Reconstructing the Tree of Life remains a central goal in biology. Early methods, relying on small numbers of morphological or genetic characters, often yielded conflicting evolutionary histories, undermining confidence in the results. Investigations based on phylogenomics, which use hundreds to thousands of loci for phylogenetic inquiry, have provided a clearer picture of life's history, but certain branches remain problematic. To resolve difficult nodes on the Tree of Life, two recent studies tested the utility of synteny, the conserved collinearity of orthologous genetic loci in two or more organisms, for phylogenetics. Synteny exhibits compelling phylogenomic potential while also raising new challenges. We identify and discuss specific opportunities and challenges that bear on the value of synteny data and other rare genomic changes for phylogenomic studies. Synteny-based analyses of highly contiguous genome assemblies mark a new chapter in the phylogenomic era and the quest to reconstruct the Tree of Life.

Pseudolysimachion nakaianum (Ohwi) T.Yamaz. is an endemic species that is an important species in the forest ecosystems of South Korea. This study aimed to develop an in vitro propagation system for P. nakaianum, to enhance the availability of this rare and endemic plant for commercial horticulture and restoration efforts. We utilized cotyledon explants from in vitro germinated seeds and two types of explants (petiole and leaf) from in vitro seedlings to assess the impact of five different cytokinins on adventitious shoot organogenesis in P. nakaianum. The half-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium, supplemented with 10 µM thidiazuron (TDZ) for both cotyledon and petiole explants, yielded the highest shoot induction rates (61.1 ± 9.6% and 26.7 ± 8.8%, respectively) and the greatest number of shoots (3 ± 0.6 and 4.4 ± 0.5, respectively). Responses from leaf explants were variable, with none showing in vitro regeneration. Successfully acclimatized P. nakaianum plantlets in a greenhouse demonstrated normal growth. This protocol outlines an effective method for the direct in vitro regeneration from cotyledon and petiole explants of P. nakaianum, providing valuable information for the conservation of this species.

Whole body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) is frequently presented as a safe and attractive training technology, however evidence for this description is vague. Thus, the present study aimed to provide an overview of different aspects related to safety and attractiveness of WB-EMS in non-athletic cohorts. A systematic review of the literature according to PRISMA searched five electronic databases, two study registers and google scholar without language restrictions. Briefly, WB-EMS studies that reported adverse effects, loss to follow, withdrawal or attendance rates in non-athletic cohorts were included. Finally, 58 eligible studies were eligible. All studies applied low-frequency WB-EMS predominately 1-2x 20-25 min/week. Seventeen studies provided a superimposed protocol. While no study (n=56) reported serious adverse effects, four studies observed abnormal laboratory findings, albeit without clinical relevance. Loss to follow-up (10±11%) and withdrawal rate (5±6%) of WB-EMS trials were low, but did not differ from data for the non-training (10±12% and 4±6%) or exercise control groups (12±11% and 7±8%). In parallel, we observed high attendance rates (94±7%) in the WB-EMS groups that again did not relevantly vary from findings for the exercising control groups (n=20; 91±7%). WB-EMS can indeed be considered as a safe and attractive training technology for non-athletic cohorts, be it with or without health problems.

Federated learning trains a neural network model using the client's data to maintain the benefits of centralized model training, while maintaining the privacy. However, if the client data are not independently and identically distributed (non-IID) because of different environments, the accuracy of the model may suffer from client drift during training owing to discrepancies in each client's data. This study proposes a personalized federated learning algorithm based on the concept of multitask learning to divide each client model into two layers: a feature extraction layer and a category prediction layer. The feature extraction layer maps the input data to a low-dimensional feature vector space. Furthermore, the parameters of the neural network are aggregated with those of other clients using an adaptive method. The category prediction layer maps low-dimensional feature vectors to the label sample space, with its parameters remaining unaffected by other clients to maintain client uniqueness. The proposed personalized federated learning method produces faster learning model convergence rates and higher accuracy rates for the non-IID datasets in our experiments.

Perinatal brain injury is a major public health problem burdened with high morbidity, mortality and severe neurological sequelae. Despite advances in neonatal life-saving technologies, neonatal encephalopathy lacks specific and effective treatment. Therefore, mechanisms of central nervous system changes associated with perinatal brain injury have been a hot topic of neonatology research. In recent years, researchers have shifted more focus from neurons themselves to perineuronal cells and intercellular interactions. As a member of the nervous system network, astrocytes are one of the dominant glial cells that regulate ion homeostasis, blood flow, and antioxidant function in the brain. Their changes in molecular mechanisms (e.g., alterations in RNA regulatory networks) during brain injury storms deserve further attention. Non-coding RNAs participate in and promote reactive pathophysiologic changes in astrocytes. The review summarizes and discusses the role of non-coding RNAs in astrocytes in recent years in studies of neonatal brain injury. It focuses on the most studied disease-related ncRNAs: miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs, and hopes to provide possible directions for pathophysiological studies and therapeutic approaches of neonatal brain injury.

This publication delves into the intricate world of human communication, extending beyond the realm of spoken and written language to explore the profound influence of non-verbal communication. Focusing on body language—comprising gestures, facial expressions, postures, and movements—it reveals the pivotal role it plays in conveying emotions, intentions, and psychological states. The rapidly evolving fields of neuroscience and cognitive science are investigating the neural mechanisms and cognitive processes that underpin the interpretation and utilization of these non-verbal cues. Notably, the amygdala's involvement in processing emotional facial expressions has provided a neurological foundation for our emotional understanding in non-verbal communication. Concurrently, cognitive psychology sheds light on how perception, attention, and memory influence our interpretation of non-verbal cues and communication strategies.In our modern, technologically advancing society characterized by global interconnectivity and cultural diversity, the significance of non-verbal communication, especially in digital and virtual contexts, is paramount. The transformation of non-verbal expression into digital symbols like emoticons and emojis raises questions regarding its ability to maintain authenticity and emotional understanding. This publication endeavors to comprehensively explore the fundamental role of body language and non-verbal communication in contemporary society. By integrating insights from psychology, neuroscience, social sciences, and digital technologies, it aims to elucidate the underlying mechanisms guiding non-verbal communication. Additionally, it delves into the implications of non-verbal communication across diverse domains, including interpersonal communication, the workplace, politics, advertising, and the virtual world.The research presented herein strives to offer a thorough understanding of interpersonal dynamics, relationships, and social behavior, with the goal of promoting the development of more effective, conscious, and ethically guided communication strategies. Ultimately, this analysis aspires to inspire further interdisciplinary research and reflection, addressing emerging challenges and fully leveraging the potential of non-verbal communication in modern society. This, in turn, guides our path towards a communication landscape that is more inclusive, authentic, and empathetic.

Heart transplantation (HT) represents the mainstream therapy of end-stage heart failure for selected patients with a median survival of more than 10 years after surgery and substantial improvement in quality of life. Current guidelines suggest a variety of examinations including invasive (coronary angiography and endomyocardial biopsy (EBM) and non-invasive methods (echocardiography, stress echocardiography, computed tomography, PET and MRI) to monitor HT patients. Guidelines do not specify the timing of echocardiographic evaluations and do not recommend echocardiography as an alternative to serial EMB in rejection monitoring [2]. They still recommend as gold standard coronary angiography to be done 1 year after surgery and every 2 years after. In this review we will discuss the advantages of non-invasive techniques over the invasive ones for an adequate follow-up of HT patients.

Fermented food matrices, including beverages, can be defined as the result of the activity of complex microbial ecosystems where different microorganisms interact according to different biotic and abiotic factors. Certainly, in industrial production the technological processes aim to control the fermentation to place safe foods on the market. Therefore, if food safety is the essential prerogative, consumers are increasingly oriented towards a healthy and conscious diet driving the production and consequently the applied research towards natural processes. In this regard, the aim to guarantee safety, quality and diversify of products should be reached limiting or avoiding the addition of antimicrobials or synthetic additives using the biological approach. In this paper, following the recent re-evaluation of non-Saccharomyces yeasts (NSYs) has been re-viewed the bio-protectant and biocontrol activity with a particular focus on their antimicrobial power, probiotic features and promoting functional aspects. In this review, the authors would underline the contribution of NSYs in all food production chain and its role in the technological and fermentative features for their practical and useful use as biocontrol agent in food preparations.

Discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) twenty years ago, has advocated a new era of “Molecular Genetics”. About 2000 miRNAs are present, that regulate one third of the genome. MiRNAs dysregulated expression may contribute to several diseases including tumor growth. Their presence in body fluids, reflecting levels alteration in various cancers, merit circulating miRNAs as the “next generation biomarkers” for early stages tumor diagnosis and/or prognosis. Herein, we performed a comprehensive literature search focusing on the origin, biosynthesis and role of miRNAs and summarized the foremost studies centering on miRs value as non-invasive biomarkers in different non-communicable diseases, including various cancer types. Moreover, during chemotherapy many miRNAs were linked to multidrug resistance, via modulating numerous biological processes and/or pathways that will be highlighted as well.

Economists have long been interested in examining inflation-growth nexus. Nevertheless, the nature of their relationship and the optimal level of inflation threshold for economic growth have still remained controversial in both theoretical and empirical works. Accordingly, this study investigates the existence of threshold effects of inflation on economic growth in Ethiopia over the period 1975-2018 using a Two-regime Threshold Auto-regressive (TAR) model. The study mainly departs from previous works since it estimates sector-specific inflation threshold level in food and non-food sectors. Our preliminary analyses clearly reveal that inflation in food sector has become more volatile, less-persistent and key contributor to the general inflation as compared to its non-food counterpart. Further, The TAR model results and robustness checks indicate the existence of inflation threshold in a range of 9-10%. In particular, the threshold level for food inflation is 10% and 8% for non-food inflation. In all cases, our results robustly confirm growth-detrimental effects of inflation after the threshold levels. After all, this study suggests the need for considering specific behaviors of food and non-food prices, and implementing appropriate fiscal and monetary policies to bring inflation down to a single-digit level.

Multiple preventive vaccines are being developed to counter the COVID-19 pandemic. The leading candidates have now been evaluated in non-human primates (NHPs) and human Phase 1 and/or Phase 2 clinical trials. Several vaccines have already advanced into Phase 3 efficacy trials, while others will do so before the end of 2020. Here, we summarize what is known of the antibody and T-cell immunogenicity of these vaccines in NHPs and humans. To the extent possible, we compare how the vaccines have performed, taking into account the use of different assays to assess immunogenicity and inconsistencies in how the resulting data are presented. We also summarize the outcome of SARS-CoV-2 challenge experiments in immunized macaques, while noting variations in the protocols used, including but not limited to the virus challenge doses.

The Combined Elevation Test (CET) is a musculoskeletal screening technique (MST) replicates the streamline position in swimming and is commonly used in various sports. Although the CET is widely used, no normative data exist within an adolescent population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a normative data set for the CET within an adolescent population and to evaluate the influence various demographic and anthropometric variables. Data was collected for 416 participants aged between 8 and 18 years old. Age and arm span showed a significant correlation with CET scores (arm span r_s (105) = .478, p = .000, age r_s (416) = .238 p = .000). Regression analysis further quantified the influence of arm span and age on CET scores accounting for 23.1% and 5.3% of variability respectively. These results can be used as a reference point for clinicians and coaches who are using the CET within their assessment.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial regulatory RNAs, originated from hairpin precursors. For the past decade, researchers are focusing extensively on miRNA profiles in various plants. However studies on precursor miRNAs (pre-miRNAs) global profiling stay static even in model plants. Here, for the first time in a non-model plant, Abelmoschus esculentus with negligible genome information, we are reporting the global profiling to characterize the miRNAs and their associated pre-miRNAs by applying next generation sequencing approach. Preliminarily we performed sRNA (small RNA) sequencing with five biological replicates of leaf samples to attain 207,285,863 reads and data analysis using miRPlant keyed out 128 known and 845 novel miRNA candidates. With the objective to seize their associated hairpin precursors, we accomplished pre-miRNA sequencing to attain 83,269,844 reads. The paired end reads are merged, adaptor trimmed and the resulting 40-241 nt (nucleotide) sequences were picked out for analysis by using perl scripts from miRGrep tool and in-house built shell script for Minimum Fold Energy Index (MFEI) calculation. Applying stringent criteria of dicer cleavage pattern and perfect stem loop structure revealed precursors for 57 known miRNAs of 15 families and 18 novel miRNAs. Quantitative Real Time (qRT) PCR was performed to determine the expression of selected miRNAs.

