Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles produced by almost all cell types in the human body and exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that are known to serve as important biomarkers for diseases such as cancer. Given that the upregulation of miR-106b is closely associated with several types of malignancies, the sensitive and accurate detection of miR-106b is important but difficult. In this study, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) biosensor was developed to detect miR-106b isolated from the cancer cells based on immunoaffinity separation technique using our unique paddle screw device. Our novel SAW biosensor could detect a miR-106b concentration as low as 0.024 pM in a linear range from 0.1 pM to 1.0 μM with a correlation coefficient of 0.9939. Additionally, we were able to successfully detect miR-106b in total RNA extracted from the exosomes isolated from the MCF-7 cancer cell line, a model system for human breast cancer, with performance comparable to commercial RT-qPCR methods. Therefore, the exosome isolation by paddle screw method and the miRNA detection using the SAW biosensor has the potential to be used in basic biological research and clinical diagnosis as an alternative to RT-qPCR.

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

High-precision dynamic positioning of highway vehicles is the foundation and prerequisite for achieving intelligent connected transportation. For the shortcomings of GNSS/INS combination and GNSS/INS/OD combination in tunnel vehicle positioning, this paper proposes a tunnel vehi-cle positioning method of GNSS/INS/OD combination based on lateral distance measurement and lane constraint. Firstly, lateral distance measurement of vehicles inside the tunnel is conducted based on laser radar point cloud data. Secondly, map matching positioning is performed based on lateral distance measurement, odometer, and lane markings. Experimental results demonstrate that for a 4.6 km tunnel, the average absolute error of lateral positioning is 0.294 meters, and the longitudinal positioning error is no more than 0.6 meters, which can effectively meet practical operational requirements.

Data on Stark broadening parameters, spectral line widths and shifts, for 15 multiplets of N VI, which spectral lines are broadened by collisions with electrons, protons, alpha particles (He III) and B III, B IV, B V and B VI ions, are presented. They have been calculated, using the semiclassical perturbation theory, for temperatures from 50,000 K to 2,000,000 K, and perturber densities from 1016 cm−3 up to 1024 cm−3. These data are particularly of interest for the analysis and modelling of atmospheres of hot and dense stars, as e.g. white dwarfs, and for investigation of their spectra, but also for analyis ad modelling of laser driven plasma in proton-boron fusion research.

In the field of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for rotorcraft, two significant challenges are resolving the complex vortex structures in rotor wakes, and representing the moving rotor blades in the ambient airflow. This study addresses the first challenge by using a third-order unstructured finite volume solver, which, compared to its second-order counterpart, has substantially lower dissipation. Consequently, even relatively coarse meshes are capable of resolving small vortices. With this background flow field solver, the second challenge is addressed by modeling each rotor as an Actuator Disk Model (ADM), or describing individual rotor blades as actuator lines, designated as the Actuator Line Model (ALM). Both of these models are equipped with an improved correction for aerodynamic losses at blade tips, which is thoroughly presented in the methodology section. The numerical experiments section centers on analyzing errors linked to various sampling approaches. Additionally, the article discusses comparisons between vortex theory and ALM, specifically regarding calculations for fixed-wing aircraft. Furthermore, high-order precision and parallel efficiency are exemplified in scenarios encompassing rotors engaged in both hovering and forward flight rotors. The results in this paper demonstrate that the combination of the ALM/ADM with the improved tip loss correction and the third-order finite volume solver presents a new way of developing efficient tools for the aerodynamic analysis of helicopter rotors.

Exposure to quasi-electrostatic field induced currents is a hazard of live-line transmission work. These steady-state induced currents are typically less than 1 mA, and their sensory effects range from imperceptible to painful depending on the person and conditions such as contact area and duration. Permanent injury from these currents is unlikely but they can distract workers, increasing the risk of injury from falls or other dangers. Identifying contact current severity and training workers can help reduce risk of accidents. Measuring induced currents along a climbing route is time consuming and simulation is challenging because of geometric complexity of the worker, transmission structure, conductor bundles, and electric fields in the climbing space. This research explores calculation of worker contact current using a recently developed adaptation of the charge simulation method. The method uses Fourier principles to improve computational efficiency when explicitly modeling all bundle subconductors. The research also examines reasonable simplifications for modeling lattice structures and human geometry. Calculated results compare well to measured currents for a worker climbing a 400 kV lattice structure. This indicates the method is a practical option for calculating the severity of steady-state contact currents. A simple calculation is suggested for estimating these currents.

The question of whether some neutrinos are tachyons remains unresolved although various evidence from cosmic ray and other data exists that the electron neutrino has an effective $m_\nu^2\approx -0.25 eV^2,$ which would require that one or more mass states is also tachyonic. In 2013 the $3+3$ model of the neutrino masses, which includes one tachyonic mass state, was proposed based on supernova SN 1987A neutrino data. Here we update evidence for tachyonic electron neutrinos and the $3+3$ model and discuss one test which could prove conclusive. The update of earlier evidence includes many new elements, including new data which makes the earlier cosmic ray evidence more robust, new results on cosmic ray composition, the ankle of the spectrum, leptonic cosmic ray data, and the statistical significance of finding the three large neutrino masses stipulated in the $3+3$ model. Barring a galactic supernova, which occur only around twice a century, a decisive test of the $3+3$ model could involve observing an extragalactic supernova neutrino burst, that is a cluster of neutrinos in a specific time window well beyond what chance would predict. Even though existing searches for such bursts have yielded only upper limits on the extragalactic supernova frequency within a certain distance, it is shown that the choice of a one-day window for possible neutrino clusters in time might be far more sensitive. A search using a one day time window could be done using existing data, and if a signal is found it would confirm the $3+3$ model. Of course, the absence of any day-long neutrino burst would not disprove the model, since it could mean only that the nearest supernova during the period when detectors were active was simply too far to be detected. Finally, apart from testing the 3 + 3 model, an alternative type of search is suggested using existing hadronic cosmic ray data (from the IceCube Collaboration) that might verify the tachyonic neutrino hypothesis.

The research probes the relationship between the Minimum Support Price (MSP) price and its income impact on the farmers with different agricultural land-holdings. It examines maize crop cultivation income under three conditions if a farmer is getting crop production value at MSP, above 20% of MSP and above 40% of MSP. It then evaluates the farmers belonging to marginal, small, semi-medium, medium and large categories position in terms of poverty criteria suggested by the World bank. For analysis purposes, it uses an economic-model approach and suggest the concept of survival income for agricultural farmers. Its findings prove that marginal and small farmers require benefits beyond the MSP rate to push them above the poverty line.

In the electric distribution systems, the “Smart Grid” concept is implemented to encourage energy savings and integration of the innovative technologies, helping the Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) in choosing the investment plans which to lead the optimal operation of the networks and increasing the energy efficiency. In this context, a new phase load balancing algorithm was proposed to be implemented in the low voltage distribution networks with hybrid structures of the consumption points (switchable and non-switchable consumers). It can work in both operation modes (on-line and off-line), uploading information from different databases of the DNO which contain: the consumers’ characteristics, the real loads of the consumers integrated into the Smart Metering System (SMS), and the typical load profiles for the consumers non-integrated in the SMS. The algorithm was tested in a real network, having a hybrid structure of the consumption points, on a time interval by 24 hours. The obtained results were analyzed and compared with other algorithms from the heuristic (Minimum Count of Loads Adjustment algorithm) and the metaheuristic (Particle Swarm Optimization and Genetic Algorithms) categories. The best performances were provided by the proposed algorithm, such that the unbalance coefficient resulted in the smallest value (1.0017). The phase load balancing led to the following technical effects: decreasing the average current in the neutral conductor with 94% and for the energy losses with 61.75 %, and increasing the minimum value of the phase voltage at the farthest pillar with the 7.14 %, compared to the unbalanced case.

