basins during the late depression period since the Miocene is more than 4000 m, and four structural belts (growth fault, mud diapir, thrust fold, and foredeep gentle slope) were formed from onshore to offshore, forming a "three-source and multi-combination type" hydrocarbon accumulation model. All four structural belts can form giant oil and gas fields.

The accessibility of public transportation is also known as the last mile problem, and it is one of the main obstacles that affect travelers to choose public transport. Although autonomous vehicles (AVs) have made much progress, they have not been officially put into commercial use. This paper adopts stated preference experiments to explore the impact of shared AVs on train trips’ last-mile travel behavior and takes Wuhan as an example for case analysis. First of all, this paper establishes a structural equation model (SEM) based on the theory of planned behavior to explore the latent psychological variables, including travelers’ attitudes (ATTs), subjective norms (SNs), perceived behavior control (PBC), and behavioral intention to use (BIU) toward AVs. These latent psychological variables are incorporated into the latent class (LC) logit model to establish a hybrid model to study the factors and degree of influence on the travel mode choice for the last mile of train trips. The results show that travelers have preference heterogeneity for the travel mode choice of the last mile of train trips. Through the analysis of LCs, education, career, and income significantly impact the classification of LCs. The latent psychological variables towards AVs have a significant impact on the travel behavior of respondents, but the impacts vary among different segments. Elastic analysis results illustrate that a 1% increase in the travel cost for shared AV in segment 1 leads to a 7.598% decrease in the choice probability of shared AV. Respondents from different segments vary significantly in their willingness to pay, and the value of travel time for high-income groups is relatively higher.

By using the Black-Derman-Toy (BDT) model, we predict the future trend of the riskless rate, and then we build an equation that relates the market price of zero-coupon bonds and the theoretical price of zero-coupon bonds calculated using a binomial option pricing model. Based on this, we can find the implied daily return μ, implied natural upturn probability p, and implied daily volatility σ with respect to different time-to-maturity values of zero-coupon bonds. With these results, we can give some suggestions to bond traders.

AlphaFold is a groundbreaking Deep Learning tool for protein structure prediction. It achieved remarkable accuracy in modeling the many 3D structures while taking as the input only the known amino acid sequence of proteins in question. Intriguingly though, in the early steps of each individual structure prediction procedure, AlphaFold is not respecting topological barriers that in real proteins result from the reciprocals impermeability of polypeptide chains. This study aims to investigate how this non-respecting of topological barriers affects AlphaFold predictions with respect to the topology of protein chains. We focus on such classes of proteins that during their natural folding form reproducibly the same knot type on their linear polypeptide chain as revealed by their crystallographic analysis. We use partially artificial test constructs in which the mutual non-permeability of polypeptide chains should not permit the formation of such knots during natural protein folding. We find that despite the formal impossibility that the protein folding process could produce such knots, AlphaFold predicts these proteins to be knotted. Our study underscores the necessity for cautious interpretation and further validation of topological features in protein structures predicted by AlphaFold.

In 2020 the world experienced the threat of the COVID-19 epidemic, as seniors and chronic disease patients typically try to reduce their exercise and social activities to avoid increasing the risk of infection, which could lead to increased loneliness and even many diseases. This research combining golf croquet games with AIoT companion robots constructs a home-based intelligent exercise system thus uses the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), deduces users’ intention to use this system based on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and adds the needs of love and belonging, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, and self-actualization in Maslow’s needs theory to conduct system needs analysis. The analysis results show that participants have a high level of acceptance of this system, believing that it is easy to learn and operate, can increase interaction with others, also found that this system can improve self-confirmation, satisfying the third for knowledge, feeling happy, and self-actualization needs are easier to fulfill. In the future, we shall collect and record the seniors in the process of use, so as to find out their health problems as soon as possible, expand their daily life through this exercise, and achieve the goal of happy living and health care.

We show that the compound samarium hexaboride is a strong topological insulator using the eigenvalues of the space inversion operator in the low-energy limit of the periodic Anderson model. Additionally, we assume the presence of the ferromagnetic exchange interaction (M). A Dirac cone like feature in the surface state energy spectra is observed for M equals zero in a certain parameter range. For M not equal to zero, there is no Kramers degeneracy. We have been able to show that this phase corresponds to the quantum anomalous Hall state by calculating Berry curvature and the Chern number. Using Floquet theory, we further show that the access to a novel state with broken time reversal symmetry is possible due to the normal incidence of circularly polarized optical field on the surface of the compound despite M being absent.

It is important for food recognition to separate each ingredient within a food image at the pixel level. In this paper, we propose a new approach to segment ingredients by utilizing a CNN-based Single-Ingredient Classification Model. In detail, we firstly introduce a standardized biological-based hierarchical ingredient structure and construct a single-ingredient image dataset based on this structure. Then, we build a single-ingredient classification model based on a novel convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture that utilizes an attention mechanism. Afterwards, we propose a new framework for segmentation using the above single-ingredient classification model as the backbone. In this framework, two methods are involved in segmenting ingredients in the food images. We introduce five evaluation metrics (IoU, Dice, Purity, Entirety, Loss of GTs) to assess the performance of ingredient segmentation in terms of ingredient classification. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, achieving an maximal mIoU of 0.65, mDice of 0.77, mPurity of 0.83, mEntirety of 0.80, and mLoGTs of 0.06 on the FoodSeg103 dataset. The results confirm that our CNN-based architecture achieves higher segmentation performance compared to ResNet18 and EfficientNet-B0 when used as the backbone for ingredient segmentation. We believe that our ingredient segmentation approach lays the foundation for subsequent ingredient recognition.

The refractive index of solids guages their transparency to incident light, while the energy gap determines the threshold for light absorption. This paper provides a mathematical formulation for the relationship between refractive index and energy gap. It is also established that this formulation aided in the unification of the Moss, Ravindra, and Herve-Vandamme relationships.