Recently Candida auris has emerged as a multi-resistant fungal pathogen, with a significant clinical impact, and has become a critical issue in WHO fungal priority list, due to its unique ability to persist for long time on human skin and hospital environments. It is therefore fundamental to reinforce hospital surveillance protocols to limit nosocomial outbreaks. The study purpose was the Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) application to investigate the phylogenetic relationships between isolated strains within the C. auris outbreak at the university Intensive Care Unit of a Tertiary University hospital in Turin (Italy). In order to calculate a clustering cut-off, intra- and inter-isolates distance values were analysed. Data showed the presence of a major cluster Alfa and a minor cluster Beta with a defined C. auris clustering cut-off. The results were validated by an external C. auris strain and Principal Component and Linear Discriminant Analysis. The application of FT-IR technology had allowed to obtain important information about the phylogenetic relationships between the analysed strains, defining for the first time a “not WGS-based” clustering cut-off with a statistical-mathematical approach. FT-IR could represent a valid alternative to molecular methods for rapid and cost saving typing of C. auris strains with important clinical implications.

To improve carbon efficiency for urban logistics service system composed of a third-party logistics service provider (3PLs) and an e-business enterprise, low-carbon operation game between them was studied. Considering low carbon technology investment cost and sales expansion effect of low carbon level, profit functions for both players were constituted. Based on their different bargaining capabilities, totally 5 types of game scenarios were designed. Through analytical solution, Nash Equilibria under varied scenarios were obtained. By analyzing these equilibria, 4 major propositions were given, in which, some key variables and system performance index were compared. Results show that the best system yields could only be achieved under the fully cooperative situation; limited cooperation only for carbon emission reduction would not benefit the system performance improvement; E-business enterprise-leading game’s performance overtook 3PLs-leading ones.

This paper aims to study and analyze the effect of the flow rate and amplitude of walling waves on the peristaltic flow of Jeffrey’s fluid through an irregular channel. In addition, it analyses streamlined patterns and their local and global bifurcation flow. The theory of dynamical systems is used to explore the position of critical points and their bifurcation. Numerical and analytical methods are presented to display effective changes in amplitude and rate of the flow on the transport of fluid. Three types of streamline patterns occur backward, trapping and augmented flow in the channel through movement due to changes in the value rate parameters.

The integration of metal nanoparticles and solid carriers can achieve ideal stability, high load and good conductivity. In this work, copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) were sequentially deposited on a cobalt metal-organic framework (Co-MOF) by bonding with exposed imino groups, followed by a reduction reaction to prepare a new Cu@Co-MOF composite. Cu@Co-MOF acts as a non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor to detect glucose (Glu) in an alkaline medium. The composite working electrode of Cu@Co-MOF/GCE (GCE = glassy carbon electrode) improves the electrocatalytic activity for Glu oxidation. Cu@Co-MOF/GCE shows excellent electrocatalytic performances in Glu concentration ranging 0.005~1.8 mmol∙L⁻¹ (mM): the sensitivities are 282.89 μA∙mM⁻¹∙cm⁻² in 0.005-0.4 mM Glu and 113.15 μA∙mM⁻¹∙cm⁻² in 0.4-1.8 mM Glu respectively with low detection limit of 1.6 μM (S/N = 3) and high selectivity and stability.

New class of biologically active and non-active compounds can be synthesized via transition metal mediated Suzuki cross coupling reaction that has a great impact on the advancement of organic chemistry. These resulted products can lend a helping hand in pharmaceutical and polymer chemistry for the betterment of mankind. Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling reaction is one of the best tools through which many natural and non-natural compounds can be synthesized.

"Hydrogen is an extremely promising energy carrier, poised to become a commercially viable product in the coming years. However, there are significant hurdles that need to be addressed. One such challenge is the high energy consumption during the electrolysis process, which is used to produce hydrogen. Furthermore, the co-production of CO and CO2 during steam hydrocarbon reforming adds to the complexity. Finding innovative solutions to these issues is crucial for the widespread adoption of hydrogen as a clean and efficient energy source." Simultaneously, various industries have the capability to generate hydrogen as a by-product, each with differing levels of purity. For instance, sodium and chlorine production plants have the potential to produce high-purity hydrogen. On the other hand, digester and sewage gas can yield low-purity hydrogen. In both instances, there is an economic incentive to utilize this hydrogen for energy production or to inject it into existing natural gas pipelines A brief estimation of the technical potential of utilizing hydrogen from various sources in Nigeria, specifically for fuel cell usage, has been conducted. Moreover, resource potential visualization maps have been generated to help visualize the availability and distribution of these hydrogen sources throughout the country.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) paradigm is a key research area derived from the Internet of Things (IoT). The emergence of IIoT has enabled a revolution in manufacturing and production, through the employment of various embedded sensing devices connected with each other by an IoT network, along with a collection of enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and edge/fog computing. One of the unrivaled characteristics of IIoT is the inter-connectivity provided to industries; however, this characteristic might open the door for cyber-criminals to launch various attacks. In fact, one of the major challenges hindering the prevalent adoption of the IIoT paradigm is IoT security. Inevitably, an increasing number of research proposals have been introduced over the last decade to overcome these security concerns. To obtain an overview of this research area, conducting a literature survey of the published research is necessary, eliciting the various security requirements and their considerations. This paper provides a literature survey of IIoT security, focused on the period from 2017 to 2023. We identify IIoT security threats and classify them into three categories, based on the IIoT layer they exploit to launch these attacks. Additionally, we characterize the security requirements that these attacks violate. Finally, we highlight how emerging technologies, such as AI and edge/fog computing, can be adopted to address security concerns and enhance IIoT security.

Solar Energy has enormous potential to fulfill the energy requirements of the world and can be extracted using solar cells. However, the solar cells are affected by poor efficiency and further affected by wind speed, orientation of the panel, temperature and dust deposition. There are different cleaning technologies devised by many industry experts to clean the solar panels. However, they are facing drawbacks when deployed in the solar farm. An efficient cleaning system, along with an added cooling system must be devised, so that the solar panels must be cleaned and cooled often to maximize the energy production. This paper presents a low-cost, energy-efficient, smart and innovative dust cleaning and cooling system for Photovoltaic (PV) Panels. The system is designed, fabricated, fully-automated using Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and tested successfully. A battery-charging kiosk, capable of charging two, 24V Lead Acid Batteries embedded within this prototype, shall provide clean-energy in a sustainable manner to the rural communities of the developing nations. The user can check the status of the battery such as battery voltage, battery temperature, and state of charge on the Human Machine Interface (HMI) panel while charging the batteries

Exact solutions to conformable time fractional (3+1)- dimensional equations are derived by using the modified form of the Kudryashov method. The compatible wave transformation reduces the equations to an ODE with integer orders. The predicted solution of the finite series of a rational exponential function is substituted into this ODE. The resultant polynomial equation is solved by using algebraic operations. The method works for the Jimbo-Miwa, the Zakharov-Kuznetsov and the modified Zakharov-Kuznetsov equations in conformable time fractional forms. All the solutions are expressed in explicit forms.

This study presents PlanteSaine, a novel mobile application powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) models explicitly designed for maize, tomato, and onion farmers in Burkina Faso. Agriculture in Burkina Faso, like many developing nations, faces substantial challenges from plant pests and diseases, posing threats to both food security and economic stability. PlanteSaine addresses these challenges by offering a comprehensive solution that provides farmers with real-time identification of pests and diseases. Farmers capture images of affected plants with their smartphones, and PlanteSaine's AI system analyzes these images to provide accurate diagnoses. The application's offline functionality ensures accessibility even in remote areas with limited internet connectivity, while its messaging feature facilitates communication with agricultural authorities for guidance and support. Additionally, PlanteSaine includes an emergency alert mechanism to notify farmers about pest and disease outbreaks, enhancing their preparedness to deal with these threats. An AI-driven framework, featuring an image feature extraction phase with EfficientNetB3 and an artificial neural network (ANN) classifier, was developed and integrated into PlanteSaine. The evaluation of PlanteSaine demonstrates its superior performance compared to baseline models, showcasing its effectiveness in accurately detecting diseases and pests across maize, tomato, and onion crops. Overall, this study highlights the potential of PlanteSaine to revolutionize agricultural technology in Burkina Faso and beyond. Leveraging AI and mobile computing, PlanteSaine provides farmers with accessible and reliable pest and disease management tools, ultimately contributing to sustainable farming practices and enhancing food security. The success of PlanteSaine underscores the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in addressing pressing challenges in global agriculture

The direct measurements of the magnetocaloric effect were performed in Heusler Ni44.4Mn36.2Sn14.9Cu4.5 alloy at cryogenic temperatures in magnetic fields up to 10 T. The maximum value of the inverse magnetocaloric effect in a field of 10 T was observed ∆Tad = –2.7 K in the vicinity of the 1st order magnetostructural phase transition at T0 = 117 K. The ab initio and Monte Carlo calculations were performed to discuss the effect Cu doping into Ni-Mn-Sn compound on the ground state structural and magnetic properties. It is shown that with increasing Cu content the martensitic transition temperature decreases and the Curie temperature of austenite slightly increases. In general, calculated transition temperatures, magnetization values are correlated well with the experimental ones.

We study the atom-field interaction at finite temperature and in the dispersive regime. We show that the master equation for this sytem may be solved with the use of superoperator techniques. We calculate the linear entropy in case the field is initially in a coherent state and the atom in a superposition of its ground and excited states.

Recently, we demonstrated the validity of anomalous numbers law, known as Newcomb-Benford´s law, at the mammalian neuromuscular transmission, considering different extracellular calcium concentrations . The present work continues to examine how alterations in extracellular solution modulate the first digit law in the context of the spontaneous release of acetylcholine from the neuromuscular junction. We investigated if the intervals of miniature potentials collected at the neuromuscular junction obey the law in a hyperkalemic environment. The analysis showed that the interval between the miniature potentials at high potassium concentrations follows Newcomb-Benford´s law. Also, our data allowed us to uncover a conformity fluctuation as a function of the number of intervals of the miniature potentials. Finally, we discuss the biophysical implications of the present findings.

Tidal inlets with attached sand spits are a very common coastal morphology. Since the evolution of the sand spits along the coastline have greatly affected on the social-economic development of local coastal areas. However, previous studies mainly focused on the sand spits which are usually in the scales of hundred meters in width. Therefore, in this study, morphological change of a smaller and unexplored sand spit located in the west coast of Phu Quoc Island, will be investigated. It was found that there is a seasonal variation in the evolution of the sand spit at Song Tranh Inlet. The Longshore sediment transport rates (LSTR) along the spit are in the order from 104 to 105 m3/year. LSTRs of fourteen inlets in the literature were reviewed and the LSTRs at Song Tranh Inlet are higher than half of the LSTRs along the fourteen reviewed inlets. This study aims at contrib-uting to the growing literature on sand spit morphological changes as well as the sustainable coastal management for Phu Quoc Island which is well known as the Pearl Island of Vietnam.

Highly pathogenic (HP) avian influenza viruses (AIVs) are naturally restricted to H5 and H7 subtypes with a polybasic cleavage site (CS) in the hemagglutinin (HA) and any AIV with an intravenous pathogenicity index (IVPI) ≥1.2. Only few non-H5/H7 viruses fulfill the criteria of HPAIVs; nevertheless, it remains unknown why these viruses did not spread in domestic birds. In 2012, a unique H4N2 virus with a polybasic CS 322PEKRRTR/G329 was isolated from quails in California which, however, was avirulent in chickens. This is the only known non-H5/H7 virus with four basic amino acids in the HACS. Here, we investigated the virulence of this virus in chickens after expansion of the polybasic CS by substitution of T327R (322PEKRRRR/G329) or T327K (322PEKRRKR/G329) with or without reassortment with HPAIVs H5N1 and H7N7. The impact of single mutations or reassortment on virus fitness in vitro and in vivo was studied. Efficient cell culture replication of T327R/K carrying H4N2 viruses increased by trypsin, particularly in MDCK cells, and reassortment with HPAIV H5N1. Likewise, replication, virus excretion and bird-to-bird transmission of H4N2 was remarkably compromised by the CS mutations, but restored after reassortment with HPAIV H5N1, although not with HPAIV H7N7. Viruses carrying the H4-HA with or without R327 or K327 mutations and the other gene segments from HPAIV H5N1 exhibited high virulence and efficient transmission in chickens. Together, increasing the number of basic amino acids in the H4N2 HACS was detrimental for viral fitness particularly in vivo but compensated by reassortment with HPAIV H5N1. This may explain the absence of non-H5/H7 HPAIVs in poultry.