Cancer cell lines are widely used as in vitro models of tumorigenesis, facilitating fundamental discoveries in cancer biology and translational medicine. Currently, there are few options for glioblastoma (GBM) treatment and limited in vitro models with accurate genomic and transcriptomic characterization. Here, a detailed characterization of a new GBM cell line, namely AHOL1, was conducted in order to fully characterize its molecular composition based on its copy number alteration (CNA) and transcriptome profiling, followed by the validation of key elements associated with GBM tumorigenesis. Large numbers of CNAs and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. CNAs were distributed throughout the genome, including gains at Xq11.1-q28, Xp22.33-p11.1, Xq21.1-q21.33, 4p15.1-p14, 8q23.2-q23.3 and losses at Yq11.21-q12, Yp11.31-p11.2 and 12p13.31 positions. Nine druggable genes were identified, including HCRTR2, ETV1, PTPRD, PRKX, STS, RPS6KA6, ZFY, USP9Y and KDM5D. By integrating DEGs and CNAs, we identified 57 overlapping genes enriched in fourteen pathways. Altered expression of several cancer-related candidates found in the DEGs-CNA dataset was confirmed by RT-qPCR. Taken together, this first comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic landscape of AHOL1 provides unique resources for further studies and identifies several druggable targets that may be useful for therapeutics and biologic and molecular investigation of GBM.

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

Ice covering on overhead transmission lines would cause damage to transmission system and long-term power outage. Among various de-icing devices, modular multilevel converter (MMC) based DC de-icer (MMC-DDI) is recognized as a promising solution due to its excellent technical performance. Its principle feasibility has been well studied, but few literature discuss its economy or hardware optimization, thus the designed MMC-DDI for high voltage transmission lines is usually too large and too expensive for engineering applications. To fill this gap, this paper presents a quantitative analysis on the converter characteristics of MMC-DDI, and calculates the minimal converter rating and its influencing factors. It reals that, for a given de-icing requirement, the converter rating varies greatly with its AC-side voltage. Then an optimization configuration is proposed to reduce the converter rating and improve its economy. The proposed configuration is verified in a MMC-DDI for a 500kV transmission line as a case study. The result shows, in the case of outputting same de-icing characteristics, the optimized converter rating is reduced from 151 MVA to 68 MVA, and total cost of MMC-DDI is reduced by 48%. This analysis and conclusion are conductive to the optimized design of multilevel DC de-icer, then to its engineering application.

The mitigation of NLOS (non-line-of-sight) propagation conditions is one of main challenges in wireless signals based indoor localization. When RFID localization technology is applied in applications, RSS fluctuates frequently due to the shade and multipath effect of RF signal, which could result in localization inaccuracy. In particularly, when tags carriers are walking in LOS (line-of-sight) and NLOS hybrid environment, great attenuation of RSS will happen, which would result in great location deviation. The paper proposes an IMU-assisted (Inertial Measurement Unit) RFID based indoor localization in LOS/NLOS hybrid environment. The proposed method includes three improvements over previous RSS based positioning methods: IMU aided RSS filtering, IMU aided LOS/NLOS distinguishing and IMU aided LOS/NLOS environment switching. Also, CRLB (Cramér-Rao Low Bound) is calculated to prove theoretically that indoor positioning accuracy for proposed method in LOS/NLOS mixed environment is higher than position precision of only use RSS information. Simulation and experiments are conducted to show that proposed method can reduce the mean positioning error to around 3 meters without site survey.

HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) is a chronic progressive neurological disorder and shares many radiological and clinical features with other more prevalent myelopathies. Here, we quantified spinal cord and brain volumes in adults with HAM/TSP in comparison with healthy volunteers (HVs) and participants diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Clinical disability and MRI were assessed in 24 HVs, 43 HAM/TSP, and 46 MS participants. Spinal cord cross-sectional area (SCCSA) and brain tissue volumes were measured and compared. HAM/TSP participants had significantly lower SCCSA at C2-3 (54.0±8 mm2), C4-5 (57.8±8 mm2), and T4-9 (22.7±4 mm2) and significantly elevated brain white matter hyperintensity (WMH) fraction (0.004±0.008) was compared to HVs (C2-3: 69.4±8 mm2, C4-5: 75.1±9 mm2, T4-9: 34.1±4 mm2; all p &lt; 0.0001; and WMH: 0.0004±0.0007; p &lt; 0.001). In HAM/TSP, SCCSA at all levels but not WMH showed the significant correlation with clinical disability scores. Brain white matter hyperintensities in HAM/TSP, therefore, may not be related to clinical disability. SCCSA and WMH in our limited MS cohort were higher than the HAM/TSP cohort (67.6±8 mm2, 72.7±9 mm2, 33.4±5 mm2; p &lt; 0.0001). Principal component analysis suggested that SCCSA and WMH may be used to differentiated HAM/TSP from MS. Understanding these differences may help establish early diagnostic criteria for HAM/TSP patients.

White adipose tissue (WAT) and gut are involved as inducers of neuroinflammation when they detect injury and trigger inflammation. The autonomous nervous system innervates both tissues, although the roles of the sympathetic, parasympathetic and enteric nervous systems have not been fully elucidated. Here, we revisited the participation of both types of inflamed peripheral tissue in neuroinflammation. We first analyzed how inflamed peripheral WAT plays a key role in neuroinflammation once metainflammation is installed. Second, we described the impact of insulin resistance (IR) on hypothalamic dysfunction, T2DM and neurodegenerative diseases. Finally, we analyzed the gut-brain axis, examining cell interactions, soluble factors, the sensing of microbes and the role of the intestinal microbiota and mucosal barriers in neuroinflammation. Since intestinal mucosa and secondary lymphoid organs are densely innervated by the sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric nervous systems, we analyzed bidirectional crosstalk between different tissues, neurons, and immune systems in healthy and pathological circumstances to restore normal tissues functions, and consequently homeostasis.

Vector-borne disease (VBD) accounts for more than 17% of the global infectious disease burden, disproportionately affecting developing nations within tropical and subtropical areas. As Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the principal vector for the transmission of many Public Health pathogens, our study examined their population dynamics within the seasonal context of tropical dry biomes in El Salvador as incidence of VBD in this region has increased in recent years. Species that rely on sexual reproduction must maintain a balanced sex ratio (1:1) to support their population dynamics, however, our phenological analysis of field-collected A. aegypti specimens revealed significant sex ratio variations during dry and wet seasons. Interestingly, we detected a seasonal shift that favored female mosquitoes during the dry season, highlighting the dynamic nature of mosquito populations in highly urbanized environments like El Salvador. By linking sex ratio distortions to anthropogenic factors, our study underscores the importance of comprehensively characterizing the urban ecology of vectors for the development of effective biocontrol strategies. As such, we advocate for more nuanced vector control approaches that consider ecological factors as well as the human behaviors that influence mosquito breeding habitats to effectively combat the rise of VBDs amid global climate changes.

Ecuador is the world's fifth largest cocoa producer, generating hundreds of annual tons of residues from this fruit. This research aims to value this residual (cocoa pod husk) by using it as raw material to obtain pectin, which is widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. For them, the extraction of three different organic acids with GRAS status (and therefore safe for their use), citric, malic and fumaric acids, were studied. In addition, two other factors, temperature (70-90°C) and extraction time (60-90 min), were explored in a central composite design of experiments. Under the conditions of the experiment, it was obtained that the best yields were reached for citric acid, malic acid and fumaric acid and for ~86 min of extraction time. The temperature did not show a significant influence on the yield. The pectins obtained under optimal conditions were characterised, showing their similarity with commercial pectin. However, the equivalent weight and the esterification degree of the pectin obtained with fumaric acid classify it as having a high equivalent weight and a low degree of esterification. It differs significantly from the other two acids, perhaps due to the limited solubility of fumaric acid.