Numerous reservoirs that play a significant role in worldwide petroleum production and reserves contain fractures. Typically, the fractures must form a connected network for a reservoir to be classified as naturally fractured. Characterizing the reservoir with a focus on its fracture network is crucial for modeling and predicting production performance. To simplify the solution, dual continuum modeling techniques are commonly employed. However, to use continuum-scale approaches, properties such as average aperture, permeability, and matrix fracture interaction parameters must be assigned, making it necessary to improve fracture depiction and modeling methods. This study investigates a fractured reservoir with a low matrix permeability and a well-connected fracture network. The focus is on the impact of the hyrachical fracture network on the production performance of gas-based enhanced oil recovery methods. The Discrete Fracture Model (DFN) was utilized to create comprehensive two-dimensional models for three processes: Gas Injection (GI), Water Alternating Gas (WAG), and Foam Assisted Water Alternating Gas (FAWAG). Moreover, dimensionless numbers were employed to establish connections between properties across the entire fracture hierarchy, spanning from minor to major fractures and encompassing the fracture intensity. The results indicate that the FAWAG is more sensitive to fracture types and networks than the WAG and GI processes. Hence, the sensitivity of the individual EOR method to the fracture network requires a respective depth of description of the fracture network. However, other factors, such as reservoir fluids properties and fracture properties, might influence the recovery when the minor fracture networks are excluded. This study has determined that, among the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques examined, the significance of the hyrachical depth of fracture networks diminishes as the ratio of major (primary fracture) aperture to the aperture of medium and minor fractures increases. Additionally, the impact of the assisted-gravity drainage method was greater with increased reservoir height; however, as the intensity ratio increased, the relative importance of medium and minor fracture networks decreased.

Sudden water pollution accident is a tough environmental challenge to solve due to its uncertainty, unpredictability and destructiveness. Therein, the dangerous goods transportation accidents on the cross-tributary bridges are increasing worldwide with the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization, posing threats to the water ecological environment and human health. To prevent and control the risk, this study evaluated the risk of sudden water pollution accidents associated with dangerous goods transportation on the cross-tributary bridges by using the expert judgment fuzzy language method and Bayesian network model. Baiyangdian lake as the largest freshwater shallow lake in North China was chosen as a study case. Different accident scenarios were simulated to put forward risk prevention and control measures. The results showed that the primary risk factors were divided into five categories: personnel factors, vehicle factors, tank factors, weather factors, and road environment factors. The probability of dangerous goods transportation accidents was a possible event (P=0.115), with a high risk level. Furthermore, the Baiyangdian lake would suffer from serious environmental pollution and water quality degradation without prevention and control measures by simulating the oil leakage accident. Therefore, emergency prevention and control measures are expected to be formulated and implemented before and after the occurrence of the sudden water pollution accidents. This study provides useful insights into risk prevention and control strategies for sudden water pollution accidents, and the framework can be made applicable to other rivers facing similar risk challenges worldwide.

Based on the Generalized bracket, or Beris-Edwards, formalism of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, we have recently proposed [Stephanou et al. Materials, 13, 2867 (2020)] a new differential constitutive model for the rheology of entangled polymer melts and solutions. It has amended the shortcomings of a previous model that was too strict in the values of the convective constraint release parameter for the model not to violate the second law of thermodynamics and has been shown capable of predicting a transient stress undershoot (following the overshoot) at high shear rates. In this work, we wish to further examine this model’s capability of predicting the rheological response of industrial polymer systems by extending it to its multiple-mode version. The comparison against industrial rheological data (High-Density Polyethylene resins), as compared against available experimental data in (a) Small Amplitude Oscillatory shear, (b) start-up shear, and (c) start-up uniaxial elongation, is noted to be good.

COVID-19 is a highly infectious respiratory illness caused by SARS-CoV-2, and acute lung injury (ALI) is the major cause of COVID-19. The challenge in studying SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity is the limited availability of animal models. Therefore, it is necessary to establish animal models that can reproduce multiple characteristics of ALI to study therapeutic applications. The present study established a mouse model that has features of ALI that are similar to COVID-19 syndrome to investigate the role of ACE2 and the administration of the Chinese herbal prescription NRICM101 in ALI. Mice with genetic modifications, including overexpression of human ACE2 (K18-hACE2 TG) and absence of ACE2 (mACE2 KO), were intratracheally instillated with hydrochloric acid. The acid intratracheal instillation induced severe immune cell infiltration, cytokine storms, and pulmonary disease in mice. Compared with K18-hACE2 TG mice, mACE2 KO mice exhibited dramatically increased levels of multiple inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, and TGF-β1) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, histological evidence of lung injury, and dysregulation of MAPK and MMP activation. In mACE2 KO mice, NRICM101 could ameliorate the disease progression of acid-induced ALI. In conclusion, the established mouse model provided an effective platform for researchers to investigate pathological mechanisms and develop therapeutic strategies for ALI, including COVID-19-related ALI.

In swarm-robotics foraging, the purpose of task allocation is to adjust the number of active foraging robots dynamically based on the task demands and changing environment. It is a difficult challenge to generate self-organized foraging behavior in which each robot can adapt to environmental changes. To complete the foraging task efficiently, this paper presents a novel self-organized task allocation strategy known as the dynamic response threshold model (DRTM). To adjust the behavior of the active foraging robots, the proposed DRTM newly introduces the traffic flow density, which can be used to evaluate the robot density. First, the traffic flow density and the amount of obstacle avoidance are used to adjust the threshold which determines the tendency of a robot to respond to a stimulus in the environment. Then, each individual robot uses the threshold and external stimulus to calculate the foraging probability that determines whether or not to go foraging. Simulation and physical experiments are carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the DRTM is superior to and more efficient than the adaptive response threshold model (ARTM) in swarm foraging.

The paper proposed a modification of the GeoSER(D) model previously developed by us by detailing the age structure of the population, personal schedule on weekdays and working days, and individual health characteristics of the agents, this made it possible to build a more realistic model of the functioning of the city and its residents. The developed model made it possible to simulate the spread of 3 types of the strain of the COVID-19 virus, and to analyze the adequacy of this model in the case of unhindered spread of the virus among city residents. The paper showed that SARS COV 2 spreads mainly from contacts in workplaces and transport, and schoolchildren and preschool children are the consequence, not the initiator of the epidemic. Fluctuations in the dynamics of various indicators of the spread of SARS COV 2 associated with the difference in the daily schedule on weekdays and weekends. It has been shown that people's daily schedules strongly influence the spread of SARS COV 2. For the more contagious "rapid" strains of SARS COV 2 (omicron), immunocompetent people become a significant source of infection. For the less contagious "slow strains" (alpha) of SARS COV 2, the most active source of infection is immunocompromised individuals (pregnant women). The more contagious – "fast" strain of the SARS COV 2 virus (omicron) spreads faster in public transport. For less contagious – "slow" strains of the virus (alpha), the greatest infection occurs due to work and educational contacts.