The unique structure of G4.0 PAMAM dendrimers allows the drug to be enclosed in internal spaces or immobilized on the surface. In the conducted research, the conditions for the formation of the active G4.0 PAMAM complex with doxorubicin (DOX) were optimized. The physicochemical properties of the system were monitored using DLS, CD, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The QCM-D method was chosen to determine the preferential conditions for the complex formation. The highest binding efficiency of the drug to the cationic dendrimer was observed under basic conditions when the DOX molecule was deprotonated. The decrease in the zeta potential of the complex confirms that DOX immobilizes through electrostatic interaction with the carrier's surface amine groups. The binding constants were determined from the fluorescence quenching of the DOX molecule in the presence of G4.0 PAMAM. The two-fold way of binding doxorubicin in the structure of dendrimers was visible in the ITC isotherm. Fluorescence spectra and release curves identified reversible binding of DOX to the nanocarrier. Among the selected cancer cells, the most promising anticancer activity of G4.0-DOX was observed in A375 malignant melanoma cells. Moreover, the preferred intracellular location of the complexes concerning the free drug was found, which is important from a therapeutic point of view.

With the breakthroughs and innovative developments in nanotechnology, research on the application of nanomedicine in cancer therapy has so far seen tremendous expansion and success. Intelligent stimulus-responsive nanocarriers are an emerging field of research and have great interest in cancer therapy owing to the fascinating properties such as excellent targeting function, high drug loading capacity, and targeted on-demand release properties. Responsive nanomaterials can be designed and constructed according to the dosing context and therapeutic needs, at the same time, activated by internal bio-stimuli (pH, redox, and enzymes) and/or external stimuli (ultrasound, light, temperature, and magnetic), respectively. What’s more, smart nanocarriers are also utilized for the precise and controllable release of antitumor drugs from cancer tissues and cells to achieve efficient diagnosis and treatment of tumors. Deeply investigated, responsive nanocarriers have attracted considerable attention due to their ability to release precisely at tumor-specific sites. Herein, we review the recent advances of novel stimuli-responsive nanocarriers in the field of cancer therapy. Finally, the challenges and application prospects of smart nanocarriers are further elaborately discussed.

This work presents the design and analysis of a novel metal-insulator-insulator-metal (MIIM) rectenna with an added meta lens on top of it for efficient and robust infrared (IR) energy harvesting at 28.3 THz. To ensure maximum transfer of the captured IR radiations by an antenna with better impedance matching, the log-spiral antenna terminals are used as rectenna electrodes while two different insulators are placed between its feeding terminals to form the MIIM rectenna. A split ring-based resonating metasurface is designed and placed on the top of the MIIM rectenna to focus the incoming electromagnetic radiations. The characterization of the MIIM rectenna with added meta lens, in terms of absorbed E-field, is performed for the four different work function metals (gold aluminum, silver, and copper) as well as four combinations of aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, zinc oxide, and copper oxide as insulators. The focusing of illuminating IR radiations by the integrated meta lens to the rectenna structure enhances its field-capturing characteristic by more than 400% as compared to conventional structures. In addition, the proposed design shows improved rectification properties in terms of better impedance matching and rectification efficiency, particularly for the best configuration of Au-Al2O3-Cu2O-Cu rectenna with added metasurface. Future applications of this study include the development of efficient IR energy harvesting systems for remote sensing, wireless communication, and other IoT devices.

At the LHC, the process of a Higgs boson decaying into bottom or charm quarks produced in association with a pair of top quarks, tt¯H, allows for an empirical exploration of the heavy-flavor quark Yukawa couplings to the Higgs boson. Accordingly, the cross sections for the tt¯ + heavy-flavor production without the appearance of the Higgs boson have been measured at the LHC in various phase spaces using data samples collected in pp collisions at s = 7, 8 and 13 TeV with the ATLAS and CMS experiments. Flavor ratios of cross sections of tt¯ + additional jets processes with different flavors are also measured. In this paper, the measured cross sections and ratios are reviewed and the prospects with more data are presented.

This study is follow-up of the steel shot transformation under the influence of environmental factors research (Lisin et al., 2022) and is the initial stage of investigating the iron behavior in soils during steel shot corrosion under a number of factors: the metallic lead in soils, atmospheric precipitation, excess organic matter. The results obtained show that corrosion of steel ammunition is a continuous process, including the formation of a poorly soluble rust crust on the surface of the steel and the mineralization of the metal until it is destroyed. As a result, the metal transformed into rust form, is a constant source of iron ions and dispersed rust particles migrating in soil waters and accumulating in soils. In addition, the aggregation of corrosion products of steel ammunition is the cause of a change in physical and mechanical properties of soils, which leads to a violation of the air and water migration regime of soils and an increase in surface runoff from the territories of shooting activity. The highest environmental risks are observed when steel ammunition is used on shooting areas where metallic lead intensifies steel shot corrosion rate, while the deposited steel shot activates the deterioration of previously encapsulated metal and — if steel and lead ammunition are used at the same time — slows down the encapsulation of newly deposited metallic lead, which catalyses the accumulation and migration of lead in environmental components.

Today, maritime transport is responsible for moving approximately 80 percent of the volume of world trade, which has favored Colombia, which, due to its geographical position, has managed to become one of the most competitive and dynamic economies in the world. South America. For this reason, this investigation is carried out in a port of their country, with the aim of identifying and analyzing restrictions or critical points that may cause delays in the unloading of goods, these would also cause delays in the loading of vehicles. To do this, it began with a diagnosis of the current situation through interviews with the operational personnel of the port, then a simulated model was designed in the ARENA software, in which it was observed that the weighing activities are where the queues were formed, this will cause a delay in the download. As possible solutions, it is recommended to senior management that a proper verification of the operation of the weighing equipment be carried out in order to unload goods more quickly. In addition, a replacement weighing equipment must be purchased. With this change, it would be possible to reduce inefficiencies or cost overruns caused by download delays, which are reducing the fluidity of the goods and the competitiveness of the organization

Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) are currently a fundamental source of information in Earth Sciences. However, DTM-based studies can contain remarkable biases if limitations and inaccuracies of these models are disregarded. In this work, four freely available datasets such as SRTM C-SAR DEM, ASTER GDEM V2 and two airborne LiDAR derived DTMs (at 5 and 1 m spatial resolution, respectively) were analysed in a comparative study in three geomorphologically contrasted catchments located in Mediterranean geoecosystems under intensive human land use influence. Vertical accuracy as well as the influence of each dataset characteristics on hydrological and geomorphological modelling applicability were assessed by using classic geometric and morphometric parameters and the more recently proposed index of sediment connectivity. Overall vertical accuracy – expressed as Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and Normalized Median Deviation (NMAD) – revealed the highest accuracy in the cases of the 1 m (RMSE = 1.55 m; NMAD = 0.44 m) and 5 m LiDAR DTMs (RMSE = 1.73 m; NMAD = 0.84 m). Vertical accuracy of SRTM was lower (RMSE = 6.98 m; NMAD = 5.27 m) but considerably higher than in the case of ASTER (RMSE = 16.10 m; NMAD = 11.23 m). All datasets were affected by systematic distortions. As a consequence, propagation of these errors caused negative impacts on flow routing, stream network and catchment delineation and, to a lower extent, on the distribution of slope values. These limitations should be carefully considered when applying DTMs for hydrogeomorphological modelling.

This paper aims to propose improvements for plastic waste management in Salvador – the Brazilian third most populated metropolis – via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). All indicators, constructs, and hypotheses regarding collection, sorting, recycling, and disposal in the proposed PLS model were derived from the literature review, and the dependence of the performance construct on efficiency, effectiveness, municipality's socioeconomic aspects and municipality infrastructure is evaluated. Academic and practitioner publics were surveyed, and after analysis in both SmartPLS and RStudio software, suggestions for improvement regarding plastics recycling rate, market maturity, and infrastructural aspects for optimized reverse logistics were made. Since almost double the minimum number of respondents answered the survey questionnaire and the PLS-SEM statistics showed that the modeling presents consistency, the discussion is relevant. The model can and will evolve, but examples of suggested improvement are the installation of Deposit-Return Systems (DRS) in parks, streets, and avenues for increasing selective collection and the direct purchasing of waste from residents by municipal administration, compensating them with vouchers for food. The model can be a basis for other cities worldwide sharing analogous characteristics. By considering it, organizations can contribute to both reduced Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and reduced terrestrial pollution.

In this research, the application of the Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN) model is explored to solve transport equation-based Partial Differential Equations (PDEs). The primary objective is to analyze the impact of different activation functions incorporated within the PINN model on its predictive performance, specifically assessing the Mean Squared Error (MSE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). The dataset used in the study consists of a varied set of input parameters related to strut diameter, unit cell size, and the corresponding yield stress values. Through this investigation, the aim is to understand the effectiveness of the PINN model and the significance of choosing appropriate activation functions for solving complex PDEs in real-world applications. The outcomes suggest that the choice of activation function may have minimal influence on the model's predictive accuracy for this particular problem. The PINN model showcases exceptional generalization capabilities, indicating its capacity to avoid overfitting with the provided dataset. The research underscores the importance of striking a balance between performance and computational efficiency while selecting an activation function for specific real-world applications. These valuable findings contribute to advancing the understanding and potential adoption of PINN as an effective tool for solving challenging PDEs in diverse scientific and engineering domains.

Background: Menarche as an important parameter in assessment of scoliosis progression in girls is proven to be dependent on geographical latitude. The aim of the study was to determine whether the age of menarche differs in scoliotic and non-scoliotic Balkan girls and the relation between menarche and laterality of scoliotic curves. Participants and methods: Retrospective study with three groups: scoliotic, non-scoliotic and control group. Patients data collection and analysis was approved by the Ethical committee of the Institute. Statistical analysis: Program SPSS 24 was used and included One-way ANOVA, Fisher’s and Chi-squared test to compare different groups. Statistical significance was defined as p<0,05. Results: No statistically significant difference was found in age of menarche between the three groups (p=0,168). In scoliotic postmenarchal group, primary right curve was dominant in 54,80%, while in scoliotic premenarchal group primary left curve was dominant in 60,09% (p<0,01). Conclusion: In Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia Balkan girls, there was no significant difference in age of menarche between scoliotic and non-scoliotic girls. A significant difference was found in laterality of primary curve in premenarchal and postmenarchal scoliotic girls.

Originating in the Mediterranean, B. oleracea is grown all over the world and is highly valued for its nutritional value and variety in cooking. Its susceptibility to pests, diseases, and environmental stressors, however, poses significant challenges to sustaining consistent crop quality and productivity. The BASIC PENTACYSTEINE gene significantly impacts plant growth and responses to abiotic stresses. Nevertheless, little is known about its precise role and the underlying biological processes in B. oleracea. Eleven BPC genes in B. oleracea were identified by a thorough genome-wide investigation and categorized into three categories according to their structural traits and gene motifs. There were eight different chromosomes on which these BoBPCs were located. Comparative synteny analysis was used to reveal the evolutionary traits of potatoes, Arabidopsis, and B. oleracea. The BoBPC family genes in B. oleracea were found to have specific cis-elements linked to growth, stress responses, and hormone regulation when their promoter regions were studied. Cuticular wax synthesis expression revealed that all BoBZR1 genes, from wild to mutant, expressed at varied amounts in distinct types. Moreover, distinctive BoBPC gene expression patterns were found in the seven distinct tissues that were studied. Our thorough analysis shows that the BoBPC family is widely involved in B. oleracea developmental processes. The present findings provide an established theoretical basis for further exploration into the composition and roles of BoBPC in B. oleracea.

Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) is closely associated with tumor progression and metastasis. However, the relevance and role of VCAM-1 in lung cancer have not been clearly elucidated. In this study, we found that VCAM-1 was highly overexpressed in lung cancer tissue compared with that of normal lung, and high VCAM-1 expression correlated with poor survival of lung cancer patients. VCAM-1 knockdown reduced invasion in A549 human lung cancer cells, and competitive blocking experiments targeting the Ig-like domain 6 of VCAM-1 (VCAM-1-D6) demonstrated that the VCAM-1-D6 domain was critical for VCAM-1-mediated A549 cell invasion. Next, we developed a human monoclonal antibody specific to human and mouse VCAM-1-D6 (VCAM-1-D6 huMab), which was isolated from a human synthetic antibody library using phage display technology. Finally, we showed that VCAM-1-D6 huMab had a nanomolar affinity for VCAM-1-D6 and that it potently suppressed invasion in A549 and NCI-H1299 lung cancer cell lines. Taken together, these results suggest that VCAM-1-D6 is a novel therapeutic target in VCAM-1-mediated lung cancer invasion and that our newly developed VCAM-1-D6 huMab will be a useful tool for inhibiting VCAM-1-expressing lung cancer cell invasion.