For each $t\in(-1,1)$, exact values of the least upper bounds $$ H(t)=\sup_{\E X=t,\,\E X^2=1} \frac{\E\abs{X}^3}{\E \abs{X-t}^3},\quad \sup_{\E X=t,\,\E X^2=1} \frac{L_1(X)}{L_1(X-t)} $$ are obtained, where $L_1(X)=\E|X|^3/(\E X^2)^{3/2}$ is the non-cental Lyapunov ratio. It is demonstrated that these values are attained only at two-point distributions. As a corollary, S.\,Shorgin's conjecture is proved that states that the exact value is $$ \sup\frac{L_1(X)}{L_1(X-\E X)}= \frac{\sqrt{17 + 7\sqrt7}}{4} = 1.4899\ldots, $$ where the supremum is taken over all non-degenerate distributions of the random variable $X$ with the finite third moment. Also, in terms of the central Lyapunov ratio $L_1(X-\E X)$, an analog of the Berry--Esseen inequality is proved for Poisson random sums of independent identically distributed random variables with the constant $$ 0.3031\cdot H\left(\frac{\E X}{\sqrt{\E X^2}}\right) \left(1-\frac{(\E X)^2}{\E X^2}\right)^{3/2} \le 0.3031\cdot \frac{\sqrt{17 + 7\sqrt7}}{4}<0.4517.$$ where $\Law(X)$ is the common distribution of the summands.

Chikungunya virus is an Alphavirus belonging to the family Togaviridae that is transmitted to humans by an infected Aedes mosquito. Patients develop fever, inflammatory arthritis, and rash during the acute stage of infection. Although the illness is self-limiting, atypical and severe cases are not uncommon, and 60% may develop chronic symptoms that persist for months or even for longer durations. Having a distinct periodical epidemiologic outbreak pattern, chikungunya virus reappeared in Thailand in December 2018. Here, we describe a cohort of acute chikungunya patients who had presented to the Bangkok Hospital for Tropical Diseases during October 2019. Infection was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR using serum collected at presentation to the Fever Clinic. Other possible acute febrile illnesses such as influenza, dengue, and malaria were excluded. We explored the sequence of clinical manifestations at presentation during the acute phase and associated the viral load with the clinical findings. Most of the patients were healthy individuals in their forties. Fever and arthralgia were the predominant clinical manifestations found in this patient cohort, with a small proportion of patients with systemic symptoms. Higher viral loads were associated with arthralgia, and arthralgia with the involvement of the large joints was more common in female patients

In this research, univariate and bivariate statistical methods were applied to rainfall, river and piezometric level datasets belonging to 24 years long time series (1986-2009). These methods, that often are used to understand the effects of precipitation on rivers and karstic springs discharge, have been used to assess, piezometric level response to rainfall and river level fluctuations in a porous aquifer. A rain gauge, a river level gauge and three wells, located in Central Italy along the lower Pescara river valley in correspondence of its important alluvial aquifer, provided the data. The statistical analysis has been used within a known hydrogeological framework, which has been refined by mean of a photo-interpretation and a GPS survey. Water-groundwater relationships were identified following the autocorrelation and cross-correlation analyses; the spectral analysis and mono-fractal features of time series were assessed, in order to provide information on multy-year variability, data distributions, their fractal dimension and the distribution return time within the historical time series. The statistical-mathematical results were interpreted through field work that identified distinct groundwater flowpaths within the aquifer and enabled the implementation of a conceptual model, improving the knowledge on water resources management tools.

In vitro glucose uptake in yeast cell facilitated by Abelmoschus esculentus L. (okra seed) for management of type 2 diabetes was studied. Plant material was collected, identified, processed, and stored for further use. 80% methanol was employed for extraction and sonicated to release antidiabetic-bioactive component in solution and was filtered, concentrated, freeze-dried, and fractionated using standard techniques. Glucose uptake at an initial concentration of 5mM/L and 10mM/L by the crude extract was consistent to that of the known standard drug while at 25mM/L glucose concentration was equivalent with the crude extract. Also, at 0.625 mg/mL the linear equations, and R2 demonstrations that the crude extract was higher in dose predictability than the standard drug as presented by the equation; y = 35.754x - 57.822, and R² = 0.9502 (95%). The extract-fractions were employed to evaluate the ability of yeast cell line culture to take up glucose from the system through DPPH, FRAP, lipid peroxidation and anti-diabetes effect of extract-fraction assays. Extract-fractions were found to poses antioxidant activity high enough to inhibit stress-related diseases. The extract fractions were active as drug candidates both at low and high concentrations and were better compared with the standard drug and standard antioxidant was comparable. The high bioactive extract fractions require encapsulation with a nanoparticle as a drug candidate for type 2 diabetes patients. And an animal trial of the drug candidate may be necessary to monitor the in vivo performances of the extract fractions and subsequent human volunteered trial.

A novel quasi-twisted miniaturized wideband Branch Line Coupler (BLC) is proposed. The design is based on bisecting the conventional microstrip line BLC transversely and folding bisected sections on double-layered substrates with a common ground plane in between. The pair of quarter wavelength horizontal parallel arms is converted to a Z-shape meandered microstrip line in the designed structure. On the other hand, the pair of quarter wavelength vertical arms are cut by half into two lines and converted to a periodically loaded slow wave structure. The bisected parts of BLC are placed on the opposite side of the doubled-layer substrate and connected through four vias passing through the common ground plane. This technique enabled a compact BLC size of 6.4×18 mm2, which corresponds to a surface area miniaturization by ~50% as compared to the classical BLC size of 10×23 mm2 at 6GHz, Moreover, the attained relative bandwidth is 73.9% (4.6-10 GHz) for S11, and 75.8% (4.5-10 GHz) for S33 as compared to 41% for the ordinary BLC at the same resonant frequency. The circuit is constructed on a double-layered low-cost FR4 substrate with a relative permittivity of 4.3, and a loss tangent of 0.025. An isolation of -13dB was realized in both S13 and S31 demonstrating an excellent performance. The transmission coefficients between input/output ports S21, S41, S23, and S43 are between -3.1dB to -3.5dB at the frequency of 6GHz. Finally, the proposed BLC provides phase differences between output ports of 90.5o and 94.8o at the frequency of 6GHz when the input ports 1 and 3 are excited, respectively. The presented design offers the potential of being utilized as a unit cell for building a Butler-matrix (BM) for sub-6GHz 5G beamforming networks.

In the Neighborhood Area Network (NAN), the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) enables a bidirectional connection between the Smart Meter (SM) and the Data Concentrator (DC). Sensors, such as smart meter node or Radio Frequency transceiver, play a crucial role in collecting and transmitting data from meters to central unit for advanced monitoring, management, and analysis of energy consumption. Wired and wireless communication technologies can be used to implement the AMI-NAN. This paper delves into a novel approach for optimizing the choice of communication medium, Radio Frequency (RF) or Power-Line Communication (PLC), between the SM and DC in the context of AMI-NAN. The authors methodically select the specific technologies, RF and NB-PLC (Narrow Band Power-Line Communication), and meticulously characterize their attributes. Then, a comparative analysis spanning rural, urban, and industrial settings is conducted to evaluate the proposed method. The overall reliability performance of the AMI-NAN system requires a Packet Error Rate (PER) lower than 10%. To this end, a comprehensive methodology is introduced to assess and enhance the reliability of NB-PLC and RF for AMI-NAN applications. Simulation results demonstrate that wireless communication is the optimal choice for the rural scenario, especially for Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) lower than 25 dB. However, in urban environments characterized by higher SNR values and moderately dense networks, NB-PLC gains prominence. In denser networks, it outperforms wireless communication, exhibiting a remarkable 10 dB gain for a bit error rate (BER) of 10-3. Moreover, in industrial zones characterized by intricate network topologies and non-linear loads, the powerline channel emerges as the optimal choice for data transmission, affording a gain surpassing 20 dB.

The integration of spray drying and agglomeration offers significant advantages, such us continuous production with lower energy consumption. However, it is a knife-edge process with a narrow operating window and limited degrees of freedom that decide between successful agglomeration and fluidized bed blockage due to excessive moisture. In this contribution, factors influencing the spray-through agglomeration process of skim milk powder as a model system were investigated via a design of experiments. Three in-line monitoring methods were applied and tested to observe the most important parameters in the agglomeration process: product moisture and particle size distribution. Regarding the moisture content, a capacitive moisture sensor was calibrated with linear regression and a near-infrared sensor with partial least squares regression. Near-infrared spectroscopy was found to be the suitable method for determining moisture content, while the capacitive moisture sensor mainly provides information on the bulk density, the filling level or fluidization state in the fluidized bed. Additionally, particle size distribution data was extracted from the spectral data using in-line data of a spatial filter velocimetry probe in the fluidized bed. This opens the potential to monitor both parameters in real-time with a single non-invasive sensor.