Background: Frail elderly patients are exposed to suffering the consequences of heart diseases that are not managed timely such as receiving anticoagulation to prevent stroke associated to atrial fibrillation (AF). Referral to the cardiological outpatient department can be cumbersome as it often requires repeated visits. The aim of this project was to use AF as a showcase to develop and implement CardioShare, a shared-care model where primary care leads patient management, using an easy-to-use compact Holter monitor device with asynchronous remote support from cardiologists. Methods: This complex intervention has been developed during a feasibility phase, tested in a pragmatic cluster-randomization trial (primary care clinic as clusters) and its implementation potential evaluated with an escalation test. Mixed methods were used to evaluate the impact of the intervention, comprising quantitative observations, semi-structured interviews, and workshops. Results: Between February 2020 and December 2021, 314 patients (30% frail) were included of whom 75% had AF diagnosed/not found within 13 days. More than 80% in both groups avoided referral to cardiologists. Patients felt safe and primary care clinicians satisfied. In the escalation test, 58 primary-care doctors used CardioShare to manage 93 patients over three months with remote support from four hospitals in the Capital Region of Denmark. Conclusions: CardioShare was successfully implemented for AF evaluation in primary care.

There is voluminous literature on Food Security in Africa. This study explicitly considers the spatio-temporal factors in addition to the usual FAO-based metrics in modeling and understanding the dynamics of food security and nutrition across the African continent. To better understand the complex trajectory and burden of food insecurity and nutrition in Africa, it is crucial to consider space-time factors when modeling and interpreting food security. The spatio-temporal anova model was found to be superior(employing statistical criteria) to the other there models from the spatio-temporal interaction domain models. The results of the study suggest that dietary supply adequacy, food stability, and consumption status are positively associated with severe food security, while average food supply and environmental factors have negative effects on Food Security and Nutrition. The findings also indicate that severe food insecurity and malnutrition are spatially and temporally correlated across the African continent. Spatio-temporal modeling and spatial mapping are essential components of a comprehensive practice to reduce the burden of severe food insecurity. likewise, any planning and intervention to improve the average food supply and environment to promote sustainable development should be regional instead of one size fit all.

The CAN protocol is widely adopted for in-vehicle networks due to its cost efficiency and reliable transmission. However, despite its popularity, the protocol lacks built-in security mechanisms, making it vulnerable to various attacks such as flooding, fuzzing, and DoS. These attacks can exploit vulnerabilities and disrupt the normal behavior of the in-vehicle network. One of the main reasons for these security concerns is that the protocol relies on broadcast frames for communication between ECUs within the network. To tackle this issue, this paper presents an intrusion detection system that leverages multiple LSTM-Autoencoders. The proposed system utilizes diverse features, including transmission interval and payload value changes, to capture various characteristics of normal network behavior. By analyzing different types of features separately using the LSTM-Autoencoder model, the system effectively detects anomalies. In our evaluation, we conducted experiments using real vehicle network traffic, and the results demonstrated the system's high precision with a 99% detection rate in identifying anomalies.

Ptolemy’s Theorem in Euclidean geometry, named after the Greek astronomer and mathematician Claudius Ptolemy, is well known. We translate Ptolemy’s Theorem from analytic Euclidean geometry into the Poincar´e ball model of analytic hyperbolic geometry, which is based on M¨obius addition. The translation of Ptolemy’s Theorem from Euclidean geometry into hyperbolic geometry is achieved by means of the hyperbolic trigonometry, called gyrotrigonometry, to which the Poincar´e ball model gives rise, and by means of the duality of trigonometry and gyrotrigonometry.

Despite marked advancements, life expectancy (LE) growth in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has remained stagnant compared to other developed nations. This study aims to investigate the significant correlation between macroeconomic (ME), sociodemographic (SD), and health status-resources (HSR) factors and LE to formulate an explanatory model for Saudi Arabia and the UAE – a previously unexplored area. Utilizing an ecological, retrospective, time-series study design, we delved into secondary data on SD, ME, HSR, and LE of the UAE population spanning three decades (1980-2020). We employed the partial least squares-structural equation modeling for statistical analysis. Our analysis revealed significant direct impacts of HSR on LE for Saudi Arabia (Beta=0.958, p<0.001) and the UAE (Beta=0.716, p<0.001). Furthermore, we discerned a notable indirect influence of ME on LE, mediated through SD and HSR for Saudi Arabia (Beta=0.507, p<0.001) and UAE (Beta=0.509, p<0.001), along with a considerable indirect effect of SD on LE through HSR (Saudi Arabia: Beta=0.529, p<0.001; UAE: Beta=0.711, p<0.001). This study underscores the mediating role of a nexus of ME-SD-HSR factors on LE in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Consequently, these findings signal an imperative need for holistically policy interventions addressing ME, SD, and HSR factors, aiming to alter health behaviors and improve LE projections for Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the long run.

This study investigates how digital alchemy can enhance literature and language teaching through a combination of online and face-to-face learning. It uses constructivist learning theory and the SAMR model to examine how digital tools and resources can transform learner engagement, critical thinking, and creativity. The study gathered data from interviews, focus groups, and document analysis with 30 participants from private HEI schools. The results show that digital alchemy through blended learning allows learners to personalize and collaborate in their exploration of various literary texts. However, the study also identifies some challenges related to resource availability and educator training. The study emphasizes the importance of using digital alchemy in literature and language teaching and suggests some ways for educators, administrators, and policymakers to effectively use digital tools and resources for student-centered teaching methods in the digital era.

Tree growth is under the combined influence of abiotic and biotic factors. Trees with different sizes may respond differently to these factors, implying that tree heterogeneity in tree size may also modulate the overall growth trend. To test this hypothesis, we focused on the radial growth trends of natural subalpine forests on the Tibetan Plateau. We first extended the iterative growth model (IGM) to the tree-ring scale (IGMR) to test the applicability of the generalized metabolic growth theory to tree growth. As predicted by the IGMR, the radial growth of trees at the aggregate scale is constrained by a unimodal pattern. Using the IGMR, we reconstructed the historical best growth trajectory (HBGT) of trees within the same community based on the tree with the largest radius and/or longest age in the community. From the average difference between the HBGT and the current radial growth rate of trees with different sizes, we constructed an indicator that can measure the overall variation in tree radial growth. Based on this indicator, we found a negative effect of tree size heterogeneity on the overall variability of tree growth across elevations. Further analysis also revealed that the radial growth rate of trees on the Tibetan Plateau has increased significantly compared to the past, where growing season average temperature and annual minimum temperature were negatively and positively correlated with tree growth below and above the treeline, respectively. Our study not only confirmed that the overall variability of tree growth depends on tree size heterogeneity but also proposed an indicator that reveals net changes in tree radial growth rate relative to the past. These theoretical advances facilitate the understanding of changes in the extent of subalpine forests.

