In order to maintain the best conditions of the building from the first day of opening, explorations of office buildings in the world investigated the approaches of optimizing the building operation and property facilities, whereas building managers often have trouble prioritizing improvements toward their sustainable objectives. The challenge is due to numerous equipment types in the building, which has various durability in years and represents users’ different feelings of importance and satisfaction. When faced with multiple improvement projects, building managers are often unable to determine the order of implementation.Hence, this research applies the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) using TAIPEI 101 Tower as a case study to explore the key factors affecting tenants’ willingness to lease office buildings by distributing questionnaires to real estate experts. By filtering out key indicators related to property facilities that users care about, this study used Importance and Satisfaction Analysis (IS Analysis) to identify items that need urgent improvement. The research revealed that air conditioning is the top priority for improvement through empirical evaluation and weight ranking. This study hopes to establish an evaluation model for facility improvements to help clarify the prioritization and defeat limited resources to projects effectively, which is helpful for sustainable property management.

The current work aimed to screen the ruminal cyanide-utilizing bacteria and evaluate the influence of fresh cassava root (FCR) and pellets containing high sulfur (PELFUR) on cyanide content, kinetics of gas, in vitro degradability, and ruminal fermentation. The experiment was conducted in a Completely randomized design (CRD) for a screening of cyanide-utilizing bacteria and the dietary treatments were the level of cyanide at 0, 150, 300, and 450 ppm. A 5 × 3 factorial arrangement in a Completely randomized design was used for in vitro study. Factor A was the level of FCR at 0, 260, 350, 440, and 530 g/kg of 0.5 g dry matter (DM) substrate, and factor B was the level of PELFUR at 0, 15, and 30 g/kg DM substrate. Adding different doses of cyanide significantly affected cyanide-utilizing rumen bacterial growth (p < 0.05). Increasing the concentration of cyanide from 0 to 150 and 150 to 300 ppm, resulted in an increase in cyanide-utilizing rumen bacteria of 38.2% and 15.0%, respectively. Increasing the FCR level to more than 260 g/kg of 0.5 g substrate could increase cumulative gas production (p < 0.05), whereas increasing doses of PELFUR from 15 to 30 g/kg increased the cumulative gas production when compared with that of 0 g/kg PELFUR (p < 0.05). Cyanide concentration in rumen fluid decreased with PELFUR (p < 0.05) supplementation. Degradability of in vitro dry matter and organic matter following incubation increased at 12 and 24 h due to PELFUR supplementation with FCR and increased additionally with 15 g/kg PELFUR (p < 0.05) in 440 g/kg FCR. Proportions of the total volatile fatty acids, acetic acid (C2), propionic acid (C3), and butyric acid, as well as the ratio of C2 to C3 among supplementations with FCR (p < 0.05) were significantly different. As the proportion of FCR increased to 530 g/kg of the substrate, the volume of C3 increased by 14.6%. This is the first finding of bacteria in the rumen capable of utilizing cyanide, and cyanide might function as a nitrogen source for bacterial cell synthesis. Inclusion of FCR of 530 g/kg with 30 g/kg PELFUR could increase the cumulative gas production, the bacterial population, the in vitro degradability, the proportion of C3, and the rate of the disappearance of cyanide.

Nowadays, the wasting of resources is one of the fundamental challenges of the industrial sector. The rectangle packing problem can be very effective in this context. Practical applications of this issue in the timing and designing of the industries and businesses are very remarkable. The purpose of this issue is to arrange a set of rectangles with specific dimensions in a rectangular page with a specific width and unlimited height without overlapping. The fundamental challenge in this issue is that this is an NP-complete issue. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve the best arrangement, which has the maximum rate of resource utilization and also has a linear running time. Many algorithms have been presented to estimate a practical solution for this issue. In the past decades, the best fit method has been one of the most useful methods for this purpose. This study presents a combinatorial algorithm based on two algorithms, including the lowest front-line strategy and the best-fit algorithm. The running results indicate that the suggested algorithm performs well, despite its simplicity. The time complexity of the suggested algorithm is O(nm), in which n is the number of input rectangles and m is the number of the created front lines.

Slot-die coatings are advantageous when used for coating large-area flexible devices; in particular, the coating width can be controlled, and simultaneous multi-layer coatings can be processed. Till date, the effects of ink widening and coating gap on the coating thickness have only been considered in a few studies. To this end, we developed two mathematical models to accurately estimate the coating width and thickness considering these two effects. We used root mean square deviation (RMSD) to experimentally verify the developed method. The coating width was seen to increase and the coating thickness was seen to decrease when the coating gap was increased. Experimental results showed that the estimation performances of the coating width and thickness models were as high as 98.46 % and 95.8 %, respectively. We believe that the developed models can be useful for determining the coating conditions according to the ink properties to coat a functional layer with user-defined widths and thicknesses in both lab- and industrial-scale roll-to-roll slot-die coating processes.

The imipramine ONC201 exerts a novel anti-proliferative activity over a wide spectrum of cancer cell types. ONC201 activates integrated stress response pathway that is associated with induction of Damage Inducible Transcript 3 (DDIT3, also known as C/EBP homologous protein or CHOP). We questioned whether the ONC201/CHOP crosstalk is regulated by diverse signaling pathways in non-metastatic versus metastatic cancer cell lines. Therefore, the Dukes' type B colorectal adenocarcinoma non-metastatic (SW480) and metastatic (LS-174T) cell lines were treated with ONC201. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were evaluated by MTT assay, flow cytometry analysis, gene expression was assessed by Affymetrix microarray, and key regulatory proteins were validated by Western blot assays. Unlike LS-174T cells, SW480 cells were resistant to ONC201 treatment. Gene ontology pathway enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes revealed substantial differences between LS-174T and SW480 responsiveness to ONC201 treatment. In both cell lines, CHOP expression was upregulated in response to ONC201 treatment, however, its upstream regulatory mechanisms were not identical. Although, PERK, ATF6 and IRE1 ER-stress pathways were found to upregulated CHOP in both cell types, the BAK/BAX pathway was a notable regulator of CHOP in the metastatic LS-174T cells alone. In addition, CHOP RNA splicing profiles were varied between the two cell lines, which was further modified in response to ONC201 treatments. In conclusion, we delineated the signaling mechanisms regulating the expression of CHOP in non-metastatic versus metastatic colorectal cells in response to ONC201 treatment. The observed differences were related to cellular plasticity and metabolic reprogramming.

Acceptance of SNAP benefits has increased in farmers’ markets (FM) over the years. However, getting SNAP recipients to take up the opportunity of extra dollars for healthy food options remains a challenge. Thus, we tracked the use of the Double-up Food Buck (DUFB) program among SNAP recipients who visit participating FMs in Utah to understand the unique characteristics of the program users. Our results identified varying types of program users (multiple and single market shoppers, more frequent and less frequent shoppers). While our findings indicate a higher DUFB transaction in token value among frequent users, larger markets are more likely to have higher DUFB transactions with a higher number of market visits compared to smaller ones. In conclusion, while all types of users may add to the total revenue generated by participating FM, additional initiatives are required to encourage frequent visits and uptake of the program for better access to healthy foods.

The study aims to elaborate a neural model and algorithm for optimising hardness and porosity of coatings and thus ensure that they have superior cavitation erosion resistance. Al2O3-13wt.%TiO2 ceramic coatings were deposited onto 316L stainless steel by atmospheric plasma spray (ASP). The coatings were prepared with different values of two spray process parameters: the stand-off distance and torch velocity. Microstructure, porosity and microhardness of the coatings were examined. Cavitation erosion tests were conducted in compliance with the ASTM G32 standard. Artificial neural networks (ANN) were employed to elaborate the model, and the multi-objectives genetic algorithm (MOGA) was used to optimise both properties and cavitation erosion resistance of the coatings. Results were analysed with Matlab software by Neural Network Toolbox and Global Optimization Toolbox. The fusion of artificial intelligence methods (ANN+MOGA) is essential for future selection of thermal spray process parameters, especially for the design of ceramic coatings with specified functional properties. Selection of these parameters is a multicriteria decision problem. The proposed method made it possible to find a Pareto front, i.e. trade-offs between several conflicting objectives – maximising the hardness and cavitation erosion resistance of Al2O3-13%TiO2 coatings and, at the same time, minimizing their porosity.

The paper addresses an analysis of the efficiency and profitability of the operation of a photovoltaic installation located in the geometric centre of Europe (near Białystok, Poland), where the intensity of solar irradiation is not too high compared to other European countries. It is calculated that in that place average solar irradiation being lower even by approx. 26 kWh than that for the whole Europe, which results in a 26% drop in the economic potential of the utilisation of solar energy for its conversion. A case study and an economic analysis show that without minimum funding amounting to 50% of the investment costs paid for the modernisation of a central heating system assisted by PV cells, the time of return of pecuniary expenditures exceeds 7 years. Apart from the Simple Pay-Back Time SPBT, discount indicators determined in the paper also include the net present value NPV and the internal rate of return IRR. Moreover, a direct ecological effect has been determined for such an investment.

Urbanization induced land use land cover (LULC) changes intensify the urban heat island effects. It magnifies the risk of urban dwellers and sometimes causes the loss of human life, defined as heat-related health risk (HRHR). Hence, urban LULC planning plays a crucial role. Present study analyses the impact of composition and configuration of urban LULC defined as urban landscape metric (ULM) on HRHR in Delhi at the ward level. Firstly, the HRHR is measured by using satellite thermal and other digital data. Then, measured HRHR is validated by conducting a rapid field survey. Thirdly, ULM measured at ward level using Fragstat 4 software. Finally, both, HRHR and ULM linked with bi-variate Moran's I and impacts of ULM are assessed using ordinary least square (OLS) and spatial error (SE) regression. The result indicates the high risk is found as clustered in north-east, central and middle of south-west Delhi. Built-up density intensifies HRHR and abundance of vegetation reduce it; however, it is not similar for all vegetation patches. Larger vegetation patches surrounded by dense built-up might not able to reduce the risk as much as a large vegetation patch could in other regions. Findings can be helpful for heat resilient city planning.

The coffee leaf miner (CLM) Leucoptera coffeella moth is a major threat to coffee production. Insect damage is related to the feeding behavior of the larvae on the leaf. During the immature life stages, the insect feeds in the mesophyll, triggering necrosis and causing loss of photosynthetic capacity, defoliation, and significant yield loss to coffee crops. Chemical control is mandatory to sustain the coffee production chain, though market requirements move towards conscious consumption, claiming for more sustainable methods. In this overview, we discuss aspects about the CLM concerning biology, history, geographical distribution, economic impacts, and the most relevant control strategies in progress. Insights to develop an integrate approach for a safer and eco-friendly control of the CLM are discussed, including bio-extracts, nanotechnology, pheromones, and tolerant cultivars.

The bacterial genus and species of Bacillus thuringiensis var israelensis (Bti), is entomotoxic, used in the biological control of mosquito vectors of human diseases, such as malaria and dengue. Following the studies carried out in Mexico and Guatemala with ovillantas, in which the presence of larvae of both species of Anopheles albimanus W and Aedes aegypti L were observed, and with the intention of continuing to develop an ecologically friendly mosquito control, Bti was added to the ovillantas, to improve and already efficient method on the elimination of both types of mosquitoes. The objectives of this work were: to analyze the effectiveness of two commercial formulations of Bti, serovar H-14 (Bactimos) wettable powder, 3,500 ITU, from Biochem prods., and Vectobac, 2,000 ITU wettable powder, (Abbot Lab.) on second and third instars larvae of A. albimanus and Ae. aegypti (Diptera Culicidae). The two formulations were effective against A. albimanus W(higher concentrations), while Ae. aegypti L was very susceptible to Bti, therefore it is proposed for the best control of these genus and vector species of malaria and dengue at adequate concentrations.

The Apennine sector formed by Sannio and Irpinia is one of the most important seismic districts in Italy, representing a good case of study due to the plenty of recorded earthquakes that have therein occurred from Roman times up to nowadays. We have merged the historical record and the new satellite techniques that allow a precise determination of ground movements, and then derived physical dimensions like strain rate. In this way, we have verified that in Irpinia the hazard of new strong shocks forty years after one of the strongest known seismic events in the district is still high. This aspect must be considered very important from many points of view, particularly for Civil Protection plans, as well as civil engineering and urban planning development.

Globally, rotavirus group A (RVA) remains a major cause of severe childhood diarrhea, despite the use of vaccines in &gt; 100 countries. RVA sequencing for local outbreaks facilitates investigation into strain composition, origins, spread, and vaccine failure. In 2018, we collected 248 stool samples from children aged &lt;13 years admitted with diarrheal illness to Kilifi County Hospital, coastal Kenya. Antigen screening detected RVA in 55 samples (22.2%). Of these, VP7 (G) and VP4 (P) segments were successfully sequenced in 48 (87.3%) and phylogenetic analysis based on the VP7 sequences identified seven genetic clusters with six different GP combinations; G3P[8], G1P[8], G2P[4], G2P[8], G9P[8] and G12P[8]. The G3P[8] strains predominated the season (n=37, 67.2%) and comprised three G3 genetic clusters that fell within Lineage I and IX (the latter also known as equine-like G3 lineage). Both two G3 lineages have been recently detected in several countries. Our study is the first to document African children infection with G3 lineage IX. These data highlight the global nature of RVA transmission and the importance of increasing global rotavirus vaccine coverage.

Background: While greenness has been associated with lower depression, the generalizability of this association in arid landscapes remains undetermined. We assessed the association between depression and greenness among nursing students living in El Paso, Texas (the Chihuahuan desert). Methods: Depression was measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scale, and greenness with the normalized difference vegetation index (at buffer sizes =250m, 500m, 1000m). Using data from the National Land Cover Database two additional measures of land patterns were analyzed: grayness and brownness. Structural equation models were used to assess the relationships of these land patterns to depression and quantify the indirect effects of peer alienation. Results: After adjusting for individual characteristics, at buffers 250 m greenness was associated with a decrease in the Incidence Rate Ratios (IRR) of depression by 49% (IRR, 0.51; 95%CI, 0.12-2.10), greyness with increases by 64% (IRR, 1.64; 95%CI, 1.07-2.52) and brownness with decreases by 35% (IRR, 0.65; 95%CI, 0.42-0.99). At buffer 250 m peer alienation explained 17.43% (95% CI, -1.79-36.66) of the association between depression and brownness, suggesting a pathway to depression. Conclusions: We did not observe an association between depression and residential greenness in El Paso, Texas. However, we did observe a protective association between brownness and depression as well as an adverse association with grayness. These results have theoretical implications as based on commonly used frameworks in this literature and adverse association of brownness (and the lack of greenness) and depression was expected.