Recent developments in mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopic ellipsometry enabled by quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) resulted in a drastic improvement in signal-to-noise ratio compared to conventional thermal emitter based instrumentation. Thus, it was possible to reduce the acquisition time for high-resolution broadband ellipsometric spectra from multiple hours to less than 1 second. This opens up new possibilities for real-time in-situ ellipsometry in polymer processing. To highlight these evolving capabilities we demonstrate the benefits of a QCL based MIR ellipsometer by investigating single and multilayered polymer films. The molecular structure and reorientation of a 2.5m thin biaxially oriented polyethylene terephtalate film is monitored during a stretching process lasting 24.5 s to illustrate the perspective of ellipsometric measurements in dynamic processes. In addition, a polyethylene/ethylene vinyl alcohol/polyethylene multilayer film is investigated at continuously varying angle of incidence ( 0∘ – 50∘) in 17.2 s, highlighting an unprecedented sample throughput for the technique of varying angle spectroscopic ellipsometry in the MIR spectral range. The obtained results underline the superior spectral and temporal resolution of QCL ellipsometry and qualify this technique as suitable method for advanced in-situ monitoring in polymer processing.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-intoxicating compound extracted from Cannabis sativa, showing antidepressant-like effects in different rodent models. However, inconsistent results have been described depending on the species and the strain used to assess depressive-like behaviour. Moreover, only a few studies have investigated the effect of CBD in female rodents. Therefore, we aimed to i) investigate the effects of CBD in two different strains of mice (Swiss and C57BL/6) and in a rat model of depression based on selective breeding (Flinders Sensitive and Resistant Lines, FSL and FRL) subjected to tests predictive of antidepressant-like effects; and ii) investigate the influence of sex in the effects of CBD in both mice and rats. CBD induced an antidepressant-like effect in male Swiss but not in female Swiss or C57BL/6 mice in the tail suspension test (TST). In male FSL rats, CBD produced an antidepressant-like effect one-hour post-injection. However, in female FSL, CBD induced a bimodal effect, increasing the immobility time at one hour and decreasing it at two hours. Ketamine produced an antidepressant-like effect in male and female FSL rats at different doses. In conclusion, strain, sex, and administration time affect CBD's behavioural response to rodents exposed to tests predictive of antidepressant effects.

Production of electricity using hydro-kinetic tidal turbines has many challenges that must to be overcome to ensure reliable, economic and practical solutions. Energy from flowing water is converted by a system comprising: the turbine rotor blades, a gearbox, an electrical generator, control systems, power electronics, export cables, and a connection to the electricity grid. To date these have often been modelled using simulations of independent systems, lacking bi-directional, real-time, coupling. This approach leads to critical effects being missed. Turbulence in the flow, results in large velocity fluctuations around the blades, causing rapid variation in the shaft torque and generator speed, and consequently in the voltage seen by the power electronics and consequently the export power quality. The resulting poor quality power may be unacceptable to the grid. Conversely, grid frequency and voltage changes can also cause the generator speed to change, resulting in changes to the shaft speed and torque and consequently changes to the lift and drag forces acting on the blades. Clearly, fully integrated, bi-directional, models are needed. Here we present two fully coupled models which use different approaches to model the hydrodynamics of rotor blades. The first model uses Blade Element Momentum Theory (BEMT), resulting in an efficient tool for turbine designers. The second model also uses BEMT combines this with an actuator line model of the blades coupled to an unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. This simulation, implemented in OpenFOAM, uses an energy balance to compute the shaft speed. Both the BEMT and CFD models are coupled to an Open Modellica model of the electro-mechanical system. Both models have been used to simulate the performance of a 1.2m diameter, scale model, of a three bladed horizontal axis tidal turbine tested in the University of Edinburgh FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility. The turbulent flow around the blades and the mechanical-electrical variables during the stable period of operation are analysed. Time series and tabulated average values of mechanical thrust, power, torque, and rotational speed as well as electrical variables of generator power, electromagnetic torque, voltage and current are presented for the coupled system simulation. The relationship between the mechanical and electrical variables and the results from both tidal turbine approaches are discussed. Our comparison shows that while the BEMT model provides an effective design tool (leading to slightly more conservative designs), the CFD/BEMT simulations provide more accurate predictions of the blade loads which can be especially important in assessing fatigue on the blades (though at an increased computational cost).

Local binary pattern is one of the visual descriptors and can be used as a powerful feature extractor for texture classification. In this paper, a novel representation for face recognition is proposed, called it Bilateral Line Local Binary Patterns (BL-LBP). This scheme is an extension of Line Local Binary Patterns descriptors in the statistical learning subspace. The present bilateral descriptors are fused with an ensemble learning of calibrated SVM models. The performance of this scheme is evaluated using 5 standard face databases. It is found that it is robust against illumination variation, diverse facial expressions and head pose variations and its recognition accuracy reaches 98 percent, running on a mobile device with a processing speed of 63 ms per face. Results suggest that our proposed method can be very useful for the vision systems that have limited resources where the computational cost is critical.

This article presents a new theory on redshift of light from celestial bodies. Lately it has been found that the Hubble constant calculated from different methods discord so much that calls arise for new physics to explain. Also, in addition to many unsolved puzzles like dark matter and source of expansion force, we shall show in this article that the current theory of redshift implies a few hidden, unreasonale assumptions. By assuming photon has temperature and its thermal energy is fully converted to wave energy, this article shows that photon can have a new redshift called Temperature Redshift, which not only is more significant for remote stars or galaxies, but also better fits the observational data, including those used in Hubble constant calculation. As such, if true, this new theory not only adds to our new understanding of photons, but may totally change our current understanding of the Universe, i.e., the Big Bang theory.

With the breakthrough of modernism, various efforts are undertaken to rationalize architecture and building processes using industrial principles. Few architects explore these as intensively as Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus. Even before World War One, and increasingly in the interwar years, Gropius and a number of colleagues undertake various experiments which manifest in a series of projects, essays, model houses and Siedlungen. These aim at conceptually different goals, i.e. they follow two different categories of industrial logic: first, a flexible construction kit and, second, an assembly line serial production. This article traces the genesis of these two concepts and analyses their characteristics using these early manifestations. Compared to existing literature, this article takes into account hitherto neglected primary sources as well as technological and construction history aspects—allowing for a distinction based not only on theoretical, but also technological and structural characteristics. This article shows that Gropius succeeds in formulating and exploring the two principles in theory and practice as well as drawing conclusions by the end of the 1920s. With them, he contributed significantly to the rationalization of architecture, and his principles have been picked up and developed further by numerous architects since then.

Substrate integrated waveguides reduce the losses and increase the quality factor of resonators in communication filters when compared with traditional planar technologies, while maintaining their low cost and low profile characteristics. Empty substrate integrated waveguides go one step further, removing the dielectric of the substrate. One of these transmission lines is the empty substrate integrated coaxial line (ESICL), which adds the advantage of being a two conductor structure. Thus, it propagates a TEM mode, which reduces the dispersion and the bandwith limitation of other one conductor empty substrate integrated waveguides. Continuous profile filters, at the cost of being long structures, are very easy to manufacture and design (usually no optimization is needed), and they are highly insensitive to manufacturing tolerances. In this work a simple continuous profile filter, with a stop band response, is designed for the first time in the novel ESICL technology. The influence of the design parameters on the insertion losses and fractional bandwidth is discussed. A prototype has been successfully manufactured and measured. A sensitivity analysis shows the high tolerance of the proposed stop band filter to manufacturing errors.