Reducing the costs of repairing concrete structures damaged due to the appearance of cracks and reducing the number of people involved in the process of their repair is the subject of a multitude of experimental studies. Special emphasis should be placed on research involving industrial by-products, the disposal of which has a negative environmental impact, as is the case in the research presented in this paper. The basic idea was to prepare a mortar with added granulated blast furnace slag from Smederevo Steel Mill and then treat artificialy produced cracks with a Sporosarcina pasteurii DSM 33 suspension under the conditions of sterile demineralized and water from Danube river in order to simulate natural conditions. The results show a bio-stimulated healing efficiency of 32.02% in sterile demineralized water and 42.74% in Danube water already after 14 days. The SEM images clearly show calcium carbonate crystals as the main compound that has started to fill the crack, and the crystals are much more developed under the Danube water conditions. As a special type of research, microscopic images of cracks were classified into those with and without the presence of bacterial culture. By applying convolutional neural networks (ResNet 50), the classification success rate was 91.55%.

Among the explored solutions to reduce the environmental impact of the transport sector, Vehicle Integrated Photovoltaics. Thus, we developed a simulation tool of the distance covered by VIPV. It considers various usage patterns and vehicle types, several characteristics of the PV system and all the losses that may decrease energy yield. Focusing on passenger car, simulations indicate the order of influence of the parameters on the outputs of the model: geographic locality, shading, thresholds due to extra-consumption to charge the vehicle battery from PV and frequency of recharge with the grid. With projections of the technology in 2030, with 30 % shading, VIPV cover up to 1444 km yearly distance. This represents up to 12 % of the driven mileage. For the best month, it can get up to 14 km/day. For average Europe and worst-case conditions, VIPV cover only 293 km per year. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of solarized passenger car shows negative balance for low-carbon electricity mix and average solar irradiance. In favorable conditions, the carbon footprint is up to 489 kg CO₂-equivalent avoided emissions on 13 years lifespan. Beyond km and LCA focus, VIPV may provide useful functions in non-interconnected zones and for resilience in disaster zones.

For order-of-addition experiments, the response is affected by the addition order of the experimental materials. Consequently, the main interest focuses on creating a predictive model and an optimal design for optimizing the response. Van Nostrand (1995) proposed the pairwise-order (PWO) model for detecting PWO effects. Under the PWO model, the full PWO design is optimal under various criteria but is often unaffordable because of the large run size. In this paper, we consider the D-, A- and M.S.-optimal fractional PWO designs. We first present some results on information matrices. Then, a flexible and efficient algorithm is given for generating these optimal PWO designs. Numerical simulation shows that the generated design has an appealing efficiency in comparison with the full PWO design, though with only a small fraction of runs. Several comparisons with existing designs illustrate that the generated designs achieve better efficiencies, and the best PWO designs and some selected 100% efficient PWO designs generated by the new algorithm are reported.

E-commerce is a rapidly evolving global trend that is having a significant impact on consumer behavior and business strategies. Despite its growing impact, e-commerce adoption by Moroccan firms remains low and research on this topic in this context is scarce. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the main determinants influencing e-commerce adoption by Moroccan firms. We use logit, probit, and conditional mixed process-probit models to identify the critical factors driving e-commerce adoption. Our results reveal five key findings. First, newer firms that are more open to innovation and change are more likely to adopt e-commerce. Second, firms with a higher proportion of highly educated employees are more likely to adopt e-commerce. Third, the digital skills of new employees do not directly influence the likelihood of e-commerce adoption. Fourth, being listed on digital platforms increases the likelihood of e-commerce adoption. Finally, there is a positive relationship between firms engaged in innovation activities and e-commerce adoption. These findings highlight the need for additional investment in promoting modern organizational practices, reskilling workers, and implementing advanced technologies to facilitate effective e-commerce integration among Moroccan SMEs. By addressing these challenges, Moroccan firms can harness the full potential of e-commerce and contribute to the country’s economic growth and digital transformation.

Dubermatinib (DMB, TP-0903), a benzenesulfonamide, is an inhibitor of the tyrosine kinase AXL, which is a member of the TAM family, and can prevent GAS6-mediated activation of AXL in cancer cells. Patients with previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia are being studied in phase I/II clinical trials to determine its antineoplastic potential (CLL). In the current work, the reactive intermediates of DMB were studied using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Human liver microsomes (HLMs) were exposed to dimethylbenzene in a laboratory setting, and the resulting metabolites were collected through protein precipitation. Intense reactivity toward nucleophilic macromolecules was seen in the metabolites of the piperazine and pyrimidine rings in DMB, iminium and 2,5-quinone-imine, respectively. To assess the toxicities of the possibly reactive metabolites, DMB was incubated with HLMs in the presence of 1.0 mM KCN and 1.0 mM glutathione. The DMB metabolites found by LC-MS/MS were seven in vitro phase I metabolites, three cyano adducts, and two GSH conjugates. Phase I in vitro metabolic reactions included N-demethylation, hydroxylation, and dechlorination. The in vitro metabolism of DMB and the metabolites it produces have not been studied before.

This paper presents designing an attitude motion control strategy for a half-car model using an anti-jerk predictive controller. Anti-jerk predictive controller based on active aerodynamics surfaces is employed to deal with the anticipated future road maneuvers and improve vehicle ride performance by canceling out external jerks acting on the vehicle body. The body jerks are produced during vehicle traversing on a double lane-change maneuver, acceleration, or braking. The control strategy helps the vehicle to achieve a realistic operation of the active aerodynamic surface to improve the vehicle’s ride performance, i.e., ride comfort and road holding during cornering, acceleration, or braking. The anti-jerk predictive controller is developed based on the predictive control strategy, which predicts future road inputs and uses them to compensate for the vehicle’s attitude motion. The simulation results show that the proposed control strategy effectively reduces the effects of vehicle body jerks transmitted to the passengers, improving ride comfort without degrading vehicle handling. The anti-jerk predictive controller successfully tracks the desired attitude position by canceling the external body jerks.

Dysregulation of the arsenal of cells, growth factors, cytokines, proteases, and proteins involved in wound healing (WH), could delay the healing process. Plants and plant-derived molecules (PDMs) have been used as medicines for skin wounds. This study aimed to select and evaluate the pro-healing capacity of PMDs. Thirty-three PDMs and 10 therapeutic targets (TTs) were chosen for molecular docking and PDMs: aristolochic acid (AA), α-copaene, selinenes, β-caryophyllene (BC), and BCoxide, and TTs: metalloproteinase (MMP) 3, MMP13, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF α) for molecular dynamics. The bests inhibitor was AA, but because of its toxicity, BC and BCoxide were chosen for evaluation in HaCat cells and BALB/c mice excisional model. Both compounds were not toxic, and higher percentages of lesion area closure (LAC) were induced by BC treatment (p<0.05). All mice healed; however, an initial delay of LAC was induced by 0.05, 0.1% BCoxide, 0.1% BC, and allantoin. At the end of treatment, lower numbers of mast cells, level of cellular infiltrates (except 1% BCoxide and 0.05, 0.5%BC), epidermal thickness tendency (except 0.1, 0.5% BCoxide), and higher values of SC-thickness, and collagen fibers only by 0.5% BC treatment compared with untreated control (p<0.05) were observed. Our results show that BC is a promising multitarget candidate for wound healing treatment and optimization campaigns.