Increasing utilization of secondary raw materials and alternative fuels results in increasing contents of metals in cements. One of elements, the content of which keeps rising in cement is zinc. It comes to cement with secondary raw materials such as slag or fly ash or by the utilization of used tires as an alternative fuel. Zinc ions significantly prolong the hydration process in cement. This work deals with the influence of zinc ions in the form of very poorly soluble ZnO salt and easily soluble ZnCl2 and Zn(NO)3 on the hydration of cement blended with fly ash. Zinc was dosed in the range of 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 a 1% of cement weight. Final products were next analyzed using X-Ray Diffraction.

Published transcriptomic data from surgically removed metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) samples were re-analyzed from the Genomic Fabric Perspective that considers the transcriptome a multi-dimensional mathematical object, constrained by a dynamic set of expression correlations among genes. Every gene in the chest wall metastasis (MET), two primary tumors (PTA, PTB) and the surrounding normal tissue (NOR) of the right kidney was characterized by three independent measures: average expression level (AVE), relative expression variation (REV) and expression correlation (COR) with each other gene. AVE was used to determine the regulation of the genomic fabrics of ccRCC, apoptosis, chemokine and VEGF signaling pathways. REV quantified the alteration of the transcripts’ abundances control, while COR determined the remodeling of the transcriptomic networks of chemokine signaling and oxidative phosphorylation genes. The gene hierarchy was established in based on Gene Commanding Height and the Gene Master Regulators (GMR) TASOR (PTA), FAM27C (PTB) and ALG13 (MET) and DAPK3 (NOR) were identified in each profiled region. We predict that TASOR overexpression would block transcription in PTA but not in PTB, while slightly stimulating it in NOR. Silencing of ALG3 would slow-down the cell-cycle in all three cancer regions with practically no effect in NOR.

AI is leveraging all aspects of life. Medical services are not untouched. Especially in the field of medical image processing and diagnosis. Big IT and Biotechnology companies are investing millions of dollars in medical and AI research. The recent outbreak of SARS COV-2 gave us a unique opportunity to study for a non interventional and sustainable AI solution. Lung disease remains a major healthcare challenge with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The predominant lung disease was lung cancer. Until recently, the world has witnessed the global pandemic of COVID19, the Novel coronavirus outbreak. We have experienced how viral infection of lung and heart claimed thousands of lives worldwide. With the unprecedented advancement of Artificial Intelligence in recent years, Machine learning can be used to easily detect and classify medical imagery. It is much faster and most of the time more accurate than human radiologists. Once implemented, it is more cost-effective and time-saving. In our study, we evaluated the efficacy of Microsoft Cognitive Service to detect and classify COVID19 induced pneumonia from other Viral/Bacterial pneumonia based on X-Ray and CT images. We wanted to assess the implication and accuracy of the Automated ML-based Rapid Application Development (RAD) environment in the field of Medical Image diagnosis. This study will better equip us to respond with an ML-based diagnostic Decision Support System(DSS) for a Pandemic situation like COVID19. After optimization, the trained network achieved 96.8% Average Precision which was implemented as a Web Application for consumption. However, the same trained network did not perform like Web Application when ported to Smartphone for Real-time inference, which was our main interest of study. The authors believe, there is scope for further study on this issue. One of the main goals of this study was to develop and evaluate the performance of AI-powered Smartphone-based Real-time Applications. Facilitating primary diagnostic services in less equipped and understaffed rural healthcare centers of the world with unreliable internet service.

Biochar application to the soil can improve soil quality and nutrient leaching loss. Recent studies have reported that surficial application of biochar to stored swine manure can reduce emissions of odorous compounds and reduce the volatilization loss of ammonia. Our working hypothesis was that the biochar-treated manure application to the soil would decrease nutrient leaching from manure and increase plant-available nutrients. The study objectives were to evaluate the impact of biochar-treated swine manure on soil total C, N, and other major and minor nutrients. Three biochars (i) neutral pH red-oak (RO), (ii) highly alkaline autothermal corn (Zea mays) stover (HAP), and (iii) mild acidic Fe-treated autothermal corn stover (HAPE) were incubated with swine manure for a month. The biochar-manure mixture was applied in triplicate to soil columns with application rate determined by the P₂O₅-P content in manure or manure-biochar mixtures after the incubation. The ammonium (NH₄⁺), nitrate (NO₃^-), and reactive P concentrations in soil column leachates were recorded for eight leaching events. Soil properties and plant-available nutrients were compared between treatments and control manure & soil. Manure-(HAP&HAPE) biochar treatments significantly increased soil organic matter (OM) and increased soil total C, N, and improved soil bulk density. Concentrations of KCl-extractable NH₄⁺ and NO₃^- significantly increased in HAPE column leachates during this 4-week study and in the soil after the experiment. A significant reduction in soil Mehlich3 Cu was also observed for the manure-HAPE mixture compared with the control. Overall, the manure-biochar incubation enabled biochar to sorb nutrients from manure, and the subsequent manure-biochar mixture application to soil improved soil quality and plant nutrient availability in comparison to conventional manure application to soil. This proof-of-the-concept study suggests that biochars could be used to solve both environmental and agronomic challenges and further improve the sustainability of animal and crop production agriculture.

The retrieval of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence is greatly beneficial to studies of marine phytoplankton biomass, physiology, and composition and is required for user applications and services. Customarily phytoplankton chlorophyll fluorescence is determined from satellite measurements through a fluorescence line-height algorithm using three bands around 680 nm. We propose here a modified retrieval, making use of all available bands in the relevant wavelength range with the goal to improve the effectiveness of the algorithm in optically complex waters. For the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) we quantify a Fluorescence Peak Height from fitting a Gaussian function and related terms into the top-of-atmosphere reflectance bands between 650 and 750 nm. This algorithm retrieves, what we call Fluorescence Peak Height from fitting a Gaussian function upon other terms to top-of-atmosphere reflectance bands between 650 and 750 nm. This approach is applicable to Level-1 and Level-2 data. We find a good correlation of the retrieved fluorescence product to global in-situ chlorophyll measurements, as well as a consistent relation between chlorophyll concentration and fluorescence from radiative transfer modelling and OLCI/in-situ comparison. The algorithm is applicable to complex waters without needing an atmospheric correction and vicarious calibration and features an inherent correction of small spectral shifts, as required for OLCI measurements.

Thyroid hormones have a catabolic effect on bone homeostasis. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate serum vitamin D, calcium, and phosphate and bone marker levels and bone mineral density (BMD) among patients with different thyroid diseases. This cross-sectional study included patients with underlying thyroid diseases (n=64, hyperthyroid; n=53 euthyroid; and n=18, hypothyroid) and healthy controls (n=64). BMD was assessed using z-score and left hip and lumbar bone density (g/cm2). Results showed that the mean serum vitamin D Levels of all groups was low (<50 nmol/L). Thyroid patients had higher serum vitamin D levels than healthy controls. All groups had normal serum calcium and phosphate levels. The bone marker levels were significantly high in the hyperthyroid group and low in the hypothyroid group. The z-score for hip and spine did not significantly differ between thyroid patients and control groups. The hip bone density was remarkably low in the hyperthyroid group. In all groups, the serum vitamin D levels were below the cutoff value. However, thyroid patients had a higher serum vitamin D level than healthy controls. The carboxy terminal collagen crosslink and procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide levels were high in hyperthyroid patients and low in hypothyroid patients. Further, hyperthyroid patients had a low hip BMD.

Intranasal (i.n.) administration became an alternative strategy to bypass the blood-brain barrier and improve drug bioavailability in the brain. The main goal of this work was to preliminarily study the biodistribution of mixed amphiphilic mucoadhesive nanoparticles made of chitosan-g-poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(vinyl alcohol)-g-poly(methyl methacrylate) and ionotropically crosslinked with sodium tripolyphosphate in the brain after intravenous (i.v.) and i.n. administration to Hsd:ICR mice. After i.v. administration, the highest nanoparticle accumulation was detected in the liver, among other peripheral organs. After i.n. administration of a 10-times smaller nanoparticle dose, the accumulation of the nanoparticles in off-target organs was much lower than after i.v. injection. In particular, the accumulation of the nanoparticles in the liver was 20 times lower than by i.v. When brains were analyzed separately, intravenously administered nanoparticles accumulated mainly in the “top” brain, reaching a maximum after 1h. Conversely, in i.n. administration, nanoparticles were detected in the “bottom” brain and the head (maximum reached after 2 h) owing to their retention in the nasal mucosa and could serve as a reservoir from which the drug is released and transported to the brain over time. Overall results indicate that i.n. nanoparticles reach similar brain bioavailability, though with a 10-fold smaller dose, and accumulate in off-target organs to a more limited extent and only after redistribution through the systemic circulation. At the same time, both administration routes seem to lead to differential accumulation in brain regions and thus, they could be beneficial in the treatment of different medical conditions.

In this paper, the authors employ Mountain Pass Lemma, the method of weak solution regularization and Lyapunov function method to derive the unique existence of globally exponential stable positive stationary solution of a single-species model with diffusion and delayed feedback. The obtained stability criterion illuminates that under some suitable conditions, a certain internal competition is conducive to the overall stability of the population, and a certain amount of family planning is conducive to the overall stability of the population. A numerical example and three tables show the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Forest fires are part of a set of natural disasters that have always affected regions of the world typically characterized by a tropical climate with long periods of drought. However, due to climate change in recent years, other regions of our planet have also been affected by this phenomenon, never seen before. One of them is certainly the Italian peninsula, and especially the regions of southern Italy. For this reason, the scientific community, as well as remote sensing one, is highly concerned in developing reliable techniques to provide useful support to the competent authorities. In particular, three specific tasks have been carried out in this work: (i) fire risk prevention, (ii) active fire detection, and (iii) post-fire area assessment. To accomplish these analyses, the capability of a set of spectral indices, derived from spaceborne remote sensing (RS) data, is assessed to monitor the forest fires. The spectral indices are obtained from Sentinel-2 multispectral images of the European Space Agency (ESA), which are free of charge and openly accessible. Moreover, the twin Sentinel-2 sensors allow to overcome some restrictions on time delivery and observation repeat time. The performance of the proposed analyses were assessed experimentally to monitor the forest fires occurred in two specific study areas during the summer of 2017: the volcano Vesuvius, near Naples, and the Lattari mountains, near Sorrento (both in Campania, Italy).

Tetrathiolate zinc fingers are potential targets of oxidative assault under cellular stress conditions. We used the synthetic 37-residue peptide representing the tetrathiolate zinc finger domain of the DNA repair protein XPA, acetyl-DYVICEECGKEFMSYLMNHFDLPTCDNCRDADDKHK-amide (XPAzf) as a working model to study the reaction of its Zn(II) complex (ZnXPAzf) with hydrogen peroxide and S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), as oxidative and nitrosative stress agents, respectively. We also used the Cd(II) substituted XPAzf (CdXPAzf) to assess the situation of cadmium assault, which is accompanied by oxidative stress. Using electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), HPLC, and UV-vis and circular dichroism spectroscopies we demonstrated that even very low levels of H2O2 and GSNO invariably cause irreversible thiol oxidation and concomitant Zn(II) release from ZnXPAzf. In contrast, CdXPAzf was more resistant to oxidation, demonstrating the absence of synergy between cadmium and oxidative stresses. Our results indicate that GSNO cannot act as a reversible modifier of XPA, and rather has a deleterious effect on DNA repair.

Emerging pollutants as pharmaceuticals have been focusing international attention for few decades. Ciprofloxacin (CIP) is a common drug widely found in effluents from hospitals, industrial and different wastewater treatment plants, as well as rivers. In this work, the lab-scale 3D-BER system was established, and more than 90% of the antibiotic CIP removal from the Low C/N wastewater. Best results were obtained with current intensity, and different C/N ratio significantly improve the removal of CIP and nitrates, when the ideal conditions were; C/N = 1.5-3.5, pH =7.0-7.5, and I = 60 mA. The highest removal efficiency of CIP = 94.20 %, NO3--N= 95.53 % and total nitrogen (TN) = 84.27 %, respectively. In this novel system, the autotrophic-heterotrophic denitrifying bacteria played vital role for the removal of CIP and enhanced denitrification process. Thus, autotrophic denitrifying bacteria uses CO2 and H2 as carbon sources to reduce nitrates to N2. This system has the assortment and prosperous community revealed at the current intensity of 60 mA, and the analysis of bacterial community structure in effluent samples fluctuates under different condition of C/N ratios. According to the results of LC-MS/MS analysis, the intermediate products were proposed after efficient biodegradation of CIP. Microbial community on biodegrading was mostly found at phylum, and class level was dominantly responsible for the NO3--N and biodegradation of CIP. This work can provide some new insights towards the biodegradation of CIP and the efficient removal of nitrates from low C/N wastewater treatment by the novel 3D-BER system.

Inspired by the work of S. D. Odintsov and V. K. Oikonomou, Phys. Rev. D 92, 024016 (2015) [1], the present study reports a reconstruction scheme for f (R) gravity with the scale factor a(t) µ (t _* - t) _c²²describing the pre-bounce ekpyrotic contraction, where t is the big crunch time. The reconstructed f (R) is used to derive expressions for density and pressure contributions and the equation of state parameter resulting from this reconstruction is found to behave like "quintom". It has also been observed that the reconstructed f (R) has satisfied a sufficient condition for a realistic model. In the subsequent phase the reconstructed f (R) is applied to the model of chameleon scalar field and the scalar field f and the potential V(f) are tested for quasi-exponential ex pansion. It has been observed that although the reconstructed f (R) satisfies one of the sufficient conditions for realistic model, the quasi-exponential expansion is not available due to this reconstruction. Finally, the consequences pre-bounce ekpyrotic inflation i n f (R) gravity are compared to the background solution for f (R) matter bounce.

Low levels of physical activity (PA) and sedentarism are associated with the onset of different pathologies and health problems. Regular physical activity has been linked with being beneficial to the health of the general population. Within this framework of analysis, the aim of the present study is to analyse the existing association between the time spent doing physical activity and the expressed motives for doing so, from which the first innovative aspect of the paper emerges: the use of the time spent doing PA as a study variable of the phenomenon. The data analysed come from the latest special Eurobarometer survey about the sport and physical activity done in Europe. Using an exploratory factorial analysis and a structural equations model, we were able to find a six-dimensional factorial model that explains the reasons for doing PA, demonstrating that there is no relationship between the reasons for and time spent doing PA. Therefore, motivation is not a variable that explains the time spent doing PA and another type of variable must be used to explain the phenomenon if PA is to be incentivised.