We introduce a modelling framework for the investigation of on-line machine learning processes in non-stationary environments. We exemplify the approach in terms of two specific model situations: In the first, we consider the learning of a classification scheme from clustered data by means of prototype-based Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ). In the second, we study the training of layered neural networks with sigmoidal activations for the purpose of regression. In both cases, the target, i.e. the classification or regression scheme, is considered to change continuously while the system is trained from a stream of labeled data. We extend and apply methods borrowed from statistical physics which have been used frequently for the exact description of training dynamics in stationary environments. Extensions of the approach allow for the computation of typical learning curves in the presence of concept drift in a variety of model situations. First results are presented and discussed for stochastic drift processes in classification and regression problems. They indicate that LVQ is capable of tracking a classification scheme under drift to a non-trivial extent. Furthermore, we show that concept drift can cause the persistence of sub-optimal plateau states in gradient based training of layered neural networks for regression.

Smenamides are an intriguing class of peptide/polyketide molecules of marine origin showing antiproliferative activity against lung cancer Calu-1 cells at nanomolar concentrations through a clear pro-apoptotic mechanism. To probe the role of the activity-determining structural features, the 16-epi-analogue of smenamide A and eight simplified analogues in the 16-epi series were prepared using a flexible synthetic route. The synthetic analogues were tested on multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines showing that the configuration at C-16 slightly affects the activity, since the 16-epi-derivative is still active at nanomolar concentrations. Interestingly, it was found that the truncated compound 8, mainly composed of the pyrrolinone terminus, was not active while compound 17, essentially lacking the pyrrolinone moiety, was 1000-fold less active than the intact substance and was the most active among all the synthesized compounds.

The RAINBOW Phase III study established the efficacy of the combination of paclitaxel and ramucirumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting VEGF receptor-2 (VEGF-R2), as second-line therapy. We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients treated with ramucirumab plus paclitaxel at our Institution to evaluate the impact of clinical heterogeneous figures on the efficacy and safety of this combination paclitaxel/ramucirumab in a real- life cohort of patients. After a median follow-up of 10.74 months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.8 months (95% CI: 3.04 - 5,63). Disease control rate (DCR) was 61% and the median duration of response (DOR) was 5.8 months. Median overall survival (OS) was 8.3 months. A trend toward better outcome was observed in HER2 positive patients. In multivariate analysis, nutritional status (p = 0.0001) and number of metastatic sites (p = 0.0266) resulted significantly related with longer PFS. Our analysis confirmed the efficacy and safety of the combination of ramucirumab with paclitaxel also in the real-life practice and the median PFS is significantly longer than that reported for Western population in previous studies. Subgroup analysis confirms the key-role of nutritional status as prognostic factor and suggests a possible interaction between EGF and angiogenesis pathways that deserves further investigations.

The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020, following which a global genetic vaccination program has been rapidly implemented as a fundamental solution. However, it has been reported worldwide that the modified mRNAs encoding spike proteins and lipid nanoparticles, which are used as drug delivery systems, not only cause thrombosis and cardiovascular disorders post vaccination, but might also cause diverse diseases involving all organs and systems, including the nervous system. Furthermore, the toxicity and pathogenicity of spike proteins may necessitate defining these proteins as nonbiological infective material. Based on these reports and the abundant evidence that has come to light in the past few years, this paper aims to draw the attention of medical professionals to the various risks associated with transfusion using blood products derived from long COVID patients or from genetic vaccine recipients, and to make proposals regarding specific inspection items, testing methods, regulations, etc. This paper provides insights to address the post-vaccination syndrome and its consequences following such genetic vaccination programs.

This paper presents an in-depth study of the stress wave behavior propagating in a Rayleigh–Love rod with a sudden cross-sectional area change. The analytical solutions of stress waves are derived for the reflection and transmission propagation behavior at the interface of the cross-sectional area change in the rod, considering inertia and Poisson’s effects. Examples solved by the finite element method are provided to verify the correctness of the analytical results. In addition to the forward analysis of Rayleigh–Love wave propagation in rods impacted by a striker rod, a nondestructive testing method is proposed to conduct the defect assessment in the rod type of the structure component with a sudden cross-sectional area change within a cover medium by using the measured signals at the measurable zone of the rod to be inspected.

The quinoline derivative, N-(7-chloro-4-morpholinoquinolin-2-yl)benzamide, was synthesized in a conventional three-step procedure from 4,7-dichloroquinoline using N-oxidation reaction/C2-amidation reaction/C4 SNAr reaction sequence. The structure of the compound was fully characterized by FT-IR, 1H‐, 13C-NMR, DEPT-135°, and ESI-MS techniques. Its physicochemical parameters (Lipinski’s descriptors) were also calculated using the online SwissADME database. Such derivatives are relevant therapeutic agents exhibiting potent anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic properties.

HIV early detection (CD4 counts ≥350 cells/μL) is correlated with higher life expectancy among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Several factors including physical, cultural, structural, and financial barriers have contributed to HIV late detection. This is the first-of-its-kind study on the regional differences in early detection of HIV within Tajikistan and any country in the Central Asia region. Utilizing Tajikistan Ministry of Health's national HIV data (N=10,700) spanning 2010 to 2023, we developed median regression models with median CD4 cell count as the outcome and as predictors: time (years), region, age, gender, and area (urban/rural status). Individuals younger than 19 years old are more likely to be detected early for HIV, whereas those older than 39 years are more prone to late detection. Given their active engagement in age-related and sexual activities, those older than 39 years face a higher risk of HIV transmission to others if diagnosed late. Therefore, they require further attention and targeted interventions. Females are detected earlier compared to their male counterparts, regardless of region of residence. Rural populations are detected earlier in most years compared to their urban counterparts. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated HIV early detection in 2021 but most regions have returned to near pre-pandemic levels of detection in 2022 and 2023. These fluctuations in early detection may signify a shift in attention and resource allocation, potentially affecting efforts to address access gaps during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are significant health inequities among different demographic and geographic groups which warrant further attention.

This review explores the application of the conservative management model for pain to sports-related concussions (SRCs), framing concussions as a distinct form of pain syndrome with a pathophysiological foundation in central sensitization. Drawing parallels with proven pain management models, we underscore the significance of a proactive approach to concussion management. Recognizing concussions as a pain syndrome allows for the tailoring of interventions in alignment with conservative principles. This review first covers the epidemiology and controversies surrounding prolonged concussion recovery and persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS). Next, the pathophysiology of concussions is presented within the central sensitization framework, emphasizing the need for early intervention to mitigate the neuroplastic changes that lead to heightened pain sensitivity. Five components of the central sensitization process specific to concussion injuries are highlighted as targets for conservative interventions in the acute period: peripheral sensitization, cerebral metabolic dysfunction, neuroinflammation, glymphatic system dysfunction, and pain catastrophizing. These proactive interventions are emphasized as pivotal in accelerating concussion recovery and reducing the risk of prolonged symptoms and PPCS, in line with the philosophy of conservative management.

Snow-covered regions are the main source of reflection of incident shortwave radiation (ISR) on Earth’s surface. The deposition of light-absorbing particles (LAPs) on these regions increases the capacity of snow to absorb ISR and decreases surface snow albedo (SSA), which intensifies the radiative forcing leading to accelerated snowmelt and modifications of the hydrologic cycle. In this work we investigate changes in SSA and radiative forcing (RF) induced by LAPs in the Upper Aconcagua River Basin (Chilean central Andes) using remote sensing satellite data (MODIS), in-situ spectral SSA measurements, and the ISR (Chilean Solar Explorer platform) during the austral-winter months (May to August) for the 2004-2016 period. To estimate the changes in SSA and RF, we define two spectral ranges: i) an enclosed range (Ecr) between 841-876 nm, which isolates effects of Black-Carbon, an important LAP derived from anthropogenic activities, and ii) a broadband range (Bbr) between 300-2500 nm. Our results show that percent variations in SSA in the Ecr are higher than in the Bbr, regardless of the total amount of radiation received, which may be attributed to the presence of LAPs as these particles have a greater impact on SSA at wavelengths in the Ecr band than in the Bbr band.

