Translational rockslides caused by toe excavation are one of the commonly seen geohazards in mountainous regions due to line traffic construction. Quantifying their failure extension length (FEL) and travel distance are of significant interest as well as huge challenges in landslide hazard assessment. In this paper, a simple criterion is proposed for predicting these two factors based on the principles of rigid body limit equilibrium and kinetic energy theorem. Further, the proposed criterion is validated against the field observations and numerical results with a practical case of the Xinjianan landslide, a medium-sized translational rockslide that occurred in 2013 in Nanchuan District, Chongqing. The findings indicate that a tiny discrepancy can be found in FEL between the field observations and the proposed criteria, while this discrepancy could be considerable in travel distance between different methods. However, the relative discrepancies all fall within 20%, deemed acceptable.

Partially automated driving functions (SAE Level 2) can control a vehicle's longitudinal and lateral movements. However, taking over the driving task involves automation risks that the driver must manage. In severe accidents, the driver's ability to avoid a collision must be assessed, considering their expected reaction behavior. The primary goal of this study is to generate essential data on driver reaction behavior in case of malfunctions in partially automated driving functions for use in legal affairs. A simulator study with two scenarios involving 32 subjects was conducted for this purpose. The first scenario investigated driver reactions to system limitations during cornering. The second scenario examined driver responses to phantom braking caused by the AEBS. As a result, the first scenario shows that none of the subjects could control the situation safely. Due to partial automation, we could also identify a new part of the reaction time, the hands-on time, which leads to increased steering reaction times of 1.18 to 1.74 seconds. In the second scenario, we found that 25 of the 32 subjects could not override the phantom braking by pressing the accelerator pedal, although 16 subjects were informed about the system analog to the actual vehicle manuals. Overall, the study suggests that the current legal perspective on vehicle control and the expected driver reaction behavior for accident avoidance should be reconsidered.

This study presents a comprehensive ecological evaluation of avian species based on 5,322 photographs obtained through camera-trap sampling. We identified 1,427 independent bird sightings, encompassing 26 families and 49 species. The study focused on temporal activity patterns, nesting behaviors, habitat preferences, and the overlap coefficient of activity patterns among 22 species of Passeriformes. Two species exhibited predominant morning activity, while five species were active in the afternoon, and 15 exhibited cathemeral activity (activity throughout the day). A cross-analysis revealed varying degrees of overlap in the activity patterns of pairs of species with similar behavioral ecology. Our findings indicate that despite exhibiting similar ecological behavior, these species display unique activity patterns, likely influenced by factors such as resource availability, competition avoidance, and thermoregulation strategies. The results highlight the richness and complexity of avian temporal niches and emphasize the need for further research into their correlation with environmental factors. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of niche separation within Passeriformes and expands our knowledge of avian behavioral ecology.

The utilization of primary school buildings is multifaceted, primarily due to the high occupancy density, varying thermal preferences among occupants, diverse indoor activities (such as walking, sports, and conversation), and a constant flow of individuals entering and exiting the building. This results in frequent opening and closing of external windows and doors and fluctuations in internal heat gain. Consequently, frequent interactions between the indoor and outdoor microenvironments lead to energy losses. This study conducts a comprehensive literature review on building energy loss stemming from occupant behavior and the interactions between indoor and outdoor microenvironments. Furthermore, it proposes a dynamic real-time monitoring system based on a computer data capture and visualization platform foundation for building energy loss. The research methods include data crawling, data association rule mining, and data association analysis. The research findings yield a universally applicable and informative building energy-saving design theory based on extensive data analysis. Additionally, the system presents information on occupants' behavior and the microclimate data of indoor and outdoor environments on a computer screen, facilitating human-machine communication and enabling timely adjustments to design strategies for new buildings and operation and maintenance strategies for existing buildings.

The demand for industries to enhance sustainability is rising in response to climate change worries. A pervasive and intensifying worldwide environmental problem, plastic pollution has a particularly severe impact on climate change. The production of significant volumes of plastic garbage occurs mostly in Asian regions. So, it's commonplace to talk about pro-environmental conduct nowadays. Indonesia and Taiwan are chosen as case studies of developed and developing regions, respectively. The cultural differences between the two areas do, however, exist in terms of environmental values, and this further influences consumer behavior. In order to understand how environmental education has influenced pro-environmental behavior, this study examines how environmental attitude, knowledge, motivation, and intention have changed as a result of environmental education. By sending electronic questionnaires to a sample of 235 respondents (110 Indonesian and 125 Taiwanese), gathered between March 11 and April 30, 2023, we employ quantitative approaches and data-gathering procedures. The CB-Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS analytical tool is used to examine the data. We are able to draw important conclusions from the study of differences between Indonesian and Taiwanese and make suggestions for more research as well as theoretical and managerial ramifications.

It could be helpful if behaviours presented in routine handling could be used as temperament indicators, thus directing tailor-made managements, optimising resources, and animal welfare. We evaluate whether behaviours presented by 25 foals during the first navel treatment and first halter session at weaning. Their behaviour was assessed during a novel object transposition test when they were one year of age. Behavioural parameters presented then were correlated with behaviours presented at navel treatment and haltering. Foals that showed higher exploratory activity during the test correlated to foals that showed less reactivity and less tickling at navel treatment and that were more relaxed and showed less reactivity haltering. Confidence to transpose the novel object was correlated with foals that were more relaxed, showed less reactivity and were less ticklish at navel treatment and were more relaxed during haltering. Transposition style correlated foals less prone to transpose with foals less curious in humans at navel treatment and more vigilant at haltering. Correlations verified between routine management and behaviour test indicate the possibility of early identification of equine temperament, allowing management techniques and specific training for the individual, enhancing training efficiency, animal welfare, and better human-horse interactions.

To monitor adherence to diets and to design and evaluate nutritional interventions it is essential to obtain objective knowledge about eating behavior. In most research, measures of eating behavior are based on self-reporting, such as 24-h recalls, food records (food diaries), and food frequency questionnaires. Self-reporting is prone to inaccuracies due to inaccurate and subjective recall and other biases. Recording behavior using non-obtrusive technology in daily life would overcome this. We here provide an up-to-date systematic overview encompassing all (close-to) publicly or commercially available technologies to automatically record eating behavior in real-life settings. 1328 studies were screened and after applying defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 122 studies were included for in-depth evaluation. Technologies in these studies were categorized by what type of eating behavior they measure and which type of sensor technology they use. In general, we found that relatively simple sensors are often used. Depending on the purpose, these are mainly motion sensors, microphones, weight sensors, and photo cameras. While several of these technologies are commercially available, there is still a lack of publicly available algorithms that are needed to process and interpret the resulting data. We argue that future work should focus on developing robust algorithms and validating these technologies in real-life settings. Combining technologies (e.g., prompting individuals for self-reports at sensed, opportune moments) is a promising route toward ecologically valid studies of eating behavior.

Taekwondo masters and coaches believe that they have a kind of “eagle eye” and that is why they feel comfortable to analyze athletes’ skills without using essential tools. The aim of this study was to analyze the athletes’ technical indicators during performance of the Miluh-chagi kick. To analyze the reliability and precision of the cycle of ten kicks (n = 120), performed by 5 women and 7 men senior athletes, we used an expert panel and a previously published observational tool. The coefficient of variation was calculated to verify precision. The intraclass correlation coefficient was calculated to confirm the reliability among the evaluators. Student’s t-test was used for group-to-group analysis. Correlation analyses were accessed using Spearman’s rho. The data quality sample reliability results, for group, intra- and inter-rater were excellent and good re-spectively. Statistically significant differences, with a large effect size, were found in the foot take-off, knee up and start leg flexion observational moments. The values showed a small and negative to moderate correlation between the conducts and aggregates criteria. Perfect correlation values were found between support leg foot and contact leg position. These findings meet the measurement requirements of athletes’ technical indicators to analyze motor behavior, develop-ment and performance of this technique.

In this study we assessed the electrical and optical behavior of semiconductor hybrid films fabricate from octaethyl-21H,23H-porphine copper (CuP), embedded in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), and polystyrene (PS). The hybrid films were characterized structurally and morphologically by means of Infrared spectroscopy (IR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Subsequently, the PMMA:CuP and PS:CuP hybrid films were evaluated optically by UV-vis spectroscopy, as well as electrically, with the four-point collinear method. Hybrid films present a homogeneous and low roughness morphology, besides; the PS matrix allows the crystallization of the porphin, while the PMMA promotes the amorphous structure in CuP. The polymeric matrix also has an effect on the optical behavior of the films, since the smallest optical gap (2.16 eV) and onset gap (1.89 eV) and the highest transparency are obtained in the film with a PMMA matrix. Finally, the electrical behavior in hybrid films is also affected by the matrix: the largest amount of current carried is around 0.01 A for PS:CuP film, while for PMMA:CuP film it is 0.0015 A. Thanks to the above properties, hybrid films are promising candidates for use in optoelectronic devices.

The surface behavior of the ZnO-based films could be modulated via a postannealing and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation with different powers and time, respectively. These present results could provide modulate the microstructure related in grain-size distribution and photocatalytic behavior for potential guide in the field of wide bandgap semiconducting oxides. The ZnO films were prepared onto Corning-1737 glass substrates by using radio-frequency magnetron sputtering without supplying oxygen source at room temperature. For the purpose of obtaining modulable grain microstructures, the as-prepared ZnO films (Z0) were treated via a postannealing modification in vacuum furnace at 300°C for 30 minutes after deposition (Z300) accompanied with the adjustable internal stress. The contact angle (CA) value of ZnO film reduced from 95° to 68° was owning to the different grain microstructure accompanied by a change in size variation. In addition, the UV light with different irradiation powers could also be used to improve the hydrophilicity varied from hydrophobic status to superhydrophilic status due to the desirable surface characteristics of the photocatalytic action. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of ZnO film exhibited efficient photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV irradiation, with a chemical reaction constant of 2.93×10-3 min−1. In this present work, we demonstrated that the CA value of the ZnO films not only caused from hydrophobic to hydrophilic status accompanied by a change in grain size combined with internal stress but also induced by the UV light irradiation combined with photocatalytic activity simultaneously. On the other hand, the enhanced surface plasmonic resonance could be observed that is due to couple electron and photon oscillations and can be generated at the interface between a flat, continuous Pt capping nanolayer. This designed structure could also be considered as a Pt electrode pattern onto ZnO (metal Pt/ ceramic ZnO) for multifunctional heterostructured sensors and devices in near future.

Purpose: For businesses of all sizes, turnover is a significant issue that has a detrimental impact on organizational performance. This study investigates the variables influencing SME workers' intentions to leave their current employers. This study also examines the moderating effect of organizational commitment on the relationships between attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and turnover intentions. Methodology: Six hypotheses were proposed regarding the connections between the initial TPB components and organizational commitment. Results: The PLS-SEM structural path analysis findings revealed that the three fundamental predictors of TPB significantly influence turnover intention, with perceived behavioral control most strongly influencing intention. Furthermore, the results revealed that organizational commitment moderated the relationship between TPB constructs and turnover intention. Practical Implications and Originality: This study used an extended TPB model to introduce fresh perspectives into the literature on SME workers' organizational commitment.

The rising importance of Big Data in modern information analysis is supported by vast quantities of user data, but it is only possible to collect sufficient data for all tasks within certain data-gathering contexts. There are many cases where a domain is too novel, too niche, or too sparsely collected to adequately support Big Data tasks. To remedy this, we have created ADG Engine that allows for the generation of additional data that follows the trends and patterns of the data that’s already been collected. Using a database structure that tracks users across different activity types, ADG Engine can use all available information to maximize the authenticity of the generated data. Our efforts are particularly geared towards data analytics by identifying abnormalities in the data and allowing the user to generate normal and abnormal data at custom ratios. In situations where it would be impractical or impossible to expand the available dataset by collecting more data, it can still be possible to move forward with algorithmically expanded data datasets.

To solve the problem of smooth switching between car-following model and lane-changing model, the Intelligent Driver Model (IDM) for a single lane was used to study the driver's behavior switching mechanism of normally following, generating intentions to change lanes, creating space and speed gains, and performing lane change. In the case of sufficient lane-changing space and speed gains, the ego vehicle's intention to change lane was considered to solve the switching boundary between car-following behavior and lane-changing behavior, which is also the IDM failure point. In the event that there is no lane-changing gains, the IDM was optimized by incorporating the constraint components of the target lane vehicles in conjunction with the actual motion state of the ego vehicle, and the Stepless Switching Intelligent Driver Model (SSIDM) was constructed. Drivers' natural driving information was collected and scenario mining was performed on structured roads. On the basis of the collected data, an elliptic equation was used to fit the behavior switching boundary, and the two component balance coefficients of the front and rear vehicles on the target lane were identified. According to the test set verification results, the Mean Square Error (MSE) of the SSIDM is 2.172, which is 57.98% less than that of the conventional single-lane IDM. The SSIDM can accomplish stepless switching comparable to driver's behavior between the car-following behavior and the lane-changing behavior, with greater precision than IDM.