This study was first time designed to investigate the effect of oxidation on protein digestion and transport properties in boiled sea cucumber body wall (BSCBW) via simulated digestion combine with everted-rat-gut-sac models. Boiling heat treatments led to protein oxidation in SCBW, manifested by increases in free radical intensity, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, carbonyl groups, disulfide bonds, dityrosine bonds, advanced glycation end products, protein hydrophobicity and aggregation, declines in free sulfhydryl group, and secondary structure transition from α-helix to β-sheet. Boiling for 2 h caused the anti-digestion collagen unfolding, provided the action site for protease, and improved the protein digestion and transport levels. On the contrary, excessive oxidative modification of 4 h-BSCBW resulted in decreased protein digestion and transport levels. From the perspective of texture, digestion and transport properties, boiling for 2 h can obtain sea cucumber products with better edible and digestible properties, which is considered to be a better processing condition.

The method propose in this study for stock market multi-objective mathematical model was linear programming using simplex algorithms to optimize the portfolio in the Nigerian Stock Market. The study selected five banks from the list of operators in the market and data were gathered from the banks to have individual market performances over a period of 5years. The data collected contains: Geometric Mean of Monthly Capital Gain Yields and Annual Capital Gain Yields from which Dividend Yields (%) were deducted to arrive Actual rate of return for the banks and the expected rate of return. Furthermore, the risk of semi-absolute deviation below the expected return is reduced. The data was analysed using Python programming because of some clauses in the data gathered. At first, the data assumes integer (-or +) and random in nature. As such, Python programming is one of the software suitable for such solution since the barrier for additivity is broken. Based on the analysis, the study therefore conclude that the potential investor(s) should invest in 13 units of investment x(GTbank Plc), 3 units of First Bank Plc`s Investment (y), 450 units of Zenith bank`s investment (z), and 8 units of Wema bank`s investment (m), and no units of investment of (n) Access bank. These investment quantities will result in the Optimal profit of p= 12797.902 billion naira.

This research is focused on two key areas. The first is mapping the 2022 flood in the Red River of the North near Grafton, North Dakota, US, and the second is evaluating the scour potential of the Grafton Bridge. Local scour of bridge piers can cause hydraulic structures such as bridge piers and abutments to fail during floods, making it a crucial area of investigation. To collect bathymetry and discharge data during low and high flow conditions, including a flood event with a 16.5-year return period in 2022, an Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) incorporated with LiDAR DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data obtained from the US Geological Survey (USGS) National Map was used. Flood mapping and evaluation of local scour around the bridge pier were conducted using the HEC-RAS 6.0.0 software, which utilizes the Colorado State University method as a default equation. This research demonstrates the potential of ASVs in collecting critical data and LiDAR DEM data is an efficient method for flood mapping and determining scour potential, as it integrates bathymetry, flow velocity, and flood prediction.

Accurate measurement of low-level thoron gas and high-accuracy calibration of thoron measurement devices are essential for assessing and preventing thoron radiological risks. This study aimed to develop a thoron gas measurement technique using an airflow-through scintillation cell for both low-level measurement and high-accuracy calibration. To achieve this, a compartment model was developed to estimate the influence of progeny deposition and accumulation on the wall of the scintillation cell to prevent overestimation of thoron. A self-developed scintillation cell was utilized to implement and validate this technique. The lower detection limit and measurement uncertainty were then evaluated to assess the feasibility of the technique for low-level measurement and high-accuracy calibration. The results showed that the compartment model effectively addressed the influence of the progeny deposition. The measurement technique achieved a lower detection limit below 100 Bq m-3 even with the coexistence of 100 Bq m-3 of radon and attained a measurement uncertainty (k = 2) below 10% when the concentration of thoron exceeded 1,000 Bq m-3. In summary, this study developed a reliable and practical thoron gas measurement technique using an airflow-through scintillation cell with consideration for progeny deposition, and is expected to contribute to the assessment and prevention of thoron radiological risk.

Converting natural language into machine language that can be recognized by distributed systems is the core challenge of intelligent interactive interfaces and human-machine dialogue systems. The human-machine interface interaction of large distributed SCADA measurement and control system is tedious and the operation and maintenance cost is high, so it is significant to design an intelligent natural language interaction interface for distributed measurement and control system. In this paper, we design the intermediate language format of SCADA system, i.e., Key-value logic form, and then formulate the Text2SCADA framework and propose the TICS algorithm and SDPA algorithm, the former adopts the keyword extraction and cosine similarity optimization algorithm to complete the structured extraction of natural language for basic natural language instructions, and the latter adopts the keyword extraction and cosine similarity optimization algorithm to complete the structured extraction of natural language for relatively The latter one adopts the algorithm of dependent syntactic analysis for the structured representation of natural language instructions with relatively complex natural language instructions. Based on the above algorithms, a lightweight information extraction model based on DGCNN and probabilistic graph ideas is constructed, aiming to enhance the scientific generalization ability of the framework on unknown instruction sets. The experimental results show that the proposed intelligent natural language interface can better solve the human-machine interface interaction problem of distributed SCADA measurement and control system. The average accuracy, recall and F-value of instruction parsing reach 89.27\%, 89.28\% and 89.27\%, respectively. The average response time is 1.593 s. Especially, it provides a more convenient means of interaction for industrial and agricultural information control.

Cardiogenic shock (CS) is part of a clinical syndrome consisting of acute left ventricular failure causing severe hypotension leading to inadequate organ and tissue perfusion. The most com-monly used devices to support patients affected by CS are Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP), Impella 2.5 pump and Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. The aim of this study is the com-parison between Impella and IABP using CARDIOSIM© software simulator of the cardiovascular system. The results of the simulations included baseline conditions from a virtual patient in CS followed by IABP assistance in synchronized mode with different driving and vacuum pressures. Subsequently, the same baseline conditions were supported by the Impella 2.5 with different ro-tational speeds. The percentage variation with respect to baseline conditions was calculated for hemodynamic and energetic variables during IABP and Impella assistance. Impella pump driven with a rotational speed of 50000 rpm increased the total flow by 4.36% with a reduction in left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV) by ≅15% to ≅30%. A reduction in left ventricular end systolic volume (LVESV) by ≅10% to ≅18% (≅12% to ≅33%) was observed with IABP (Impella) as-sistance. Taking into account the limitations of a simulation setting, this study highlights that assistance with the Impella device leads to higher reduction in LVESV, LVEDV, left ventricular external work and left atrial pressure-volume loop area compared to IABP support.