As a major infectious disease in chickens, Newcastle disease causes considerable economic losses in the poultry industry, especially in developing countries where there is limited access to effective vaccination. Therefore, enhancing resistance to the virus in commercial chickens through breeding is a promising way to promote poultry production. In this study, we investigated gene expression changes at 2 and 6 dpi after infection at day21 with a lentogenic Newcastle disease virus in a commercial egg-laying chicken hybrid using RNA sequencing analysis. By comparing NDV challenged and nonchallenged groups, 526 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (FDR &lt; 0.05) were identified at 2 dpi, and only 36 at 6 dpi. For the DEGs at 2 dpi, IPA analysis predicted inhibition of multiple signaling pathways in response to NDV that regulate immune cell development and activity, neurogenesis and angiogenesis. Upregulation of Interferon Induced Protein with Tetratricopeptide Repeats 5 (IFIT5) in response to NDV was consistent between the current and most previous studies. Sprouty RTK Signaling Antagonist 1 (SPRY1), a DEG in the current study is located in a significant QTL associated with virus load at 6 dpi in the same population. These identified pathways and DEGs provide potential targets to further study breeding strategy to enhance NDV resistance in chickens.

Malassezia is a lipid-dependent genus of yeasts known for being an important part of the skin mycobiota. These yeasts have been associated in the development of skin disorders and cataloged as a causal agent of systemic infections under specific conditions, making them opportunistic pathogens. Little is known about the host-microbe interaction of Malassezia spp., and unraveling this implies the implementation of infection models. In this mini review we present different models that have been implemented in the fungal infections study with greater attention in Malassezia spp. infections. These models range from in vitro (cell cultures and ex vivo tissue), to in vivo (murine models, rabbits, guinea pigs, insects, nematodes, and amoebas). We additionally highlight the alternative models that reduce the use of mammals as model organisms, which have been gaining importance in the study of fungal host-microbe interactions. This is due to the fact that these systems have shown to have reliable results, which correlate with those obtained from mammalian models. Example of alternative models are Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, Tenebrio molitor, and Galleria mellonella. These are invertebrates that have been implemented in the study of Malassezia spp. infections in order to identify differences in virulence between Malassezia species.

SARS-CoV-2 virus infections in humans were first reported in December 2019, the boreal winter. The resulting COVID-19 pandemic was declared by the WHO in March 2020. By July 2020 COVID-19 is present in 213 countries and territories, with over 12 million confirmed cases and over half a million attributed deaths. Knowledge of other viral respiratory diseases suggests that the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 could be modulated by seasonally-varying environmental factors such as temperature and humidity. Many studies on the environmental sensitivity of COVID-19 are appearing online, and some have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Initially, these studies raised the hypothesis that climatic conditions would subdue the viral transmission rate in places entering the boreal summer and that southern hemisphere countries would experience enhanced disease. For the latter, the COVID-19 peak would coincide with the peak of the influenza season, increasing misdiagnosis and placing an additional burden on health systems. In this review, we assess the evidence that environmental drivers are a significant factor in the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, globally and regionally. We critically assessed 42 peer-reviewed and 80 preprint publications that met qualifying criteria. Since the disease has been prevalent for only half a year in the northern, and a quarter of a year in the southern hemisphere, datasets capturing a full seasonal cycle in one locality are not yet available. Analyses based on space-for-time substitutions, i.e. using data from climatically distinct locations as a surrogate for seasonal progression, have been inconclusive. The reported studies present a strong northern bias. Socio-economic conditions peculiar to the ‘Global South’ have been omitted as confounding variables, thereby weakening evidence of environmental signals. We explore why research to date has failed to show convincing evidence for environmental modulation of COVID-19, and discuss directions for future research. We conclude that the evidence thus far suggests a weak modulation effect, currently overwhelmed by the scale and rate of the spread of COVID-19. Seasonally-modulated transmission, if it exists, will be more evident in 2021 and subsequent years.

This note is a part of my efforts for getting rid of nonlocality from quantum mechanics (QM). Quantum nonlocality is two faced Janus, one face is apparent quantum mechanical nonlocality (assigned with projection postulate), another face is nonlocality of Bell's model with the hidden variables. This paper is directed against the latter. The main casualty of Bell's model is that it contradicts to the Heinsenberg's uncertainty and Bohr's complementarity principles. The aim of this note is to point to the physical seed of the aforementioned principles. This is the {\it quantum postulate}: the existence of indivisible quantum of action given by the Planck constant. Bell's model by contradicting to the basic principles of QM implies rejection of this postulate. Thus, it contradicts not only to the QM-formalism, but also to the fundamental feature of the quantum world that was initially discovered by Planck.

In the design of multi-loop Networked Control Systems (NCSs) wherein each control system is characterized by heterogeneous dynamics and associated with certain set of timing specifications and constraints, appropriate metrics need to be employed for the synthesis of control and networking policies to efficiently respond to the requirements of each control loop. Majority of the design approaches for sampling, scheduling and control policies include either time-based or event-based metrics to perform pertinent actions in response to the changes of the parameters of interest. We specifically focus in this article on Age-of-Information (AoI) as a recently-developed time-based metric and threshold-based triggering function as a generic event-based metric. As the NCS model, we consider multiple heterogeneous stochastic linear control systems that close their feedback loops over a shared-resource communication network. We investigate the co-design across the NCS, and discuss the pros and cons with AoI and ET approaches in terms of asymptotic control performance measured by linear-quadratic Gaussian (LQG) cost functions. In particular, sampling and scheduling policies combining AoI and stochastic event-triggered metrics are proposed. It is argued that pure AoI functions that generate decision variables solely upon minimizing the average age irrespective of control systems dynamics may not be able to improve the overall NCS performance even compared with pure randomized policies. Our theoretical analyses are successfully validated through several simulation scenarios.

Both intestinal schistosomiasis and giardiasis are co-endemic throughout many areas of sub-Saharan Africa, significantly impacting the health of millions of children within endemic areas. While giardiasis is not considered a neglected tropical disease, intestinal schistosomiasis is formally grouped within the NTD umbrella and, as such, receives significant advocacy and financial support for large-scale control, annually. Given the many epidemiological similarities between intestinal schistosomiasis and giardiasis, in this review, we critically discuss why disease surveillance and control activities for giardiasis are largely absent within low- and middle-income countries. With advances in new methods of parasite diagnostics and provision of existing anti-parasitic medications, better management of intestinal schistosomiasis and giardiasis co-infection could, not only be better understood but also, more effectively controlled. In this light, we appraise the suitability of a One Health approach for intestinal schistosomiasis, for if adopted more broadly, could also pave a way forward for more inclusive public health actions against giardiasis.

In the recent century, the tourism industry and within it the tourism economy are one of the most important and fundamental sectors of engaged business. E-tourism can be used as a dynamic tool in up to date areas of informative information and tourism marketing will be considered as a suitable field for the tourism industry. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between climate change and the amount of revenues from the tourism industry relying on a tool called e-tourism, and informing and providing services through this way so that Iran can achieve a greater share of export of a single-product oil economy combined with economic growth and sustainable development goals. The method of this research is descriptive-analytical.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease spreading through human touch. This study explored the risk perception and knowledge towards COVID-19 infection among Bangladeshi adult participants. Two self-administered online surveys were administered at two different time points from 26-31 March 2020 (Early lockdown) and 11-16 May 2020 (Late lockdown) through social media on 1005 respondents (322 and 683 participants, respectively) during COVID-19 lockdown period in Bangladesh. Univariate and multiple linear regression models were used to examine factors associated with risk perception and knowledge towards COVID-19. The mean knowledge (8.4 vs. 8.1, P=0.022) and risk perception (11.2 vs. 10.6, P < 0.001) scores differ significantly between early and late lockdown. Compared to the early lockdown period, the scores for perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 decreased significantly while public knowledge about COVID-19 was lower but not statistically significant. Female participants who practiced high quarantine particularly those who did so at the public health order during the lockdown reported increased knowledge towards the spread of COVID-19 and perceived high risk of contracting COVID-19. Education intervention using awareness to increase public knowledge and perception towards COVID-19 in Bangladesh should target male participants who practiced low quarantine and are less worried about the spread of such novel coronavirus even as the physical distancing persists.

Three patients with severe life-threatening COVID-19 who failed to achieve substantial improvement on tocilizumab, received pulse therapy with corticosteroids (methylprednisolone, 1000 mg/day IV for three consecutive days) and intravenous immunoglobulin (20 g/day IV). This was associated with a prompt resolution of respiratory failure, elimination of cytokine release syndrome, and reversal of pulmonary CT changes. The treatment was generally safe and well tolerated. There was no evidence of protracted persistence of the virus in the patients who received pulse therapy. Randomized controlled trials are necessary to specify the efficacy and safety of high-dose methylprednisolone and intravenous immunoglobulin in the treatment of severe life-threatening COVID-19 separately or in combination.

To better understand the genes with altered expression caused by infection with the novel coronavirus strain SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19 infectious disease, a tensor decomposition (TD)-based unsupervised feature extraction (FE) approach was applied to a gene expression profile dataset of the mouse liver and spleen with experimental infection of mouse hepatitis virus, which is regarded as a suitable model of human coronavirus infection. TD-based unsupervised FE selected 134 altered genes, which were enriched in protein-protein interactions with orf1ab, polyprotein, and 3C-like protease that are well known to play critical roles in coronavirus infection, suggesting that these 134 genes can represent the coronavirus infectious process. We then selected compounds targeting the expression of the 134 selected genes based on a public domain database. The identified drug compounds were mainly related to known antiviral drugs, several of which were also included in those previously screened with an in silico method to identify candidate drugs for treating COVID-19.

On the 9th March 2020, the first patient with COVID-19 was admitted to ICU in the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, Wales. We prospectively recorded the rate of ICU admissions of 52 patients with COVID-19 over 60 days, focusing on the epidemiology of ethnicity and deprivation. Patients were 65% (34 of 52) male and had a median (IQR) age of 55 (48-62) years. Prevalent comorbidities included obesity (52%); diabetes (33%), and asthma (23%). COVID-19 hospital and ICU inpatient numbers peaked on days 23 and 39, respectively – a lag of 16 days. The ICU mortality rate was 33% (17 of 52). Black, Asian and Minority Ethnics (BAME) population represented 35% of ICU COVID-19 admissions (18 of 52) and 35% of deaths (6 of 17). Within the BAME group, 72% (13 of 18) were found to reside in geographical areas representing the 20% most deprived in Wales, versus 27% of Caucasians (9 of 33). Less than 5% of the population within the hospital catchment area are of BAME descent, yet they represent a disproportionately high proportion of patients with ICU admission and mortality suffering from COVID-19. The interplay between ethnicity and deprivation, which is complex, may be a factor in our findings. This in turn could be related to an increased prevalence of co-morbidities; higher community exposure; or genetic polymorphisms.

To investigate the impact of radiologic experience on the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography CT vs. magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reporting for liver metastases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (LM of PDAC). Intra-individual CT and MRI examinations of 112 patients with clinically proven LM of PDAC were included. Four radiologists with varying years of experience (A > 20, B > 5, C > 1 and D < 1) assessed liver segments affected by LM of PDAC, as well as associated metastases occurring in each patient. Their sensitivity and specificity in evaluating the segments were compared. Cohen's Kappa (κ) for diagnosed liver segments and Intra-class Correlation Coefficients (ICC) for the number of metastatic lesions in each patient were calculated. The radiologists’ sensitivity and specificity for the CT vs. MRI were, respectively: Reader A -94.4, 90.3% vs. 96.6, 94.8%; B - 86.7, 79.7% vs. 83.9, 82.0%; C - 78.0, 76.7% vs. 83.3, 78.9% and D - 71.8, 79.2% vs. 64.0, 69.5%. Reviewers A and B achieved greater agreement in assessing results from the MRI (κ = 0.72, p < 0.001; ICC = 0.73, p < 0.001) vs. the CT (κ = 0.58, p < 0.001; ICC = 0.61, p < 0.001), in contrast to readers C and D (MRI: κ = 0.34, p < 0.001; ICC = 0.42, p < 0.001, and CT: κ = 0.48, p < 0.001; ICC = 0.59, p < 0.001). Our results indicate that accurate diagnosis of LM of PDAC depends more on radiologic experience in MRI over CT scans.

We analyzed the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein amino acid sequence extracted from 11,542 viral genomic sequences submitted to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) database through April 27, 2020. Consistent with prior reports, we found a major S protein mutation, D614 to G614, that was represented in 56% of all the analyzed sequences. All other mutations combined were less than 10%. After parsing the data geographically, we found most of the Chinese patient samples showed D614 (97%). By contrast, most patient samples in many European countries showed G614 (51 to 88%). In the United States, the genotypic distribution in California and Washington was similar to Asian countries, while the distribution in other US states was comparable to Europe. We observed a dramatic increase in the frequency of G614 over time in multiple regions, surpassing D614 when both were present, suggesting G614 S protein virus outcompetes D614 S protein virus. To gain insight into the consequences of the D614G mutation, homology modeling using a multi-template threading mechanism with ab initio structural refinement was performed for a region of the S protein (S591 to N710) spanning the D614G mutation and the S1 furin cleavage site. Molecular models of this region containing D614 or G614 revealed a major difference in secondary structure at the furin domain (RRARS, R682 to S686). The D614 model predicted a random coil structure in the furin domain whereas the G614 model predicted an alpha helix. Critical residues in the cleavage domain of G614 model were found to better align with the PDB structure of a furin inhibitor. Thus, homology modeling studies suggest a potential mechanism whereby the D614G mutation may confer a competitive advantage at the furin binding domain that may contribute to the rise of the D614G SARS-CoV-2 mutant.