Schizophrenia is characterized by an interrelated activation of the immune-inflammatory response system (IRS) and the compensatory immune-regulatory reflex system (CIRS), which downregulates the IRS. Deficit schizophrenia is characterized by a deficit in natural regulatory autoimmune responses to tryptophan catabolites. The presence and correlates of IgM isotype antibodies to oxidative specific epitopes (OSEs), nitroso (NO) and nitro (NO₂) adducts in schizophrenia remain unknown.This study measured IgM antibodies to malondialdehyde (MDA), azelaic acid, phosphatidylinositol, oleic acid, NO-tryptophan, NO-albumin, NO-cysteinyl and NO₂-tyrosine in a sample of 80 schizophrenia patients, divided into those with and those without deficit schizophrenia, and 38 healthy controls.Deficit schizophrenia was characterized by significantly lower IgM antibody levels to all OSEs as compared with non-deficit schizophrenia and controls. Lowered IgM antibodies to MDA coupled with increased IgM levels to NO-cysteinyl and NO₂-tyrosine strongly predict deficit schizophrenia versus non-deficit schizophrenia with an area under the ROC curve of 0.913. A large part of the variance (21.2 – 42.2 %) in the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and excitation is explained by IgM antibody titers to MDA (inversely) and NO-cysteinyl and/or NO₂-tyrosine (both positively). Lower IgM antibodies to MDA are significantly associated with impairments in episodic memory including direct and delayed recall.These findings further indicate that deficit schizophrenia is a distinct phenotype of schizophrenia, which is characterized by lower natural IgM antibody levels to OSEs and relative increments in nitrosylation and nitration of proteins. It is concluded that deficits in lowered IgM responses to MDA and azelaic acid (part of the CIRS) attenuate the negative immune-regulatory feedback on the primary immune response and that this process may drive negative symptoms and impairments in episodic memory and thus deficit schizophrenia.

Abstract: Colistin is a last-resort antimicrobial for treating multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Phe-notypic colistin resistance is highly associated with plasmid-mediated mobile colistin resistance (mcr) genes. mcr-bearing Enterobacteriaceae have been detected in many countries, with the emergence of colistin-resistant pathogens a global concern. This study assessed the distribution of mcr-1, mcr-2, mcr-3, mcr-4, and mcr-5 genes with the phenotypic colistin resistance in isolates from diarrheal infants and children in Bangladesh. Bacteria were identified using the API-20E biochemical panel and 16s rDNA gene sequencing. Polymerase chain reac-tions detected mcr gene variants in the isolates. Their susceptibilities to colistin were determined by agar dilu-tion and E-test by minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) measurements. Over 30.0% (69/225) of isolates showed colistin resistance by agar dilution assessment (MIC> 2.0 μg/mL). Overall, 15.5% of isolates carried mcr genes (7, mcr-1; 17, mcr-2; 13, mcr-3; and co-occurrence occurred in 2 isolates). Clinical breakout MIC val-ues (≥ 4 μg/mL) were associated with 91.3% of mcr-positive isolates. The mcr-positive pathogens include twenty Escherichia spp., five Shigella flexneri, five Citrobacter spp., two Klebsiella pneumoniae, and three Pseudo-monas parafulva. mcr-genes appeared to be significantly associated with phenotypic colistin resistance phe-nomena (p=0.000), with 100% colistin-resistant isolates showing MDR phenomena. Age and sex of patients showed no significant association with detected mcr variants. Overall, mcr-associated colistin-resistant bacte-ria have emerged in Bangladesh, which warrants further research to determine their spread and instigate ac-tivities to reduce resistance.

Wireless Sensor networks (WSNs) are gaining more and more research interest due to their ability to monitor large areas more or less independent. However, their reliability is an important issue, since their system reliability is influenced from a hardware, a data and an energetic point of view due to different factors like loading conditions, signal attenuation and battery lifetime. Regarding these issues, the positions of sensor nodes have to be chosen correctly to maximize the system reliability, which has to be considered during the development of new products equipped with WSNs. In this paper, an approach to estimate a WSNs system reliability during the development phase based on the analysis of the measurements on the example of strain measurements in finite elements (FE) models is presented. For that, the part under consideration is divided into regions with similar strains by the use of a Region Growing Algorithm (RGA). Afterwards, the WSN’s configuration is analyzed regarding its reliability in accordance to the data paths and measurement redundancy due to the sensor positions in the found measuring regions. This methodology is tested on an exemplary WSN configuration at an aircraft wing box under bending load and was found to work very well regarding the estimation of the hardware perspective on the system reliability. Therefore, the methodology and the developed algorithm show potentials for optimizations in sensor node positions for better reliability results.

The development of devices for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) of the lunar surface powder (regolith) by means of microwaves needs regolith simulants with electromagnetic properties similar to the lunar regolith. This document deals with the measurement of complex permittivity and dielectric loss tangent of the aforementioned simulants at ambient temperature from 400 MHz to 20 GHz. In addition, further studies are carried out taking into account humidity of the samples and their densities. The obtained results will be applicable for comparing the measured values of EAC-1A and JSC-2A among them and with other previously measured simulants and real samples. The measurements are carried out applying two different nonresonant techniques: Open- Ended Coaxial Probe (OECP) and Transmission Line. For this purpose, the DAK and EpsiMu commercial kits were respectively used.

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) is the most common pulmonary malignancy, most frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage (III/IV). Patients in the Locally-Advanced Stage Subgroup (IIIA) are relatively few, yet compose of heterogenic phenotypes posing a diagnostic and treating challenge, leading to lack of clinical guidelines regarding the optimal standard of care. Several approaches exist, with a general agreement that a combined oncological and surgical modality approach is required. In this current retrospective descriptive study, operable Stage IIIA NSCLC patients who underwent surgery between 2013-2020 were evaluated on several aspects, including initial diagnosis, neoadjuvant regimens, outcomes of surgical intervention, overall survival at 2-years and 5-years following treatment. A total of 35 patients had neoadjuvant oncological treatment (mostly chemoradiation therapy) prior to surgery, out of which 28 patients were diagnosed with Stage IIIA NSCLC. In post-operative assessment of pathological staging, downstaging was reported in 20 patients, of which 7 (25%) cases were defined as complete pathological response. The 2-years overall survival rate was 65% and the 5-years overall survival rate was 60%. The main pattern of disease recurrence was distant metastasis.

Fault line detection timely and accurately when single-phase-to-earth fault occurs in resonant grounding system is still a focus of research. This paper presents a new approach for fault detection based on data fusion and it has non-artificial setting. Firstly, the fault criterion for interphase difference energy ratio and time-frequency correlation coefficient of each line is proposed. Subsequently, the paper establish a coordinate system with the interphase difference energy ratio as X axis and the time-frequency correlation coefficient as Y axis, and it uses the Euclidean distance algorithm to get the characteristic distance of each line by fusing two-dimensional information. Finally, comparing the sound distance and the fault distance of each line to discriminate the fault line. Electromagnetic Transients Program (EMTP) simulation results and adaptability analysis have confirmed the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed scheme.

Species distribution models (SDMs) are usually used to predict current species’ geographic distributions and to forecast the impact of climate change, with different aims, such as conservation, and biodiversity management. SDMs use has been increasing in the last decades, however, they are vulnerable to parametrization and data quality input. Thus, inappropriate input can lead to potential unreliability in results. In this context, the most used data and methodologies in SDM, and putative deviations from the consensual best practices, were identified, by analysing recent literature (2018 to 2022). Results show that the parameters presented more consistently are the chosen algorithm (MaxEnt was used in 98% of the studies), the accuracy measures, and the time windows. Many papers fail to specify other parameters, limiting the reproducibility of the studies. Some papers also fail to provide information about the target species: only a fraction of the species' range is considered, or no justification for including specific variables in the model is provided. These options can decrease reliability in predictions under future scenarios since data provided to the model is inaccurate from the start or there is insufficient information for outputs discussion.

: Leveraging the sustainability of the power system market, researchers have developed various ML models for forecasting electricity demand. The LSSVM is well suited to handle complex non-linear power load series. However, the less optimal regularization parameter and the Gaussian kernel function in the LSSVM model have contributed to flawed forecasting accuracy and random generalization ability. Thus, these parameters of LSSVM need to be chosen appropriately using intelligent optimization algorithms. This study proposes a hybrid model based on the LSSVM optimized by the IBFOA for forecasting the daily electricity load in Peninsular Malaysia. The IBFOA for parameter optimization of LSSVM is introduced. The IBFOA based on the sine cosine equation is proposed to adjust the constant step size in the BFOA, which creates an imbalance between the exploration and exploitation during optimization. Finally, the load forecasting model based on LSSVM-IBFOA is constructed using MAPE as the objective function. Comparative analysis demonstrates the model, achieving the highest R2 (0.9880) and significantly reducing error metrics (MAPE, MAE, RMSE, MSE, NRMSE) compared to the baseline LSSVM (average reduction of 27.72% to 47.72%). Additionally, IBFOA exhibits faster convergence and higher accuracy compared to BFOA, highlighting the accuracy of LSSVM-IBFOA for short-term load forecasting.

In our country, the aging society is rapidly progressing, with an increase in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and those undergoing dialysis, coupled with the aging of the population. As a result, the number of individuals with cognitive impairment (CI) is rising, and addressing this issue has become an urgent problem. One characteristic of dementia in CKD patients is the high frequency of vascular dementia, making the prevention through the management of classical risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, smoking, etc., associated with atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis. Other effective measures, including the use of renin-angiotensin system inhibitors, addressing anemia, exercise therapy, and lifestyle improvements, have been reported. Incidence and progression of CI may also be influenced by the type of dialysis or kidney replacement therapy, with reports suggesting that long-duration dialysis, low-temperature hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and kidney transplantation (KTx) can have a possible preferable effect on preserving cognitive function.

QTc interval measurement is a widely used screening tool to assess the risk of cardiac diseases, arrhythmias, and is a useful biomarker for pharmacovigilance. However, interpretation of QTc is difficult in neonates due to hemodynamic maturational changes and uncertainties on reference values. To describe trends in QTc values throughout infancy (1 year of life), and to explore the impact of (non)-maturational changes and medicines exposure, a structured systematic review (PROSPERO CRD42022302296) was performed. In term neonates, a decrease was observed over the first week of life, whereafter values increased until two months of age, followed by a progressive decrease until six months. A similar pattern, with longer QTc values was observed in preterms. QTc is influenced by cord clamping, hemodynamic changes, therapeutic hypothermia, illnesses and sleep, not by sex. Cisapride, domperidone and doxapram result in QTc prolongation in neo-nates. Further research in this age category is needed to improve primary screening practices, earlier detection of risk factors and precision pharmacovigilance.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is a term that covers a range of hepatic disorders involving fat deposits in the liver. NAFLD begins with simple steatosis and progresses into non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) characterised by inflammation, fibrosis, apoptosis, oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial dysfunction and release of adipokines and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Oxidative stress and antioxidants are known to play a vital role in the pathogenesis and severity of NAFLD/NASH. A number of oxidative stress and antioxidant markers are employed in the assessment of the pathological state and progression of the disease. In this article, we review several biomarkers of oxidative stress and antioxidants that have been measured at clinical and experimental levels. The levels/ activity in various models reviewed are also included. Also included is a comprehensive description of oxidative stress, sources and contribution to the pathogenesis of NAFLD/NASH

The development of a highly specific drug delivery system (DDS) for anti-cancer therapeutics is an area of intense research focus. Chemical engineering of a “smart” DDS to specifically target tumor cells has gained interest, designed for safer, more efficient, and effective use of chemotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer. However, the selective targeting and choosing the critical cancer surface biomarker are essential for targeted treatments to work. The folic acid receptor alpha (FRalpha) has gained popularity as a potential target in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). We have previously reported on a functionalized folic acid (FA)-conjugated amphiphilic alternating copolymer poly(styrene-alt-maleic anhydride) (FA-DABA-SMA) via a biodegradable linker 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (DABA) that has the essential features for efficient “smart” DDS. This biocompatible DDS self-assembles in a pH-dependent manner, providing stimuli-responsive, active targeting, extended-release of hydrophobic chemotherapeutic agents, and can effectively penetrate the inner core of 3-dimensional cancer spheroid models. The empty FA-DABA-SMA decreased spheroid volume, revealing a previously unknown mechanism of action. Upon further investigation, a size- and shape-dependent interaction FA-DABA-SMA with FR reduced the expression of p53, the product of the highly mutated TP53 gene, and additional oncogenic c-Myc and STAT3 proteins. Here, we investigated how this copolymer influences FR behavior and disrupting the receptor’s functions. Results indicate that FA-DABA-SMA increases FR expression levels in breast MDA MB-231 cancer cells and disrupting FR signaling by the reduction in HES1 and NOTCH1 protein expression levels. Also, FA-DABA-SMA induces apoptosis and further causes a change in the morphology of the MDA MB-231 cells, as well as significantly reduces their ability to migrate in a Scratch wound assay. Collectively, these findings provide a novel insight into the functionalized FA-DABA-SMA copolymer. The 350 kDa and 20 kDa copolymers actively target FRα to initialize internationalization. However, only the large size and sheet-shaped 350 kDa copolymers disrupt FRα signaling. The significance of these novel findings reveals the intracellular activity of the copolymer that is critically dependent on the size and structural shape. This report offers novel therapeutic insight into a dual mechanism of FA-DABA-SMA copolymer for its therapeutic potential for the treatment of cancer.