Although the Orthotropic steel decks (OSDs) have been widely used in the construction of long-span bridges, there are frequently reported fatigue cracks after years of operation, and the bridge deck overlay also presents severe damage due to OSD crack-induced stiffness reduction. The ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), recognized as the most innovative cementitious composites and the next generation of high-performance materials, shows high strength, ductility, toughness and well performance on durability. After its first application to the OSD bridge in early 2000s, the orthotropic Steel-UHPC composite deck has been comprehensively studied worldwide. This review will summarize some important studies and findings on behavior and fatigue performance of orthotropic steel-UHPC composite deck. The existing studies and engineering application indicate that such deck system presents good bending behavior and high fatigue performance. The failure mode of shear studs in UHPC layer is dominated by shear fractures. The cracking of UHPC layer shall consider the superposition effect of stress from both the whole bridge structure and local decks. While some reasonable structural details in the traditional OSD may not work for the orthotropic steel-UHPC composite deck. It is recommended to evaluate the stress behavior and structural parameters, as well as fatigue life by conducting the field test under in-service traffic conditions.

Hydrogel-based wearable electrochemical biosensors (HWEBs) are emerging biomedical devices that have recently received immense interest. The exceptional properties of HWEBs include excellent biocompatibility with hydrophilic nature, high porosity, tailorable permeability, the capability of reliable and accurate detection of disease biomarkers, suitable device-human interface, facile adjustability, and stimuli-responsive to the nanofiller materials. Although the biomimetic three-dimensional hydrogels can immobilize bioreceptors, such as enzymes and aptamers, without any loss in their activities. However, most HWEBs suffer from low mechanical strength and electrical conductivity. Many studies have been performed on emerging electroactive nanofillers, including biomacromolecules, carbon-based materials, and inorganic and organic nanomaterials, to tackle these issues. Non-conductive hydrogels and even conductive hydrogels may be modified by nanofillers as well as redox species. All these modifications have led to the design and development of efficient nanocomposites as electrochemical biosensors. In this review, both conductive-based and non-conductive-based hydrogels derived from natural and synthetic polymers are systematically reviewed. The main synthesis methods and characterization techniques are addressed. The mechanical properties and electrochemical behavior of HWEBs are discussed in detail. Finally, the prospects and potential applications of HWEBs in biosensing, healthcare monitoring, and clinical diagnostics are highlighted.

Prosocial behavior is vital for positive social development among adolescents, contributing to improved peer relationships, emotional well-being, and social competence. Gratitude, a positive emotion arising from recognizing and appreciating benefits received from others, has been identified as a potential contributor to adolescent prosocial behavior. This study aimed to investigate the mediating roles of social support and basic psychological needs in the relationship between gratitude and prosocial behavior among adolescents. A total of 390 middle school students participated in a longitudinal study, completing questionnaires assessing gratitude, social support, basic psychological needs, and prosocial behavior at two time points with a six-month interval. The results indicated that gratitude positively correlated with social support, basic psychological needs, and prosocial behavior. Structural equation modeling revealed that social support and basic psychological needs partially mediated the relationship between gratitude and adolescent prosocial behavior. Moreover, a chain-like mediation effect was observed, wherein social support influenced basic psychological needs, which in turn predicted prosocial behavior. These findings emphasize the importance of gratitude in fostering prosocial behavior among adolescents and highlight the mediating roles of social support and basic psychological needs in this relationship.

Rice bran (RB) is a promising food ingredient that can improve biological function. In this study, we investigated the effects of RB, both unfermented (RB30) and fermented (RBF30) with five different microorganisms on the neurobehavioral activity in zebrafish larvae. Analytical methods such as UV spectrum and MS scan were performed. Interestingly, niacin content, which is known to improve brain functions such as cognition and emotion, was found to be higher in RBF30 than in RB30. Furthermore, niacin content was highly increased in the RBF30-exposed fish, compared to those in control fish. Therefore, we profiled behavioral patterns and various neurochemistry in zebrafish larvae following supplementation with RBF30 as well as performed calcium imaging on Tg (huC:GAL4-VP16);(UAS:GCaMP7a) zebrafish larvae to determine the correlation of neural activity. RBF30 revealed greater stimulation of locomotor activity without negatively affecting decision-making behavior in zebrafish larvae, as compared to RB30 or niacin. Its behavioral activation is mainly linked with the elevations of neural activity and several neurochemicals such as serotonergic and dopaminergic systems that are implicated in the control of anxiety and stress. Taken together, these results suggest that RBF30 could be a food material that improve the behavioral health by modulating neural activity and brain neurochemistry.

To drive safely, the driver must be aware of the surroundings, pay attention to the road traffic, and be ready to adapt to new circumstances. Most studies on driving safety focus on detecting anomalies in driver behavior and monitoring the cognitive capabilities of drivers. In our study, we proposed a classifier for basic activities in driving a car, based on a similar approach that could be applied to the recognition of basic activities in daily life, that is, using electrooculographic (EOG) signals and a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D CNN). Our classifier achieved an accuracy of 80% for the 16 primary and secondary activities. The accuracy related to primary activities in driving, including crossroad, parking, roundabout was 97.9%, 96.8%, 97.4%, and 99.5%, respectively. The F1 score for secondary driving actions (0.99) was higher than for primary driving activities (0.93–0.94). Furthermore, using the same algorithm, it was possible to distinguish four secondary activities related to activities of daily life and secondary when driving a car.

This research paper aims to examine the various aspects of cryptocurrencies, from their inception to their current status in the financial market, using a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates mathematical and psychological methods to explore the factors that contribute to the success of celebrity endorsements and the potential risks associated with them. The first section (1.1) of this research paper will provide an overview of cryptocurrencies, exploring their history, functionality, and impact on the global financial market. This will involve examining the technical details behind cryptocurrencies, such as blockchain technology, and the differences between various types of virtual assets. The research will also discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of investing in cryptocurrencies, as well as the regulatory challenges they face. The second section (2.1) of the research paper will focus on the psychological aspect of cryptocurrency investing, analyzing the connection between personality traits and the likelihood of purchasing a cryptocurrency based on a celebrity endorsement. This will involve investigating Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences to understand the qualities that make people more susceptible to investing in a cryptocurrency without prior knowledge (Gardner, 1983). The third section (3.1) of the research paper will delve into the mathematical side of cryptocurrency investing, examining the factors that contribute to the success of celebrity endorsements and the artificial growth of cryptocurrencies. This will involve developing software to calculate the artificial growth of a cryptocurrency over a 24-hour period and analyzing the data to understand the underlying factors driving its value. By taking a multidisciplinary approach, this research will shed light on the complexities of investing in virtual assets and help inform investors of the potential risks and benefits of investing in cryptocurrencies through qualitative and quantitative analyses and through the use of a Multi-Level Latent Class Analysis (LCA).

To explore the effects of pymetrozine on the reproductive behavior of N. lugens, we established a bioassay method to accurately evaluate the toxicity of pymetrozine in N. lugens and establish the level of pymetrozine resistance of N. lugens in the field. In this study, pymetrozine’s effects on the fecundity of N. lugens were evaluated using the topical application method and rice-seedling dipping method. Moreover, the resistance of N. lugens to pymetrozine in a pymetrozine-resistant strain (Pym-R) and two field populations (YZ21 and QS21) was determined using the rice-seedling dipping method and fecundity assay methods. The results showed that treatment of N. lugens third-instar nymphs with LC15, LC50, and LC85 doses of pymetrozine resulted in significantly reduced male fertility and female fecundity. In addition, N. lugens adults treated with pymetrozine using the rice-seedling dipping and topical application method also exhibited significantly in-hibited male courtship, fertility, and female receptivity. Using the rice-stem dipping method, pymetrozine resistance was shown to be at high levels in Pym-R (194.6-fold), YZ21 (205.9-fold), and QS21 (212.8-fold), with LC50 values of 522.520 mg/L (Pym-R), 552.962 mg/L (YZ21), and 571.315 (QS21) mg/L. However, when using the rice-seedling dipping or topical application fe-cundity assay method, Pym-R (EC50: 14.370 mg/L, RR=12.4-fold; ED50: 0.560 ng/adult, RR=10.8-fold), YZ21 (EC50: 12.890 mg/L, RR=11.2-fold; ED50: 0.280 ng/adult; RR=5.4-fold), and QS21 (EC50: 13.70 mg/L, RR=11.9-fold) exhibited moderate or low levels of resistance to pymet-rozine. Our studies show that pymetrozine can significantly inhibit the fecundity of N. lugens. The fecundity assay results showed that N. lugens only developed low to moderate levels of resistance to pymetrozine, indicating that pymetrozine can still achieve effective control on the next gen-eration of N. lugens populations.

Yellow fever is an emerging and re-emerging viral disease transmitted through the bites of infective Aedes mosquitoes. Several outbreaks of yellow fever have been documented in southern Ethiopia.Understanding the transmission cycle is pivotal to manage arboviral disease outbreaks. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate which species of Aedes mosquitoes contribute to the YF virus transmission and the outbreaks that have occurred, and their behaviors (biting and resting) in the region. Two districts were selected based on previous Yellow Fever (YF) outbreak history. A longitudinal entomological sampling was carried out to collect adult Aedes mosquitoes using human landing catches, mechanical mouth aspirators and pyrethrum spreadsheet collection. Adult mosquito collections were conducted twice a month for six months from February 2019 to July 2020. Identification of mosquito species at the genus level was done using morphological keys and speciation using molecular techniques on 406 Aedes due to limited laboratory resources (primers and probe, reagents shortage) and budget limits. Aedes mosquitoes were pooled and tested for YFV, dengue virus (DENV, serotype 1-4) and chikungunya virus (CHKV) by qPCR. A total of 1689 mosquitoes 93.7% (1582/1689) of Aedes and 6.3% (107/1689) of Culex were collected. Of the total collected mosquitoes, 58.7% (991/1689) were from Ofa study sites whereas the left 41.3% (698/1689) were from Boko Dawula. 93.5% (1579/1689) of Aedes complex were collected during wet season. Most of the mosquitoes were collected during the wet season 97.9% (1653/1689). Of the 1582 Aedes simpsoni complex, 57.7% (913/1582) were from Ofa district and the remaining 42.3% (669/1582) were from Boko Dawula district. Of the 406 Aedes mosquitoes molecularly characterized to the species level, the Aedes simpsoni complex accounted for 99.5% (404/406), while Aedes aegypti found in the Ofa district accounted for only 0.5% (2/ 406). From the 934 Aedes simpsoni tested for viruses and none were positive. The human biting activities of Aedes (Ae.) simpsoni peaked at 8:00 – 9:00 hour and 16:00 – 17:00 hour, mostly outdoors, both within the villages and forests. The leaves of Ensete (E.) ventricosum appear to be ideal resting places for Aedes (Ae.) simpsoni complex. Although the tested Ae. simpsoni complex was negative for arboviruses; morning and afternoon activities of the species coincide with human outdoor activities and may therefore pose the risk of viral infection. The lower dominance of Aedes aegypti indicated that the major responsible vector for the occurrences of previous and current arboviral diseases was due to other mentioned Aedes species. It is of great importance to improve surveillance activities of arboviruses in reservoir hosts and vectors to establish control measures. Furthermore, the origin of bloodmeal and the mosquito’s role in the transmission of arboviral diseases need further study to improve the understanding of this species.

The objective of this research article is to determine if social and cultural capital are factors that cause inequalities in the level of knowledge in civic and citizenship education, between Latin American and European countries. To achieve this purpose, information from the National Study of Civic and Citizen Education -ICCS-, of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement -IEA-, of the year 2016, is used. Methodologically speaking, the Educational Production Function -EPF- is estimated and subsequently, the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique is applied to quantify the differences in civic and citizenship education and see how much they are explained by the characteristics of the student and their family. the school, the social and cultural capital. As a main result, educational inequalities were found in favor of European countries, and are due to a greater extent to differences in school resources, between Latin American and European countries, followed by differences in social and cultural capital, therefore, it is the European students who make the best use of and benefit from the differences in school endowments and in social and cultural capital.

The study aims to examine the mediating role of job crafting between inclusive leadership and innovative work behavior. The data were collected from 314 workers employed in China's small and medium-sized industries. The data collection was done through survey design. The data analysis was done through structural equation modeling using Spss 26 and Mplus 8. Inclusive leadership was found to be related to job crafting and innovative work behavior of the employees. Job crafting was found to be mediating between inclusive leadership and innovative work behavior. The study delineated the link mechanism between inclusive leadership and innovative work behavior. Studying inclusive leadership in the context of Chinese culture is a powerful complement to inclusive leadership theory. This paper provides the managers of SMEs with significant managerial insights into how inclusive leadership can effectively motivate employees’ innovative work behaviors.