Causative agent of the viral pneumonia outbreak in the World identified as SARS-CoV2 leads to a severe respiratory illness like SARS and MERS. The pathogen spreading has turned into a pandemic dissemination and increased the mortality rate. Therefore, useful information is urgently necessary for effective control of the disease. Our study shows the existence of unvarying sequence with no mutation, including ORF1ab regions in 134 high-quality filtered genome sequences of SARS-CoV2 downloaded from the GISAID database. We have detected this sequence stability by using MAUVE analysis and pairwise alignment with Global Needleman Wunsch algorithm for each two different sequences, reciprocally. They also confirmed all these results were also with the Clustal W analysis. The first 6500 bp including ORF1ab region is an unvarying sequence. According to the highest TM-score of predicted protein structure analysis, the results showed it is very similar to spike protein of feline infectious peritonitis virus strain UU4 (PDB 6JX7) depending on amino acid sequences encoded by this unvarying region, and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine is the ligand of this protein. These results have confirmed that N-acetyl-D-glucosamine could play an important role in controlling of SARS-CoV-2. Also, our molecular docking analysis data supports a strong protein-ligand interaction of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine with spike receptor-binding domain bound with ACE2 (PDB 6M0J) and RNA-binding domain of nucleocapsid phosphoprotein (PDB 6WKP) from SARS CoV-2. Therefore, binding of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine to these proteins could inhibit SARS CoV-2’s replication. In the present work, we have suggested providing a repurposing compound for further in vitro and in vivo studies and new insights for ongoing clinical treatments as a new strategy to control of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

This purpose was to compare the ability of body shape index (ABSI) and body roundness index (BRI) with waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and body adiposity index (BAI) to predict metabolic risk. The cross-sectional study was conducted in 17,360 Chinese subjects (were aged 18-95 years old) who escaped cardiovascular disease (CVD) or diabetes. Biochemical and anthropometric variables were measured by trained staff. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and optimal cutoff values of obesity indices were recruited to compare the predictive ability for metabolic risk factors. The mean age of subjects was 53.7(13.1) years, 41.6 % were males. Within young group (<60 years), the areas under the curve (AUC) demonstrated that WC, BMI, WHR, WHtR and BRI were able to similarly predict high metabolic risk in males (0.74 vs. 0.74 vs. 0.73 vs. 0.73 vs. 0.73) and in females (0.73 vs. 0.73 vs. 0.71 vs. 0.73 vs. 0.73), while the approximate predictive ability were only acquired in males (0.73 vs. 0.73 vs. 0.70 vs. 0.73 vs. 0.73) within elder group (≥60 years). The optimal cut-off values of BRI for high metabolic risk were calculated in males (<60 y: 3.49 vs. ≥60 y: 3.46) and females (<60 y: 3.47 vs. ≥60 y: 3.60). Meanwhile, BRI displayed a strong prediction to elevated BP and elevated TG in males (AUC = 0.64; AUC = 0.70) and to elevated BP, elevated TG and elevated SUA in females (AUC = 0.67; AUC = 0.69; AUC =0.70). BRI was able to similarly predict high metabolic risk compared to WC, BMI, WHR, WHtR and BAI, while ABSI was not. Moreover, BRI revealed specific predictive ability for elevated BP, elevated TG and elevated SUA.

Introduction: Differentiated service delivery (DSD) models for antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV are being scaled up in the expectation that they will improve the quality and efficiency of treatment delivery and reduce costs while maintaining at least equivalent clinical outcomes. Even this minimum requirement of equivalent clinical outcomes is poorly documented for most models and settings, however. We reviewed the recent literature on DSD models to describe what is known about clinical outcomes. Methods: We conducted a rapid systematic review of peer-reviewed publications in PubMed, Embase, and the Web of Science and major international conference abstracts that reported outcomes of DSD models for the provision of ART in sub-Saharan Africa from January 1, 2016 to September 12, 2019. Sources reporting standard clinical HIV treatment metrics, primarily retention in care and viral load suppression, were reviewed and categorized by DSD model and source quality assessed. Results and Discussion: Twenty-nine papers and abstracts describing 37 DSD models and reporting 52 discrete outcomes met search inclusion criteria. Of the 37 models, 7 (19%) were facility-based individual models, 12 (32%) out-of-facility based individual models, 5 (14%) client-led groups, and 13 (35%) healthcare worker-led groups. Retention was reported for 73% of the models and viral suppression for 57%. Where a comparison with conventional care was provided, retention in most DSD models was within 5% of that for conventional care; where no comparison was provided, retention generally exceeded 80%. For viral suppression, all those with a comparison to conventional care reported a small increase in suppression in the DSD model; reported suppression exceeded 90% in 11/21 models. Analysis was limited by the extensive heterogeneity of study designs, outcomes, models, and populations. Most sources did not provide comparisons with conventional care, and metrics for assessing outcomes varied widely and were in many cases poorly defined. Conclusion: Existing evidence on the clinical outcomes of DSD models for HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa is limited in both quantity and quality but suggests that retention in care and viral suppression are roughly equivalent to those in conventional models of care.

Smoking is a risk factor for respiratory infections and there is reasonable concern that it may affect COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Recent studies have focused on the interaction between smoking (and nicotine) and ACE2 expression, suggesting that ACE2 up-regulation could contribute to enhanced viral cell entry. However, case series have shown that there is an unexpectedly low prevalence of smoking among hospitalized COVID-19 cases. Since early April, we were the first to hypothesize that dysfunction of the nicotinic cholinergic system (NCS) may be implicated in the pathophysiology of severe COVID-19. We recently reported that many of the clinical manifestations of severe COVID-19 could be explained by dysregulation of the NCS. In this study, we present an amino acid sequence in the receptor binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike glycoprotein which is homologous to a sequence of a snake venom toxin. We present the 3D structural location of this “toxin-like” sequence on the Spike Glycoprotein. These findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 could potentially interact with acetylcholine receptors causing dysregulation of the NCS and the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway.

A new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) have determined a pneumonia outbreak in China (Wuhan and Hubei) on December 2019. While pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical intervention strategies are strengthened worldwide, the scientific community has been studying the risk factors associated with SARS-Cov-2, to enrich epidemiological information. For a long time, before the industrialized era, air pollution has been a real and big health concern and it is today a very serious environmental risk for many diseases and anticipated deaths in the world. It has long been known that air pollutants increasing the invasiveness of pathogens for humans by acting as a carrier and making people more sensitive to pathogens through a negative influence on the immune system. Based on scientific evidences, the hypothesis that air pollution, resulting from a combination of factors such as meteorological data, level of industrialization as well as regional topography, can acts both as an infection carrier as a harmful factor of the health outcomes of COVID-19 disease has been raised recently. This hypothesis is turning in scientific evidence, thanks to the numerous studies that have been launched all over the world. With this review, we want to provide a first unique view of all the first epidemiological studies relating the association between air pollution and SARS-CoV-2. Major findings are consistent, highlighting the important contribution of air pollution on the COVID-19 spread and with a less extent also PM₁₀.

Multidrug resistant extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli is considered a serious concern to public health worldwide including Bangladesh, and chicken meat is recognized as an important reservoir of ESBL-Ec dissemination to humans. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence, and phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial resistance pattern of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-Ec) in frozen chicken meat. A total of 113 frozen chicken meat samples were purchased from 40 outlets of 9 branded supershops in five megacities in Bangladesh. Isolation and identification of Escherichia coli were done based on cultural, biochemical properties and PCR assay. The resistance pattern was determined by disk diffusion method. ESBL-encoding genes were determined by multiplex PCR. The results showed that 76.1% samples were positive for Escherichia coli, of which 86% were ESBL producers. All the isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR). Resistance to 9–11 and 12–13 antimicrobial classes was observed in 38.4% and 17.4% isolates, respectively while only 11.6% were resistant to 3–5 classes. The possible extensively drug resistance (pXDR) was found in 2.3% isolates. The high single resistance was observed for oxytetracycline (93%) and amoxicillin (91.9%), followed by ampicillin (89.5%), trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole and pefloxacin (88.4%), and tetracycline (84.9%). Most importantly, 89.6% of isolates were resistant to carbapenems. All the isolates were positive for blaTEM gene. However, the blaSHV and blaCTX-M-2 genes were identified in two ESBL-non producer isolates. None of the isolates were carried blaCTX-M-1 gene. This study provided evidence of wide dissemination of MDR and existence of pXDR ESBL-Ec in frozen chicken meat in Bangladesh. Our data clearly indicated that frozen chicken meat is, at the present time, the most significant known food source of ESBL-Ec to which peoples are regularly exposed.

Aim: The overall aim of the study was to assess the reasons and experiences of participants involved in Antibody Mediated Prevention (AMP) HIV prevention clinical trial at University of North Carolina (UNC) Project, Lilongwe, Malawi. We determined the participants’ reasons for participating in HIV Prevention clinical trials; and the experiences of participants in HIV Prevention clinical trials. Methods: We adopted the qualitative cross-sectional study method. Data were collected using in-depth interviews (IDIs). Purposive sampling was used to select 12 study participants who consented to take part in the study. All participants were the ones taking part in the AMP HIV prevention study at the UNC Project. Data analysis was done concurrently with data collection using content analysis. Results: Individuals were motivated to participate in HIV research due to a range of perceived benefits. These included personal, health, and financial benefits. Participants' research experiences and their continued participation in HIV research were influenced by the research clinic context and the nature of their interactions with research staff. Conclusion: When the clinical trial study participants’ expectations are met through what they experience in the study, the chances of them adhering to the study visits and procedures are high. Even for those who did not have any expectations prior to the study, feeling welcomed and being able to open up to the study staff encouraged their continued participation. In the end, this outweighed the negative comments made by the people in their communities or their friends

Objectives: The impact of COVID-19 in metropolitan areas has been extensively studied. The geographic spread to smaller cities is of great concern and may follow hierarchical influence of urban centers. With that in mind, we investigated factors that affect vulnerability of inner municipalities in São Paulo State, Brazil, an area with 24 million inhabitants. Methods: Surveillance data for confirmed COVID-19 cases and admissions for severe acute respiratory disease (SARD) up to April 18^th were recorded for each of 604 municipalities that lay outside São Paulo metropolitan area. Vulnerability was assessed in Multivariable models, including sociodemographic indexes, road distance to the State Capital and the municipalities classification proposed by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Municipalities of great regional relevance were used as reference category for that classification. The outcome of interest for Cox regression was having COVID-cases, with time counting from the first report in São Paulo State. For binomial negative regression models, the outcomes of interest were rates of confirmed COVID-19 cases and admissions for SARD.Results: A total of 198 (32.8%) municipalities had autochthonous COVID-19 cases. In Cox models, affected municipalities were likely to have greater population density (Hazard Ratio[HR] for each 100 inhabitants per square kilometer, 1.07; 95% Confidence Interval [CI], (1.05-1.10)), proportion of inhabitants in urban area (HR, 1.02; 95%CI, 1.00-1.04), higher human development index (HDI, HR for 1%, 1.06; 95%CI, 1.00-1.13) and Gini Index for Inequality of income (HR for 1%, 1.04, 95% CI, 1.00-1.07). On the other hand, distance from the Capital was protective (HR for each 100Km, 0.82; 95%CI, 0.74-0.90). The HR95%[95%CI] also varied negatively according to the categories of influence of major centers (0.41 [0.22-0.77], 0.16 [0.09-0.32], 0.07 [0.03-0.15]). The binomial negative regression models for COVID-19 incidence also detected positive association with population density (Incidence Rate Ratio[IRR], 1.13; 95%CI, 1.07-1.18) and proportion of urban population (IRR, 1.04; 95%CI, 1.01-1.05), protection for cities distant to the Capital (IRR=0.73; 95%CI, 0.68-0.81) and increasing negative association for categories of influence (0.19 [0.09-0.42], 0.07 [0.03-0.15] and 0.03 [0.02-0.08]). Similar findings were detected when we used SARD incidence as outcome.Conclusion: Municipalities with greater population, density and regional influence were more likely to be affected earlier and more intensely by COVID-19. Non-pharmacological measures should be strengthened in those areas of greater risk.

In this study, differences in the kinetics of thermal-supported hydrolytic degradation of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) sample wet spinning fibres due to material variance in the initial molecular and supramolecular structure were analysed. The investigation was carried out at the microstructural and molecular levels by using readily available methods such as scanning electron microscopy, mass erosion measurement and estimation of intrinsic viscosity. The results show a varying degree of influence of the initial structure on the degradation rate of studied PLA fibres. The experiment shows that hydrolytic degradation at a temperature close to the cold crystallization temperature on a macroscopic level is definitely more rapid for the amorphous material, while on a molecular scale it is similar to a semi-crystalline material. Further, for the adopted degradation temperature of 90 °C, a marginal influence of pH of the degradation medium on the degradation kinetics was also demonstrated

Covid-19 infections are rapidly spreading worldwide with more than 100000 death and thus understanding the molecular mechanism of tropism of human cells is an urgent need for drug design. We have described here a bioinformatics approach to predict the functional aspects of non-structural nsp16 protein of Corona virus. The covid-19 7098 AA large polyprotein was degraded into sixteen proteins and last nsp16 protein was found an RlmE type rRNA methyltransferase. Nsp16 has no similarity to bacterial RlmABCD but has 25 percent similarity to the bacterial RlmE protein which methylates the U2551 2-hydroxy group of Ribose. The nsp16 proteins of different corona viruses like covid-19, bat-coronavirus, SARS and MERS have strong homology. Mrm2 and Dim1 like yeast and mammalian rRNA methyltransferases have 26-33 percent homologies but not with 2-O-capping MTase as reported previously. Rrp8 MTases also has no similarity to nsp16. We postulated that mitochondrial rRNA methylation of bronchial cells were mediated by the nsp16 protein causing inhibition of protein synthesis due to poor assembly of aminoacyl-tRNA or mRNA and peptidyl transferase at the PTC. This is one of the new molecular mechanism of corona virus cellular tropism and different than ACE-2 mediated blockage of cellular signalling to inhibit aldesterone biosynthesis with abnormal Na⁺ ions in cells. We also designed primers based on nsp16 cDNA sequence (nt 20659-21552, accession no MT121215) specific for Covid-19 diagnosis by RT-PCR.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by a novel coronavirus named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in early December 2019 in China and attained a pandemic situation worldwide by its rapid spread to nearly 167 countries with 287.239 confirmed cases and 11.921 human deaths with a case fatality rate (CFR) of around 4 per cent. Bats were considered as the reservoir host, and the search of a probable intermediate host is still going on. Animals have anticipated culprit of SARS-CoV-2 as of now. The disease is mainly manifested by pneumonia and related respiratory signs and symptoms, but the involvement of the gastrointestinal system and nervous system is also suggested. The severe form of the disease associated with death is mainly reported in older and immune-compromised patients with pre-existing disease history. Death in severe cases is attributed to respiratory failure associated with hyperinflammation. Cytokine storm syndrome associated with rampant inflammation in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection is considered as the leading killer of COVID-19 patients. COVID-19 patients were reported with higher levels of many pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines like IFN-g, IL-1b, IP-10, and MCP-1. Furthermore, severe cases of COVID-19 revealed higher levels of TNF-α, G-CSF, and MIP-1A. Blood profile of the COVID-19 patients exhibits lymphopenia, leucopenia, thrombocytopenia and RNAaemia along with increased levels of aspartate aminotransferase. SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women does not lead to fetus mortalities unlike other zoonotic coronaviruses like SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, with no evidence of intrauterine transmission to neonates. Rapid and confirmatory diagnostics have been developed, and high efforts are being made to develop effective vaccines and therapeutics. In the absence of any virus-specific therapeutic, internationally health care authorities are recommending adoption of effective prevention and control measures to counter and contain this pandemic virus. This paper is an overview of this virus and the disease with a particular focus on SARS-COV-2 / COVID-19 clinical pathology, pathogenesis and immunopathology along with a few recent research developments.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) detection acting as an essential role in global health care due to misdiagnosis and sharing many clinical sets with other types of dementia, and costly monitoring the progression of the disease over time by magnetic reasoning imaging (MRI) with consideration of human error in manual reading. This paper goal a comparative study on the performance of data mining techniques on two datasets of Clinical and Neuroimaging Tests with AD. Our proposed model in the first stage, Apply clinical medical dataset to a composite hybrid feature selection (CHFS), for extract new features to select the best features due to eliminating obscures features, In parallel with Apply a novel hybrid feature extraction of three batch edge detection algorithm and texture from MRI images dataset and optimized with fuzzy 64-bin histogram. In the second stage, we applied a clinical dataset to a stacked hybrid classification(SHC) model to combine Jrip and random forest classifiers with six model evaluations as meta-classifier individually to improve the prediction of clinical diagnosis. At the same stage of improving the classification accuracy of neuroimaging (MRI) dataset images by applying a convolution neural network (CNN) in comparison with traditional classifiers, running on extracted features from images. The authors have collected the clinical dataset of 426 subjects with (1229 potential patient sample) from oasis.org and (MRI) dataset from a benchmark kaggle.com with a total of around ~5000 images each segregated into the severity of Alzheimer's. The datasets evaluated using an explorer set of weka data mining software for the analysis purpose. The experimental show that the proposed model of ‏(CHFS) feature extraction ‏ lead to effectively reduced the false-negative rate with a relatively high overall accuracy with a stack hybrid classification of support vector machine (SVM) as meta-classifier of 96.50% compared to 68.83% of the previous result on a clinical dataset, Besides a compared model of CNN classification on MRI images dataset of 80.21%. The results showed the superiority of our CHFS model in predicting Alzheimer's disease more accurately with the clinical medical dataset in early-stage compared with the neuroimaging (MRI) dataset. The results of the proposed model were able to predict with accurately classify Alzheimer's clinical samples at a low cost in comparison with the MRI-CNN images model at the early stage and get a good indicator for high classification rate for MRI images when applying our proposed model of SHC.