A geophysical technique termed Electrical Resistivity Tomography was applied to identify potential groundwater-bearing zones around Nubutautau village within Viti Levu Island of Fiji. Apparent resistivity data of the subsurface were collected through the electrode assembly along survey lines by injecting current into the subsurface using the ABEM Terrameter LS2. True resistivity data were simulated using the Res2DINVx64 software to produce the final electrical resistivity profiles through an iterative process. Analysis of the resulting modelled profiles revealed the presence of two potential groundwater-bearing zones as potential targets for future drilling. The two targets indicated the presence of potentially saturated vertical fractures through which infiltrating rainwater percolates through the volcanic rock towards a deeper basal aquifer. The identification of the two potential targets demonstrated the great potential of this geophysical technique to effectively inform drilling operations through an evidence-based approach to increase the successful delivery of water security interventions in remote, drought-prone communities of the Pacific.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive breast cancer accounting for around 15% of identified breast cancer cases. TNBC, by lacking estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), is unresponsive to current targeted therapies. Existing treatment relies on chemotherapeutic treatment but, despite an initial response to chemotherapy, the inception of resistance and relapse is unfortunately common. Dasatinib is an approved second-generation inhibitor of multiple tyrosine kinases and literature data strongly support its use in the management of TNBC. However, dasatinib binds to plasma proteins and undergoes extensive metabolism through oxidation and conjugation. To protect dasatinib from fast pharmacokinetic degradation and to prolong its activity, it was encapsulated on poly(styrene-co-maleic acid) (SMA) micelles. The obtained SMA-dasatinib nanoparticles (NPs) were evaluated for their physicochemical properties, in vitro antiproliferative activity in different TNBC cell lines, and in vivo anticancer activity in a syngeneic model of breast cancer. Obtained results showed that SMA-dasatinib is more potent against 4T1 TNBC tumor growth in vivo compared to free drug. This enhanced effect was ascribed to the encapsulation of the drug protecting it from a rapid metabolism. Our finding highlights the often-overlooked value of nanoformulations in protecting its cargo from degradation. Overall, results may provide an alternative therapeutic strategy for TNBC management.

Ever since oil was discovered in the Persian Gulf Region in the 1920s, the oil and gas industries have been dominant in the area. These countries are responsible for generating approximately 35 percent of the world's natural gas and 25 percent of its crude oil, making them the largest crude oil producers globally. The release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere is directly linked to the use of fossil fuels. CO2 accounts for 58.8 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities and has a detrimental impact on urban residents through the urban heat island effect. A significant portion of these emissions can be attributed to residential buildings. Some nations exacerbate the problem by relying excessively on fossil fuels. Oil-rich countries provide energy subsidies to the public in order to lower energy costs for their citizens. However, this policy can have negative consequences, including wasteful energy usage in countries like Iran.

The transport of indium(III), from HCl solutions, across a supported liquid membrane in flat-sheet configuration was investigated, being the carrier the ionic liquid HA324H⁺Cl^- (derived from the tertiary amine Hostarex A324 and hydrochloric acid). Different variables affecting the metal transport: hydrodynamic conditions in the source and receiving phases, metal and HCl concentrations in the source phase, and carrier concentration in the membrane phase, were investigated. Also the transport of indium(III) using carriers of various nature: ionic liquids, alcohol, ketone, phosphine oxide, etc., was compared. The metal transport was modelled describing the transport mechanism as: diffusion across the source diffusion layer, a fast interfacial chemical reaction, and diffusion of the InCl₄^--carrier complex through the membrane support. Diffusional parameters for the transport of indium(III), from the experimental data and the model, were estimated.

Abstract Introduction: Poor structural quality of health facilities for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and treatment contributes to unfavorable health outcomes among TB patients. Improving the quality of healthcare services helps to avert TB-related morbidity. Despite these facts, the level of structural quality of health facilitieSs to deliver TB services is not in line with what the national TB and leprosy program (NTLP) recommends. Hence, the present study was conducted to assess the structural quality of health facilities to deliver quality TB services to TB patients among public health facilities in the Sidama region.Objectives: To determine the quality of the structural domain of TB services at public health facilities in the Sidama region of southern Ethiopia.Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June to July 2023 among randomly selected public health facilities in the Sidama region. We included 40 randomly selected public health facilities that delivered TB services in the study area. Data was collected by experienced data collectors using facility audits, clinical observation checklists, structured questionnaires, and in-depth interviews. An Open Kit Mobile (ODK) application was used to collect data and exported to SPSS version 26. All statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 26.Results: The overall mean quality score for the structural dimension was 50.25 among the 40 health facilities audited in the study area.Conclusion: The quality of TB services regarding structural dimensions was poor in the study area. Therefore, any strategies must give careful attention to increasing the comprehensive structural dimension of quality TB services.

The selective extraction of metals from aqueous solutions is very important stage in hydrometallurgical processing of metallic waste. Leach solutions are usually a multi-component mixture. The main impurity of aqueous solutions obtained after leaching using inorganic acids is iron. In this work, the membrane separation of iron(III) from nickel(II), cobalt(II) and lithium(II) was studied. The facilitated transport of metal ion using the polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) with tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) as an ion carrier under various conditions was analyzed in detail. The several factors such as the ion carrier concentration in the membrane as well as the effect of the inorganic acids concentration in the source/receiving phases on the kinetic parameters were investigated. The results show that ionic liquid TBAB is a very selective ion carrier of Fe(III) towards Ni(II), Co(II) and Li(I) .

TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL or Apo2 or TNFSF10) belongs to the TNF superfamily. When bound to its agonistic receptors, TRAIL can induce apoptosis in tumour cells, while sparing healthy cells. This tumour selectivity prompted, over the last three decades, many studies aiming at evaluating the anti-tumoral potential of TRAIL or its derivatives. Although most of these attempts have failed, so far, novel formulations are still being evaluated. Yet, emerging evidence indicates that TRAIL can also trigger, on the other hand, a non-canonical signal transduction pathway that is likely to be detrimental for its use in oncology. Likewise, increasing studies suggest that TRAIL can induce, through Death receptor 5 (DR5) in some circumstances, tumour cell motility, potentially leading to and contributing to tumour metastasis. While the pro-apoptotic signal transduction machinery of TRAIL is well known from a mechanistic point of view, that of the non-canonical pathway is less understood. We are reviewing here the current state of knowledge of TRAIL non-canonical signalling.

In recent years, long periods of drought and heat waves have become increasingly frequent, causing forest dieback phenomena that make stands more sensitive to biotic stressors. How trees may respond to extreme climatic events and which metabolites are involved under stress conditions is still not clear. In this study, we analysed by SPME how dieback (D) and non-dieback (ND) Hungarian oak trees from the San Paolo Albanese site respond to these climatic dynamics, in terms of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). For each group of trees, three wood samples were taken, each divided into four sub-samples with 5 growth rings, subjected to SPME and increase in basal area (BAI) analysis of the last 20 years. Dieback trees had a lower amount of leaves, and this condition may translate into less photosynthesis, less organic matter production and lower reserves of carbohydrates available for growth. Indeed, D trees showed lower radial increases and a lower content of aldehydes, terpenes, and fatty acids than ND trees, indicating a better health of ND trees compared to D trees. While D trees showed a reduction in terpenes, such as α-pinene, γ-eudesmol, and cyperene (with significant insecticidal activity), a reduction in aromatic aldehydes, such as furfural and 5-methylfurfural, and an increase in silanols (with antimicrobial function). Considering the different compounds’ contents between D and ND trees, our study could be useful for detecting bio-indicators to identify an early warning signal of dieback phenomena.

"Public legal information from all countries and international institutions is part of the common heritage of humanity. Maximizing access to this information promotes justice and the rule of law". In accordance with the aforementioned declaration on Free Access to Law by Legal information institutes of the world, a plethora of legal information is available through the Internet, while the provision of legal information has never before been easier. Given that law is accessed by a much wider group of people, the majority of whom are not legally trained or qualified, diversification techniques, should be employed in the context of legal information retrieval, as to increase user satisfaction. We address diversification of results in legal search by adopting several state of the art methods from the web search, network analysis and text summarization domains. We provide an exhaustive evaluation of the methods, using a standard data set from the Common Law domain that we subjectively annotated with relevance judgments for this purpose. Our results i) reveal that users receive broader insights across the results they get from a legal information retrieval system, ii) demonstrate that web search diversification techniques outperform other approaches (e.g., summarization-based, graph-based methods) in the context of legal diversification and iii) offer balance boundaries between reinforcing relevant documents or sampling the information space around the legal query.

The presence of antibiotic residues in honey has recently become a growing public health concern due to the overuse of these products in beekeeping and their transfer to the food industry. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a simple, selective and sensitive method for the simultaneous identification and quantification of residues of twenty-two sulfonamides, trimethoprim and dapsone in honey using a rapid and reliable liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method. The developed method showed good linearity, specificity, precision (repeatability and intra-laboratory reproducibility) and recovery. The decision limit (CCalpha) ranged between 2.16-22.12 µg/kg for CCα, while the detection capability (CCbeta) was between 2.16- 2.67-27.36 µg/kg. The method proved to be rapid, reliable and effective for the determination of sulfonamides, trimethoprim and dapsone from honey samples. The average recoveries were estimated to be between 70 and 106%. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) were between 6-18%. In practice, the method is essential to check the honey sold on the market and ensure its safety before it reaches the consumer.

This study aims to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from China's sludge treatment industry and explore the potential of novel technologies to mitigate these emissions, promoting sustainable sludge management practices. Using a life cycle assessment approach, the total GHG emissions from sludge treatment in 2017 were estimated at 18.54 Mt CO2-eq, with significant regional variations. Incineration contributed the highest emissions (1,011.53 kg CO2-eq/t dry sludge), followed by landfill (717.51 kg CO2-eq/t) and land application (276.41 kg CO2-eq/t). The uneven distribution of emissions across cities highlights the need for targeted mitigation strategies that consider local sustainability challenges. Principal component analysis revealed that economic factors and treatment scale significantly influence emissions, emphasizing the importance of integrating sustainability goals with economic development. To reduce the carbon footprint of sludge treatment and enhance sustainability, the mitigation potential and costs of various technologies were evaluated, including thermal conversion, anaerobic digestion, hydrothermal processes, and wet oxidation. These technologies offer GHG emission reductions ranging from 0.09 to 0.46 t CO2-eq/t dry solids compared to conventional methods, while also promoting resource recovery and circular economy principles. However, further optimization is necessary to enhance their environmental and economic performance, ensuring long-term sustainability. By implementing these technologies and adopting optimization strategies, China's sludge treatment industry can significantly contribute to achieving the country's carbon neutrality goal and fostering sustainable development.

Childhood obesity has become a global epidemic, with significant increases in prevalence over recent decades. While excessive calorie consumption and physical inactivity are known factors, emerging research highlights the role of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), particularly obesogens, in obesity's pathogenesis. This review explores the historical context of the environmental obesogens hypothesis, their sources, mechanism of action, impact on prenatal and postnatal development and epigenetics. Additionally, it discusses the long-term consequences of childhood obesity and proposes prevention strategies that will mitigate the negative health effects. Obesogens were found to disrupt hormonal balance and metabolic processes through various mechanisms such as altering gene expression, hormonal interference, and inflammation. Especially significant, was exposure during critical windows of development which correlates with increased risk of obesity in childhood or adolescence. Long-term effects of childhood obesity include chronic health conditions and psychosocial issues. A comprehensive approach is necessary to address childhood obesity, encompassing genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. Prevention strategies should focus on reducing obesogens exposure, promoting healthy lifestyles, and implementing regulatory policies. Future research should investigate obesogens-diet interactions, microbiome impacts, and combined obesogens effects. Long-term human studies are also crucial for validating findings from animal models and allow for inform decision-making to combat the obesity pandemic.

Session-based recommendations which aim to predict subsequent user-item interaction based on historical user behavior during anonymous sessions can be challenging tasks. Two main challenges need to be addressed and improved: (1) How to analyze these sessions to accurately and completely capture users’ preferences, and (2) how to identify and eliminate any interference caused by noisy behavior. Existing methods have not adequately addressed these issues since they either neglected the valuable insight that can be gained from analyzing consecutive groups of items or failed to take these noisy data in sessions seriously and handled them properly, which can jointly impede recommendation systems from capturing users’ real intentions. To address these two problems, we designed a multi-order semantic denoising (MSD) model for session-based recommendations. Specifically, we grouped items of different lengths as varying multi-order semantic units to mine the user’s primary intention from multiple dimensions. Meanwhile, a novel denoising network was designed to alleviate the interference of noisy behavior and provide a more precise session representation. The result of extensive experiments on three real-world datasets demonstrated that the proposed MSD model exhibited improved performance compared with existing state-of-the-art methods in session-based recommendation.