Mesozoic-Palaeozoic marine carbonate rocks are important hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Central Uplift area of the South Yellow Sea Basin (SYSB). Due to the lack of boreholes and the great heterogeneity of carbonate reservoirs, the distribution of porous carbonate reservoirs and their related key controlling factors remain unclear. Based on seismic inversion and isotope analysis, this study explores the factors affecting the distribution of porous Carboniferous-Early Permian carbonate reservoirs in the SYSB. In this study, the log-seismic characteristics of porous carbonate reservoirs, sensitive lithology parameters, and physical property parameters are extracted and analyzed. The pre-stack simultaneous inversion technique is applied to predict the lithology properties and physical properties of the porous carbonate reservoirs. Moreover, the sedimentary of carbonate is analyzed using isotopes of carbon, oxygen, and strontium. The results indicate that porous carbonate reservoirs with porosities of 3%~5% mainly occur at the paleo-highland (Huanglong Formation and Chuanshan Formation) and the slope of paleo-highland (Hezhou Formation). The porous carbonate reservoirs of the Qixia Formation are only locally developed. In addition, the study area was dominated by a warm and humid tropical climate from the Carboniferous to Early Permian, with four sea-level eustatic fluctuation indicated by the negative and positive δ13C excursions. When the sea level fell, the study area was exposed and denuded, and the supply of terrigenous detrital was dominated, which significantly influenced the carbonate deposit and diagenesis. This study highlights that sedimentation was a key factor in controlling the quality of Carboniferous-Early Permian carbonate reservoirs. The methods proposed in this study can be used in other carbonate-dominated strata worldwide.

The genetic pool of valuable old ornamental cultivars and their in situ maintenance may be threated by climate change. Meanwhile, the ornamental plants like roses make up an important share of both gardens and urban green spaces, where they are particularly vulnerable to multistress growth conditions. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of changing climatic conditions on growth and flowering of 11 historic climber roses through long-term studies (2000-2017) conducted in Central Europe. The evaluation of plants consisted of assessment of frost damage and the timing of early phenological stages (starting of bud break, leaf unfolding) as well as gathering data on beginning, fullness and end of flowering and its abundance. Frost damage was not recorded in any year only in ‘Mme Plantier’, and did not occur for any cultivar after the winter in the years 2007, 2008, and 2014. Only a little damage to one-year shoots was recorded after the winter in the years 2015-2017. Frost damage to ‘Alberic Barbier’, ‘Albertine’, ‘Chaplin's Pink Climber’, ‘Orange Triumph clg’ and ‘Venusta Pendula’ led to pruning to ground level in every year excluding those listed above. Frost damage of once blooming roses limited their flowering; however, the many-year data-sets showed a trend for decreased frost damage and improved abundance of flowering, and these results can be interpreted as a response to the increase of average air temperature. The timing of bud breaking and leaf development in all climber roses was strictly correlated with average air temperature in the dormancy period. The reactions of climber roses to weather conditions confirmed the influence of climatic changes on ornamental crop plants in Central Europe, introducing the potential possibility for the wider application of climber roses, but without certainty of flowering every year.

Mercury has a strong environmental impact since both its organic and inorganic forms are toxic and it represents a pollutant of global concern. Liquid Hg is highly volatile and it can be released during natural and anthropogenic processes in the hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere. In this study the distribution of Gaseous Elemental Mercury (GEM) and the total and leached mercury concentrations on paints, plasters, roof tiles, concretes, metals, dust and wood structures were determined in the main buildings and structures of the former Hg-mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Siena, Central Italy). The mining complex (divided into 7 units) covers a surface of about 65 ha and contains mining structures and managers and workers buildings. In this work, nine surveys of GEM measurements were carried out from July 2011 to August 2015 for the buildings and structures located in the units 2, 3 and 6. Moreover, detailed measurements were performed in February, April, July, September and December 2016 in the edifices and mining structures of Unit 6. GEM concentrations showed a strong variability in terms of space and time mostly depending on the distance from the building hosting driers, furnaces and condensers and ambient temperature, respectively. In the Unit 2 surveys carried out in the hotter period (from June to September) showed GEM concentrations up to 27,500 ng m⁻³, while in the Unit 6 they were on average much higher and occasionally they saturated the GEM measurement device (>50,000 ng m⁻³). Concentrations of total (in mg kg⁻¹) and leached (in μg L⁻¹) mercury measured in different building materials (up to 46,580 mg kg⁻¹ and 4,470 mg L⁻¹ for total and leached mercury, respectively) showed for the same type of material highly variable values in dependence on the edifice or mining structure from which they were collected. The results obtained in this study are of relevant interest for the operational cleanings to be carried out during the reclamation activities.

The research on the impact of excavation of underpass tunnels has already had certain results, but there is a lack of research cases of double-line highway tunnels with oblique angles underpass the existing railway tunnels, especially the method of determining the area of the impact of the dynamic and static loads of the new tunnels and existing trains to be enriched by considering them at the same time. In this paper, based on the tunnel project of the new double-line Shiqian Highway Tunnel with oblique angles underpass the Hurong Railway in Wanshoushan. By constructing a three-dimensional finite element model and simulating the application of static tunnel excavation load, dynamic blasting load and dynamic train operation load of the existing tunnel, the overall displacement of the existing tunnel and the settlement value of the bottom plate of the track surface by the static tunnel excavation load were analyzed. Then, the stresses, vibration speeds and displacements of the tunnel due to the dynamic blasting loads and the dynamic train operation loads were obtained. The results show that: the area of influence of the static loads of the new tunnel excavation on the existing tunnel is divided into three types of perturbations presenting strong, weak and slight; the area affected by the blasting dynamic load of new tunnel excavation is a circular domain with the datum point in the tunnel section as the center; the area affected by the dynamic load of train operation in the existing tunnel is an ellipse with the center of the track surface of the existing tunnel as the datum; there is an anomalous shape in the area affected by the blasting dynamic load of new tunnel excavation and the area affected by the dynamic load of train operation in the existing tunnel.

Simple weir irrigation was recently introduced in rural areas of Zambia. This irrigation technique is based on gravity diversion of the river flow using simple weirs. This study was conducted between November 2022 to January 2023 in 3 northern region provinces (Luapula, Copperbelt, and North-western) of Zambia to perform a diagnostic assessment on simple weirs during the dry and the wet seasons. In this study, 15 single-line simple weirs were selected. The objective of the study is to assess the physical status, identify problems and extent, and estimate water diversion potential by each single-line weir. The findings of this study showed that 67% of weirs were in excellent status (recently maintained and repaired), and 26% of the weirs were partially damaged (leakages, decayed thatch grass). The study revealed that single-line weirs were able to raise a flood height of 0.1m at low flow and 0.5m at medium flow. It was found that single-line weirs in excellent condition diverted more than 90% of the river flow while poorly maintained weirs diverted below 45% of the river discharge. Based on the findings, Single-line weirs have the potential to assist small-scale farmers in accessing river water for irrigation purposes through diversion.

: This study aims at examining how B Corporations advance Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their practices by analyzing the socioenvironmental problems they address and the solutions they provide to those problems. All Argentinian B corporations, certified by early 2023 (135 companies), were investigated using a mixed approach, combining social network analysis with textual data analysis. The results showed that the environmental practices are primarily linked to waste, water, energy and chemical management, as well as product innovation. In turn, the social practices address the training, education, and well-being of employees and other stakeholders, diversity, equity and inclusion management, and the creation of an inclusive and fair environment, integrating local communities. Thus, in the flow of their sustainability practices, Argentinian B Corporations contribute to SDGs 8, 12, 13, 9, 6, 7, 5, 10, 11, 4, and 17, in line with the SDGs declared by these companies. Our findings contribute to the theoretical knowledge of the B Corp movement and have practical implications by providing inputs to improve the management of B Corporations and to guide public policies encouraging these companies to advance sustainable development dimensions lacking attention.