Pre-implantation horse conceptuses require nutrients and signals from histotroph, the composition of which is regulated by luteal progesterone and conceptus-secreted factors. To distinguish progesterone and conceptus effects we shortened the period of endometrial progesterone-priming by asynchronous embryo transfer. Day 8 embryos were transferred to synchronous (day 8) or asynchronous (day 3) recipients, and RNA sequencing was performed on endometrium and conceptuses recovered 6 and 11 days later (embryo days 14 and 19). Asynchrony resulted in many more differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in conceptus membranes (3473) than endometrium (715). Gene ontology analysis identified upregulation in biological processes related to organogenesis and preventing apoptosis in synchronous conceptuses on day 14, and in cell adhesion and migration on day 19. Asynchrony also resulted in large numbers of DEGs related to ‘extracellular exosome’. In endometrium, genes involved in immunity, the inflammatory response, and apoptosis regulation were upregulated during synchronous pregnancy and, again, many genes related to extracellular exosome were differentially expressed. Interestingly, only 14 genes were differentially expressed in endometrium recovered 6 days after synchronous versus 11 days after asynchronous transfer (day 14 recipient in both). Among these, KNG1 and IGFBP3 were consistently up-regulated in synchronous endometrium. Furthermore bradykinin, an active peptide cleaved from KNG1, stimulated prostaglandin release by cultured trophectoderm cells. The horse conceptus thus responds to a negatively asynchronous uterus by extensively adjusting its transcriptome, whereas the endometrial transcriptome is modified only subtly by a more advanced conceptus.

Taiwan is the world’s leading country regarding tuna longline fisheries; the combined catches with those from Japan account for more than half of the global total. However, the bycatch of sea turtles, seabirds, and dolphins in longline fisheries has attracted international concern. Regarding sea turtle conservation, the use of circle hooks in longline fisheries will inevitably become a trend. Meanwhile, Taiwanese fishermen are concerned whether the use of circle hooks will have a negative impact on the catch efficiency of target species. This study was conducted to compare the catch efficiency of circle and tuna hooks by the Taiwanese commercial tuna longline fishing vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The results indicated that if the effects of immersion time were considered, the catch rates of all groups were the same between 4.2-sun circle and tuna hooks. However, the catch rate of 4.0-sun circle hooks was significantly higher than the two types of 4.2-sun circle and tuna hooks. Regarding survival rates, fish caught with circle hooks showed higher survival rates than tuna hooks for total commercial fish, tunas and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). However, the survival rate was only determined at haulback; the relationship between survival rate and immersion time still needs further investigation. Regarding catch sizes, there were no significant differences in the sizes of bigeye (Thunnus obesus) and yellowfin tuna between circle and tuna hooks. But based solely on mean weight, the value of yellowfin tuna caught using circle hooks may be higher than those using tuna hooks. In summary, the circle hooks used in this study did not show a negative impact on the catch efficiency of Taiwanese longline fisheries, and could show a superior performance than that of tuna hooks. These results could be actively promoted in the industry through the education and training of fishermen; thus enabling Taiwan to comply with international sea turtle conservation trends.

In recent decades, attention has been directed at anemia classification for various medical purposes, such as thalassemia screening and predicting iron deficiency anemia (IDA). In this study, a new method has been successfully tested for discrimination between IDA and β-thalassemia trait (β-TT). The method is based on a Dynamic Harmony Search (DHS). Complete blood count (CBC), a fast and inexpensive laboratory test, is used as the input of the system. Other models, such as a genetic programming method called structured representation on genetic algorithm in non-linear function fitting (STROGANOFF), an artificial neural network (ANN), an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), a support vector machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbor (KNN), and certain traditional methods, are compared with the proposed method.

South Africa possesses the largest anti-retroviral therapy (ART) program in the world but the path to this record was dramatic. There is scarce literature employing a comprehensive framework to explain this ART policy change and inform current policy making processes. This paper applies the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to analyse the interactions among diverse actors, institutions and networks that were associated with the ART policy change in South Africa. Post-apartheid, HIV/AIDS and AIDS-related mortality were serious public health problems. At the time, the discernible coalitions in the AIDS policy subsystem were the prescience coalition and AIDS dissidents. In view of the availability of compelling scientific evidence on the pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS, the clinical usefulness of ART, the availability of funding for national ART roll-out, strong global advocacy to reduce the cost of ART, all of these in an era when access to adequate HIV care was increasingly considered a human right, the environment to establish an appropriate ART policy for the country was conducive. However, AIDS dissidents dominated the policy agenda via their control over key institutions, the use of various dimensions of power, biasing evidence to inform policy, and promoting the activities of strong interest groups that were not in support of ART. National ART roll-out ultimately emerged as a political priority as a result of external shocks (on the ART policy subsystem) which disfavoured the dominant coalition. Failure to supplement this application of the ACF with key pubic policy concepts such as power dimensions, evidence use in policy, governance and emergence of global health networks would have led to suboptimal appraisal of the ART policy change and misinformation of current policy making processes.

Mammography is often used as the most common laboratory method for the detection of breast cancer, yet associated with the high cost and many side effects. Machine learning prediction as an alternative method has shown promising results. This paper presents a method based on a multilayer fuzzy expert system for the detection of breast cancer using an extreme learning machine (ELM) classification model integrated with radial basis function (RBF) kernel called ELM-RBF, considering the Wisconsin dataset. The performance of the proposed model is further compared with a linear-SVM model. The proposed model outperforms the linear-SVM model with RMSE, R², MAPE equal to 0.1719, 0.9374 and 0.0539, respectively. Furthermore, both models are studied in terms of criteria of accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, validation, true positive rate (TPR), and false-negative rate (FNR). The ELM-RBF model for these criteria presents better performance compared to the SVM model.

The anodic polarization response of magnesium alloy AZ31 was characterized during exposure to aerated 0.1M NaCl solutions with millimolar additions of NaVO₃, Na₃PO₄, Na₂HPO₄, NaF and various pairings to assess their ability to inhibit corrosion kinetics and retard localized corrosion. Each of the candidate inhibitors reduced the corrosion rate of the alloy to some degree. A Na₃PO₄ - NaVO₃ pair produced a powerful inhibiting response decreasing the corrosion rate to about 10^-7 A/cm², which was two orders of magnitude lower than the uninhibited control case. A Bliss Independence assessment indicated that this inhibitor pair acted synergistically. A Na₂HPO₄ - NaVO₃ pair reduced the corrosion rate to 10^-6 A/cm² but was not assessed to be acting synergistically. The NaVO₃ - NaF pair did not reduce the corrosion rate significantly compared to the control case and was an antagonistic pairing. SEM imaging showed film formation due to exposure, which appears to be the origins of the observed inhibition. The resistance to localized corrosion was assessed as the difference in the breakdown potential and the corrosion potential with larger values indicating a lower probability of localized corrosion during free corrosion exposures. Effects of the inhibitors on this characteristic were mixed, but each of the inhibitor pairs yielded potential differences in excess of 100mV. A conceptual conversion coating process based on a mixture of vanadate and phosphate compounds were demonstrated. A fluoride-bearing formulation produced coatings whose total impedance was increased by a factor or 2 compared to an uncoated control. A fluoride-free formulation produced coatings whose corrosion resistance was increased by more than a factor of 3.

Background: The AR-V7 splice variant is a cause of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). However, testing for the presence of AR-V7 by RT-PCR shows AR-V7 positivity in healthy individuals. We hypothesized that the positivity reflected contamination by hematopoietic cells. We tried a novel CTC enrichment instrument using Celsee® to clear hematopoietic cells. Methods: We tested whole blood or Celsee-enriched samples for AR-V7 by RT-PCR and included samples from 41 CRPC patients undergoing sequential therapy. We evaluated the associations between AR-V7 status and clinical factors. We evaluated factors affecting AR-V7 positivity. Results: AR-V7 positivity was lower in Celsee-enriched than in whole blood specimens. AR-V7 and clinical factors did not predict the therapy effectiveness. We found no significant differences in the effectiveness of Enz/Abi upon AR-V7 evaluation. All AR-V7 positive patients had resistance to Enz/Abi. DTX, CBZ, and Radium223 treatment showed no significant difference in the treatment effectiveness, regardless of AR-V7 presence. AR-V7 was more frequently positive than EOD2 in cases with bone metastases. Conclusion: Celsee® CTC enrichment suppresses the AR-V7 false positivity. All AR-V7 positive patients presented resistance to Enz/Abi. DTX, CBZ, and Radium223 were effective and remained treatment options. AR-V7 positivity should progressively appear in patients with advanced bone metastases.

Immune response stimulation may be an adjuvant to antimicrobial treatment. Here, we evaluated the impact of immune response modification by lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) combined with imipenem or ceftazidime in murine models of peritoneal sepsis (PS) and pneumonia by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Imipenem and ceftazidime-susceptible strain (Pa39), and imipenem and ceftazidime-resistant strain (Pa238) were used. Ceftazidime pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters were determined. Therapeutic efficacy, and TNF-α and IL-10 levels were determined in murine models of PS and pneumonia by Pa39 and Pa238 treated with LPC, imipenem or ceftazidime, alone or in combination. In PS model, LPC+ceftazidime reduced spleen and lungs Pa238 concentrations (-3.45 and -3.56 log10 CFU/g; P<0.05) than ceftazidime monotherapy, while LPC+imipenem maintained the imipenem efficacy (-1.66 and -1.45 log10 CFU/g; P>0.05). In pneumonia model, LPC+ceftazidime or LPC+imipenem reduced lungs Pa238 concentrations (-2.37 log10 CFU/g, P=0.1, or -1.35 log10 CFU/g, P=0.75). For Pa39 no statistically significant difference has been observed in PS and pneumonia models between combined therapy and monotherapy. Moreover, LPC+imipenem and LPC+ceftazidime decreased and increased significantly TNF-α and IL-10 levels, respectively, in comparison with untreated controls and monotherapies. These results demonstrate the impact of immune response modification by LPC plus antibiotics on the prognosis of infections by ceftazidime-resistant P. aeruginosa.

Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is based on the use of formalin-inactivated, culture-derived whole-virus vaccines. Immune response following vaccination is primarily directed to the viral envelope (E) protein, the major viral surface antigen. In Europe, two TBE vaccines are available in adult and pediatric formulations, FSME-IMMUN® (Pfizer) and Encepur® (GlaxoSmithKline). Herein, we analyzed the content of these vaccines using mass spectrometry (MS). The MS analysis revealed that the Encepur vaccine contains not only proteins of the whole virus particle, but also viral non-structural protein 1 (NS1). MS analysis of the FSME-IMMUN vaccine failed due to the high content of human serum albumin used as a stabilizer in the vaccine. However, the presence of NS1 in FSME-IMMUN was confirmed by immunization of mice with six doses of this vaccine, which led to a robust anti-NS1 antibody response. NS1-specific western blot analysis detected anti-NS1 antibodies also in sera of humans who received multiple doses of either of these two vaccines; however, most vaccinees who received ≤3 doses were negative for NS1-specific antibodies. The contribution of NS1-specific antibodies to protection against TBE was demonstrated by immunization of mice with purified NS1 antigen, which led to a significant (p < 0.01) prolongation of the mean survival time after lethal virus challenge. This indicates that stimulation of anti-NS1 immunity by the TBE vaccines may increase their protective effect.

In this paper, the effect of multi-pass friction stir processing on the mechanical properties of AZ91 alloy has been studied. For the numerical investigation, this process has been simulated with the three-dimensional numerical modeling based on the ABAQUS/Explicit. This simulation involves the Johnson-Cook models for defining the material behavior during this intense plastic deformation and investigating the fracture criterion. The tool plunging and stirring phases in the two-pass process has been simulated. To prevent too much distortion of elements during modeling, the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian technique for automatically re-meshing of distorted elements has been used. The model was calibrated using the experimental results from the previous works. This model can predict the transient temperature distribution and residual stress field during FSP on AZ91. The results show that the maximum temperature in the advancing-side region is more than that in the retreating-side region. In addition, numerical results show that at the end position of the process, the tool during the lift-up leaves the keyhole region in the compressive stress state. The experimental results investigated the effect of multi-pass FSP on the microstructure, microhardness, tensile and creep properties of AZ91 magnesium alloy. The FSP is performed by applying 50% overlapping. The tensile, and creep tests are conducted at several temperatures from 25 to 210 °C. The optical microscopy and scanning electron micrograph (SEM) were used to study the microstructure of the samples after performing multi-pass friction stir processing. The experimental results indicate that on average, the tensile strength, microhardness, and creep strength of the processed samples increased by about 29, 23, and 38 %, respectively compared to the unprocessed ones.