Psycho-social factors are key factors to the powerlessness of infant mothers who breastfeed. As the theory of planned behavior (TPB) is widely used to investigate the correlation between psycho-social factors and breastfeeding behavior, this study aims to examine the utility of TPB constructs to predict breastfeeding behavior and understand TPB-based psycho-social factors’ effectiveness on breastfeeding behavior. A narrative review consulting Web of Science, Scopus, Ebsco, PubMed, and PsycInfo in English and Chinese has been conducted, with the inclusion of twenty studies published between January 2000 and May 2022. It is reported that psycho-social factors based on TPB for breastfeeding such as affective attitude, instrumental attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control (including self-efficacy), moral norm, breastfeeding knowledge, and self-identity can effectively explain the breastfeeding behavior. Future research should improve the theoretical model of TPB-based breastfeeding and implement more localized prediction and intervention studies on breastfeeding.

The lack of knowledge on the link between the manufacturing process and performances constitutes a major issue of brake lining development. This study focuses on the effect of mixing duration on properties and tribological behavior of organic friction composite materials. The adopted methodology is based on efficient simplified formulations to limit synergic effects by the reduction of number and size distribution of constituents. Microstructural characteristics are analyzed and correlated to thermo physical and mechanical properties. Wear mechanisms and tribological behavior are studied in relation with the given microstructure and material properties. In the elaboration process, mixing duration has an impact on particle distribution and fibre arrangement. Distribution and size of fibre entanglements are found to cluster carbonaceous particles, which creates bulk thermal bridges improving thermal conductivity. Moreover, rockwool fibre arrangements affect density, porosity and thermo-physical properties. In addition, mixing duration disrupts cohesion of fibre bundles with the matrix, affecting compressive modulus and wear behaviour. This microstructural defect fosters an abundant third-body source flow, which results in a high wear flow. Porosities induced by fibre entanglements, presenting large and irregular size and distribution on the friction surface, lead to a low wear resistance and change the stability of friction.

Early diagnosis of malaria and treatment seeking behavior play key role in controlling and preventing further complication related to malaria disease. Aim of this study was to determine the responses on early malaria diagnosis and treatment seeking behavior among outpatient clients attending at Sekou toure regional referral hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among outpatient client at Sekou-Touré regional referral hospital, convenient simple random sampling used and self-administered questionnaire were used to collect data and data was entered into Microsoft excel and then exported to SPSS version 25.0 for further analysis and presented on the percentages and table. The analysis of strength of relationships between categorical variables was conducted using the Chi-square test. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: A total of 192 respondents completed the study with a response rate of 97.6%. The study revealed that Most of the respondents about 90.6% stated they would seek treatment from health facility when symptoms appear. However, only 6.3% seek treatment within 24 hours of onset of illness (p= 0.017). Half of respondents (50.5%) experienced malaria symptoms in the past six months and only 30% seek for treatment at health facility. Preference of health facility, (51%) respondents were going direct to pharmacy to buy medicine for self-treatment. Overall, cost of service, time consumed and distance of health facility especially health center shows significant with such delay. Conclusion: A low proportion of malaria-suspected patients sought treatment within 24 h of fever onset compared to the national target. Distance from the health facility, cost of service and time consumed were found to be predictors of early treatment-seeking behavior for malaria. Strengthening strategies tailored to increasing awareness for communities about malaria, importance of going hospital and early treatment-seeking behavior is essential.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between television viewing/physical activity (TVV/PA) interactions and cardiometabolic risk in an adult European population. A total of 2,155 subjects (25-64 years) (45.2% males), a random population-based sample were evaluated in Brno, Czechia. TVV was classified as low (<2hours/day), moderate (2-4), and high (≥4). PA was classified as insufficient, moderate, and high. To assess the independent association of TVV/PA categories with cardiometabolic variables, multiple linear regression was used. After adjustments, significant associations were: high TVV/insufficient PA with body mass index (BMI) (β=2.61,SE=0.63), waist circumference (WC) (β=7.52,SE=1.58), body fat percent (%BF) (β=6.24,SE=1.02), glucose (β=0.25,SE=0.12), triglycerides (β=0.18,SE=0.05), and HDL-C (β=-0.10,SE=0.04); high TVV/moderate PA with BMI (β=1.98,SE=0.45), WC (β=5.43,SE=1.12), %BF (β =5.15,SE=0.72), triglycerides (β =0.08,SE=0.04), total cholesterol (β=0.21,SE=0.10), LDL-c (β=0.19,SE=0.08), and HDL-c (β=-0.07,SE=0.03); and moderate TVV/insufficient PA with WC (β=2.68,SE=1.25), %BF (β=3.80,SE=0.81), LDL-c (β=0.18,SE=0.09), and HDL-c (β=-0.07,SE=0.03). Independent of PA levels, higher TVV was associated with higher amounts of adipose tissue. Higher blood glucose and triglycerides were present in subjects with high TVV and insufficient PA, but not in those with high PA alone. These results affirm the independent cardiometabolic risk of sedentary routines even in subjects with high-levels of PA.

(1)Background: Early-age concrete shrinkage induces stress that impact the cost and service life of concrete pavements. (2)Methods: In this study, strain measurements of field slabs were conducted and a methodology was presented that independently derived autogenous, drying, and thermal shrinkages in the initial stages of concrete placement. Total strain was measured according to five different environmental conditions and shrinkage strain was calculated for each condition. (3)Results: By measuring the strain of the slab and the specimen, the drying shrinkage strain was measured to be approximately 54% better than that by the conventional non-stressed cylinder method because it was possible to measure the drying shrinkage strain at the surface rather than in the middle part of the slab along its depth direction. When the water-to-cement ratio increased (35→40%), there was a considerable reduction (317με→82με) of autogenous shrinkage strain for the concrete at 28 days of age. Furthermore, calculation of stress-dependent strain allowed the presentation of more intuitive and accurate results. (4)Conclusion: As the measurement of independent shrinkage occurrence is possible, the consequent calculated result of the stress-dependent strain acting on real slabs will facilitate improvement in the construction quality, reduction in the development of defects in the concrete structure, and increase in the service life.

The fields of electronics and information technology have witnessed rapid development during the last decades, providing significant technical support to the field of biological sciences. Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been used to automate the monitoring of animal location and behaviors in a wide range of vertebrate and invertebrate species, including social insects such as ants and honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) This technology relies on electromagnetic fields to identify and track transponders attached to objects automatically. Implementing new technologies to serve research purposes could be time-consuming and require technical expertise from entomologists and researchers. Herein, we present a detailed description on how to harness RFID technology to serve honey bee research effectively. We describe how to build and operate a 32-antenna RFID system used to monitor various honey bee behaviors such as foraging, robbing, queen and drone mating, which can be used in other social insects as well. Preliminary data related to queen nuptial flights were obtained using this unit and presented in this study. Virgin queens labeled with ~5mg transponders performed multiple (1-4) nuptial/orientation flights a day (9 am to 5 pm) ranging from 8 to 145 seconds each. Contrary to virgin queens, no hive exit was recorded for mated-queens. At full capacity, this unit can monitor up to 32 honey bee colonies concurrently and is self-sustained by a solar panel to work in remote areas. All materials, hardware and software needed to build and operate this unit are detailed in this study, offering researchers and beekeepers a practical solution and a comprehensive source of information enabling the implementation of RFID technology in their research perspective.

Under some employment circumstances, individuals in some organizations are willing to engage in unethical behaviors that benefit one’s own supervisors who have a great power to decide the levels of evaluation and compensation for each individual. In this study two hypotheses were examined. First, based on social identification theory, we hypothesized that individuals’ feeling a sense of oneness with one’s own supervisors promote unethical pro-supervisor behaviors (UPSB). Second, based on a person-situation interactionist model, we hypothesized that this positive relationship is strengthen if the individual perceives lower levels of one’s own employability. Data were collected from 185 individuals of various types of organizations in South Korea. A time-lagged field study supported our hypotheses. In particular, supervisor identification was positively related to UPSB. Further, for individuals with a weaker employability perception, supervisor identification was positively related to UPSB.

As a special class of “green” elastomers, thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) have been widely used in industries due to the combination of the excellent resilience of conventional elastomers and the easy recyclability of thermoplastics. Here, the morphology evolution of TPVs based on polyamide 6/ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (PA6/EPDM) blends was investigated by varying the content of the curing agent, phenolic resin (PF). With the incorporation of 6 wt% PF, the gel content of the EPDM phase reaches a high value of 49.6wt% and a typical sea-island structure is formed with EPDM domain in a micro-nano size. The dynamic rheology behaviors of TPVs showed that with the curing degree of EPDM phase increasing, a denser network of EPDM particles is formed in PA6 matrix. Also, a lower crystal degree and crystal peak temperature are observed, indicating that the presence of a growth restriction of PA6 crystal plate induced by a thinner plastic layer between the adjacent EPDM particles. However, the crystal form of PA6 is not changed with the increasing curing degree of the EPDM phase. This study provides an effective strategy to realize a new kind of TPVs, which can be easily introduced into industrial applications.

For the past several decades, abdominal prenatal ultrasonography has been the most significant technology in obstetrics with a long-established application. However, the frequency, exposure time, thermal and cavitation exposure indices, and increased acoustic output of the ultrasonic waves may be harmful to the embryo/fetus and might increase susceptibility to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The increase in the prevalence of ASD is associated with an affluent ethnicity, high socioeconomic status, and high parental education where prenatal ultrasonography is readily available and affordable. Enhanced biophysical adverse effects may link the analogous increase in prenatal ultrasonography and autism, and prenatal ultrasonography may emerge as a risk factor for autism. Radiography usage provides historical evidence for this fact: the predominant past opinion was that exposure to X-rays during pregnancy caused no significant risk to a fetus. However, the association between X-ray exposure and childhood leukemia was only established 40 years after X-ray use began. This review focuses on excessive PUS usage and ASD development. Public Abstract Advancements in medical technology over the past several decades have made prenatal ultrasound more frequently accessible to expecting mothers during their pregnancy, especially for the affluent. A parallel development in health care is the increase in autism diagnoses (Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD) in children of affluent families. There is a general lack of studies of the impact of prenatal ultrasound on fetuses, especially around varying attributes such as frequency, duration of exposure, and thermal and cavitation indices. There is also a historical precedent set, where exposing fetuses to X-rays was not found to be harmful until it was linked to the development of childhood leukemia decades later. This paper seeks to establish a need to further study these attributes of prenatal ultrasound overuse and their possible impact on a developing fetus, with a special focus on the occurrence of Autism.

This study was conducted to examine the moderating and mediating effect of ego - resilience, parenting attitude, and peer attachment in the relation between smartphone dependency and aggression. Participants were 1,863 youths using a smartphone among the first middle school students responded in the 7th Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS) conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute in Korea. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, a correlation, and a hierarchical regression analysis. First, ego-resilience showed a partial mediating effect on the relationship between smartphone dependency, aggression and significant moderating effects were revealed. Second, parenting behavior showed a partial mediating effect on the relationship between smartphone dependency and aggression, with no moderating effects seen. Third, peer attachment had a partial mediating effect on the relationship between smartphone dependency and aggression, with no moderating effects seen. The research suggested the mental health and growth of students could be improved by applying various nursing and health care programs to improve ego-resilience, parenting behavior and peer attachment as they grow into adulthood.

Self-consciousness can be considered as the internal disposition to direct attention to oneself. This dispositional tendency can be focused on private aspects of the self, but also on public characteristics of the individual. We examine self-consciousness in online consumer behavior. This concept has been poorly investigated in consumer research. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of the dimensions of self-consciousness in consumer adoption of online shopping. This study is based on a sample of 725 Spanish undergraduates. Results indicated that public self-consciousness is a significant predictor of the adoption of online shopping.

Self-assembly membranes, composed of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) and 1,2-dihexanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DHPC), were characterized at the total lipid concentration below 20 mM. The sizes of the assemblies varied depending on the molar ratio of DMPC and DHPC (q = [DMPC]/[DHPC]). The small assemblies with diameter of ca. 10 nm were formed at q ≤ 2.0 at 20 ºC (below phase transition temperature of DMPC). The physicochemical membrane properties were then studied using fluorescence probes, 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene and 6-dodecanoyl-N,N-dimethyl-2-naphthylamine, upon the dilution. DHPC micelle showed a higher membrane fluidity, while the DMPC/DHPC membranes at q ≥ 0.5 showed lower membrane fluidities as well as DMPC vesicle in gel (ordered) phase. Upon dilution, the ordered membrane properties were maintained while the solution turbidities increased, implying the morphological change of the self-assembly, bicelle to the vesicle in gel phase. Based on the obtained results, a phase diagram of DMPC/DHPC binary system (at 20 ºC) is described: (i) the bicelle suspension is transparent and the membrane is in ordered state, (ii) the micelle suspension is transparent and the membrane is in disordered state, (iii) the vesicle suspension is turbid and the membrane is in ordered state.