Day-ahead forecasting of electricity prices is important in deregulated electricity markets for all the stakeholders: energy wholesalers, traders, retailers, and consumers. Electricity price forecasting is an inherently difficult problem due to its special characteristic of dynamicity and non-stationarity. In this paper, we present a robust price forecasting mechanism that shows resilience towards aggregate demand response effect and provides highly accurate forecasted electricity prices to the stakeholders in a dynamic environment. We employ an ensemble prediction model in which a group of different algorithms participate in predicting the price for each hour of a day. We propose two different strategies, namely, Fixed Weight Method (FWM) and Varying Weight Method (VWM), for selecting each hour's expert algorithm from the set of participating algorithms. In addition, we utilize a carefully engineered set of features selected from a pool of features derived from information such as past electricity price data, weather data, and calendar data. The proposed ensemble model offers better results than both the Pattern Sequence-based Forecasting (PSF) method and our own previous work using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) alone do on the datasets for New York, Australian, and Spanish electricity markets.

We present a study of the radio variability of bright, $S_{1.4}\geq100$ mJy, high-redshift quasars at $z\geq3$ on timescales up to 30--40 years. The study involved simultaneous RATAN-600 measurements at frequencies of 2.3, 4.7, 8.2, 11.2, and 22.3 GHz in 2017--2020. In addition, data from the literature were used. We have found that the variability index $V_S$ of the quasars ranges from 0.02 to 0.96, with about half of the objects in the sample showing a variability index in the range of 0.25--0.50, which is comparable to that of the blazars at lower redshifts. The distribution of $V_S$ at 22.3 GHz is significantly different from that at 2.3--11.2 GHz, which may be attributed to the fact that a compact AGN core dominates at the source's rest frame frequencies greater than 45 GHz, leading to higher variability indices obtained at 22.3 GHz (the $V_S$ distribution peaks around 0.4) compared to the lower frequencies (the $V_S$ distribution peaks around 0.1--0.2). Several source groups with distinctive variability characteristics were found using cluster analysis of quasars. We propose 7 new candidates for gigahertz peaked-spectrum (GPS) sources and 5 new megahertz peaked-spectrum (MPS) sources based on their spectrum shape and variability features. Only 6 out of 23 sources previously reported as GPS demonstrate a low variability level typical of classical GPS sources ($V_{S} < 0.25$) at 4.7--22.3~GHz. When excluding the highly variable peaked-spectrum blazars, we expect no more than 20\% of the sources in the sample to be GPS candidates and no more than 10\% to be MPS candidates.

The next-generation communication systems demand integration of sensing, communication, and power transfer (PT) capabilities, requiring high spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, and low cost, while also necessitating robustness in high-speed scenarios. Integrated sensing and communication systems (ISACS) exhibit the ability to simultaneously perform communication and sensing tasks using a single RF signal, while simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) systems can handle simultaneous information and energy transmission, and orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) signals are adept at handling high Doppler scenarios. Combining the advantages of these three technologies, a novel cyclic prefix (CP) OTFS based integrated simultaneous wireless sensing, communication, and power transfer system (ISWSCPTS) framework is proposed in this work. Within the ISWSCPTS, the CP-OTFS matched filter (MF) based target detection and parameters estimation (MF-TDaPE) algorithm is proposed to endow the system with sensing capabilities. To enhance the system’s sensing capability, a waveform design algorithm based on CP-OTFS ambiguity function shaping (AFS) is proposed, which is solved by iteratively method. Furthermore, to maximize the system’s sensing performance under communication and PT Quality of Service (QoS) constraints, a semidefinite relaxation (SDR) beamforming design (SDR-BD) algorithm is proposed, solved using through SDR technique. Simulation results demonstrate that the ISWSCPTS exhibits stronger parameter estimation performance in high-speed scenarios compared to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), waveform designed by CP-OTFS AFS demonstrates superior interference resilience, and beamforming designed by SDR-BD strikes a balance in the overall performance of the ISWSCPTS.

The chemical investigation of the anti-yeast methanol extract from the stem bark of Terminalia mantaly led to the isolation of seven compounds: 3-O-methyl-4-O-α-rhamnopyranoside ellagic acid (1), 3-O-mehylellagic acid (2), arjungenin or 2,3,19,23-tetrahydroxyolean-12-en-28-oïc acid (3), arjunglucoside or 2,3,19,23-tetrahydroxyolean-12-en-28-oïc acid glucopyranoside (4), 2α,3α,24-trihydroxyolean-11,13(18)-dien-28-oïc acid (5), stigmasterol (6), stigmasterol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (7). Their structures were established by means of spectroscopic analysis and comparison with published data. Compounds 1-5 were tested in vitro for activity against three pathogenic yeast isolates, Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis and Candida krusei. The activity of compounds 1, 2 and 4 were comparable to that of the reference compound fluconazole (MIC values below 32 µg/ml) against the three tested yeast isolates. They were also tested for inhibitory properties against four enzymes of metabolic significance: Glucose-6-Phosphate Deshydrogenase (G6PD), human erythrocyte Carbonic anhydrase I and II (hCA I and hCA II), Glutathione S-transferase (GST). Compound 4 showed highly potent inhibitory property against the four tested enzymes with overall IC₅₀ values below 4 µM and inhibitory constant (Ki) <3 µM.

Modular steel buildings (MSBs) interlocking inter-module connections (IMCs) have piqued researchers’ interest. However, the existing literature has not yet studied the optimisation of its plate thicknesses. This paper, therefore, focuses on optimising interlocking (IMCs) plate thickness in (MSBs), leveraging previous experimental and numerical simulation methodologies. Various numerical models for four MSBs interlocking (IMCs) with plate thicknesses (4 mm, 6 mm, 10 mm, and 12 mm) were developed under compression loading conditions. The study’s novelty lay in its comprehensive parametric analysis, which evaluated the slip phenomenon in (MSBs) connections and introduced a slip prediction model validated against empirical data. Further innovative machine learning approach was utilised to predict slip values based on applied force through a random forest regression model trained using the 'Treebagger' function. Sensitivity analysis and comparisons with alternative methods were utilised to underscore the reliability and applicability of the findings. The results showed that 11.03 mm was the optimal plate thickness for interlocking (IMCs) in modular steel buildings, with up to 8.08% reduced material costs. Increasing plate thickness boosts its deformation resistance by up to 50.75%. ‘TreeBagger’ random forest for anomaly detection and machine learning improves slip prediction up to 7% at higher force levels.

Preschoolers with disabilities and their caregivers have been neglected in health and social service provision in most low-income countries and arguably too in low resourced areas of more affluent nations. Yet as this rapid review of published literature identifies, there are low-cost, evidence-based strategies to address their needs that can be implemented in communities by local people. Five key features of the necessary supports are examined. First the leadership functions required to create and implement the support services. Second, the family-centred, home-based support provided to caregivers and the personnel undertaking this form of support. Third, providing opportunities for peer support to flourish and encouraging the formation of advocacy groups across families. Fourth, mobilizing the support of significant groups within the community; notably traditional healers and leaders; health services and poverty alleviation initiatives. Fifth, devising ways in which preschool educational opportunities can be offered to children as a prelude to their inclusion in primary schools. The review serves a further purpose. It provides an example of how public health researchers and academics could achieve more rapid implementation of evidence-based knowledge into existing and new support services through dissemination to community practitioners.

The search of DNA polymorphisms useful for the genetic improvement of dairy farm animals lasts more than 40 years with relevant findings in cattle for milk traits, where the best combination of alleles for dairy processing have been found in casein genes and in the DGAT1. Nowadays, similar results are not reached yet in river buffaloes despite advanced genomic technologies and accurate phenotype records are available. The aim of the present study was to investigate and validate in a larger buffalo population the effect on six milk traits of four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the CSN1S1, CSN3, SCD and LPL genes, previously reported to be associated with or affect dairy traits in smaller populations often belonging to one farm. A total of 800 buffaloes were genotyped. Daily milk yield (dMY, kg), protein yield (dPY, kg) and fat yields (dFY, kg), fat and protein contents (dFP, % and dPP, %), somatic cell count (SCC, 103cell/ml) and urea (mg/dl) were individually recorded in each month for the whole lactation from 2010 to 2021. A total of 15,742 individual milk test day records (2,496 lactations) were available on 680 buffalo cows with 3.6±1.7 parity (from 1 to 13) and 6.1±1.2 test day records per lactation on average. Three out four SNP in CSN1S1, CSN3 and LPL were associated with at least one of analyzed traits. In particular, the CSN1S1 (AJ005430:c.578C&gt;T) gave favorable associations with all yield traits (dMY, p=0.022; dPY, p=0.014 ; dFY, p=0.029) and SCS (p=0.032), whereas the CSN3 (HQ677596: c.536C&gt;T) positively associated with SCS (p=0.005) and milk urea (p=0.04). Favorable effect on dMY (p=0.028), dFP (p=0.027) and dPP (p=0.050) were observed for the LPL. Conversely, SCD did not show any association with milk traits. This is the first example of confirmation study carried out in the Mediterranean river buffalo for genes of economic interest in dairy field and it represents a very important indication for the preselection of young bulls destined to breeding programs in the view of a more sustainable dairy production.

Surgical simulators are crucial in early craniofacial and plastic surgical training, necessitating synthetic materials that accurately replicate tissue properties. Recent critiques of our lab’s currently deployed silicone surrogate have highlighted numerous areas for improvement. To further refine our models, our group's objective is to find a composition of materials that is closest in fidelity to native oral mucosa during surgical rehearsal by expert craniofacial surgeons. Fifteen platinum silicone-based surrogate samples were constructed with variable hardness and slacker percentages. These samples underwent evaluation of tactile sensation, hardness, needle puncture, cut resistance, suture retention, defect repair, and tensile elasticity. Expert craniofacial surgeon evaluators provided focused qualitative feedback on selected top-performing samples for further assessment and statistical comparisons. Evaluation revealed surrogate characteristics with satisfactory to good performance. Sample 977 exhibited the highest performance, and comparison with the original surrogate (sample 810) demonstrated significant improvements in critical areas, emphasizing the efficacy of the refined composition. The study identified a silicone composition that directly addresses the feedback received by our team’s original silicone surrogate. The study underscores the delicate balance between biofidelity and practicality in surgical simulation. The need for ongoing refinement in surrogate materials is evident to optimize training experiences for early surgical learners.

Surgical simulators are crucial in early craniofacial and plastic surgical training, necessitating synthetic materials that accurately replicate tissue properties. Recent critiques of our lab’s currently deployed silicone surrogate have highlighted numerous areas for improvement. To further refine our models, our group's objective is to find a composition of materials that is closest in fidelity to native oral mucosa during surgical rehearsal by expert craniofacial surgeons. Fifteen platinum silicone-based surrogate samples were constructed with variable hardness and slacker percentages. These samples underwent evaluation of tactile sensation, hardness, needle puncture, cut resistance, suture retention, defect repair, and tensile elasticity. Expert craniofacial surgeon evaluators provided focused qualitative feedback on selected top-performing samples for further assessment and statistical comparisons. Evaluation revealed surrogate characteristics with satisfactory to good performance. Sample 977 exhibited the highest performance, and comparison with the original surrogate (sample 810) demonstrated significant improvements in critical areas, emphasizing the efficacy of the refined composition. The study identified a silicone composition that directly addresses the feedback received by our team’s original silicone surrogate. The study underscores the delicate balance between biofidelity and practicality in surgical simulation. The need for ongoing refinement in surrogate materials is evident to optimize training experiences for early surgical learners.