A unified critical state model has been developed for both clean sand and silty sand using the modified Cam-clay model (MCC). The main feature of the proposed model is a new critical state line equation in the e-ln(p) plane that is capable of handling both straight and curved test results. With this feature, the error in calculating plastic volumetric strain is eliminated in theory. Another crucial feature of the model is the transformed stress tensor based on the SMP (spatially mobilized plane) criterion, which takes into account the proper shear yield and failure of soil under three-dimensional stresses. Additionally, the proposed model applies the intergranular void ratio with the fines influence factor for silty sand. Only eight soil parameters are required for clean sand, and a total number of twelve soil parameters are needed for silty sand.

This work communicates cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) of methylidyne (CH) in a chemiluminescent plasma that is produced in a microwave cavity. Of interest are the rotational lines of the 0-0 vibrational transition for the A-X band and the 1-0 vibrational transition for the B-X band. The reported investigations originate from CH-radical research in 1996 that constituted the first case of applying CRDS to the CH radical. The report also includes recent analysis that shows excellent agreement of measured and computed data, and it communicates CH line strength data.

Base on building information modeling(BIM) plus with Robotic process automation (RPA) technology is rapid development in smart building operations and maintenance (O&M). RPA is a workflow-based automated execution tool that is particularly well suited for replacing manual execution of simple and repetitive tasks using computer systems. The use of RPA technology can saves man-hours and increases productivity, which is important for the automation of building operations and maintenance operations.. The BIM technology, as an advanced technology in the construction industry, it can provide new ideas and methods for building operation and maintenance based on its visualization characteristics. That’s integrating RPA with BIM technology which will enhance the digitalization and virtualization of smart building operation and management. In this article will first introduce the features of RPA and BIM technology and then discuss the technical roadmap for remote automated operation and maintenance of smart building equipment room to implemention a low-cost and high efficient building equipment room operation and maintenance solution.

The Strawberry Line is a linear Local Nature Reserve extending along a dismantled railway corridor in North Somerset, England. The Reserve is cherished as a recreational resource by local communities and I am very fortunate to live beside it. During the COVID-19 lockdown of spring 2020, I decided to make use of my permissible daily exercise to record the distribution of breeding birds along my particular ‘patch’ of the Strawberry Line - the Vale of Winscombe section in the Mendip Hills. In describing the Reserve’s birdlife, I hope that I can provide an added layer of interest for locals and visitors, which might help in these difficult times deliver an enhanced dose of ‘Nature’s Fix’ and perhaps also shine a light towards a greater appreciation and connection with the natural world.

This paper presents a compact on-chip antenna architecture for 5G body centric networks (BCNs) applications. A dual meander line (DML) integrated antenna consists of two stacked layers of two turns of meander lines and a ground metal layer. The DML structure decreases the resonant frequency, increases tuning bands and broadens the operating bandwidth to be a suitable choice for high data rate biomedical applications. The antenna’s performance is evaluated in both scenarios inside and outside the human body. The proposed antenna is fabricated using UMC180 nm CMOS technology with a total area of 1150µm×200µm, and operates at bands 22 GHz, 34 GHz, 44 GHz and 58 GHz with an operating bandwidth up to 2 GHz at impedance bandwidth ≤ 7.5 dB (VSWR≤2.5). The proposed antenna is simulated using high frequency structure simulator (HFSS) and shows good agreement between measured and simulated results.

Salinity is considered as one of the most important abiotic challenges that affect crop productivity. Plant hormones, including salicylic acid (SA), are key factors in the defence signalling output triggered during plant responses against environmental stresses. We have previously reported in peach a new SA biosynthetic pathway from mandelonitrile (MD), the molecule at the hub of the cyanogenic glucoside turnover in Prunus sp. In this work, we have studied whether this new SA biosynthetic pathway is also present in plum and the possible role this pathway plays in plant plasticity under salinity, focusing on the transgenic plum line J8-1, which displays stress tolerance via an enhanced antioxidant capacity. The SA biosynthesis from MD in non-transgenic and J8-1 micropropagated plum shoots was studied by metabolomics. Then the response of J8-1 to salt stress in presence of MD or Phe (MD precursor) was assayed by measuring: chlorophyll content and fluorescence parameters, stress related hormones, levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants, the expression of two genes coding redox-related proteins, and the content of soluble nutrients. The results from in vitro assays suggest that the SA synthesis from the MD pathway demonstrated in peach is not clearly present in plum, at least under in vitro conditions. Nevertheless, in J8-1 NaCl-stressed seedlings, an increase in SA was recorded as a result of the MD treatment, suggesting that MD could be involved in the SA biosynthesis under NaCl stress conditions in plum plants. We have also shown that the plum line J8-1 was tolerant to NaCl under greenhouse conditions, and this response was somewhat different in MD-treated plants. In that regards, the MD treatment produced an increase in SA, jasmonic acid (JA) and reduced ascorbate (ASC) contents as well as in the coefficient of non-photochemical quenching (qN) and the gene expression of Non-Expressor of Pathogenesis-Related 1 (NPR1) and thioredoxin H (TrxH) under salinity conditions, suggesting a crosstalk between different signalling pathways (NPR1/Trx and SA/JA) leading to salinity tolerance in the transgenic plum line J8-1.

Wind turbine plants are complex dynamic and uncertain processes driven by stochastic inputs and disturbances, as well as different loads represented by gyroscopic, centrifugal, and gravitational forces. Moreover, as their aerodynamic models are nonlinear, both modelling and control become challenging problems. On one hand, high-fidelity simulators should contain different parameters and variables in order to accurately describe the main dynamic system behaviour. Therefore, the development of modelling and control for wind turbine systems should consider these complexity aspects. On the other hand, these control solutions have to include the main wind turbine dynamic characteristics without becoming too complicated. The main point of this paper is thus to provide two practical examples of development of robust control strategies when applied to a simulated wind turbine plant. Experiments with the wind turbine simulator and the Monte–Carlo tools represent the instruments for assessing the robustness and reliability aspects of the developed control methodologies when the model-reality mismatch and measurement errors are also considered. Advantages and drawbacks of these regulation methods are also highlighted with respect to different control strategies via proper performance metrics.

Euler’s product formula over the primes and Euler’s zeta function equate to enshrine the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic that every integer > 1 is the product of a unique set of primes. The product formula has no zero, and with a domain ≤1 Euler’s zeta diverges. Dirichlet’s eta function η(s), negates alternate terms of zeta, permitting convergence when s∈C and Re(s) < 1, and its non-trivial zeros {ρ}, have a deep relationship with the distribution of the primes. The Riemann Hypothesis is that all the non-trivial zeros have Re(ρ) = 1/2. This work examines the symmetries in a partial Euler’s zeta series with a complex domain equating it to the difference between two finite vector series whose matched terms have mirror-image arguments, but whose magnitudes differ when Re(s) ≠ 1/2. Analytical continuation generates a modified eta series η_l(s), in which every l^th term is multiplied by (1-l). If the integer l is appropriately determined by the Im(s), similar paired finite vector series have a difference that closely follows η_l (s) and their terminal vectors intersect in a unique way permitting zeros only when Re(s) = 1/2. Furthermore, those vectors tracking the derivatives of the series, have a special relationship permitting zeros of the differential only when Re(s) > 1/2.

The integration of magnetic observatories of many countries into the Intermagnet network has provided researchers with new opportunities to investigate many geophysical processes. The joint processing of measurement evidence from magnetic observatories located in various geolocations makes it possible to better understand the dynamics of the interaction of solar plasma fluxes with the Earth's magnetosphere. For the correct interpretation of the dynamics of physical processes, the accuracy of the time reference of measurement results is of great importance. The measurement results of local observatories were transformed to a unified ecliptic coordinate system oriented towards the Sun in order to extract small variations in the magnetic field occurring before the magnetic storm commencement. Before transforming the coordinates, a constant component equal to the average daily value of the magnetic field components was removed from the results of minute-by-minute measurements. Owing to the averaging evidence from 84 magnetic observatories of the Intermagnet network, variations in the magnetic field of cosmic origin, preceding the magnetic storm commencement were detected. The correlation analysis of these variations recorded by different observatories revealed the presence of time shifts between the data series of different observatories. Only 62% of the observatories had a relative data shift within the range of ± 1 minute. Before the joint data processing in order to efficient use of data recorded with a time shift a method for correcting time shifts has proposed.