This article develops a duality principle and a related convex dual formulation suitable for a large class of models in physics and engineering. The results are based on standard tools of functional analysis, calculus of variations and duality theory. In particular, we develop applications to a model in non-linear elasticity.

Continuous rigid frame bridges across valleys are often at the risk of rockfalls caused by heavy rainfalls, earthquakes and debris flows in a mountainous country. Hollow thin-walled bridge piers (HTWBP) in valleys are exposed to the threat of the impact of accidental rockfalls. In the current research, ANSYS/LS-DYNA is used to establish a high-precision rockfall-HTWBP model. The rockfall-HTWBP model is verified against a scaled impact test of a previous research. A mesh independence test is also performed to obtained an appropriate mesh size. Based on the rockfall-HTWBP model, the impact force, damage and dynamic response characteristics of HTWBP under the rockfall impact are studied. In addition, a damage assessment criteria is proposed based on the response surface model combined with Central Composite Design method and Box-Behnken Design method. The main conclusions are as follows: 1）The impact force of rockfall has a substantial impulse characteristic, and the duration of the impulse load is approximately 0.01s. 2）The impacted surface of the pier is dominated by the final elliptic damage with the conical and strip damage areas as the symmetry axis. The cross-sectional damage mode is compression failure in the impact area and shear failure at the corner. 3）The maximum displacement occurs in the middle height of the pier. The maximum displacement increases with impact height, impact velocity and rockfall diameter and decreases with the uniaxial compressive strength of the concrete. 4) The initial impact velocity and diameter of the rockfall are the most significant parameters affecting the damage indices. In addition, a damage assessment method with a damage zoning diagram based on the response surface method is established for the fast assessment of the damage level of impacted HTWBP.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy characterized by the clonal proliferation of plasma cells in the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment. Despite the progress made in treatment, some MM patients still die within the first year of diagnosis. Numerous studies investigating microRNA (miRNA) expression patterns suggest they may be good prognostic markers. The primary aim of this study was to analyze the expression of selected miRNAs in the serum of MM patients subsequently treated with bortezomib-based regimens and determine their potential to predict early mortality. The study was conducted in 69 prospectively-recruited patients with newly-diagnosed MM admitted to the Department of Hematology of the Copernicus Memorial Hospital, Lodz (Poland) between 2017 and 2021. Among them, 17 patients experienced death within 12 months of diagnosis. The expression of 31 selected miRNAs was determined using miRCURY LNA miRNA Custom PCR Panel. The obtained clinical data included patient characteristics on diagnosis, treatment regimen, response to treatment, and follow-up. Differential expression analysis found two miRNAs to be significantly downregulated in the early mortality group: hsa-miR-328-3p (fold change- FC: 0.72, p=0.0342) and hsa-miR-409-3p (FC: 0.49, p=0.0357). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the early mortality rate. The final model consisted of hsa-miR-409-3p, hsa-miR-328-3p, age and R-ISS 3. It yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.863 (95%CI: 0.761-0.965) with 88.2% sensitivity and 77.5% specificity. Further external validation of our model is necessary to confirm its clinical value.

To verify the authors’ mathematical model for water jet cooling of steel sheet, the previously performed experimental studies of temperature of the test plate in the roller quenching machine (RQM) were used. The calculated data of steel temperature evolution along the RQM length were compared with the readings of thermocouples inserted in the center of the test plate and at its surfaces. The core of the model is the dependence of the temperatures of film, transition and nucleate boiling regimes on the thickness of the oxide scale layer on the cooled surface. It was found that the model correctly takes into account the oxide scale on the sheet surface, flow rates and combinations of the RQM banks used, water temperature and other factors. For all experiments the calculated metal temperature corresponds well to the measured one. In the experiments with interrupted cooling, the calculated temperature plots repeat the characteristic changes in the experimental curves. The main uncertainty in the modeling of cooling in a wide temperature range can be contributed by the random nature of changes in the oxide scale thickness during water cooling. In this regard, the estimated thickness of the oxide scale layer should be considered as the main parameter for adapting the sheet temperature control process. The obtained data confirm the possibility of effective application of the model in the ACS of industrial TMCP (Thermo-Mechanical Controlled Process) systems.

In the development of the safety-critical systems, it is important to perform Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) process to identify potential failures. However, traditional FMEA activities tend to be considered difficult and time-consuming tasks. To compensate for the difficulty of the FMEA task, various types of tools are used to increase the quality and the effectiveness of the FMEA reports. This paper explains an Automatic FMEA tool which integrates the Model-based Design (MBD), FMEA, and Simulated Fault Injection techniques in a single environment. The Automatic FMEA tool has the following advantages compared to the existing FMEA analysis tool. First, the Automatic FMEA tool automatically generates FMEA reports compared to the traditional spreadsheet-based FMEA tools. Second, the Automatic FMEA tool analyzes the causality between the failure modes and the failure effects by performing model-based fault injection simulation. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the Automatic FMEA, we used the electronic fuel injection system (EFI) Simulink model. The results of the Automatic FMEA were compared to that of the legacy FMEA.

The aim of this study was to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEG) from the skeletal muscle and liver samples of animal model for metabolic diseases in human. To perform the study, the fatty acid (FA) profile and RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) data of 35 samples of liver tissue (SOY1.5, n=17 and SOY3.0, n=18) and 36 samples of skeletal muscle (SOY1.5, n=18 and SOY3.0, n=18) of Large White pigs were analyzed. The FA profile of the tissues was modified by the diet, mainly those related to monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) FA. The skeletal muscle transcriptome analysis revealed 45 DEG (FDR 10%), and the functional enrichment analysis identified network maps related to inflammation, immune process, and pathways associated with the oxidative stress, type 2 diabetes and metabolic dysfunction. For the liver tissue, the transcriptome profile analysis revealed 281 DEG, which participate in network maps related to neurodegenerative diseases. With this nutrigenomics study, we verified that different levels of soybean oil in the pig diet, an animal model for metabolic diseases in humans, affected the transcriptome profile of skeletal muscle and liver tissue. These findings may help to better understand the biological mechanisms that can be modulated by the diet.