Radiotherapy for cancer has been known to affect the responses of immune cells, especially those of CD8+ T cells that play a pivotal role in anti-tumor immunity. Clinical success of immune checkpoint inhibitors led to an increasing interest into the ability of radiation to modulate CD8+ T cell responses. Recent studies that carefully analyzed the CD8+ T cell responses following radiotherapy suggest the beneficial roles of radiotherapy on anti-tumor immunity. In addition, numerous clinical trials that evaluate the efficacy of combining radiotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors are undergoing. In this review, we summarize the current status of knowledge regarding the changes of CD8+ T cells following radiotherapy from various preclinical and clinical studies. Furthermore, key biologic mechanisms that underlie such modulation, including both direct and indirect effects, are described. Lastly, we discuss the current evidence and essential considerations for harnessing radiotherapy as a combination partner for immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Climate change is challenging the agricultural sector worldwide. The pressure exerted by the altered thermal conditions drives the zonal shift for various cultivations. This study presents the multiyear analysis of the Growing Degree Days (GDD) index over the Northern Mediterranean Basin (NMB), focused on the high-value vine cultivation derived from the E-OBS dataset. To handle this extensive environmental dataset, R-language scripts and packages were applied, along with the capabilities of the GIS software. The investigated time period spans from 1969 to 2018, and the performed analysis indicates a broad shift/expansion in areas of GDD exceeding 2000 heat units. The extracted results specify the viticultural areas where the GDD index surpasses the suitable values for vine cultivation, owing to the increase of the thermal stress risk. In addition to mapping areas with GDD ≥ 2000, spatial calculations of the surface of areas meeting this criterion per country in the study area were made. In the northern parts of the NMB, the rise of the GDD index values indicates the establishment of vine plantations in the future.

In Spain, the National Health System, of a public nature, provides care to Spaniards and other residents in Spain. It is a system adapted to the State of Autonomies, decentralized. Each Auton-omous Community has legislative capacity in its organization and management. We studied the agreement of private hospitals by the public system in La Rioja, an Autonomous Community of Spain located in the North of the Iberian Peninsula. Documentary sources from the General archives of La Rioja, the Institute of Riojan Studies, municipal funds (Logroño, Haro, Calahorra), and in-formation from catalogs and censuses of hospitals from the Ministry of Health, National Institute of Statistics, and Institute of Statistics of La Rioja have been reviewed. The hospital model of La Rioja is characterized by a predominance of public beds over private ones, although there is a growing trend in the number of private beds from 2013 onwards, due to the incorporation of two conva-lescent socio-health hospitals. A characteristic element of La Rioja has been the promotion of pub-lic-private collaboration, conceived as a strategic alliance. Regarding agreements, in La Rioja there has been a specialization in the socio-health space, whose formulas have been the management service contract and the concession of work. The development of the Health System in La Rioja, 1986-2019, has been determined by the presence of a mixed public-private hospital system and a progressively lower dependence on specialized hospitals from other Autonomous Communities.

The analysis of the key factors which prevent or contribute to the promotion and development of the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in order to meet the sustainability goals represents an important issue which worth being investigated, especially in the situation in which entering in bilateral relations inside this contract has a powerful meaning in achieving new climate targets, developing and improving the use of green energy, and promoting a sustainable green economy. The main goal of this research is to identify and analyze the main factors which help or pre-vent the promotion and development of a PPA, in order to meet the sustainability goals by promoting a green economy. For this research survey based on comparative analysis, questionnaires and interviews with energy experts, Spearman’s correlation matrix and IBM SPSS Statistics for Window are also used. The results suggest that although there are positive interest and an open attitude towards the PPA from both sides (sellers and buyers), but there is still place for improvement, the lack of knowledge or the insufficient measures taken so far being two of the reasons way until now in Romania we do not have a developed PPA market and the level of knowledge regarding this type of mechanism is quite low.

A Challenging task in routine practice is finding distinction between benign and malignant paragangliomas and pheochromocytomas. The aim of this study is a comparative analysis of angiogenesis by assessing intratumoral microvascular density (MVD) with immunohistochemical (IHC) markers (CD31, CD34, CD105, ERG), and S100 immunoreactivity, Ki67 proliferative index, SDHB expressiveness, tumor size with one the most utilized score Pheochromocytoma of Adrenal Gland Scales Score (PASS), using tissue microarray (TMA) with 115 tumor samples, 61 benign (PASS&lt;4) and 54 potentially malignant (PASS ≥4). We found no notable difference between intratumoral MVD and potentially malignant behavior. Group of potentially malignant tumors are significantly larger in size, have lower intratumoral MVD, and decreased number of S100 labeled sustentacular cells. Both groups have low proliferative activity (mean Ki67 is 1,02 and 1,22 respectively). Most tumors maintains SDHB expression, only 6 cases (5,2%) showed a loss of expression (4 of them in PASS&lt;4 group and 2 in PASS≥4). PASS score is easy available for assessment, and complemented with markers of biological behavior completes risk stratification algorithm. Size is directly related with PASS score and malignancy. Intratumoral MVD is extensively developed but it is not crucial in evaluating the malignant potential.

Walking School Buses (WSBs) provide a safe alternative to being driven to school. Children benefit from the contribution the exercise provides towards their daily exercise target, it gives children practical experience with respect to road safety and helps to relieve traffic congestion around the entrance to their school. Walking routes are designed largely based in road safety considerations, catchment need and the availability of parent support. However, little attention is given to the air pollution exposure experienced by children during their journey to school, despite the commuting microenvironment being an important contributor to a child’s daily air pollution exposure. This study aims to quantify the air pollution exposure experienced by children walking to school and those being driven by car. A school was chosen in Bradford, UK. Three adult participants carried out the journey to and from school each carrying a P-Trak ultrafine particle (UFP) count monitor. One participant travelled the journey to school by car while the other two walked, each on opposite sides of the road for the majority of the journey. Data collection was carried out over a period of two weeks, for a total of five journeys to school in the morning and five on the way home at the end of the school day. Results of the study suggest that car commuters experience lower levels of air pollution dose due to lower exposures and reduced commute times. The largest reductions in exposure for pedestrians can be achieved by avoiding close proximity to traffic queuing up to intersections, and, where possible, walking on the side of the road opposite the traffic, especially during the morning commuting period. Major intersections should also be avoided as they were associated with peak exposures. Steps to ensure that the phasing of lights is optimized to minimize pedestrian waiting time would also help reduce exposures. If possible, busy roads should be avoided altogether. By the careful design of WSB routes, taking into account air pollution, children will be able to experience the benefits that walking to school brings while minimizing their air pollution exposure during their commute to and from school.

The current study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of salidroside (SDS) and the underlying mechanism by using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages in vitro and a mouse model of binge drinking induced liver injury in vivo. SDS downregulated protein expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and CD14. SDS inhibited LPS-triggered phosphorylation of LPS-activated kinase 1 (TAK1), p38, c-Jun terminal kinase (JNK), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Degradation of IκB-α and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB were effectively blocked by SDS. SDS concentration-dependently suppressed LPS mediated inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein levels, as well as their downstream products, NO. SDS significantly inhibited protein secretion of interleukin (IL)-1β. Additionally C57BL/6 mice were orally administrated SDS for continuous 5 days, followed by three gavages of ethanol every 30 min. Alcohol binge drinking caused the increasing of hepatic lipid accumulation and serum transaminases levels. SDS pretreatment significantly alleviated liver inflammatory changes and serum transaminases levels. Further investigation indicated that SDS markedly decreased protein level of IL-1β in serum. Taken together, these data implied that SDS inhibits liver inflammation both in vitro and in vivo, and may be a promising candidate for the treatment of inflammatory liver injury.

An innovative mobile Lidar device, developed to monitor volcanic plumes during explosive eruptions at Mt. Etna (Italy) and analyze the optical properties of volcanic particles was upgraded in October 2023 with the aim to improve volcanic plume retrievals. The new configuration of the lidar allows to obtain new data of both the optical and the microphysical properties of the atmospheric aerosol. In fact, after its upgrade, the lidar has the possibility to measure 3β, 2α and 2δ in a configuration defined as “state of the art lidar” where properties such as the particle size distribution and refractive index can be derived. During the lidar implementation we were able to to test the system performance through specific calibration measurements. In this work, the first measurement results are shown and compared with results obtained by other instruments aimed at proving the ability of the upgraded system to more precisely characterize the aerosol optical and microphysical properties.

Background: Approximately 75% of all head and neck cancer patients are treated with radiotherapy (RT). RT to the oral cavity results in acute and late adverse events which can be severe and detrimental to a patient’s quality of life and function. The purpose of this study was to explore associations between RT dose to a defined oral cavity organ at risk (OAR) avoidance structure, provider and patient reported outcomes (PROs), opioid use, and hospitalization. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively obtained outcomes using multivariable modeling. The study included 196 patients treated with RT involving the oral cavity for a head and neck tumor. A defined oral cavity OAR avoidance structure was used in all patients for RT treatment planning. Validated PROs were collected prospectively. Opioid use and hospitalization were abstracted electronically from medical records. Results: Multivariable modeling revealed the mean dose to the oral cavity OAR was significantly associated with opioid use (p=0.0082) and hospitalization (p=0.0356) during and within 30 days of completing RT. Conclusion: The findings of this study may be valuable in RT treatment planning for patients with tumors of the head and neck region to reduce the need for opioid use and hospitalization during treatment.

There is great current interest in systems represented by non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, including a wide variety of real systems that may be dissipative and whose behaviour can be represented by a "phase" parameter that characterises the way "exceptional points" (singularities of various sorts) determine the system. These systems are briefly reviewed with an emphasis on their geometrical thermodynamics properties.

There is great current interest in systems represented by non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, including a wide variety of real systems that may be dissipative and whose behaviour can be represented by a "phase" parameter that characterises the way "exceptional points" (singularities of various sorts) determine the system. These systems are briefly reviewed with an emphasis on their geometrical thermodynamics properties.

Interest on psychosocial predictors of doping has been increasing as a way of finding new approaches to reduce use of performance-enhancing drugs. This investigation aimed to test the psychometric properties of an instrument to asses doping attitudes in Brazilian athletes. The PEAS was validated to Brazilian sports through a process of translation, back-translation and content validity assessment, presenting satisfactory evidences based on its content (CVC&gt;0.80). Then, 994 athletes, from different sexes, types of sports and competitive levels, answered to the Brazilian version of the PEAS. Results showed satisfactory evidences of validity based on its response process, internal structure [X2/df = 2.04; RMSEA = 0.032 (0.026-0.038); CFI = 0.96; TLI = 0.95] and reliability (Cronbach’s α, McDonald’s ω, and CR &gt; 0.70). Network analysis was also used to further explore PEAS’s internal structure. Overall results provide support for the adoption of the PEAS for Brazilian athletes and possibly other Portuguese-speaking countries.

The regulatory mechanism of PCSK7 gene is still unknown, although its encoded protein PC7 is the most ancient and highly conserved of all proprotein convertases and exhibits enzymatic and non-enzymatic functions in liver triglyceride regulation. Bioinformatics algorithms were used to predict regulatory microRNAs (miRNAs) of PCSK7 expression. This led to the identification of 4 miRNAs, namely miR-125a-5p, miR-143-3p, miR-409-3p, and miR-320a-3p, with potential binding sites on the 3’-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of human PCSK7 mRNA. The expression patterns of these miRNAs and PCSK7 mRNA were assessed in three different cell lines with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), which revealed reciprocal expression patterns between the expression levels of the four selected miRNAs and PCSK7. Next, the interactions and effects of these miRNAs on PCSK7 expression levels were investigated via cell-based expression analysis, dual-luciferase assay, and Western blot analysis. The data revealed that PCSK7 mRNA levels decreased in cells transfected with vectors overexpressing miR-125a-5p, miR-143-3p, and miR-409-3p, but not miR-320a-3p. The dual-luciferase assay demonstrated that the above 3 miRNAs could directly interact with putative target sites in PCSK7 3′-UTR and regulate its expression, whereas miR-320-3p exhibited no interaction. Western blot analysis further revealed that overexpression of miR-125a-5p in Huh7 cells inhibits the expression and ability of PC7 to cleave human transferrin receptor 1. Our results support a regulatory role of these miRNAs in PCSK7 expression and function and opens the way to assess their roles in the regulation of PC7 activity in vivo in the development of hepatic steatosis.

This research examines sustainable approaches in academic career development by analyzing the interactions between job satisfaction, professional commitment, and research performance among early-career researchers in Romanian institutions. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design, data were collected from 96 individuals classified as R1 and R2 by the European Commission. A detailed questionnaire and Web-Assisted Personal Interviewing (WAPI) identified key relationships. Findings show a significant positive correlation between job satisfaction and research perfor-mance, underscoring the role of professional satisfaction in fostering sustainable academic ex-cellence. Professional commitment is also a crucial predictor of research performance, aligning with existing studies and highlighting the importance of sustainable career practices. Statistical analysis via SPSS version 23.0 validated the initial hypotheses, emphasizing each dimension's significance in a sustainable academic career. Results reflect Romania's research environment, emphasizing the need for sustainable working conditions, effective research evaluation, sup-portive career frameworks, and strong professional commitment to motivate young researchers. This research proposes innovative, sustainable practices for enhancing academic performance and career management, advocating clear objectives, leadership development, continuous competency improvement, and a collaborative, inclusive work environment. Understanding these factors aids individuals and institutions in making informed decisions that support sustainable academic career trajectories and professional growth.