Background: Genome-wide association studies have identified the chromosome 9p21 locus as one of the most important genetic risk factors for cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanism by which this locus promotes disease remains unclear due to difficulty identifying the causal genes and lack of a suitable animal model. Methods and Results: A total of 180 coronary artery autopsy specimens were analyzed histopathologically. The genotype of 9p21 (rs1333049) was not associated with any coronary risk factors nor the vulnerable plaque phenotype, but carriers of 9p21 risk allele did demonstrate more lesional calcification. To extend these studies into an animal model, mice with a targeted deletion of the orthologous 70-kb non-coding interval on chromosome 4 (chr4^D70kb/D70kb) were bred onto ApoE^-/- and fed with high fat diet. Targeted deletion of the 9p21 risk interval increased susceptibility to atherosclerotic plaque progression, but did not affect plaque rupture in the tandem stenosis model. Coronary risk factors such as body weight, blood pressure, lipid, and glucose levels did not differ between genotypes. Von Kossa staining revealed that chr4^D70kb/D70kb, ApoE^-/- developed more calcification in the plaque compared with chr4^+/+, ApoE^-/- mice, and that this this change was accompanied by increased aortic mRNA expression of Runx2, a key osteogenic transcription factor. Primarily cultured smooth muscle cells from chr4^D70kb/D70kb were hyperproliferative, and showed a calcification-prone phenotype after exposure to high-phosphate medium. Treatment with Palbociclib, a selective inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6, reduced mRNA expression of osteogenic genes in smooth muscle cells. Conclusion: Results from human and mouse studies indicate that the 9p21 non coding risk interval is associated with larger atherosclerotic plaque burden, but not with plaque rupture. 9p21 may promote lesion expansion by inducing the proliferation of de-differentiated and osteogenic smooth muscle cells.

Background: Telemedicine (interconsultation between primary and hospital care teams) has been operating in the counties of Central Catalonia Bages, Moianès and Berguedà since 2011 in the specialties of teledermatology, teleulcers, teleeyelids and teleaudiometries. For the period until the end of 2019, a total of 52,198 visits have been recorded. Objective: To analyse the differential costs between telemedicine and usual care in a semi-urban environment. Methodology: A cost-minimization evaluation, including direct and indirect costs from a societal perspective, distinguishing healthcare and user’s costs, within a three-month period. Results: Telemedicine saved € 780,397 over the period analysed. A differential cost favourable to telemedicine of about € 15/visit has been observed, the patient being the largest beneficiary of this saving (by 85%) in terms of shorter waiting times and travel costs. From the healthcare system perspective, moving the time spent in a hospital care consultation to primary care is efficient in terms of the total time devoted per patient. In social terms and in this context, telemedicine is more efficient than usual care. Conclusion: Users’ saving of time in terms of consultation and travel is the main driver of interconsultation between primary and hospital care savings in a semi-urban context. The telemedicine service is also economically favourable for the healthcare system, enabling it to provide a more agile service, which also benefits the healthcare professionals.

We enriched and isolated a novel gammproteobacterial methanotroph; strain FWC3, from tropical freshwater wetland, near Nagaon beach, Alibag, India. FWC3 is a coccoid, flesh pink/peach pigmented, non-motile methanotroph and the cells are present in pairs and as tetracocci. The culture can grow on methane (20%) as well as on a wide range of methanol from concentrations (0.02%-5%). Based on the comparison of genome data, FAME analysis, morphological characters and biochemical characters, FWC3 belongs to the tentatively and newly but not validly described genus ‘Methylotetracoccus’ of which only a single species strain was described, Methylotetracoccus oryzae C50C1. The ANI index between FWC3 and C50C1 strains is 94%, and the DDH value is 55.7%, less than the cut-off values 96% and 70%, respectively. The genome size of FWC3 is smaller (3.4 Mbp) compared to that of C50C1 (4.8 Mbp). Additionally, the FAME profile of FWC3 shows differences in cell wall fatty acid profiles compared to Methylotetracoccus oryzae C50C1. Also, there are other differences on the morphological, physiological and genomic levels. We propose FWC3 to be a member of a novel species of the genus Methylotetracoccus, for which the name Methylotetracoccus aquaticus is proposed. Also, an amended description of the genus Methylotetracoccus gen. nov. is given here. FWC3 is available in two international culture collections with the accession numbers: MCC 4198 (Microbial Culture collection, India) and JCM 33786 (Japan Collection of Microorganisms, Japan).

This paper studies the use of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) synthesized using an extract of convolvulus leaves and expired ZnCl₂, as an efficient inhibitor for carbon steel corrosion in 1M HCl solution. ZnO-NPs are characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) and UV–Vis analysis. The technique of weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) has also been used to investigate the prevention of carbon steel corrosion in 1M HCl. The results showed that the efficiency of restraint increased when the concentration of ZnO-NPs was raised to 91% and that the inhibition efficiency is still high despite its decrease at high temperature, and it acts as a mixed-type inhibitor A sample of carbon steel with the protective inhibitor layer on top was immersed for 20 hours and observed; an increase in the charge transfer resistance (Rct) and stability of the inhibitor was noticed after 6 hours. Adsorption isotherm models demonstrated that the inhibitor adsorption mechanism on the carbon steel surface followed Langmuir, more than Freundlich and Temkin, behavior. The thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption process is a mixed adsorption, spontaneous, and exothermic. The results illustrated that the acid medium was a strong inhibitor of carbon steel corrosion. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed that the ZnO-NPs formed a good protective film on the carbon steel surface.

High-frequency near-infrared diode laser provides high peak output, low heat accumulation, and efficient biostimulation. Although these characteristics are considered suitable for osteoarthritis (OA) treatment, the effect of high-frequency near-infrared diode laser in in vitro or in vivo OA models has not yet been reported. Therefore, we aimed to assess the biological effects of high-frequency near-infrared diode laser irradiation on IL-1β-induced chondrocyte inflammation in an in vitro OA model. Normal Human Articular Chondrocyte-Knee (NHAC-Kn) cells were stimulated with human recombinant IL-1β and irradiated with high-frequency near-infrared diode laser (910 nm, 4 or 8 J/cm2). The mRNA and protein expression of relevant inflammation- and cartilage destruction-related proteins was analyzed. IL-1β treatment significantly increased the mRNA levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, MMP-1, MMP-3, and MMP-13. High-frequency near-infrared diode laser irradiation significantly reduced the IL-1β-induced expression of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, MMP-1, and MMP-3. Similarly, high-frequency near-infrared diode laser irradiation decreased the IL-1β-induced increase in protein expression and secreted levels of MMP-1 and MMP-3. These results highlight the therapeutic potential of high-frequency near-infrared diode laser in OA.

Protein glycation is usually referred to as an array of non-enzymatic post-translational modifications, formed by reducing sugars and carbonyl products of their degradation. Resulting advanced glycation end products (AGEs) represent a heterogeneous group of covalent adducts, known for their pro-inflammatory effects in mammals, and impacting on pathogenesis of metabolic diseases and ageing. In plants, AGEs are the markers of tissue ageing and response to environmental stressors, the most prominent of which is drought. Although water deficit enhances protein glycation in leaves, its effect on seed glycation profiles is still unknown. Moreover, the effect of drought on biological activities of seed protein in mammalian systems is still unstudied in respect of glycation. Therefore, here we address the effects of a short-term drought on the patterns of seed protein-bound AGEs and accompanying alterations in pro-inflammatory properties of seed protein in the context of seed metabolome dynamics. A short-term drought, simulated as polyethylene glycol-induced osmotic stress and applied at the stage of seed filling, resulted in dramatic suppression of primary seed metabolism, although secondary metabolome was minimally affected. This was accompanied with significant suppression of NF-kB activation in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells after a treatment with protein hydrolyzates, isolated from the mature seeds of drought-treated plants. This effect could not be attributed to formation of known AGEs. Most likely, the prospective anti-inflammatory effect of short-term drought is related to antioxidant effect of unknown secondary metabolite protein adducts, or down-regulation of unknown plant-specific AGEs due to suppression of energy metabolism during seed filling.

Cervical cancer screening systems aim to detect established HPV infections early. However, if there are no high-grade lesions, the intervention choice is basically limited to observational follow-up with recommendations on life habits like diet, to favor infection control. Therefore, it is important to establish specific feeding guidelines that provide clear evidence about the benefit they may bring against HPV infections. The present study evaluates the benefits of nutritional supplementation with a casein hydrolysate-based formula in patients with HR-HPV infection, compared with a non-supplemented control group. A total of 118 patients completed 6 months of follow-up. Significant differences between supplemented and control groups were observed for total or partial HR-HPV clearance at 6 months (74.6% vs 35.6%). Supplemented patients also suffered a lower occurrence of new intracervical lesions (0% vs 28.6%), a significantly greater resolution (67.4% vs 41.9%) and less progression of pre-existing lesions (4.7% vs 9.7%) at 6 months. An increase in the effectors of cellular immunity that could be responsible for their effect was also observed in supplemented patients. We conclude that nutritional supplementation with this casein hydrolysate-based formula could improve the outcomes of observational management of HPV infection.

Advances in the availability of multitemporal and global built-/human-settlements datasets as derived from Remote Sensing (RS) can now provide globally consistent definitions of “human-settlement” at unprecedented spatial fineness. Yet, these data only provide a time-series of past extents and urban growth/expansion models have not had parallel advances at high-spatial resolution. We present a flexible modelling framework for producing annual built-settlement extents in the near future past last observed extents as provided by RS-based data. Using a random forest and autoregressive temporal models with short time-series of built-settlement extents and subnational level data, we predict annual 100m resolution binary settlement extents five years beyond the last observations. We applied this framework within varying contexts and predicted annual extents from 2010 to 2015. We found that our model framework preformed consistently across all sample countries and, when compared to time-specific imagery, demonstrated the capacity to capture human-settlement missed by the input time-series and validation extents. When comparing building footprints of small settlements to forecast extents, we saw that the modelling framework had a 12 percent increase in ground-truth accuracy. This framework shows promise for predicting near-future settlement extents, and provides a foundation for forecasts further into the future.

Results of rapid economic growth, China, USA, and India have become the largest energy stealer and the greatest emitter of CO₂ in the world and burn over 45% of global fuels in 2016. Meanwhile, the developing strategies of 24 polluted countries to decrease the energy consumption without additional economic output. This paper is exploring the effect of world top polluted countries C0₂ emission and their GDP and the production of electricity by energy indicators. The GLM model is not predict logistic and probit analysis directly; instead, it is mainly used for instinct to response of CO₂ emission, using data for the period 1968-2017. The huge production of electricity will cause of abnormal CO₂; this study offers true indication of exploring consumption of energy issues from the perspective of Granger casual and a positive unidirectional causality is detected between energy consumption to economic growth, while short-run bidirectional casualty exists among energy indicators.

The present study aimed at investigating the influence of the concentration of sodium silicate and sodium hexametaphosphate on the dispersion of an aqueous kaolinitic clay slurry regarding further use for the tape casting process. The zeta potential of the kaolinitic clay slurry matched the requirements for tape casting. The addition of magnesite in the kaolinitic slurries tended to increase the zeta potential towards the required limit values. Despite, the further addition of surfactants allowed improving the zeta potential in agreement with the tape casting conditions. Accordingly, the rheological behavior, under continuous and oscillatory flow conditions, of various mixtures of magnesite and a kaolinitic clay was studied. Regarding the pH and the zeta potential measurements, the E–F attraction prevailed at low pH value, and F–F or E–E attraction was predominant at high pH value. All slurries exhibited a shear thinning behavior, which was well-correlated by Herschel–Bulkley model. It appeared that the best stability for the kaolinitic clay slurries was obtained while using 0.4 mass% and 1.2 mass% of sodium hexametaphosphate and sodium silicate respectively. An increase in the magnesite concentration above 6 mass% led to a complex behavior with low cohesion energy due to the occurrence of soluble complexes.

The Populus L. genus unites tree species, which are botanically grouped into several sections. The species successfully hybridize both in the same section and between some sections. The poplar hybridization widely occurs in nature and in variety breeding. Therefore, the development of poplar species specific molecular markers is very actual. The effective markers for trees of the Aigeiros Daby section have been recently developed using the polymorphism of the 5S rDNA non-transcribed spacers (NTSs). In this article, the 5S rDNA NTS based markers were designed for several species of the Leuce Daby section. The alb9 marker amplifies one fragment with DNA matrix of P. alba and P. × canescens (natural hybrid P. alba × P. tremula). The alb2 marker works the same way except the case with P. bolleana. In this case, the amplification of three fragments was observed. The tremu1 marker amplification is detected with DNA matrix of P. tremula and P. × canescens. Thus, the developed markers may be applied as useful tool for the P. alba, P. tremula, P. × canescens and P. bolleana identification in such areas of plant science as botany, dendrology, genetics of populations, variety breeding etc.

Given of the outstanding versatile properties, the multilayered anti-corrosion coatings have drawn great interests in academic and engineering fields. However, the application of multilayered coatings is restricted by some limitations such as low interlayer compatibilities, harsh preparation process, etc. This work introduced a composite film fabricated on 2A12 aluminum alloy surface, including an anodic oxide film, a sol-gel film as well as a layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembling film from bottom to top. The microstructure and elemental characterization indicated that the finish of the coating with the LBL film resulted in a closely connected multilayered coating with a smoother surface. The anticorrosion performance was systematically evaluated in the simulated corrosive medium and neutral salt-spray environment. The intergrated coating with the LBL film presented an excellent anticorrosion ability with the system impedance over 108 Ω•cm² and the self-corrosion current density two orders of magnitude lower than that of the other coatings. After the acceleration test in salt-spray environment, the multilayered coatings could still show a good protective performance with almost no cracks and no penetration of chloride ions. It is believed that the as-constructed multilayered coating with high corrosive properties and fine surface state will have promising applications in the field of anticorrosion engineering.

Laser metal deposition with wire (LMD-w) is a developing additive manufacturing (AM) technology that has a high deposition material rate and efficiency, and is suitable for fabrication of large aerospace components. However, control of material properties, geometry, and residual stresses is needed before LMD-w technology can be widely adopted for the construction of critical structural components. In this study, we investigated the effect of interlayer cooling time, clamp constraints, and tool path strategy on part distortion and residual stresses in large-scale laser additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V components using finite element method (FEM). The simulations were validated with the temperature and the distortion measurements obtained from a real LMD-w process. We found that a shorter interlayer cooling time, full clamping constraints on the build plates, and a bidirectional tool path with 180⁰ rotation minimized part distortion and residual stresses and resulted in symmetric stress distribution.