Indonesia is among the countries developing the concept of smart city. The national government envisions Indonesia 2030 which shall implement the smart city towards sustainable development. Many regions in Indonesia have already implemented the concept of smart city, but still on the level of smart government and smart technology, lacking on the smart citizen component of a smart city. This paper aims to analyze the citizens behavior of using technology on Sleman smart citizen 2021 through the lapor sleman mobile application. This research uses mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approaches in examining the data. The authors distributed 100 questionares and conducted interviews to the government which is department of communication and information, Sleman and the several community that ever use the lapor sleman application. The result of the study reveals the following: firstly, performance expectancy, social influence, and behavioral intention are three independent variables which affect the users’ behavior. Secondly, the behavioral intention has the biggest significant effect on users’ behavior. Thirdly, the citizen behavior of using technology has affect the making a smart citizen. Therefore, using technology in term of lapor sleman mobile application can make the citizens as active participants in public life, in terms of social cooperation, freedom of expression and flexibility. However, there are still many problems in the use of lapor sleman mobile application such as the limited access to only android smartphones, lack of technical know-how, and people’s reluctance to use the lapor sleman mobile application.

Obesity has been identified as an emerging health concern for Chinese American children; however, very little is known about diets in Asian American children. The objective of our paper was to describe the dietary intakes of urban Chinese American schoolchildren using a state-of-the-art approach for dietary assessment. Data for this analysis come from the Food Journal Project 2017, a pilot and feasibility study conducted by a multi-sector collaboration. Children aged 8-12 (n=83) completed two dietary assessments using a food diary from January-June 2017. Children were then interviewed using the food diary as a guide and dietary data were entered into the online ASA24 system by study staff. Chinese American children were identified using surname, and were compared to non-Chinese peers with respect to nutrient intake and the Healthy Eating Index 2010 (HEI-2010). Chinese American children consumed more sodium dense diets, more protein, and less sugar compared to non-Chinese children. With regards to the HEI-2010, Chinese American children had less favorable whole grains and sodium scores; and more favorable seafood protein and empty calories scores compared to non-Chinese children. Sodium reduction and increasing whole grain intakes may be warranted in this group, but should be verified with additional studies.

The interest in random fiber lasers (RFLs), first demonstrated one decade ago, is still growing and their basic characteristics have been studied by several authors. RFLs are open systems that present instabilities in the intensity fluctuations due to the energy exchange among their non-orthogonal quasi-modes. In this work, we present a review of the recent investigations on the output characteristics of a continuous-wave erbium-doped RFL, with emphasis on the statistical behavior of the emitted intensity fluctuations. A progression from the Gaussian to Lévy and back to the Gaussian statistical regime was observed by increasing the excitation laser power from below to above the RFL threshold. By analyzing the RFL output intensity fluctuations, the probability density function of emission intensities was determined, and its correspondence with the experimental results was identified, enabling a clear demonstration of the analogy between the RFL phenomenon and the spin-glass phase transition. A replica-symmetry-breaking phase above the RFL threshold was characterized and the glassy behavior of the emitted light was established. We also discuss perspectives for future investigations on RFL systems.

Outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns seastar (CoTS) represent a major cause of coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef. Outbreaks might be explained by enhanced larval survival supported by higher phytoplankton availability after flood events, yet little is known about CoTS larvae feeding behaviour, in particular their potential for selective feeding. Here, single- and mixed-species feeding experiments were conducted on CoTS bipinnaria larvae using five algae (Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Pavlova lutheri, Tisochrysis lutea , Dunaliella sp. and Chaetoceros sp.) and two algal concentrations (1000 and 2500 algae mL^-1). Cell counts using flow-cytometry at the beginning and end of each incubation experiment allowed us to calculate the filtration and ingestion rates of each species by CoTS larvae. In line with previous studies, CoTS larvae ingested more algae when initial algal concentration was higher. We found evidence for the selective ingestion of some species (Chaetoceros sp., Dunaliella sp.) over others (P. lutheri, P. tricornutum). The preferred algal species had the highest energy content, suggesting that CoTS selectively ingested the most energetic algae. Ultimately, combining these results with spatio-temporal patterns in phytoplankton communities will help elucidate the role of larval feeding behaviour in determining the frequency and magnitude of CoTS outbreaks.

Exploring new approaches to innovating higher vocational education is a worldwide pursuit driven by the increasing demand for graduates equipped with competencies. This study investigated how Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) influences the attainment of graduate competence (AGC) in China’s higher vocational education, using the theory of Constructive Alignment (CA) as its foundation. The OBE framework incorporates intended learning outcomes (ILOs), project-based learning (PjBL), assessment strategies (ASs), and AGC. The study tested the model by assessing the impact of ILOs, PjBL, and ASs on AGC, respectively and sequentially. Surveys were administered to 320 CBEC learners in April 2024, resulting in 301 usable responses. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 24.0. Results indicated that PjBL and ASs were directly and positively related to graduate competency attainment, while ILOs were indirectly associated with graduate competence through the mediating roles of PjBL and ASs. The most substantial mediating effect between ILOs and graduate competence was ASs, followed by PjBL, and then, the chain mediating effect of PjBL and ASs. These findings enhance the theoretical understanding of OBE and provide detailed procedures for tracking and enhancing sustainability in higher vocational education. Beneficiaries include educators, policymakers, and accreditation bodies.

Modern fighter aircraft increasingly need to conjugate aerodynamic performance and low observability. In this paper we showcase a methodology for a gradient-based bidisciplinary aero-stealth optimization. The shape of the aircraft is parametrized with the help of a CAD modeler, and we optimize with the SLSQP algorithm. The drag, computed with the help of a RANS method, is used as the aerodynamic criterion. The stealth criterion, a function is derived from the radar cross section in a given cone of directions, weighed with a function whose goal is to cancel the electromagnetic intensity in a given direction. Stealth is achieved passively by scattering back the electromagnetic energy away from the radar antenna and no energy is absorbed by the aircraft, which is considered as a perfect conductor. A Pareto front is identified by varying the weights of the aerodynamic and stealth criteria. The Pareto front allows for an easy identification of the CAD model corresponding to a chosen aero-stealth trade-off.

Drug discovery utilizes high-throughput screening (HTS) methods applying target and cell-based assays. This review discusses the challenges and benefits associated with these assays in HTS. Discussed the strategies that can be applied for the development of screening assays through primary and secondary screens for target identification. Further discussion on identify-ing the most efficacious drugs following these approaches in cancer. Even though various drugs have been identified to treat cancer, there is high demand of more relevant phenotypic assays to produce desired diseased phenotype to only highlighting the specific targets instead of off-targets. Hopefully, the new developing strategies could provide innovative drugs to treat cancer patients to reduce mortality rate.

The correlations of seismic noise, recorded during 1997-2022 at 229 stations around the world are investigated. The property of waveforms, known as the Donoho-Johnston threshold, is analyzed, which separates the absolute values of the orthogonal wavelet coefficients into "small" and "large". Network of 50 reference points is considered. For each reference point, a time series with a time step of 1 day is calculated as the median of the values of the DJ index from the 5 nearest stations. For each reference point, the correlations between the values of the DJ index at other reference points are calculated in a sliding time window of 365 days. Average values of the DJ index decrease, which is interpreted as indicators of global seismic hazard increasing. The maximum distances between reference points with strong correlations show an explosive increase after 2011. Bursts in the mean coherences between the length of day (LOD) and the values of the DJ index at the reference points precede the release of seismic energy with a delay of about 530 days. High amplitude of the DJ index response to LOD for the times 2020-2022 was identified, which may forecast a strong earthquake in the second half of 2023.

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

Animal-based measures are the measure of choice in animal welfare assessment protocols as they can often be applied completely independently to the housing or production system employed. Although there has been a small body of work on potential animal-based measures for farmed crocodilians [1-3], they have not been studied in the context of an animal welfare assessment protocol. Potential animal-based measures, that could be used to reflect the welfare state of farmed crocodilians, were identified and aligned with the Welfare Quality® principles of good housing, good health, good feeding and appropriate behaviour. A consultation process with a panel of experts was used to evaluate and score the potential measures in terms of validity and feasibility. This resulted in a toolbox of measures being identified for further development and integration into animal welfare assessment on the farm. Animal-based measures related to ‘good feeding’ and ‘good health’ received the highest scores for validity and feasibility by the experts. There was less agreement on the animal-based measures that could be used to reflect ‘appropriate behaviour’. Where no animal-based measures were deemed to reliably reflect a welfare criterion nor be useful as a measure on the farm, additional measures of resources or management were suggested as alternatives. Future work in this area should focus on the reliability of the proposed measures and involve further evaluation of their validity and feasibility as they relate to different species of crocodilian and farming system.

The exploitation of lipid membranes in biosensors has provided the ability to reconstitute a considerable part of their functionality to detect trace of food toxicants and environmental pollutants. Nanotechnology enabled sensor miniaturization and extended the range of biological moieties that could be immobilized within a lipid bilayer device. This chapter reviews recent progress in biosensor technologies based on lipid membranes suitable for environmental applications and food quality monitoring. Numerous biosensing applications are presented, putting emphasis on novel systems, new sensing techniques and nanotechnology-based transduction schemes. The range of analytes that can be currently detected include, insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, metals, toxins, antibiotics, microorganisms, hormones, dioxins, etc. Technology limitations and future prospects are discussed, focused on the evaluation/ validation and eventually commercialization of the proposed sensors.

The exploitation of lipid membranes in biosensors has provided the ability to reconstitute a considerable part of their functionality to detect trace of food toxicants and environmental pollutants. Nanotechnology enabled sensor miniaturization and extended the range of biological moieties that could be immobilized within a lipid bilayer device. This chapter reviews recent progress in biosensor technologies based on lipid membranes suitable for environmental applications and food quality monitoring. Numerous biosensing applications are presented, putting emphasis on novel systems, new sensing techniques and nanotechnology-based transduction schemes. The range of analytes that can be currently detected include, insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, metals, toxins, antibiotics, microorganisms, hormones, dioxins, etc. Technology limitations and future prospects are discussed, focused on the evaluation/ validation and eventually commercialization of the proposed sensors.

Given the increase in consumers’ preferences for coffee, it is becoming important to understand their decision-making processes in the coffee chain context. To deepen the understanding of sustainable outcomes in this context, this study investigates the role of dedication- and constraint-based mechanisms in forming consumers’ repurchase and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions, two critical sustainable outcomes. We examined the effects of coffee quality, the quality of the physical environment, and service quality in accelerating the formation of dedication-based factors. Moreover, this study offers an in-depth understanding of the enablers of perceived switching costs. Data collected from 238 university students that frequently visit coffee chains are empirically tested against the proposed theoretical framework by using structural equation modeling. The results confirm that both dedication- and constraint-based factors substantially predict consumers’ sustainable outcomes in the coffee chain context. Brand image and perceived switching costs play an important role in enhancing consumers’ repurchase and positive WOM intentions compared with customer satisfaction. Coffee quality is significantly associated with both customer satisfaction and brand image, whereas the quality of the physical environment and service quality are only significantly associated with brand image. Habit is found to be the key enabler of perceived switching costs, while loyalty programs have no significant impact on perceived switching costs.

Effectively mapping and monitoring rubber plantation is still changing. Previous studies have explored the potential of phenology features for rubber plantation mapping through a pixel-based approach (pixel-based phenology approach). However, in fragmented mountainous Xishuangbanna, it could lead to noises and low accuracy of resultant maps. In this study, we investigated the capability of an integrated approach by combining phenology information with an object-based approach (object-based phenology approach) to map rubber plantations in Xishuangbanna. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data were firstly used to acquire the temporal profile and phenological features of rubber plantations and natural forests, which delineates the time windows of defoliation and foliation phases. Landsat images were then used to extract a phenology algorithm comparing three different approaches: pixel-based phenology, object-based phenology, and extended object-based phenology to separate rubber plantations and natural forests. The results showed that the two object-based approaches achieved higher accuracy than the pixel-based approach, having overall accuracies of 96.4%, 97.4%, and 95.5%, respectively. This study proved the reliability of a phenology-based rubber mapping in fragmented landscapes with a distinct dry/cool season using Landsat images. This study indicated that the object-based phenology approaches can effectively improve the accuracy of the resultant maps in fragmented landscapes.