This paper presents a study on the idle vibration reduction of a diesel sport utility vehicle (SUV). To reduce idle vibration, the transmission paths of vibration from the engine to the driver seat floor were investigated with the vehicle components related to idle vibration. Furthermore, operational deflection shape (ODS) tests were conducted to visualize the vibration shapes during engine idling. Experimental modal analyses were performed to obtain the natural frequencies and mode shapes. Through the ODS and modal tests, the vibration characteristics of the diesel SUV during idling were identified. Considering these vibration characteristics, a multi-body dynamic model for the diesel SUV described by differential equations of motion was established to evaluate the idle vibration. To implement the dynamic model effectively, the equivalent stiffnesses and damping coefficients included in the model were determined experimentally or analytically. The established dynamic model was verified by comparing the natural frequencies and idle vibration levels between simulations. Using this dynamic model, we analyzed the effects of various design variables on idle vibration and obtained an optimal design for reducing the idle vibration level. Finally, we present a design guide to reduce the idle vibration for diesel SUVs.

Current lines of research into mood disorders indicate that immune mediators participating in the pathophysiology of chronic somatic disorders have potent influences on brain functions, even when these mediators are produced in peripheral tissues. Elevated levels of circulating immune molecules have been consistently associated with depressive symptoms in a number of clinical populations and experimental models, to the extent that major depressive disorder (MDD) is now seen, at least in part, as a disorder of immunity. This paradigm has brought to the fore the use of anti-inflammatory therapies as adjunctive to standard antidepressant therapy with the hope to improve treatment efficacy, particularly in those cohorts that do not respond well to standard medication. Such new practice requires the availability of biomarkers to tailor these new therapies to those most likely to benefit but also clear mechanisms of action describing the interaction between peripheral immunity and brain function. These mechanisms are generally studied in preclinical models that try to recapitulate the human disease through peripherally induced sickness behaviour as the model for immune-induced MDD. After an appraisal of the data in rodent models and their adherence to the data in clinical cohorts, we propose a modified model of periphery-brain interaction that goes beyond the currently established view of interaction between peripheral cytokines and microglia cells as the driver of depression. Instead, we suggest that brain barriers are primary actors in the communication between body and brain and, as a consequence, in the pathophysiology of the disease. This model suggests novel biomarkers, novel targets for therapies as well as a novel mechanism for resistance to standard treatments.

We review some recent developments about strongly interacting relativistic Fermi theories in three spacetime dimensions. These models realize the asymptotic safety scenario and are used to describe the low-energy properties of Dirac materials in condensed matter physics. We begin with a general discussion of the symmetries of multi-flavor Fermi systems in arbitrary dimensions. Then we review known results about the critical flavor number $N_\mathrm{crit}$ of Thirring models in three dimensions. Only models with flavor number below $N_\mathrm{crit}$ show a phase transition from a symmetry-broken strong-coupling phase to a symmetric weak-coupling phase. Recent simulations with chiral fermions show that $N_\mathrm{crit}$ is smaller than previously extracted with various non-perturbative methods. Our simulations with chiral SLAC fermions reveal that for four-component flavors $N_\mathrm{crit}=0.80(4)$. This means that all reducible Thirring models with $\Nr=1,2,3,\dots$ show no phase transition with order parameter. Instead we discover footprints of phase transitions without order parameter. These new transitions are probably smooth and could be used to relate the lattice Thirring models to Thirring models in the continuum. For a single irreducible flavor, we provide previously unpublished values for the critical couplings and critical exponents.

Two-wheeler vehicles are the most significant mode of transportation for Kenyans in both rural and urban regions thereby contributing to local air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The transition to electric two-wheeler vehicles can make a significant contribution to reducing GHG and improving the socio-economic lives of people living in rural Kenya. Re-newable energy systems can considerably contribute to the charging of electric two-wheeled vehicles, thus leading to the reduction of carbon emissions and the expansion of renewable energy penetration in rural Kenya. Therefore, this paper focuses on integrating and modelling electric two-wheeled vehicles (e-bikes) into an off-grid photovoltaic Water-Energy Hub located in the Lake Victoria Region of Western Kenya using the Conventional and Renewable Energy Opti-mization (CARNOT) Toolbox in MATLAB / Simulink. Electricity demand data obtained from the Water-Energy Hub was investigated and analysed. Potential solar energy surplus was identified and electric two-wheeler vehicles were integrated based on the surplus. A field measurement investigation on the energy consumption of the electric two-wheeler vehicles based on the rider’s driving behaviour was also carried. The annual electricity demand of 27,267 kWh, photovoltaic (PV) electricity production of 37,785 kWh with an electricity deficit of 370 kWh were obtained from the simulation results. To reduce the electricity deficit, a load optimisation algorithm was de-veloped to optimally integrate the electric 2-wheeler vehicle into the Water-Energy Hub. It was found that using the load optimisation algorithm, the annual electricity deficit was reduced to 1 kWh and the annual electricity demand was increased by 11% (30,767 kWh) which is enough to charge 4 additional electric two-wheeler batteries daily.

Targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) has recently seen a surge in popularity, with the use of radionuclides conjugated to small molecules and antibodies. Similarly, immunotherapy also has shown promising results – an example being chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells therapy in hematologic malignancies. Moreover, TRT and CAR T therapies possess unique features that require special consideration when determining how to dose, time, and sequence combination treatments, including the distribution of TRT dose in the body, the decay rate of the radionuclide, and the proliferation and persistence of the CAR-T cells. These characteristics complicate additive or synergistic effects of combination therapies and warrant a mathematical treatment which includes these dynamics in relation to the proliferation and clearance rates of the target tumor cells. Here we combine two previously published mathematical models in a multiple myeloma setting to explore the effects of dose, timing, and sequencing of TRT and CAR-T cell based therapies. We find that for a fixed TRT and CAR-T cell dose, the tumor proliferation rate is the most important parameter in determining the best timing of TRT and CAR T therapies.

The traditional bored pile technology has some arduous problems, such as the sediment at the pile tip, the mud skin along the pile shaft, and the stress release due to borehole construction. The post-grouted technology at the pile tip of bored pile has emerged because of demand. The grouting migration height (GMH) is of great significance to the strengthen and reinforcement of the pile foundation. This paper derives the calculation formula of the GMH based on the theory of the column hole expansion and Herschel-Bulkley model. The influence of relevant parameters on the GMH is discussed. Aiming at the problem of the grouting migration along the pile shaft in layered soils, the iterative calculation method of the GMH is proposed. The correctness of the GMH is verified by an engineering case, which can guide the engineering practice. The result shows that the GMH increases with the increase of the grouting pressure, the pile diameter and the thickness of the mud skin, and the grouting pressure is positively correlated with the GMH. The GMH decreases with the increase of the buried depth, the consistency coefficient and the rheological index. On this basis, the correctness of the GMH is verified by an engineering case.