The UN’s 2030 Agenda brings new governance challenges to municipal environmental planning, both in large urban centres and in metropolitan peripheries. The opportunities of the new framework of action proposed by the United Nations (UN) and its integrative, global and transversal nature constitute advances from the previous models of municipal management based on the Local Agenda 21. This text provides evidence to apply quality criteria and validated instruments of participatory evaluation. These instruments have been built on the foundation of Evaluative Research, a scientific discipline that provides rigour and validity to those decisions adopted at a municipal level. A case study focused on a metropolitan area serves as a field of experimentation for this model of the modernization of environmental management structures at a local level. Details of the instruments, agents, priority decision areas, methodologies, participation processes and quality criteria are provided, as well as an empirically validated model for participatory municipal management based on action research processes and strategic planning that favours a shared responsibility across all social groups in the decision-making process and in the development of continuous improvement activities that are committed to sustainability. Finally, a critical comparison of weaknesses and strengths is included in light of the evidence collected.

In comparison to other human cancer types, malignant melanoma exhibits the greatest amount of heterogeneity. After DNA-based detection of the BRAF V600E mutation in melanoma patients, targeted inhibitor treatment is the current recommendation. This approach, however, does not take the abundance of the therapeutic target, i.e., the B-raf V600E protein, into consideration. As shown by immunohistochemistry, the protein expression profiles of metastatic melanomas do clearly reveal the existence of inter- and intra-tumor variability. Nevertheless, the technique is only semi-quantitative. To quantitate the mutant protein there is a fundamental need for more precise techniques that are aimed at defining the currently non-existent link between the levels of the target protein and subsequent drug efficacy. Using cutting-edge mass spectrometry combined with DNA and mRNA sequencing, the mutated B-raf protein within metastatic tumors was quantitated for the first time. B-raf V600E protein analysis revealed a subjacent layer of heterogeneity for mutation-positive metastatic melanomas. These were characterized into two distinct groups with different tumor morphologies, protein profiles and patient clinical outcomes. This study provides evidence that a higher level of expression for the mutated protein is associated with a more aggressive tumor progression. Our study design that is comprised of surgical isolation of tumors, histopathological characterization, tissue biobanking, and protein analysis may enable the eventual delineation of patient responders/non-responders and the subsequent therapy of malignant melanoma.

C-reactive protein (CRP) and leukocytes are blood biomarkers involved in "Inflamm-Aging", which is a risk factor for the onset and progression of age-related diseases. Studies show that higher serum concentrations of these biomarkers are associated with functional disability, increased risk of low muscle strength, decreased muscle mass and mortality in the elderly. The objective was to estimate the predictive power and discriminating criteria of C-reactive protein and leukocyte concentrations for the risk of adverse health factors in the elderly within 30 days after hospital discharge (HD). Prospective cohort study using exploratory methods and blood biomarkers with 135 older adults admitted to medical and surgical clinics at a government hospital. The elderly were monitored at home after 30 days of HD for adverse health factors (rehospitalization, falls, amount of medication consumed, disability in basic and instrumental activities of daily living and mortality). CRP> 2.4; ≥ 0.7 and> 24.7 mg / dL and leukocytes ≥ 6.410; ≥ 8.690 and> 8.310 mm³ were discriminant for rehospitalization, falls and mortality within 30 days after HD, respectively. The cut-off points described may be used as a reference in the screening of hospitalized elderly vulnerable to adverse health events after hospital discharge.

Dayaoshan, as an important metal ore producing area in China, is faced with the dilemma of resource depletion due to long-term exploitation. In this paper, remote sensing method is used to circle the favorable metallogenic areas and find new ore points for Gulong. Firstly, vegetation interference bas been removed by using mixed pixel decomposition method with hyperplane and genetic algorithm (GA) optimization; then, altered mineral distribution information has been extracted based on principal component analysis (PCA) and support vector machine (SVM) method; Thirdly, the favorable areas of gold mining in Gulong has been delineated by using ant colony algorithm (ACA) optimization SVM model to remove false altered minerals; Lastly, field survey verified that the extracted alteration mineralization information is correct and effective. The results show that the mineral alteration extraction method proposed in this paper has certain guiding significance for metallogenic prediction by remote sensing.

Remaining service life (RSL) of pavement, as a sign of future pavement performance, has always received growing attention from pavement engineers. The RSL describes the time from the moment of pavement inspection until such a time when a major repair or reconstruction is required. The conventional approach to determining RSL involves using non-destructive tests. These tests, in addition to being costly, interfere with traffic flow and compromise users' safety. In this paper, surface distresses of pavement have been used to estimate the pavement’s RSL in order to eliminate the aforementioned problems and challenges. To implement the proposed theory, 105 flexible pavement segments were taken from Shahrood-Damghan Highway (Highway 44) in Iran. For each pavement segment, the type, severity, and extent of surface damage and pavement condition index (PCI) were determined. The pavement RSL was then estimated using non-destructive tests include Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). After completing the dataset, the modeling was conducted to predict RSL using three techniques include Support Vector Regression (SVR), Support Vector Regression Optimized by Fruit Fly Optimization Algorithm (SVR-FOA), and Gene Expression Programming (GEP). All three techniques estimated the RSL of the pavement by selecting the PCI as input. The Correlation Coefficient (CC), Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), Scattered Index (SI), and Willmott’s Index of agreement (WI) criteria were used to examine the performance of the three techniques adopted in this study. In the end, it was found that GEP with values of 0.874, 0.598, 0.601, and 0.807 for CC, SI, NSE, and WI criteria, respectively, had the highest accuracy in predicting the RSL of pavement.

Purpose: Carotid intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) increases risk of territorial cerebral ischemic events, but different sequences or criteria have been used to diagnose or quantify carotid IPH. The purpose of this study was to compare manual segmentation and semi-automatic segmentation for quantification of carotid IPH on magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition with gradient-echo (MPRAGE) sequences. Methods: Forty patients with 16–79% carotid stenosis and IPH on MPRAGE sequences were reviewed by two trained radiologists with more than five years of specialized experience in carotid plaque characterization with carotid plaque MRI. Initially, the radiologists manually viewed the IPH based on the MPRAGE sequence. IPH volume was then measured by three different semi-automatic methods, with high signal intensity 150%, 175%, and 200%, respectively, above that of adjacent muscle on the MPRAGE sequence. Agreement on measurements between manual segmentation and semi-automatic segmentation was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: There was near-perfect agreement between manual segmentation and the 150% and 175% criteria for semi-automatic segmentation in quantification of IPH volume. The ICC of each semi-automatic segmentation were as follows: 150% criteria: 0.861, 175% criteria: 0.809, 200% criteria: 0.491. The ICC value of manual vs. 150% criteria and manual vs. 175% criteria were significantly better than the manual vs. 200% criteria (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The ICC of 150% and 175% criteria for semi-automatic segmentation are more reliable for quantification of IPH volume. Semi-automatic classification tools may be beneficial in large-scale multicenter studies by reducing image analysis time and avoiding bias between human reviewers.

Since 2007, highly pathogenic clade 2.3.2 H5N1 avian influenza A [A(H5N1)] viruses have evolved to clade 2.3.2.1a, b and c, and currently only 2.3.2.1c A(H5N1) viruses circulate in wild birds and poultry. During antigenic evolution, clade 2.3.2.1a and c A(H5N1) viruses acquired both S144N and V223I mutations around the receptor binding site of hemagglutinin (HA), with S144N generating an N-glycosylation sequon. We introduced single or combined reverse mutations, N144S and/or I223V, into the HA gene of clade 2.3.2.1c A(H5N1) virus and generated PR8-derived, 2 + 6 recombinant A(H5N1) viruses. When we compared replication efficiency in embryonated chicken eggs, mammalian cells and mice, the recombinant virus containing both N144S and I223V mutations showed increased replication efficiency in avian and mammalian hosts and pathogenicity in mice. The N144S mutation significantly decreased avian receptor affinity and egg white inhibition, but not all mutations increased mammalian receptor affinity. Interestingly, the combined reverse mutations dramatically increased the thermostability of HA. Therefore, the adaptive mutations possibly acquired to evade avian immunity may decrease viral thermostability as well as mammalian pathogenicity.

During quasi-stationary tensile deformation of ultrafine-grained Cu-0.2 mass%Zr at 673 K and a deformation rate of about 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹ load changes were performed. Relative load reductions by more than about 25% to relative loads R < 0.75 initiate anelastic back flow. Subsequently the creep rate turns positive again and goes through a relative maximum. This is interpreted by a strain rate contribution ε ̇− from recovery of dislocations. Back extrapolation indicates that ε ̇− contributes about (20 ± 10)% to the quasi-stationary strain rate. The stress dependences of the recovery-strain rate ε ̇− and the rate ε ̇+ related with generation and storage of dislocations are discussed in terms of thermally activated processes characterized by different kinetics.

Objective: The private healthcare providers (PHCP) are believed to improve access to healthcare services in Public-Private Mix (PPM) projects, as they are considered first point of contact for healthcare. The purpose of this study was to know the satisfaction level of TB patients. Design: A questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study was carried out during November and December 2017 for 572 under-treatment patients registered with PHCPs in the PPM project. Lot quality assurance sampling technique was used to randomly select 19 districts from sample frame of 75 districts. In each selected district, data collector retrieved TB register of 8 months (Jan – Aug 2017) and systematically selected patients by fixed periodic interval. SPSS (version 24.0) was used to analyze the data. Results: Study included 53% (n=301) of males and 47% (n=271) of females, with mean age of 38 years (SD, ±18). Almost half of the participants were illiterate (51%, n=289) and 64% (n=365) were non-earning members of the family. In practice, most of the participants visit private providers (71%, n=407), including private hospital/clinic (44%) and traditional practitioners (27%; n=153). 55% of participants visited the current doctor because of clinic’s proximity to residence. 82% of the participants (n=469) were satisfied with the TB care services and 85% (n=488) said that they would recommend this clinic to others. Conclusion: PHCPs are preferred providers for individuals, which is consistent with findings of other studies. Though they are satisfied with TB care and services, interventions should be introduced to reduce the financial burden on the patient. Partnering PHCP is a way forward to ensure universal health coverage, health system strengthening and better health outcomes of the population.

Background: Few studies have examined multifaceted aspects of fast food consumption and dietary patterns for their effects on obesity. We examined the independent associations of obesity with fast food consumption and dietary pattern in Korean adults. Methods: A total of 19,017 adults aged 19–64y participated from KNHANES 2010-2014. Fast food items were removed from diet and then dietary patterns were generated. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the odds for overweight/obesity and central obesity according to fast food consumption and dietary patterns. Results: Fast food consumers were about 10% of Korean adults. Both of White rice and kimchi pattern and Meat and alcohol pattern were associated with low intakes of fiber, calcium, vitamin C, grains, fruit, and milk(p<0.05). Fast food consumers had higher the Meat and alcohol pattern and the Grains, fruit, and milk pattern, and they had lower the White rice and kimchi pattern than non-fast-food-consumers. Fast food consumer were not associated with overweight/obesity, whereas the participants with Meat and alcohol pattern had 14% higher overweight/obesity(95%CI:1.01,1.28) and 16% higher central obesity(95%CI:1.00,1.34). Conclusions: Fast food consumption was not directly associated with obesity, whereas the Meat and alcohol pattern had independent associations with overweight/obesity and central obesity among Korean adults.

This study utilizes repeated geoacoustic mapping to quantify the morphodynamic response of the nearshore to storm-induced changes. The aim of this study was to quantitatively map the nearshore zone of Assateague Island National Seashore (ASIS) to determine what changes in bottom sediments, benthic fauna and fish habitat are attributable to storm events including hurricane Sandy and the passage of hurricane Joaquin. Specifically, (1) the entire domain of the National Parks Service offshore area was mapped with side-scan sonar and multibeam bathymetry at a resolution comparable to that of the existing pre-storm survey, (2) a subset of the benthic stations were resampled that represented all sediment strata previously identified, and (3) newly obtained data were compared to that from the pre-storm survey to determined changes that could be attributed to specific storms such as Sandy and Joaquin. Capturing event specific dynamics requires rapid response surveys in close temporal association of the before and after period. The time-lapse between the pre-storm surveys for Sandy and our study meant that only a time and storm integrated signature for that storm could be obtained whereas with hurricane Joaquin we could identify impacts to the habitat type and geomorphology more directly related to that particular storm. This storm impacts study provides for the National Park Service direct documentation of storm-related changes in sediments and marine habitats on multiple scales: from large scale, side-scan sonar maps and interpretation of acoustic bottom types, to characterize as fully as possible habitats from 1 to 10 m up to many kilometer scales, as well as from point benthic samples within each sediment stratum and these results can help guide management of the island resources.

Clean production of renewable fuels is a great challenge of our scientific community. Iridium complexes have demonstrated a superior catalytic activity in the water oxidation (WO) reaction, which is a crucial step in water splitting process. Herein we have used a defective zirconium MOF with UiO-66 structure as support of a highly active Ir complex based on EDTA with formula [Ir(HEDTA)Cl]Na. The defects are induced by the partial substitution of tereftalic acid with smaller formiate groups. Anchoring of the complex occurs through a post-synthetic exchange of formiate anions, coordinated at the zirconium clusters of the MOF, with the free carboxylate group of the [Ir(HEDTA)Cl]-complex. The modified material was tested as heterogenous catalyst for the WO reaction by using Cerium Ammonium Nitrate as sacrificial agent. Although TOF and TON values are comparable to those of other iridium heterogenized catalysts, the MOF exhibits iridium leaching not limited at the first catalytic run, as usually observed, suggesting a lack of stability of the hybrid system under strong oxidative conditions.

The promising antimicrobial activity of essential oils (EOs) led researchers to use them in combination with antimicrobial drugs in order to reduce drug toxicity, side effects, and resistance with single agents. In Pancalieri (Turin, Italy), there is a local production of Mentha x piperita worldwide known as “Mentha of Pancalieri”. The EO from this Mentha is considered as one of the best peppermint EO in the world. In our research, we assessed the antifungal activity of “Mentha of Pancalieri” EO either alone or in combination with azole drugs (fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole) against a wide panel of yeast and dermatophyte clinical isolates. The EO was analyzed by GC-MS and its antifungal properties were evaluated by MIC/MFC parameters, according to the CLSI guidelines, with some modifications. The interaction of peppermint EO with azoles was evaluated through the chequerboard and isobologram methods. Results suggest this EO exerts a fungicidal activity against yeasts, and a fungistatic activity against dermatophytes. Interaction studies with azoles indicate mainly synergistic profiles between itraconazole and peppermint EO vs. Candida spp., Cryptococcus neoformans and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Peppermint of Pancalieri EO may act as a potential antifungal agent and may serve as a natural adjuvant for fungal infection treatment.