This research presents a comprehensive framework for efficiently generating forest fire datasets from Google Earth Engine data sources. The primary contribution of this work lies in providing a methodology to swiftly extract forest fire factors without the need for permissions or access to private datasets, rendering the dataset openly accessible and shared without barriers. Furthermore, given that the remote sensing data used is a global dataset, it can be applied in any region without restrictions. In this study, Peninsular Malaysia is chosen as a case study to demonstrate the framework's effectiveness. The generated dataset includes essential variables including the climate and environment, landcover, topography, and anthropogenic factors facilitating the analysis of fire occurrences. The methodology empowers data scientists, enabling them to leverage their analytical skills on the extracted dataset without requiring specialized remote sensing knowledge. Additionally, this study also showcases the adoption of large language models, specifically GPT-4 with the Noteable plugin, as a tool for conducting preliminary analyses on the generated dataset. Sample analyses reveal that several key features, including the KBDI, LST, PDSI, climate water deficit, and precipitation, significantly impact forest fire occurrences in Peninsular Malaysia. Despite the successful application of the GPT-4 with Noteable plugin, certain limitations and challenges are identified, highlighting the necessity for further validation of the tool's applicability and limitations. This study encourages future research to (1) adopt the proposed framework in other regions, (2) explore more detailed analyses encompassing all variables, and (3) leverage machine learning for advanced forecasting.

Saudi Arabia is an oil-reliant nation as a large percentage of its GDP comes from oil resources. Oil dependency leaves a county at the mercy of the international crude market, and a decrease in the price of crude can seriously destabilize the economy of such nations. An example is the case of Venezuela whose dependence on oil caused a national disaster (McCarthy, 2017). As such, the nation’s exports, GDP, and government revenue are primarily dependent on oil revenue, and the recent decrease in the oil prices has decreased Venezuela’s national revenue resulting in economic collapse as well as inflation. A shift from a resource based economy to a knowledge based economy will help Saudi Arabia become less reliant on its oil revenues for its economic stability and growth (Nurunnabi, 2017).

In this paper, quasi-static axial compression tests are performed on the nodal Moso bamboos to study the size effect on energy absorption of the bamboos and the damage pattern of the multiple bamboo columns. Experimental results show that under the same moisture content, growth age and growing environment, the specific energy absorption (SEA) of the test samples increases with the increase of the out-diameter and thickness of the bamboo columns, indicating that size effect exists for energy absorption of the Moso Bamboos. For the multiple bamboo columns, there are mainly three failure modes for the constituent single bamboo columns: splitting above the node, splitting below the node and splitting through the node. Also, the tensile tests are conducted on three kinds of dog-bone shaped bamboo samples to investigate the macroscopic tensile fracture mode in the longitudinal direction of Moso bamboos. Results show that there is no direct relationship between the fracture pattern and moisture content of the bamboos, as well as the growth age of the bamboos. However, the tensile loading rate and the shape of the dog-bone shaped bamboo sample could affect the macroscopic fracture pattern of the bamboos in some cases.

This study focuses on enhancing controllable fibrin-based hydrogels for tissue engineering, addressing existing weaknesses. By integrating a novel copolymer, we improve the foundation for cell-based angiogenesis with adaptable structural features. Tissue engineering often faces challenges like waste disposal and nutrient supply beyond the 200 µm diffusion limit. Angiogenesis breaks through this limitation, allowing the construction of larger constructs. Our innovative scaffold combination significantly boosts angiogenesis, resulting in longer branches and more capillary network junctions. The copolymer attached to fibrin fibers enables precise adjustment of hydrogel mechanical-dynamic properties for specific applications. Our material proves effective for angiogenesis, even under suppression factors like suramin. In our study, we prepared fibrin-based hydrogels with and without the copolymer PVP12400-co-GMA10mol%. Using a co-culture system of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), we analyzed angiogenetic behavior on and within the modified hydrogels. Capillary-like structures were reproducibly formed on different surfaces, demonstrating the general feasibility of three-dimensional endothelial cell networks in fibrin-based hydrogels. This highlights the biomaterial's suitability for in vitro pre-vascularization of biohybrid implants.

In this study, graphite, the most stable form of carbon, was examined for its hexagonal crystalline structure with specific dimensions (ao=2.46 Ǻ; co=6.70 Ǻ). Its framework comprises parallel carbon atom planes forming regular hexagons (side length 1.415 Ǻ) and 120° angles between adjacent atoms. Two structural variations exist: hexagonal symmetry (1-2-1-2-1-2 planes) and rhomboidal symmetry (1-2-3-1-2-3 planes). The research aimed to produce high-density graphite utilizing carbonaceous raw materials. Graphite-based materials often exhibit high porosity, necessitating additional treatments. The study successfully obtained mesophase tar pitch (yield: 45%), a pivotal raw material, and high-density graphite. The resulting graphite underwent characterization for physical properties (apparent and real density, porosity and compression strength), demonstrating conformity with existing literature data.

After the great success of Mobile wallet, the Internet of Things (IoT) leaves the door wide open for consumers to use their connected devices to access their bank accounts and perform routine banking activities from anywhere, anytime and with any device. However, consumers need to feel safe when interacting with IoT-based payment systems, and their personal information should be protected as much as possible. Unlike as usually done in the literature, in this paper, we introduce two lightweight and secure IoT-based payment protocols based on an identity-based signature scheme. We adopt a server-aided verification technique to construct the first scheme. This technique allows to outsource the heavy computation overhead on the sensor node to a cloud server while maintaining the user's privacy. The second scheme is built upon a pairing-free ECC-based security protocol to avoid the heavy computational complexity of bilinear pairing operations. The security reduction results of both schemes are held in the Random Oracle Model (ROM) under the discrete logarithm and computational Diffie-Hellman assumptions. Finally, we experimentally compare the proposed schemes against each other and against the original scheme on the most commonly used IoT devices: a smartphone, a smartwatch and the embedded device Raspberry Pi. Compared with existing schemes, our proposed schemes achieve significant efficiency in the term of communication and computational overheads

The complexity of modern power grids, exacerbated by integrating diverse energy sources, espe-cially inverter-based resources (IBRs), presents a significant challenge to grid operation and plan-ning since linear models fail to capture the intricate IBR dynamics. This study employs the Sparse Identification of Nonlinear Dynamics (SINDy) method to bridge the gap between theoretical un-derstanding and practical implementation in power system analysis. It introduces the novel Volterra-based Nonlinearity Index (VNI) to examine system-level nonlinearity comprehensively. The distinction of dynamics into first-order linearizable terms, second-order nonlinear dynamics, and third-order noise elucidates the intricacy of power systems. The findings demonstrate a fundamental shift in system dynamics as power sources transit to IBRs, revealing system-level nonlinearity compared to module-level nonlinearity in conventional syn-chronous generators. The VNI quantifies nonlinear-to-linear relationships, enriching our comprehension of power system behavior and offering a versatile tool for distinguishing between different nonlinearities and visualizing their distinct patterns through the proposed VIN profile.

College students play an important role in higher education and future social life. Research has a significant impact on college students' self-efficacy. Taking college students in Chengdu, China as an example, this study adopts the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method, comprehensively incorporating various influencing factors such as demographic characteristics, physical exercise behavior, and life satisfaction. From the perspective of physical exercise behavior and life satisfaction, an asymmetric causal model that affects college students' high self-efficacy is constructed. The research results support the main principles of complexity theory, confirming the heterogeneity and complexity of the antecedent conditions for high self-efficacy among college students. Nineteen causal condition combinations that can promote high self-efficacy among college students are obtained. This study conducts exploratory research on the introduction of complexity theory analysis into the study of college students' physical exercise, life satisfaction, and self-efficacy. It also provides a decision-making reference path for improving the life satisfaction, physical exercise behavior, and self-efficacy of college students.

The current study explores the impact of celebrity endorsements and social media platforms on promoting sustainable consumer behavior in Nigerian tourism industry. The study employs Mentionlytics software to analyze online documents and examine how political celebrities and social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook) influence consumer behavior and decision-making processes within the tourism industry. The findings in phase 1 suggest that celebrity endorsements and social media platforms have a positive impact on sustainable consumer behavior. The results in phase 2 suggest that political celebrities engage followers on Facebook based on the 70% share. However, no engagement was found on Twitter based on the zero percent (0%) share, suggesting that Facebook enables political celebrities to promote sustainable tourism. The study contributes to the literature on sustainability and celebrity endorsements, offering insights for destination marketers and policymakers in the Nigerian tourism industry.

This study introduces a method for quantitatively assessing the complexity and predictability of fish behavior in closed systems through the application of information entropy, offering a novel lens to understand how fish adapt to environmental changes. Utilizing simulations rooted in a random walk model for fish movement, we delve into entropy fluctuations under varying environmental conditions, including responses to feeding and external stimuli. Our findings underscore the utility of information entropy in capturing the intricacies of fish behavior, particularly highlighting the synchrony in collective actions and adaptations to environmental shifts. This research not only broadens our comprehension of fish behavior but also paves the way for its application in fields like aquaculture and resource management. Through our analysis, we discovered that smaller grid sizes in simulations capture detailed local fluctuations, while larger grids elucidate general trends, pinpointing a 2.5m grid as optimal for our study. Moreover, changes in swimming speeds and behavioral adaptations during feeding were quantitatively analyzed, with results illustrating significant behavior modifications. Additionally, employing a Gaussian Mixture Model helped to clarify the nuanced changes in fish behavior in response to altered light conditions, demonstrating the layered complexity of fish responses to environmental stimuli. This investigation confirms the efficacy of information entropy as a robust metric for evaluating fish shoal behavior, offering a fresh methodology for ecological and environmental studies, with promising implications for sustainable management practices.

Previous research on consumer perceptions of salmon has often neglected Indigenous rights within the Canadian salmon industry. This study acknowledges the decline in salmon farm licenses in British Columbia and aims to achieve three main objectives: (1) gain a comprehensive understanding of four consumer perceptions—environmental sustainability, economic considerations, Indigenous rights, and price increase—across diverse consumer profiles through a cross-national online survey; (2) identify factors influencing these four consumer perceptions; and (3) assess the impact of these perceptions, along with socio-demographic variables and consumer motivations, on seven purchasing behaviors related to Canadian salmon products. Data analysis employs the graded response model and cumulative link models. The results illustrate how consumer profiles influence the four perceptions and their key determinants. Additionally, the study quantifies the impact of environmental sustainability, economic considerations, Indigenous rights, and a price increase on consumer purchasing behaviors.

Globally, road traffic collisions cause over a million deaths annually, with pedestrians accounting for nearly one-quarter (23%) of these fatalities. This casualty proportion highlights the critical importance of adhering to traffic regulations. This study analyzes the factors influencing driver yielding behavior at midblock crosswalk improvements, comparing (1) a typical zebra crossing (C1) and (2) an intelligent signalized crosswalk (C2). The study used video-based observational data to investigate driver behaviors and factors influencing driver behaviors. The study applied multinomial logistic regression to formulate yielding behavior models. The results indicate that the number of traffic lanes, width of the traffic lanes, width and length of the crosswalk, vulnerable group, the number of pedestrian crossings, pedestrian crossing time, the number of vehicles approaching a crosswalk, speed of vehicle, headway, the post-encroachment time (PET) between vehicles and pedestrian, and roadside parking are the significant factors influence yielding behavior. These findings provide a better understanding of the factors influencing driver yielding behavior and propose measures to set proper physical improvements (e.g., curb extensions, raised pedestrian platforms, and pedestrian fencing), enforcement (e.g., parking restriction, speed violation detection), public awareness campaigns, and education initiatives.

Caring for dolphins is a delicate process that requires experienced caretakers to pay close attention to their behavioral characteristics. However, caretakers may sometimes lack experience or not be able to give their full attention, which can lead to misjudgment or oversight. To address these issues, a dolphin behavior analysis system has been designed to assist caretakers in making accurate assessments. The study utilized image preprocessing techniques to reduce sunlight reflection in the pool and enhance the outline of dolphins, making it easier to analyze their movements. The dolphins were divided into 11 keypoints using an open-source tool called DeepLabCut, which helped accurately mark various body parts for skeletal detection. The AquaAI Dolphin Decoder (ADD) was then used to analyze six dolphin behaviors. To improve behavior recognition accuracy, the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network was introduced. The ADD and LSTM models were integrated to form the ADD-LSTM system. Several classification models, including unidirectional and bidirectional LSTM, GRU, and SVM, were compared. The results showed that the ADD module combined with a double-layer bidirectional LSTM method achieved high accuracy in dolphin behavior analysis. The accuracy rates for each behavior were over 90%.