Herein, we present the design technique of a resonant rectifier for piezoelectric (PE) energy harvesting. We propose two diode equivalents to reduce the voltage drop in the rectifier operation, a minuscule-drop-diode equivalent (MDDE) and a low-drop-diode equivalent (LDDE). The diode equivalents are embedded in resonant rectifier integrated circuits (ICs), which use symmetric bias-flip to reduce the power wasted for charging and discharging the internal capacitance of a PE transducer. The self-startup function is supported by synchronously generating control pulses for the bias-flip from the PE transducer. Two resonant rectifier ICs, using both MDDE and LDDE, are fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS process and their performances are characterized under external and self-power conditions. Under the external-power condition, the rectifier using LDDE delivers an output power POUT of 564 μW and a rectifier output voltage VRECT of 3.36 V with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 90.1%. Under self-power conditions, the rectifier using MDDE delivers a POUT of 288 μW and a VRECT of 2.4 V with a corresponding PCE of 74.6%. The result shows that the power extraction capability of the proposed rectifier is 5.9 and 3.0 times higher than that of a conventional full-bridge rectifier.

In the last decades the primordial black holes ({\bf pbhs}) have attracted much attention of cosmologists and astrophysicists. This is associated with origination of such black holes in the early Universe as a result of a gravitational collapse of the high-density matter, making them natural ''detectors'' of the processes involved. In inflationary cosmology of particular importance are {\bf pbhs} originated during the pre-inflationary period. And, since they are small and generated at the energies close to the Planck energies, for them we should take into consideration the quantum-gravitational corrections ({\bf qgcs}). In turn, these corrections change (shift) the inflationary parameters. The paper presents a study of the above-mentioned shifts with regard to these corrections for different scenarios. It is shown that probabilities of occurrence of the {\bf pbhs} under study with due regard for the given {\bf qgcs} are rising as compared to the semiclassical consideration. Besides, high-energy deformations of Friedmann Equations created on the basis of these corrections have been derived for different patterns. Conclusion contains the general remarks concerning the above-mentioned {\bf qgcs} for cosmological parameters and perturbations due to inflation; the steps for their investigation are outlined and the key problems of such a study are formulated.

Keywords: olfactory rehabilitation; chronic pain; fMRI;

In this study, Silicon Carbide (SiC) nano-particle based serigraphic printing inks were formulated to fabricate highly sensitive and wide temperature range SiC printed thermistors. Initially, commercial silver ink was screen printed to fabricate inter-digitated electrodes (IDE’s) onto flexible Kapton® substrate via screen printing. Thermistor inks with different weight ratios of SiC nano- particles dispersed in polyimide resin matrix were fabricated. The SiC-polyimide temperature sensing inks were screen printed atop the IDE structures to form fully printed thermistors and encapsulated with a adhesive backed polyimide film for humidity inhibition. The high temperature tolerance of the Kapton® allowed the the sensors to be tested over a wide temperature range form 25◦C to 170◦C. The printed SiC thermistors exhibit excellent repeatability and stability over 15 hours of continuous operation. Optimal device performance was achieved with 30 wt.% SiC-polyimide ink. We report highly sensitive devices with a temperature coefficient of Resistance (TCR) of -0.556 %/◦C, a thermal coefficient of 502 K (β-index) and an activation energy of 0.08 eV which are comparable with printed thermistors previous reported. Further, the thermistor demonstrates an accuracy of ±1.35◦C which is well within the range offered by commercially available high sensitivity thermistors. SiC thermistors exhibit a small 6.5% drift due to changes in relative humidity between 10-90 %RH and a 4.2 % drift in baseline resistance after 100 cycles of aggressive bend testing at a 40°angle. The use of commercially available low cost materials, simplicity of design and fabrication techniques coupled with the chemical inertness of the Kapton® substrate and SiC nanoparticles paves the way to use all-printed SiC thermistors towards a wide range of applications where temperature monitoring is vital for optimal system performance.

Researchers have explored primary colour-geometric shape associations since Kandinsky's correspondence theory. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding interior colour applications on surface shapes. To address this gap, an online study was employed to gather data with one hundred participants who were asked to choose their preferred colours for shapes on bedroom walls with follow-up questions on the colour-shape semantic associations, their preference of colours and shapes on bedroom walls independently in addition to their favourite colour, their favourite shape, and colour-shape pairs without interior context. The results revealed that colour-shape preferences in interiors differ from those found in psychology studies, other colour applications on bedroom walls, and other preferences, indicating that colour preference is context-dependent. Interestingly, the most popular colour for surface shapes on bedroom walls is purple, followed by brown and blue. The study contributes to the existing literature by providing colour charts for bedroom applications for professionals in the industry, their clients/users, and future studies.

In fuel-cell technological development, one of the most important objectives is to minimize the amount of Pt, the most employed material as oxygen reduction and methanol oxidation electro-catalyst. In this paper we report the synthesis and characterization of Te nanotubes (TeNTs) decorated with Pt nanoparticles, readily prepared from stirred aqueous solutions of PtCl2 containing a suspension of TeNTs and ethanol acting as a reducing agent, avoiding the use of any hydrophobic surfactants as capping stabilizing substance. The as obtained TeNTs decorated with Pt nanoparticles (TeNTs/PtNPs) have been fully characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area diffraction patterns (SAD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). We demonstrate that the new material can be successfully employed in fuel cell either as anodic (for methanol oxidation reaction) and cathodic (for oxygen reduction reaction) electrode with high efficiency in terms of related mass activities and on-set improvement. Remarkably, the cell operates in aqueous electrolyte buffered at pH 7.0, thus avoiding acidic or alkaline conditions that may lead e. g. to Pt dissolution (at low pH) and paving the way for the development of biocompatible devices and on chip fuel cells.

YOLOv8, as an efficient object detection method, can swiftly and precisely identify objects within images. However, traditional algorithms encounter difficulties when detecting small targets in remote sensing images, such as missing information, background noise, and interactions among multiple objects in complex scenes, which may affect performance. To tackle these challenges, we propose an enhanced algorithm optimized for detecting small objects in remote sensing images, named HP-YOLOv8. Firstly, we design the C2f-D-Mixer (C2f-DM) module as a replacement for the original C2f module. This module integrates both local and global information, significantly improving the ability to detect features of small objects. Secondly, we introduce a feature fusion technique based on attention mechanisms, named Bi-Level Routing Attention in Gated Feature Pyramid Network (BGFPN). This technique utilizes an efficient feature aggregation network and reparameterization technology to optimize information interaction between different scale feature maps, and through the Bi-level Routing Attention (BRA) mechanism, it effectively captures critical feature information of small target objects. Finally, we propose the Smooth Mean Perpendicular Distance Intersection over Union (SMPDIoU) loss function. The method comprehensively considers the shape and size of detection boxes, enhances the model's focus on the attributes of detection boxes and provides a more accurate bounding box regression loss calculation method. To demonstrate our approach's efficacy, we conduct comprehensive experiments across the RSOD, NWPU VHR-10, and VisDrone2019 datasets. The experimental results show that the HP-YOLOv8 achieves 95.11%, 93.05%, and 53.49% in the [email protected] metric, and 72.03%, 65.37%, and 38.91% in the more stringent [email protected]:0.95 metric, respectively.

Workers involved in scaffolding erection and dismantling activities are exposed to various physical risk factors. However, no existing study indicates that awkward working postures in scaffolding activities lead to musculoskeletal system disorders (MSDs). This study explores the ergonomic risks intrinsic to scaffolding tasks in refinery construction using the Ovako Working Posture Analysing System (OWAS).In the refinery, the utilized scaffolding encompasses an area of 319674 square meters and a volumetric extent of 603294 cubic meters. Observations were conducted on the postures of 500 scaffolding group workers across 5210 locations within the site, culminating in capturing 2000 photographic records. The mass of each scaffolding component was meticulously determined. After three months of observation, medical records were consulted for further insights. A statistical analysis employing the Pearson correlation technique was conducted to scrutinize the relationship between the ages of the scaffolding workers and the incidence of MSDs, alongside patterns of absenteeism. This analysis elucidated a robust and statistically significant correlation between the age of the workers and the prevalence of MSD associated with their occupational activities.As a result of the results of the OWAS ergonomic risk assessment, a number of regulatory changes were made to the scaffolding workforce, and then medical records were looked over again. This re-evaluation revealed a marked reduction in MSDs. The OWAS method's reliance on simple observational techniques holds substantial merit for its application within construction environments. Our research underscores the exposure of workers engaged in scaffolding tasks within continuous projects, such as refinery construction, to substantial ergonomic risks.

In this work, the author employs the quantum hydrodynamic formalism to achieve the geometrization of spacetime for describing the gravitational interaction within the framework of quantum theory. This approach allows for the development of an equation of gravity that is mathematically connected to the fermion and boson fields. This achievement is accomplished by incorporating two fundamental principles: covariance of the quantum field equations and the principle of least action. By considering these principles, a theory is established that enables the calculation of gravitational corrections to Quantum Electrodynamics, and potentially, to the standard model of particle physics as well. The theory also provides an explanation for two phenomena: the existence of a cosmological pressure density similar to quintessence, that is compatible with the small value of the observed cosmological constant, and the breaking of matter-antimatter symmetry at high energies offering insights into why there is an imbalance between the two in the early universe. In the cosmological modeling of the theory, there exists a proposal to account for the formation of supermassive black holes that are accompanied by their own surrounding galaxies, without relying on the process of mass accretion. The model, in accordance with recent observations conducted by the James Webb Space Telescope, supports the notion that galactic configurations were established relatively early in the history of the universe, shortly after the occurrence of the Big Bang.

The objective was to evaluate the metabolic and performance differences in primiparous Nellore cows, which became pregnant at 14 or 24 months. Thirty-eight primiparous Nellore cows, which were bred for first pregnancy at 14 or 24-mo of age, with 202 ± 5 days of gestation were divided into two treatments according to breeding age: 14 or 24 months in the breeding season. Cows were evaluated for weight, body condition score (BCS), carcass characteristics, milk yield and blood parameters: glucose, total proteins, albumin, urea, beta-hydroxybutyrate (β-OHB), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), progesterone, and for insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). There was an in-teraction (p < 0.01) between age at first pregnancy and time for body weight, where 24-mo cows were heavier, but both categories loss weight at parturition which concomitant decrease in the BCS (p < 0,01). However, BW of 24-mo remained stable (p > 0.05) after parturition. Milk yield was higher in 24-mo cows (p < 0.01). Interaction between sampling time and breading age was observed for Longissimus muscle area (p < 0.01) and tended for Longissimus muscle depth, where 24-mo cows had greater values in prepartum. Calves born from the cows bred at 24-mo, where was higher (p < 0.01) from 160 days of age until weaning at 240 days. Glucose, urea, total proteins, albumin and NEFA were affected (p < 0.01) by the parturition data-point. There was an interaction (p < 0.01) between breading age and sampling period for β-OHB. Progesterone concentration was greater in 24-mo cows (p < 0.01). It was concluded that primiparous cows that became pregnant at 14 or 24 months of age have different nutritional and metabolic responses.

Formation of Fe- and Mg-rich smectite and zeolite under alkaline conditions is concerned as secondary minerals after alkaline alteration of bentonite in a repository of radioactive wastes. It might be crucial for safety assessment whether smectite will be formed or not as secondary minerals after alkaline alteration of bentonite. In present paper, Fe- and Mg-rich smectite which are currently interacting with hyperalkaline groundwater was found at Narra in Palawan, Philippines. Mineralogical and geochemical investigation was conducted to understand formation process of smectite and factors determined secondary mineral species. Our study revealed a certain amount of smectite may have been produced under hyperalkaline conditions, altered from amorphous or poorly crystalline material such as M-S-H and F-S-H. Key factor which decides smectite or zeolite as secondary minerals after alkaline alteration of bentonite might be whether nuclei of M-S-H and/or F-S-H will be formed or not. This might be decided by the presence of dissolved Mg2+ and Fe2+ in the system. Our suggested formation process of smectite under alkaline conditions is analogue with generally-accepted model of smectite formation that might have been occurred on early Mars.

The static formation temperature (SFT) is required to determine the thermophysical properties and production parameters in geothermal and oil reservoirs. However, the SFT is not easy to be obtained by both experimental and physical methods. In this paper, a mathematical approach to predicting SFT based on a new model describing the relationship between bottom hole temperature (BHT) and shut-in time was proposed. The unknown coefficients of the model were derived from least squares fit by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. Besides, the ability to predict SFT based on a few BHT data (such as first 3, 4, or 5 ones of a data set) was evaluated. The accuracy of the proposed method to predict SFT was testified with a deviation percentage less than ±4% and high values of regression coefficient R² (>0.98). The proposed method could be used as a practical tool to predict SFT in both geothermal and oil wells.