Public access to high quality green environments has become a key issue for city managers and a matter of environmental justice. Remnants of natural ecosystems allow citizens a direct contact with nature, but conversely the presence of people contributes further to the existing disturbances. Urban pressures on ecosystem remnants may act to favour the expansion of some invasive species in cities. Whilst the negative impacts of invasive species on ecosystem function is well documented little is known how invasive species influence the use of green spaces by people. Here, we examined one of the few remnants of urban riparian forests in Europe, the Vistula river valley in Warsaw which has recently become an attractive recreation site. Despite their high ecological value, the poplar and willow forests have been increasingly taken over by the invasive tree species Acer negundo. We examined the status of the invasion process and the relationship between recreational ecosystem services and the characteristics of the tree stands – tree species, tree density and age and NDVI values. We found the willow forest to be more susceptible to invasion by A. negundo than the poplar forest, which was revealed in significantly higher share of the maple individuals and their greater volume per unit area. Presence of A. negundo affected biodiversity resulting in decreased undergrowth density and number of species. The use intensity by the public, assessed on the basis of trampling intensity and the density of existing informal tracks, were negatively correlated to the presence of A. negundo. This study highlights the need to integrate invasive species management into green infrastructure planning and management.

Background: Acute appendicitis (AA) is the most common cause of emergency surgery. Perforation is more common than adults. Early diagnosis and new markers are needed. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of plasma Fetuin-A (FA) levels in patients with the acute abdomen (AB). Material and Method: This prospective study included 107 patients younger than 16 years of age who were admitted to the emergency department for abdominal pain between January 2018 and December 2018. The patients who presented to abdominal pain were divided into two groups as AA and other causes (OC) of AB. T Patients with acute appendicitis; intraperitoneal, retrocolic / retrocecal and appendicitis were divided into three groups. Also, the AA group was divided into two groups as perforated appendicitis and non-perforated appendicitis. Serum FA levels of the patients were evaluated in the emergency department. Results: In the AA group, C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell (WBC) levels were higher, and FA levels were significantly lower than in the AB group. Intraperitoneal localization was 95.2% and perforation was frequent. When significant values in the univariate regression analysis for acute abdomen and perforation were compared in the multivariate regression analysis, CRP, WBC, and FA levels were found to be prognostic. Also, decreased FA levels were associated with AA while too much decreased FA levels were associated with the risk of perforation. Conclusion: While trying to diagnose AA in children, the FA level, CRP and WBC may be predictive values to identify risk factors.

Pomegranate peel is a natural source of phenolics, claimed to possess healing properties, among which antioxidant and antidiabetic. In line with this evidence, the ethyl acetate PGE extract, obtained by Soxhlet from the peel of Dente di cavallo DC2 variety and characterized by a 4% amount of ellagic acid, has been studied for its hypoglycemic, antiglycation and antioxidative cytoprotective properties, in order to support a possible further nutraceutical interest. The α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzyme inhibition, interference with advanced glycation end-products (AGE) formation and metal chelating abilities were evaluated as hypoglycemic mechanisms. Also, considering that oxidative stress is associated with hyperglycemia complications, PGE antioxidant cytoprotective properties under hyperglycemic conditions were assayed. Phenolic profile was characterized by integrated chromatographic and spectrophotometric methods. Under our experimental conditions, PGE strongly inhibited the tested enzymes, especially α-glucosidase, and exerted chelating and antiglycation properties. Also, it reduced both ROS and GSH levels under hyperglycemic conditions, thus suggesting its ability to support cell functions by counteracting intracellular oxidative stress. Along with ellagic acid, rutin was the major identified flavonoid (about 4 %) of PGE. Present results suggest PGE to be a possible remedy for hyperglycemia management and encourage further studies to exploit its promising properties.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of tea polyphenol （TP） on serum hormone, serum enzyme activity, antioxidant-related and immune-related gene expression of laying hens under heat stress. A total of 288 Chinese yellow chicken (186 days old) were randomly distributed among two treatments, each of which included 6 replicates of 24 hens. Dietary treatments were that the basal diet was supplemented with 200 mg / kg tea polyphenol. The study lasted for 7 weeks, including 1 week of adaptation and 6 weeks of the formal test. The content of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and total protein (TP) in serum significantly decreased by dietary supplementation with tea polyphenol. Dietary tea polyphenol supplementation improved serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) enzyme activity and decreased serum malondialdehyde (MDA) content in treatments compared to the control. However, supplementation of tea polyphenol did not affect the activity of serum catalase (CAT). The results indicated that long-term feeding of tea polyphenols help to increase the amount of hormones (FSH, E2) associated with reproduction in laying hens and thus improve egg production. It also improved the immune function of laying hens in high temperature environments. Adding tea polyphenols to the diet can significantly increase the serum IgG, IgM content of the laying hens and can upregulate the IgA content. Dietary supplementation of tea polyphenols in the laying hens significantly increased the expression of antioxidant enzyme-related genes (SOD, CAT and GPX1) in the liver. Moreover, the addition of tea polyphenols significantly increased the expression of immune-related genes (Interferon-γ (INF-γ), Interleukin 2 (IL-2) and Interleukin 4 (IL-4)) in the spleen. It is concluded that addition of tea polyphenols has a positive effect on antioxidant activity and immune function of laying hens.

The tumor suppressor protein p53 is considered a guardian of genome integrity, regulating the induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in response to irradiation to block the transmission of teratogenic mutations to progeny cells. We examined the function of p53 in highly radiosensitive tissues, the developing brain and mature testis, using a small fish model, medaka (Oryzias latipes). Medaka offer advantages as a vertebrate model system, as the transparency and small size of the embryos enables clear detection of apoptotic cells in the developing brain. In addition, the simple architecture of medaka testes enables more precise identification of the differentiating spermatogenic stages compared with mammals. We found that in irradiated p53-deficient embryonic brain, diminished induction of apoptosis facilitated tissue regeneration earlier compared to irradiated wild-type embryos, which remained structural abnormalities in the retina at hatching. Moreover, the prominent delay in apoptotic induction in irradiated p53-deficient testes could induce transient mis-differentiation during spermatogenesis, such as the formation of ovum-like cells (testis-ova). However, all testis-ova cells were eliminated via p53-independent apoptosis, and spermatogenesis was completely restored within 1 month after irradiation. Collectively, these data indicate that p53 is not indispensable for the restoration of irradiation-induced damaged tissues.

The literature on the causation of multiple sclerosis (MS), both genetic and environmental, extends over hundreds of years, with no firm conclusions on the exact role of autoimmunity and lifestyle. The epidemiology of MS was the basis for this review, but with a new, extensive examination of genes pertaining to each disorder, and disease of first, and second, degree relatives of those with MS. The author’s motivation was to discover some relationship between MS, and notable familial conditions, as the heredity of MS is concluded to be 30%, and the disorders had a chronic and/or idiopathic nature. This investigation hoped to further understand the randomness of MS- who acquires it, and what symptoms develop- after the author’s decades of observing several incidences of multiple members developing MS in a single family. Online databases for the human genome were used to link genes to MS, and symptoms, including excessive depression, fatigue and suicide rates, in coordination with linking genes for specific familial conditions including seizures, stroke, mental illness, bowel disorders, and thyroid conditions. Interesting associations were found, notably a cluster of Th2 cytokines, known to cure the animal model of MS, important receptors for neurotransmitters and hormones, a gene specific to Epstein Barr Virus, and potential genes for mitochondrial dysfunction. The results surprised the author, showing polygenic regions of chromosome 2 and 5, especially a cluster at loci 5q31-q33, may be dysregulated. The conclusion agrees with past hypotheses MS results not from a single gene, but from various genes, including those expressed in glial cells. The individual theories to the causation of MS, starting with Charcot may be explained by multiple pathways converging into a single disease outcome. In coordination with a sunlight factor, chromosome 2 appears to mediate the immune system, and inflammation, through ultraviolet radiation producing vitamin D3 in the skin, but additionally through peptides formed in the melanocyte stimulating and concentrating hormone class. The impact of stress in MS could be primary, given the loci of several stress-related and stress-modulated genes on these chromosomes, and calls for more appreciation of, and greater care for, the MS patients’ state of mind.

In order to study the crystallinity of different density polyethylenes, the experimental study on the transformation of the conductance mechanism under high electric field was carried out. The X-ray Diffraction(XRD), Different Scanning Calorimeter(DSC), Direct Current(DC) breakdown of Low-density polyethylene(LDPE), Linear low density polyethylene(LLDPE), Medium density polyethylene(MDPE) and High-density polyethylene(HDPE) and the electric field of 5-200kV/mm were tested. Conductivity characteristics experiments, in addition, using the mathematical formula of a variety of conductance mechanisms, the electric field-current density curves of the four kinds of polyethylene were fitted to analyze the conductance transition of the above four kinds of polyethylene in non-ohmic regions under different high field strengths. mechanism. The experimental results show that as the density of polyethylene increases, the crystallinity increases continuously, and the continuous increase of crystallinity causes the electric conduction flow under the same field strength to decrease significantly. The field strength corresponding to the two turning points in the conductance characteristic curve increases simultaneously. Large, the breakdown field strength increases; through analysis, it is found that in the high field, as the electric field increases, the conductance mechanism develops from the ohmic conductance of the low field strength region to the bulk effect of the high field strength region (Poole-Frenkel). Then the electrode effect to the high field strength (Schottky), and the threshold field strength of this conductance mechanism transition increases with the increase of crystallinity.

Schizophrenia comprises various symptom domains, including positive and negative symptoms. Machine learning showed that a) negative symptoms are significantly interrelated with PHEM (psychosis, hostility, excitation, and mannerism) symptoms, formal thought disorders (FTD) and psychomotor retardation (PMR); and b) stable phase schizophrenia comprises two distinct classes, namely Major Neuro-Cognitive Psychosis (MNP, largely overlapping with deficit schizophrenia) and Simple NP (SNP). In this study, we recruited 120 MNP patients and 54 healthy subjects and measured the above-mentioned symptom domains. In MNP, there were significant associations between negative and PHEM symptoms, FTD and PMR. A single latent trait, which is essentially unidimensional, underlies these key domains of schizophrenia and MNP and additionally shows excellent internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and predictive relevance. Confirmatory Tedrad Analysis indicates that this latent vector fits a reflective model. The lack of discriminant validity shows that PHEM and negative symptoms greatly overlap and probably measure the same construct. Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) shows that MNP (diagnosis based on negative symptoms) is better modeled using PHEM symptoms, FTD, and PMR than negative symptoms. In conclusion, in stable phase MNP, a restricted sample of the schizophrenia population, negative and PHEM symptoms, FTD and PMR belong to one underlying latent vector reflecting overall severity of schizophrenia (OSOS). The bi-dimensional concept of “positive” and “negative” symptoms cannot be validated and, therefore, future research in stable phase schizophrenia should consider that the latent phenomenon OSOS as well as its 8 reflective manifestations are the key factors of schizophrenia phenomenology.

Background and objectives: The language-induced grip force modulation (GFM) can be used to better understand the link between the language and motor functions as an expression of the embodied language. However, the contribution of each brain hemisphere to the language-induced GFM is still unclear. Using six different action verbs as stimuli, this study evaluated the GFM of the left hand in unimanual task to characterize the left- and right-hemisphere contributions. Materials and Methods: The left-hand GFM of 20 healthy consistent right-handers subjects was evaluated using the verbs “to write”, “to hold”, “to pull”(left-lateralized central processing actions), “to draw”, “to tie”, and “to drive” (bi-hemispheric central processing actions) as linguistic stimuli. The time between the word onset and the first interval of statistical significance regarding the baseline (RT) was also measured. Results: The six verbs produced language-induced GFM. The modulation intensity was similar for the six verbs, but the RT was variable. The verbs “to draw”, “to tie”, and “to drive”, whose central processing of the described action is bihemispheric showed a longer Rt compared to the other verbs. Conclusions: The possibility that an action is performed by the left-hand does not interfere with the occurrence of GFM when this action verb is employed as linguistic stimulus. Therefore, the language-induced GFM seems mainly rely on the left hemisphere, and the engagement of the right hemisphere seems to slow down the increase in the GFM intensity.

Recently, the medical image processing is extensively used in several areas. In earlier detection and treatment of these diseases is very helpful to find out the abnormality issues in that image. Here there are number of methods available for segmentation to detect the lung nodule of computer tomography (CT) image. The main result of this paper, the earlier detection of lung nodules using Pre-processing techniques of top-hat transform, median and adaptive bilateral filter was compared both filtering methods and proved the adaptive bilateral filter is suitable method for CT images. The proposed segmentation technique uses novel strip method and the image is split into number of strips 3, 4, 5 and 6. A marker- watershed method based on PSO and Fuzzy C-mean Clustering method was proposed method. Firstly, the input image was reduced noise reduction and smoothing and the filter image is using strips method and then the image is segmented by marker watershed method. Secondly, the enhanced PSO technique was used to locate the better accurate value of the clustering centers of Fuzzy C-mean Clustering. Final stage, with the accurate value of centers and the enhanced target function and the small region of the segmented object was clustered by Fuzzy C-mean. In segmentation algorithm presented in this paper gives 95% of accuracy rate to detect lung nodules when strip count is 5.

Nowadays, environmental circumstances and business rules of organizations are complicate, active and uncertain, so, they cannot assurance their long- term survival through some actions such as, structural changes and methods or relying on creativity of some people in organization. Companies and organizations should prepare conditions to institutionalize entrepreneurial culture in their organization. Corporate entrepreneurship can improve the value of the organization. The entrepreneurial oriented organizations are more responsive for environment and market changes. Opportunity recognition is the base of being successful. The research is applied and in terms of method is descriptive. Data were analyzed, using Linear Regression and Multiple Moderated Regression (MMR) and SPSS software. In this research the effects of organizational entrepreneurship (innovation, proactiveness and risk-taking) on performance of the centers influenced by environmental factors (government’s strategies, competitiveness and technology) as moderating variables, were studied. Furthermore, the study presents that there is a significant positive relationship between organizational entrepreneurship and performance. Although the study does not show any significant moderating effect of environmental factors (Government’s strategies, competitiveness and technology) on the relationship between organizational entrepreneurship and performance, however, the result of the study manifests direct relationship between environmental factors and performance of such centers.

This paper describe the influence of the Rift Molango during the mineralization of elements of the platinum group and some light rare earths elements in a sedimentary exhalative ore deposit.