Background: Nursing home residents (NHRs) have special needs and may experience reduced functionality, higher sedentary behavior time (SBT) and decreased physical activity (PA). This study aimed to characterize NHRs based on SBT, PA, and functional performance (FP), and to identify associations between these factors. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 65 NHRs aged ≥60, evaluated by accelerometer (SBT, PA) and the following tests: Timed Up and Go (TUG), Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), Barthel Index (BI), and Mini-Mental State Examina-tion (MMSE). Health-related variables and anthropometry were assessed. The FP (TUG, SPPB, BI), SBT, PA intensities were used for K-means clustering analysis. Results: The cluster analysis identified: C1 – better FP, shorter SBT, and longer time in PA intensities; C2 - lower FP, longer SBT, and shorter time in PA. In addition, C2 were older, with lower MMSE, lower body mass index, and walking aids use. The SBT showed a negative weak correlation with BI. The moderate PA (MPA) was moderately correlated with the SPPB and strongly correlated with the TUG and BI. Conclusions: MPA is strongly associated with better FP and independence. NHRs have dif-ferent physical and cognitive profiles, which indicates the need for personalized strategies to prevent disability and increase PA.

Urbanization in one of the more important phenomena affecting biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Some organisms can cope with urban challenges, and changes in birds’ acoustic communication have been widely studied. Although changes in the timing of the daily organization of acoustic communication have been previously reported, there is a significant gap regarding possible variations in song structure between dawn and dusk choruses. Considering that urbanization potentially imposes different soundscapes for the dawn and dusk choruses, we postulate two hypotheses: i) there are “natural” variations in song parameters between dawn and dusk choruses, and ii) such parameters within the city will vary in response to urban noise. We studied urban and extra-urban populations of Chiguanco Thrush in La Paz, Bolivia, measuring for their dawn and dusk choruses: song length, song sound pressure, minimum, maximum, range and dominant frequency, and the proportion of songs produced. The results support our two hypotheses: in natural and urban conditions dawn songs were louder and with larger bandwidths, and within the city, the frequency of the entire song rises along with increasing amplitude. Understanding structural variations between dawn and dusk choruses could allow for better interpretation of how some bird species cope with urban challenges.

The eating behaviors of young people underwent substantial changes due to the COVID-9 19 pandemic. This study addresses the understanding of pandemic impacts on perceived psycho-10 logical and physical well-being exploring the connection between self-perceived eating behavior 11 quality and chronic stress. A sample of Portuguese young people aged 15-26 years (N=951), com-12 pleted a self-report questionnaire assessing socio-demographic data, perception of eating quality 13 behavior, appetite, stress, well-being and optimism. The results reveal gender differences, with 14 males scoring higher in well-being and optimism, while females exhibit elevated appetite and 15 chronic stress scores, and also reveals negative links between age group and eating quality and 16 chronic stress, and positive links between eating quality and well-being. Well-being emerges as a 17 significant predictor of stress in middle and oldest young adults that maintain or increase quality of 18 eating behaviors, while optimism plays a paradoxical role in predicting higher stress in younger 19 adults with reduced eating quality. These results emphasize the need to consider eating behaviors 20 and stress among young adults as an investment in global public health, given the significant rep-21 resentation of young adults in the population, to mitigate long-term health risks. Effectively reduc-22 ing detrimental eating behaviors and stress in these demographic groups can enhance overall well-23 being and longevity.

We discuss how the interaction of electrons with an overdamped optical phonon can give rise to a strange-metal behavior over extended temperature and frequency ranges. Although the mode has a finite frequency, an increasing damping shifts spectral weight to progressively lower energies so that, despite the ultimate Fermi liquid character of the system at the lowest temperatures and frequencies, the transport and optical properties of the electron system mimic a marginal Fermi liquid behavior. Within this shrinking Fermi liquid scenario, we extensively investigate the electron self-energy in all frequency and temperature ranges, emphasizing similarities and differences with respect to the marginal Fermi liquid scenario.

The unsafe behavior of frontline workers at construction sites is the most important cause of construction accidents. This study proposed a comprehensive model of frontline workers' unsafe behaviors based on a systems perspective and used structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the influence mechanisms between Objective Conditions (e.g., work environment, work climate, task complexity), Safety Management (e.g., safety education and training, safety reward and punishment regulations, safety inspection, safety technology disclosure, safety warning signs), Group Influence (propagation of unsafe behaviors among workers), Personal Perception (subjective judgment of operators on their safety knowledge and skills), and Unsafe Behaviors. Data from 460 frontline workers were collected through questionnaires and the correlation hypotheses were tested using SPSS 26.0 and Amos 26.0 software. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) Objective Conditions directly positively influence Safety Management, Group Influence, and Personal Perception, but indirectly negatively influence Unsafe Behavior; (2) Safety Management not only directly positively affects Personal Perception but also directly negatively affects Unsafe Behavior. However, the direct effect of Safety Management on Group Influence is not significant; (3) Group Influence has a direct positive effect on Unsafe Behavior, but the direct effect on Personal Perception is not significant; (4) The direct effect of Personal Perception on Unsafe Behavior is insignificant. These findings can be used as preliminary data to guide decision-makers or managers in construction companies to develop reasonable management plans to curb unsafe behaviors of frontline workers.

Dietary guidance to recommend food patterns to deliver nutrients has been well accepted for the past century. Foods to deliver essential nutrients and energy are needed across the life cycle and are dependent upon local industries and accepted cultural practices to deliver essential nutrients to prevent nutrient deficiency diseases. Since the 1980s, dietary guidelines to prevent chronic diseases have relied on epidemiological research to predict what dietary patterns are linked to reduced risk of chronic disease or links to health outcomes. Dietary guidelines have been broad, typically recommending avoiding “too much sugar”, “too much saturated fat”, and “too much sodium”. Efforts to fine tune these recommendations have met with limited scientific data to support more specific recommendations across the life cycle. Consumers have become skeptical of dietary guidelines as media coverage of new studies is often in conflict with accepted nutrition dogma. We discuss whether we really have a science-based databank to support dietary guidelines, based on a scientific session at the 10th International Conference on Nutrition and Growth.

(1) Background: This study, drawing from the theoretical framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), examines the structural relationship among attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and behavioral intention. The study focuses on investigating how the perceived risk associated with particulate matter moderates the relationships between 'attitudes and behavioral intention,' 'subjective norms and behavioral intention,' and 'PBC and behavioral intention' within the context of individuals engaged in outdoor sports; (2) Methods: The data were collected from outdoor sports gatherings facilitated through a popular South Korean sports meetup application. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to establish the construct validity of the measurement scale, assess factor loadings, averaged variance extracted (AVE), and construct reliability (CR). We also ensured the reliability of the measurement scale through Cronbach's α analysis. To achieve our research objectives, we utilized structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood estimation to examine the positive relationships under investigation. Additionally, we performed moderation analysis using the statistical software Jamovi.; (3) Results: The findings demonstrate the significant impacts of attitudes, subjective norms, and PBC on behavioral intention and reveal that perceived risk acts as a moderator, influencing the relationship between PBC and behavioral intention.; (4) Conclusions: Therefore, the government will need to exert substantial efforts to mitigate particulate matter levels.

The chemically synthesized polymer polyacrylamide (HPAM) in conventional reservoirs has achieved excellent oil displacement, but its oil displacement is poor in extreme reservoir environments. To develop biopolymer oil flooding agent under extreme reservoir conditions, the viscosity increasing and rheological properties of three biopolymers, diutan gum, xanthan gum, and scleroglucan, were studied under extreme reservoir conditions (high salt, high temperature, strong acid, and alkali), and the effects of temperature, mineralization, pH, and other factors on their viscosities and long-term stability properties were analyzed and compared. The results showed that under the temperature of 90℃ and below, the three kinds of biopolymers had the best viscosity-increasing ability. The viscosity of the three kinds of biopolymers was 80.94, 11.57, and 59.83mPa·s, respectively, when the concentration was 1500mg/L and the salinity was 220g/L. At the shear rate of 250s-1,100℃~140℃, scleroglucan has the best viscosification. At 140℃, the solution viscosity is 19.74mPa·s, and the retention rate can reach 118.27%. The results of the long-term stability study showed that the solution viscosity of scleroglucan with mineralization level of 220 mg/L was 89.54% viscosity retention in 40 days, and the diutan gum could be stabilized for 10 days, and the viscosity was maintained at 90 mPa·s. All three biopolymers are highly acid and alkali-resistant, with viscosity variations of less than 15% in the pH3~10 range. Rheological tests have shown that both of them have better viscoelastic properties than xanthan gum due to the peculiar double-helix structure of xanthan gum and the rigid triple-helix structure of scleroglucan. Therefore, the two biopolymers, diutan gum, and scleroglucan have the potential for extreme reservoir oil displacement applications, and it is recommended to use diutan gum for oil displacement in reservoirs up to 90℃ and scleroglucan for oil displacement in reservoirs between 100℃ and 140℃.

We studied Ni2FeSi, Co2FeSi and Co2MnSi -based full Heusler alloy glass-coated microwires with the same geometric aspect ratio ρ ≈ 0.50 ± 0.01 prepared using Taylor-Ulitovsky method. The fabrication of X2YZ; (X = Co & Ni, Y = Fe & Mn and Z = Si) based glass coated microwires with fixed aspect ratio is a quite challenging due to the different samples preparation conditions. The XRD analysis shows nanocrystalline microstructure for all the samples. Space group Fm3¯m (FCC) with disordered B2 and A2-types for Ni2FeSi and Co2FeSi and ordered L21-type for Co2MnSi are observed. The change in the positions of Ni, Co and Mn, Fe in X2YSi resulted in a variation in the lattice cell parameters and the average grain size of the sample. Room temperature magnetic behavior shows a dramatic change depending on the chemical composition, where Ni2FeSi-MWs shows the highest coercivity (Hc) compared to Co2FeSi-MWS and Co2MnSi-MWs. The Hc –value of Ni2FeSi-MWs is 16 times higher than that of Co2MnSi-MWs and 3 times higher than that of Co2FeSi-MWS. Meanwhile, the highest reduced remanence is reported for Co2FeSi-MWS (Mr =0.92), , being about 0.33 and 0.22 for Ni2FeSi-MWs and Co2MnSi-MWs, respectively. From the analysis of the temperature dependence of the magnetic properties (Hc and Mr) of X2YZ-MWs we deduced that Hc shows a stable tendency for Co2MnSi-MWs and Co2FeSi-MWs, meanwhile two flipped points are observed for Ni2FeSi-MWs where the behavior of Hc changes with temperature. For Mr monotonic increase by decreasing the temperature is observed for Co2FeSi-MWs and Ni2FeSi-MWs and roughly stable for Co2MnSi-MWs. The thermomagnetic curves at low magnetic field show irreversible magnetic behavior for Co2MnSi-MWs and Co2FeSi-MWs and regular ferromagnetic behavior for Ni2FeSi-MWs. The current result illustrates the ability to tailor the structure and magnetic behavior of X2YZ-MWs at a fixed internal stresses, i.e., with fixed aspect ratio. Additionally, a different behavior was revealed in X2YZ-MWs depending on the degree of ordering and elements distribution. The tunability of magnetic properties of X2YZ-MWs makes them suitable for sensing applications.

The quasi-beta processing was considered as a promising processing technology to obtain a component with an excellent mechanical properties. To achieve an optimized quasi-beta processing parameter of TC21 alloy, the hot deformation behavior in near β phase region for the alloy with a forged structure was investigated by the thermal compression test and finite element (FEM) simulation. The obtained results indicated that the flow behavior of the samples was significantly influenced by the hot deformation parameters and it exhibited a flow hardening behavior at the start stage of deformation. Based on the experimental data, the constitutive equation and processing maps were obtained. The optimum hot processing parameters was 986℃/10^-3s^-1. Based on the FEM simulation results, the evolution of temperature field, strain field and stress field in the deformed samples at different strains exhibited a similar trend in the unstable region, which distributed symmetrically along the center line of the samples, and the center area of the samples was the highest and the center area of the section was the lowest.

Consumer behavior is unpredictable. The accelerated pace of life and daily changes in the desires and preferences of each individual require significant marketing efforts to fulfill needs. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has created significant disruptions in the market to which consumers have responded in a specific way. Our previous research on this topic [11], which included an analysis of various factors that influence consumer habits, was the basis for a new, more detailed analysis of the impact on individual consumption. The results of our previous research set psy-chological influence as a significant factor in consumer behavior. That is the main reason we put the impact of COVID-19 at the center of this research. The analysis was conducted on an existing sample of 559 respondents in the Republic of Croatia. The data obtained by the questionnaire were used to develop a hierarchical model. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a model based on deci-sion-making and was used to rank individual influences on consumer behavior due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These influences have had a significant impact on consumer buying habits.