Background: Shared value creation in Base of the Pyramid (BoP) communities is a crucial process towards building sustainable societies. BoP communities in developing countries represent more than four billion people who live on low incomes with limited access to basic products and services. Current or emerging technologies offer promising solutions for organisations pursuing manufacturing opportunities in BoP communities. This study seeks to explore the literature on how BoP communities may become active participants in sustainably manufacturing products using micro-manufacturing factories. The research question posed is: What are the core concepts that need to be taken into consideration for creating shared value through micro-manufacturing factories in BoP communities? Method: A Systematised Literature review (SLR) was completed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) method for data selection criteria and analysis. The SLR is used to explore the state of literature with regards to creating manufacturing shared value in BoP communities with the objective to identify study gaps and to explore shared value creation concepts. Results: Literature indicates BoP initiatives that have pursued to engage BoP communities through various innovation strategies. The findings of the review is organised under three strategic pillars: Capability building strategy, Implementation process, and Growth strategy. The capability building strategy defines the users’ intention to create shared value in BoP communities with Micro-manufacturing factories (MMF). It is followed by the implementation process which guides the users to create manufacturing shared value in BoP communities. This is followed by a growth strategy to scale for impact.

A critical challenge underpinning the adoption of Additive Manufacture (AM) as a technology is the postprocessing of manufactured components. For Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) this can involve the removal of powder from the interior of the component, often by vibrating the component to fluidise the powder to encourage drainage. In this paper we develop and validate a computational model of the flow of metal powder suitable for predicting powder removal from such AM components. The model is a continuum Eulerian multiphase model of the powder including models for the granular temperature; the effect of vibration can be included through appropriate wall boundaries for this granular temperature. We validate the individual sub-models appropriate for AM metal powders by comparison with in-house and literature experimental results, and then apply the full model to a more complex geometry typical of an AM Heat Exchanger. The model is shown to provide valuable and accurate results at a fraction of the computational cost of a particle-based model.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia. Better prevention and treatment of AF are needed to reduce AF-associated morbidity and mortality. Several major mechanisms cause AF in patients, including a genetic predisposition to develop AF. Genome-wide association studies have identified genetic variants associated with AF populations, with the strongest hits clustering on chromosome 4q25, close to the gene coding for the homeobox transcription PITX2. Because of the inherent complexity of the human heart, experimental and basic research on PITX2-dependent AF is not sufficient for understanding atrial functional proprieties. Linking PITX2 to ion channels, cells, tissues, atria and the whole heart, computational models are necessary for achieving a quantitative understanding of atrial structure and function in PITX2-dependent AF. Computational approaches are used to capture all that we know about PITX2-dependent AF and to develop improved therapies. In the present review, we discuss advances in atrial modelling and focus on the mechanistic links between PITX2 and AF. Challenges in applying models for improving patient health are described, as well as a summary of future perspectives.

The strategy of any organization is based on the growth of its customer base, and one of 5 its principles is that selling a product to an existing customer is much more profitable than acquiring 6 a new customer. However, this approach has several opportunities for improvement, since it usu- 7 ally has a totally reactive approach, which does not give opportunity to the areas specialized in 8 customer experience and recovery, to give an effective response for that moment, since the customer 9 is gone at the time of the intervention. This happens because usually a diagnostic analysis of cus- 10 tomers who have stopped buying products or services in a defined period, commonly three (3) pe- 11 riods or months, is performed. This thesis work challenges the way to face this problem, and pro- 12 poses the development of a complete solution, which does not focus exclusively on the prediction 13 of churn, as is usually done in the state of the art research, but to intervene in different interactions 14 that can be carried out with customers. The above focused not only to prevent customer churn, but 15 to generate an added value of continuous improvement in sales processes, increase customer pene- 16 tration, leading to an improvement in customer experience and consequently, an increase in cus- 17 tomer loyalty.

The strategy of any organization is based on the growth of its customer base, and one of 6 its principles is that selling a product to an existing customer is much more profitable than acquiring 7 a new customer. However, this approach has several opportunities for improvement, since it usu- 8 ally has a totally reactive approach, which does not give opportunity to the areas specialized in 9 customer experience and recovery, to give an effective response for that moment, since the customer 10 is gone at the time of the intervention. This happens because usually a diagnostic analysis of cus- 11 tomers who have stopped buying products or services in a defined period, commonly three (3) pe- 12 riods or months, is performed. This paper challenges the way to face this problem, and proposes 13 the development of a complete solution, which does not focus exclusively on the prediction of 14 churn, as is usually done in the state of the art research, but to intervene in different interactions 15 that can be carried out with customers. The above focused not only to prevent customer churn, but 16 to generate an added value of continuous improvement in sales processes, increase customer pene- 17 tration, leading to an improvement in customer experience and consequently, an increase in cus- 18 tomer loyalty.

The strategy of any organization is based on the growth of its customer base, and one of 5 its principles is that selling a product to an existing customer is much more profitable than acquiring 6 a new customer. However, this approach has several opportunities for improvement, since it usu- 7 ally has a totally reactive approach, which does not give opportunity to the areas specialized in 8 customer experience and recovery, to give an effective response for that moment, since the customer 9 is gone at the time of the intervention. This happens because usually a diagnostic analysis of cus- 10 tomers who have stopped buying products or services in a defined period, commonly three (3) pe- 11 riods or months, is performed. This paper challenges the way to face this problem, and proposes 12 the development of a complete solution, which does not focus exclusively on the prediction of 13 churn, as is usually done in the state of the art research, but to intervene in different interactions 14 that can be carried out with customers. The above focused not only to prevent customer churn, but 15 to generate an added value of continuous improvement in sales processes, increase customer pene- 16 tration, leading to an improvement in customer experience and consequently, an increase in cus- 17 tomer loyalty.

Despite the rising interest in smart city initiatives worldwide, governmental theories along with the managerial perspectives of city planning are a great lack in the literature. It is definitely understandable that the adoption of configurational pathways towards the ‘smart’ ‘governance’ models is required as key factor and smartness’ facilitator in modern cities. In this manuscript, we display an exhaustive analysis on the importance of the n-Helix models along with a benchmarking critical approach through selected European case-studies. The study, through the literature review, revealed the lack of exhaustive analyses for the methodological investigation, identification and adoption of the most appropriate governance model and collaborative approaches per project and collaborative approaches and create modular frameworks to address efficiently the continuous urban challenges, such as the rapid urbanization or the climate change.