The vacuolar H+-ATPase is a multisubunit enzyme which plays an essential role in the acidification and functions of lysosomes, endosomes, and synaptic vesicles. Many genes encoding subunits of V-ATPases, namely ATP6V0C, ATP6V1A, ATP6V0A1 and ATP6V1B2, have been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and epilepsy. The autosomal dominant ATP6V1B2 p.Arg506* variant can cause both deafness, congenital, with onychodystrophy, autosomal dominant (DDOD) and deafness, onychodystrophy, osteodystrophy, mental retardation, and seizures syndromes (DOORS). Some but not all individuals with this truncating variant have intellectual disability and/or epilepsy, suggesting incomplete penetrance and/or variable expressivity. To further explore the impact of the p.Arg506* variant in neurodevelopment and epilepsy, we generated Atp6v1b2emR506* mutant mice and performed standardized phenotyping using the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC) pipeline. In addition, we assessed the EEG profile and seizure susceptibility of Atp6v1b2emR506* mice. Behavioral tests revealed that the mice present locomotor hyperactivity and show less anxiety-associated behaviors. Moreover, EEG analyses indicate that Atp6v1b2emR506* mutant mice have interictal epileptic activity and that both heterozygous (like patients) and homozygous mice have reduced seizure thresholds to pentylenetetrazol. Our results confirm that variants in ATP6V1B2 can cause seizures and that the Atp6v1b2emR506* heterozygous mouse model is a valuable tool to further explore the pathophysiology and potential treatments for vacuolar ATPases-associated epilepsy and disorders.

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of spiritual leadership on knowledge hiding behavior of employees in agriculture research institutes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The study also aims to analyze theoretically and then investigate empirical evidence concerning the mediation pathway (namely, professional commitment) to clarify the significant association amid spiritual leadership and subordinate's knowledge hiding behavior. Design/methodology- The cross-sectional data using five point lickert scale was used in this survey based study to investigate the given hypotheses. In order to account for the prim effect and any potential for common method bias, data was gathered at two different time points with a gap of four weeks. Smart PLS4 was used to assess a sample of 298 complete and valid responses for hypotheses testing. Findings – The results show that spiritual leadership impacts negatively the employees’ knowledge hiding behavior. Moreover, this relationship is mediated by professional commitment. Originality/value – First, in contrast to the majority of past studies that concentrated on antecedents of knowledge sharing, the present study examined the impact of spiritual leadership on employee’s knowledge hiding behaviors, which are two opposing concepts. Secondly, the study examined empirically, the mediation effect of professional commitment. These three variables have not been studied together previously.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, urban forest mountains have become important restorative environmental spaces, and demand-customized management based on users’ experiences is needed. We collected 21,557 data points from blogs from January 2020 to December 2021. For data analysis, keyword frequency, term frequency-inverse document frequency, and sentiment analyses were conducted using TEXTOM 4.0, and a semantic linkage network was established and analyzed using Gephi 0.92. In the analyses, the restorative environment components of “being away” “fascination,” “extent,” and “compatibility” were derived from users’ experiences. Fascination, which stems from natural objects such as rocks, valleys, and trails, was derived the most frequently, and being away and compatibility, representing leisure activities such as climbing and walking, formed the largest cluster in cluster analysis. Sentiment analysis revealed a high positive word rate of 91.6%, with favorable feelings accounting for 87.5%, whereas the proportions of joy and interest (12.5%) were relatively low. This study showed that leisure activities related to nature objects had a positive impact. However, joy and interest, which correspond to vitality, were relatively lacking in the restorative experience. To improve restorative experience quality, diversification of leisure activities should be promoted and customized management plans corresponding to restorative environment components developed.

Despite empirical findings that prosociality can prevent children and adolescents from developing psychological maladjustment, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. The goal of the present study was to examine the mediating effects of peer preference and self-perceived social competence on the associations between prosociality and psychological maladjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms and loneliness). Participants were 951 students (Mage = 11 years, 442 girls) in Grades 3~7 from Shanghai, China. They completed peer nominations of prosociality and peer preference, and self-report measures of self-perceived social competence, depressive symptoms, and loneliness. Multiple mediation analyses revealed that: (a) both peer preference and self-perceived social competence mediated the relations between prosociality and psychological maladjustment; and (b) a serial indirect pathway (i.e., prosociality  →  peer preference  →  self-perceived social competence →  psychological maladjustment) emerged when controlling for grade and gender. These findings point to potential targets in the prevention and intervention of adolescent internalizing problems.

This study, based on the AISAS model, explores the impact of the interaction effect between visual and auditory signals on consumer purchase behavior. Using experimental methods, 120 participants were randomly assigned to four different visual and auditory signal combinations, and their purchase intentions and actual purchase behavior were measured. The results show that the interaction effect between visual and auditory signals has a significant impact on both purchase intentions and actual purchase behavior, and there is a significant positive relationship. Specifically, when visual and auditory signals are mutually consistent, consumers have the highest purchase intentions and actual purchase behavior; when both visual and auditory signals are absent, consumers have the lowest purchase intentions and actual purchase behavior; when either the visual or auditory signal is missing, consumers' purchase intentions and actual purchase behavior are in between the two extremes. This study provides a new perspective for understanding consumers' decision-making processes in multi-sensory environments and offers valuable insights for the development of marketing strategies.

Automatic and real-time pose estimation is important in monitoring animal behavior, health and welfare. In this paper, we utilized pose estimation for monitoring farrowing process to prevent piglet mortality and preserve the health and welfare of sow. State-of-the-art Deep Learning (DL) methods have lately been used for animal pose estimation. The aim of this paper was to probe the generalization ability of five common DL networks (ResNet50, ResNet101, MobileNet, EfficientNet and DLCRNet) for sow and piglet pose estimation. These architectures predict body parts of several piglets and the sow directly from input video sequences. Real farrowing data from a commercial farm was used for training and validation of the proposed networks. The experimental results demonstrated that MobileNet was able to detect seven body parts of the sow with median test error of 0.61 pixels.

Sedentary behavior (SB) is an important public health concern. Adults working in desk-based occupations spend a considerable proportion of the workday sitting. More information is needed regarding the factors that contribute to occupational SB. The aim of this study was to assess the utility of social cognitive theory (SCT) to explain work-related SB using a quantitative, cross-sectional design by administering an online questionnaire. Participants included 381 full-time employees at a large, public university in the south-central United States. Hierarchical multiple linear regression was used to determine the relationship between SCT constructs and SB. Mean work-related SB was 6.08 (SD = 1.59) hours/day. In model 1, 9.6% of the total variance in SB was accounted for by standing desk ownership and physical activity level (p=0.001; R2=0.096). In model 2, SCT constructs led to a statistically significant R2 increase of 4.9% (p < 0.001, where standing desk ownership, physical activity, and self-efficacy explained 13.3% of the variance in work-related SB. Findings from this study suggest that self-efficacy may be an important factor in explaining variation in occupational SB. Public health researchers and practitioners should consider strategies to address employees’ self-efficacy when developing workplace interventions to target occupational SB.

Building on the study by Abdullah et al. (2020), this study aims to analyze the perception of travel, especially in this context of the pandemic, when the measures are alleviated, as well as the citizens' intention and preferences for travel methods during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel behavior and travel mode preferences in the example of the residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Five research questions were defined. A quantitative research approach was applied in this study. The data was collected through a questionnaire (online survey) distributed to respondents via e-mail and the social network Facebook. The convenience sample included 265 respondents. Descriptive analysis, as well as quantitative comparative analysis, were carried out on the collected data. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced a change in travel behavior. The primary purpose of travel before and during the COVID-19 pandemic was social activities. The most significant change in the primary purpose of travel before and during the COVID-19 pandemic is reflected in a decrease in social activities and an increase in recreational sports activities. In contrast, other activities remained proportionally the same before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The average distance traveled for primary outdoor trips before the COVID-19 pandemic is greater than that for primary outdoor trips during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article allows for better organization and planning for the future in the event of another pandemic.

At present there is a huge demand for experimental periodontal models to expand the knowledge in periodontal health related to Microbiome Medicine. Thus far none of the periodontal pathogens or cocktail of pathogens reported as aetiological agents of infectious chronic periodontitis to link with oral squamous cell carcinoma as the way Helicobactor pyroli linked with gastric carcinoma and other related gastric malignancies. Nevertheless, invasive pathogenic mechanisms of virulent strains of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum singly as well as a duo demonstrated the progression and devastation of oral, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers in different study populations. Periodontal disease may be an inevitable consequence or complication of oral cancer patients who comprise a section of digestive tract cancers, due to suboptimal or poor oral hygiene practices due to unbearable pain and other complications of stage four oral cancer. Periodontitis is a reversible oral condition when it is treated properly at the correct stage and good oral hygiene practices and treating chronic periodontitis showed successful interventions in the prognosis of oral cancer. In the light of these scientifically proven epidemiological, laboratory, and clinical evidence this communication highlights the implication of ATP scavenging behavior and upregulation of immune regulatory receptors by intracellular Porphyromonas gingivalis based on in-vitro models on the prognosis of digestive tract cancers regarding the oral cancer patients.

Abstract: Introduction: Nurses, at the forefront of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, have a significant responsibility. Thus, it is substantial to examine the factors behind the job stress, job satisfaction, and the care nurses provide in this process. To examine the correlation between nurses' job stress, satisfaction, and caring behavior perceptions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Method: A descriptive and correlational study. It was conducted with 261 nurses working in a hospital between 2020-2021. Introductory information form, Job Satisfaction Scale for Nurses, Swedish Demand-Control-Support Questionnaire (Job Stress Scale) and Caring Behaviors Inventory-24 were used as data collection tools. Factors behind the perception of caring behaviors were analyzed by linear regression analysis. Results: Caring behavior was found negatively correlated with job stress and positively correlates with job satisfaction. The regression analysis showed that the evaluation of the pre-pandemic work environment and the sub-dimensions of the scales, job control, support from superiors, and perceived significance in the workplace affected the caring behavior. Conclusion: The nurses have low job stress, high job satisfaction, and a high perception of caring behavior in the fight against Covid-19.

Building on a framework of risk transmission to children of depressed parents, the present study investigated the associations between parents’ self-compassion, parent’s depressive symptoms, and child adjustment. A total 189 Chinese parents (101 mothers) whose children were 2-8 years old were recruited to complete a questionnaire, including measures of self-compassion, depressive symptoms and children’s prosocial behavior, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems. Findings indicated mediation effects, in that parents’ depressive symptoms mediated the associ-ation between their self-compassion and child adjustment outcomes, namely children’s internal-izing and externalizing problems, after controlling the effects of monthly family income, child gender, and parent gender. Competing hypothesis suggested that parents’ self-compassion did not moderate between parents’ depressive symptoms and child adjustment outcomes. Hence, the association between parental depressive symptoms and child adjustment was not dependent on the level of parents’ self-compassion. As an implication, researchers and practitioners should be made aware of the protective role of parents’ self-compassion in the family context.

The public interest towards renewable and clean energy is an important part of shaping consumer behavior and policy towards these topics. A “big data” approach towards assessing the public interest for various topics consists in using freely available search frequency data for the Google search engine, through the Google Trends service. The search data frequency can be used to assess public opinion for a variety of topics, such as medicine, climate change and environmental concerns, finance, and economics etc. A study of the public interest towards wind energy topics is reported here. Six Google search keywords (“Wind power”, “Wind energy”, “Offshore wind”, “Wind farm”, “Wind turbine” and “Wind generator”) were investigated in the 2004–2020-time range. All keywords except “Offshore wind” show a steady decrease from a 2008 – 2010 maximum up to 2015, followed by a period limited change in the 2015 – 2020 range. The interest towards offshore wind topics follows a similar trend but increases in frequency starting from 2015 and reaches a maximum in 2018. Overall, the Google Trends data show a decrease of public interests towards most wind energy topics, with the exception of “Offshore wind”, for English speaking users, in the 2004–2020-time range.

The multi-modal data fusion method based on IA-net and CHMM technical proposed is designed to solve the problem that the incompleteness of target behavior information in complex family environment leads to the low accuracy of human behavior recognition.The two improved neural networks(STA-ResNet50、STA-GoogleNet)are combined with LSTM to form two IA-Nets respectively to extract RGB and skeleton modal behavior features in video. The two modal feature sequences are input CHMM to construct the probability fusion model of multi-modal behavior recognition.The experimental results show that the human behavior recognition model proposed in this paper has higher accuracy than the previous fusion methods on HMDB51 and UCF101 datasets. New contributions: attention mechanism is introduced to improve the efficiency of video target feature extraction and utilization. A skeleton based feature extraction framework is proposed, which can be used for human behavior recognition in complex environment. In the field of human behavior recognition, probability theory and neural network are cleverly combined and applied, which provides a new method for multi-modal information fusion.

In the early 1980s it was well established that Leray solutions of the unforced Navier-Stokes equations in Rn decay in energy norm for large time. With the works of T. Miyakawa, M. Schonbek and others it is now known that the energy decay rate cannot in general be any faster than t^-(n+2)/4 and is typically much slower. In contrast, we show in this note that, given an arbitrary Leray solution u(.,t), the difference of any two Stokes approximations to the Navier-Stokes flow u(.,t) will always decay at least as fast as t^-(n+2)/4, no matter how slow the decay of || u(.,t) ||_L2 might happen to be.

Docking the tail of lambs is a standard husbandry procedure and is achieved through several techniques including clamps, hot or cold knives and latex rings, the last of which is the most popular. All tail docking methods cause acute pain which can be reduced by application of local anesthetic, however precise anatomical injection for optimal efficacy requires considerable skill. This pen trial evaluated the ability of local anesthetic delivered with a dual function ring applicator / injector to alleviate acute tail docking pain. Thirty ewe lambs were assigned to one of three treatment groups (n = 10 per group): ring plus local anesthetic (Ring LA), ring only (Ring) and sham handled control (Sham). Lambs were videoed and behavior categorized every 5 minutes for the first hour and every 10 min for the subsequent 2 hours after treatment. There was a significant effect (p &lt; 0.001) of treatment on total active pain related behaviors in the first hour, with Ring lambs showing higher counts compared to Ring LA or Sham. Ring lambs also displayed a significantly higher count of combined abnormal postures (p &lt; 0.001) than Ring LA or Sham lambs. Delivery of 1.5ml of 2% lignocaine via the dual action device abolished abnormal behaviors and signs of pain in Ring LA lambs. However, lambs in the Ring LA group spent less time attempting to suckle compared to Ring and Sham lambs, suggesting that some residual discomfort remained.

This study aims to identify an optimal heat-treatment parameter set for an additively manufactured AlSi10Mg alloy in terms of increasing the hardness and eliminating the anisotropic microstructural characteristics of the alloy in as-built condition. Furthermore, the influence of these optimized parameters on the fatigue properties of the alloy investigated. In this respect, microstructural characteristics of an AlSi10Mg alloy manufactured by Laser-Based Powder Bed Fusion in non-heat-treated and heat-treated conditions were investigated. Their static and dynamic mechanical properties were evaluated, and fatigue behavior was explained by a detailed examination of fracture surfaces. Much of the microstructure in the non-heat-treated condition was composed of columnar grains oriented parallel to the build direction. Further analysis revealed a high fraction of pro-eutectic α-Al. Through heat-treatment, the alloy was successfully brought to its peak-hardened condition, while eliminating the anisotropic microstructural features. Yield strength and ductility increased simultaneously after heat-treatment, which is due to the relief of residual stresses, preservation of refined grains, and introduction of precipitation strengthening. The fatigue strength, calculated at 10^7 cycles, improved as well after heat-treatment and finally detailed fractography reviled that a more ductile fracture mechanism has happened in the heat-treated condition compared to the non-heat-treated condition.

Significant progress has been made in understanding the computational and neural architecture that mediates eye and hand movements made in isolation. However, less is known about the mechanisms that control these movements when they are coordinated. Here, we outline our computational approaches using accumulation-to-threshold and race-to-threshold models to elucidate the mechanisms that initiate and inhibit these movements. We suggest that, depending on the behavioral context, the initiation and inhibition of coordinated eye-hand movements can operate in two modes- coupled and decoupled. The coupled-mode operates when the task context requires a tight coupling between the effectors; a common command initiates both effectors, and a unitary inhibitory process is responsible for stopping them. Conversely, the decoupled mode operates when the task context demands weaker coupling between the effectors; separate commands initiate the eye and hand, and separate inhibitory processes are responsible for stopping them. We hypothesize that higher-order control processes assess the behavioral context and choose the most appropriate mode. This computational architecture can explain heterogeneous results observed across many studies that have investigated the control of coordinated eye-hand movements and may also serve as a general framework to understand the control of complex multi-effector movements.

A number of studies have investigated different crustacean food stuffs, feeding methods, 18 and feeding behavior, but little attention has been given to the interaction between these aspects in 19 crustaceans. The aim of the present review is to update knowledge, and examine challenges and 20 opportunities in the development of formulated diets, as pelleted feed, which is vital for developing 21 better quality of seed or broodstock in hatcheries, and adaptation of hatchery product to the aqua- 22 culture environment, and production systems.

The utilization of person centered care is highlighted as essential for health promotion, yet implementation has been inconsistent and multiple issues remain. There is a dearth of applied re-search exploring the facets of successful implementation. In this paper, a person centered wellbeing program spanning various groups is discussed outlining the central principles that have allowed for successful outcomes. The main data emerges from 10 years of pragmatic pre-post service evaluation. Measures of functional capacity and wellbeing were captured using validated measures. The method for this paper is a narrative exploration of the theory and practices that can explain the continual improvement the clinics have achieved over 10 years. Core principles relate to connecting with people, connecting through groups, and connecting with self. The operationalization and theoretical explanation of these principles is outlined alongside 10 years of data which shows sustained improvement in a range of outcomes. The discussion of these principles posits essential factors to prioritize to advance the implementation of person centered care in health promotion for long term conditions.

Nowadays, customers play a very important and vital role in the field of global economy. As a result, companies give special significance to the customers to survive and grow in the field of economic competition in the modern world and increase their relationship with the buyers of their products and services throughout their lifetime. Marketing growth through mobile phones has provided further motives for performing more researches in the field of customer behavior and attitude in mobile marketing. The goal of the current study is to analyze the effective factors on customer behavior in mobile marketing. The variables used in this study are perceived ease of use, individual knowledge, user’s mobile phone technology, customers’ negative attitudes, and customers’ positive attitudes. The current research is practical in terms of objective and is descriptive-analytic in terms of methodology. Data were gathered by distributing a questionnaire among 284 students of Tehran University. Data were analyzed by structural equation modeling using Lisrel and Expert Choice software. Test results showed that ease of use, individual knowledge, mobile phone technology, positive attitude, and negative attitude variables have a meaningful effect on customer behavior in mobile marketing. The confirmation of all the assumptions of the research supports the importance of the customer behavior analysis in mobile phone services.

Currently, the use of sustainable chemistry as an ecological alternative for the generation of products or processes, free of polluting substance has assumed a preponderant role. The aim of this work is propose a bioinspired, facile, at low cost, non-toxic and environmentally friendly alternative to obtaining magnetic nanoparticles whit a majority phase of magnetite (Fe₃O₄). Is important to empathize that the synthesis was based on the chemical reduction through the Cnicus Benedictus extract, whose use as reducing agent has not been reported in the synthesis of iron oxides nanoparticles. In addition, the Cnicus Benedictus is abundant endemic plant in Mexico, with several medicinal properties and a large number of natural antioxidants. The obtained nanoparticles exhibited significant magnetic and antibacterial properties and an enhanced photocatalytic activity. The crystallite size of the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄ NP’s) was calculated by Williamson-Hall method. The photocatalytic properties of the Fe₃O₄ NP´s were studied by kinetics absorptions models in the Congo red (CR) degradation. Finally the antibacterial effect of the Fe3O4 NP´s were evaluated mediated the Kirby-Bauer method against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria. This route offers a green alternative to obtain Fe3O4 NP´s with remarkable magnetic, photocatalytic and antibacterial properties.

Although the positive relationship between religion and environmental behavior is well-argued, empirical research about the relationship between religion and public pro-environmental behavior is relatively lacking. This paper aims to explore the group differences in the influence of religion on public pro-environmental behavior and the mediating role of environmental risk perception in religion and public pro-environmental behavior. Using the Chinese General Social Survey data in 2013 for empirical analysis, this study’s results show that there are group differences in the impact of religion on public pro-environmental behavior. Women with religious beliefs are more willing to engage in public pro-environmental behavior than those without religious beliefs. Religious believers over the age of 45 are more willing to participate in public pro-environmental behavior than those without religious beliefs. Political participants with religious beliefs are more willing to practice public pro-environmental behavior than those without religious beliefs. In addition, we found that environmental risk perception can act as partial mediation in religious and public pro-environmental behavior. In other words, religious beliefs are deeply embedded in local political and social culture. In order to correctly understand the relationship between religion and public pro-environmental behavior, it is necessary to consider religion in a specific cultural background.

Animal behavior analysis is a crucial tasks for the industrial farming. In an indoor farm setting, extracting Key joints of animal is essential for tracking the animal for longer period of time. In this paper, we proposed a deep network that exploit transfer learning to trained the network for the pig skeleton extraction in an end to end fashion. The backbone of the architecture is based on hourglass stacked dense-net. In order to train the network, key frames are selected from the test data using K-mean sampler. In total, 9 Keypoints are annotated that gives a brief detailed behavior analysis in the farm setting. Extensive experiments are conducted and the quantitative results show that the network has the potential of increasing the tracking performance by a substantial margin.

Some management practices, such as maintaining birds under high group density, used in the poultry industry may cause birds stress, leading to injurious behaviors, such as injurious pecking, aggression, and cannibalism. In addition, some management practices used to prevent severe injuries in birds may cause pain. Beak trimming (BT), removal of 1/3 to 1/2 of a beak, is a routine husbandry procedure practiced in laying hens to prevent or reduce injurious behaviors. However, BT causes tissue damage, which may increase somatosensory sensitization of the damaged nerve tissues, resulting in pain (acute, chronic or both) in the treated birds because the beak is a complex, functional organ with an extensive nerve supply. BT has already been heavily regulated or prohibited in several European countries and, in time, this trend will impact the practice used in the United States poultry industry. With the growing public concern for poultry welfare there is a pressing need to identify and develop alternatives to BT. Probiotics defined “as a source of live (viable) naturally occurring microorganisms (direct-fed microbials)” have been used as dietary supplements or functional foods to target gut microbiota (microbiome) for prevention or therapeutic treatment of mental diseases including social stress-induced psychiatric disorders in humans and various experimental animals. In our studies, chickens were used as an animal model to assess if dietary supplementation of probiotic, Bacillus subtilis, reduces injurious behaviors following social challenge. Hens of Dekalb XL strain, an aggressive line, were used in the studies. Our results indicate that dietary supplementation of the Bacillus subtilis based probiotic reduces aggressive behaviors in chickens. These results suggest dietary probiotics could be a suitable strategy for increasing hosts’ health status and welfare conditions.

The article presents a mathematical model to investigate the operability envelopes for subsea production tress (SPT) installation using drill pipe. The finite differential method was used to solve the established governing equations in which the ocean conditions were considered. Based on the evaluations of the ocean wave, ocean current, water depth, specification of drill pipe and SPT weight that might dominate the mechanical behaviors of the pipe, the operability envelopes with permissible ocean conditions for SPT installation were obtained. The results indicate that changes of depths in deep water and SPT weight have few effects on the operation conditions and it would be better to choose smaller pipe to obtain larger permissible ocean conditions during SPT installation.

Butyl rubber-based composite (BRC) is one of the most popular materials for the fabrication of protective glove against chemical and mechanical risks. However, in many working places such as metal manufacturing or automotive mechanical services, its mechanical hazards usually appear together with metalworking fluids (MWFs). The presence of these contaminants, particularly at high temperature, could modify its properties due to the scission, the plasticization, the crosslinking of polymer network and thus led to severe modification of mechanical and physicochemical properties of material. This work aims to determine the effect of temperature and a metalworking fluid on mechanical behavior of butyl rubber composite dealing with crosslinking density, cohesion forces and elastic constant of BRC on the based on Mooney-Rivlin’s theory. The effect of temperature with and without MWFs on thermo dynamical properties and morphology of butyl membranes is also investigated. The prediction of service lifetime is then evaluated from extrapolation of Arrhenius plot at different temperatures.

Populaces are prominent indicators of livability in creating ‘street life’ for cities and public spaces. Evaluating people’s experiences is significant in creating a city liveliness and urban heritage trail. The exploration of design strategies that could allow them to integrated and connected with other spaces in the context of city and heritage as well as creating a social life among them. The measuring variables are people’s experience on the spaces; thus, create the pattern of behavior, which cause spaces liveliness, using Kuala Lumpur Heritage Trail as an example of pedestrian priority streets, city environment and heritage value. The aim of this research is to evaluate people’s experiences and analyze their behavior towards the urban street design within cities environment and Malaysia heritage values. The analyzed review comprising on the livability of the street in the context of interrelation between behavioral patter of people and the preferences of urban heritage. Hence, this paper will give an understanding of how people experiences the presence of urban streets and heritage values, thus, bringing liveliness to the streets.