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is defined as a cellular process during which epithelial cells acquire mesenchymal phenotypes and behavior following the downregulation of epithelial features. EMT and its reversed process, the mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), and the special form of EMT, the endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EndMT), have been thought as a universal dogma controlling developmental and pathological processes. More than half a century of EMT study has made it a large research field and a mainstream concept. However, discrepancies and disputes over EMT and EMT research have also grown over time. Particularly, neither the epithelial and mesenchymal states/properties nor their regulatory networks nor specific markers have been defined, rendering the EMT, MET and EndMT concepts groundless. Moreover, EMT and MET effects should not be a cause, but rather a consequence of or an accompanying effect during developmental and pathological processes. EMT and MET represented by the change in cell shapes or adhesiveness or symbolized by EMT factors are biased interpretation of the overall change in cellular property and regulatory networks during development and cancer progression. The true meaning of EMT effects in some developmental and pathological processes, such as fibrosis, needs re-evaluation. But the core EMT factors are actually a few components of the regulatory networks of neural stemness, which determines tumorigenicity and pluripotency. The EMT effects in cancer progression and neural crest formation are wrong attribution of the role of neural stemness during cancer progression and the cell-intrinsic property of neural crest cells to the unknown mesenchymal state. It is time to reassess the significance of EMT and its related concepts in scientific research.

Neurologic disorders such as traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and drug-resistant epilepsy have a high socioeconomic impact around the world. Current therapies for these disorders are often not effective. This creates a demand for the development of new therapeutic approaches to treat these disorders. Recent data suggest that autoreactive naturally occurring immunoglobulins produced by subsets of B cells called B1 B cells combined with complement are actively involved in the processes of restoration of neuronal functions during pathological conditions and remyelination. The focus of this review is to discuss the possibility of creating specific therapeutic antibodies that can activate and fix complement to enhance neuronal survival and promote central nervous system repair after injuries associated with many types of neurodegenerative diseases.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common metabolic disease in humans, and its prevalence is increasing worldwide in parallel with the obesity pandemic. A lack of insulin or insulin resistance, and consequently hyperglycemia, leads to many systemic disorders, among which diabetic encephalopathy (DE) is a long-term complication of the central nervous system (CNS), characterized by cognitive impairment and motor dysfunctions. The role of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in the pathomechanism of DE has been proven. Fractalkine (CX3CL1) has unique properties as an adhesion molecule and chemoattractant, and by acting on its only receptor, CX3CR1, it regulates the activity of microglia in physiological states and neuroinflammation. Depending on the clinical context, CX3CL1-CX3CR1 signaling may have neuroprotective effects by inhibiting the inflammatory process in microglia or, conversely, maintaining/intensifying inflammation and neurotoxicity. This review discusses the evidence supporting that the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 pair is neuroprotective and other evidence that it is neurotoxic. Interrupting the vicious cycle within neuron-microglia interactions may be a therapeutic goal in DE by limiting the inflammatory response.

Grasping the spatial and temporal patterns of forest fires, along with the key factors that drive them and the ability to forecast such events accurately, is essential for the successful management of forests. In China's southern region, forest fires significantly endanger the ecological system, public safety, and economic well-being. Through the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and LightGBM (Light Gradient Boosting Machine) model, this study investigates the determinants of fire incidents and formulates a predictive model for forest fire occurrences, alongside a zoning strategy, within the Central-South area. The results indicate: (i) Spatially, fire points exhibit significant clustering and autocorrelation characteristics; (ii) The Central-South Forest Fire Prediction Model shows exceptional accuracy, reliability, and predictive power, with high performance metrics across training and validation sets, including over 85% accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 scores, along with AUC values above 89%, underscoring its efficacy in forecasting forest fires and distinguishing between fire events; (iii) Throughout the year, forest fire risks in the Central-South region of China vary by region and season, with risk spikes from March to May in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, and Hainan. From June to August, localized risks are observed in Heyuan and Huangshi, while from September to November, an increase in risk is noted in Guangdong (Meizhou, Heyuan, Shaoguan), Guangxi (Nanning, Hezhou, Yulin), and Hunan (Binzhou, Yongzhou, Hengyang) due to cooler, drier conditions and leaf litter accumulation. From December to February, the risk continues in specific areas across Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, and Hubei.

Breast cancer is the most common cause of mortality due to cancer for woman both in Lithuania and worldwide. Chances of survival after diagnosis differ significantly depending on the stage of disease at the time of diagnosis and other factors. One way to estimate survival is to construct a Kaplan-Meier estimate for each factor value separately. However, in cases when it is impossible to observe a large number of patients (for example, in case of countries with lower numbers of inhabitants) dividing data into subsets, say, by stage at diagnosis may lead to results where some subsets contain too little data so that results of Kaplan Meier (or any other) method will become statistically incredible. The problem may become even more acute if the researcher would like to use more risk factors, such as stage at diagnosis, sex, place of living, treatment method, etc. Alternatively, Cox models are used to analyse survival data with covariates, and they don’t require dividing the data into subsets according to chosen risks factors (hazards).

Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is a cardiomyopathy that presents clinically as a transient and reversible left ventricular wall motion abnormality (LVWMA) that can recover spontaneously within hours to weeks. Studies have shown that it mainly affects older people. Postmenopausal women in particular have an increased prevalence. Physical and emotional stress are widely discussed and generally recognized trigger factors. As age also appears to play a major role in the development of TTS, this review will take a closer look at age- and gender-specific aspects. First and foremost, postmenopausal women and the associated lower oestrogen concentration should be mentioned here. Another important role is played by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the associated glucocorticoid-dependent negative feedback and the resulting immune response. Inflammaging is another term that is increasingly used in connection with TTS. In the following, these risk factors are considered in more detail and linked to the increased sympathetic activity as a possible consequence of chronic stress. Based on the imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, we venture an explorative proposal and would like to present a new possible therapeutic approach.

This article provides a general overview of the bio-inspired computing method called DNA-Based Computing (DBC), including its theory and applications. The main theme of DBC is the central dogma of molecular biology (once information of DNA/RNA has got into a protein, it can’t get out again), i.e., DNA to RNA (sequences of four types of nucleotides) and DNA/RNA to protein (sequence of twenty types of amino acids) are allowed, not the reverse ones. Thus, DBC transfers few-element information (DNA/RAN-like) to many-element information (protein-like), solving a given cognitive problem. DBC can take many forms; this article elucidates two main forms, denoted as DBC-1 and DBC-2. Using arbitrary numerical examples, it is shown that DBC-1 can solve the following cognitive problems: “similarity indexing between seemingly different but inherently identical objects” and “recognizing regions of an image separated by a complex boundary.” DBC-2 can solve the following cognitive problem: “pattern recognition when the relevant information is insufficient.” Smart manufacturing-based systems (digital twins and big data analytics) must solve the abovementioned problems to make the manufacturing enablers (machine tools and monitoring systems) more self-reliant and autonomous. Consequently, DBC can improve the cognitive problem-solving ability of smart manufacturing-relevant systems and, thereby, can enhance its biologicalization.

Tunneled central venous catheters (CVC) are mainly considered as rescue vascular access option in dialysis but still used in about one quarter of prevalent patients worldwide as being associated with poor performances and higher risks. Study design. In this retrospective single-center study, we aimed to report on clinical performances achieved with high-flow tunneled CVC (DualCath, DCath) and compared it with arteriovenous accesses (AVAs; AV fistula, AV graft, Thomas Shunt) in a hospital-based dialysis unit. Methods. Sixty-eight stage 5 chronic kidney disease dialysis dependent patients (CKD5D) receiving high volume hemodiafiltration were followed-up for 30 months. The study consisted of two phases: baseline cross-sectional and longitudinal follow-up of key performance indicators. Clinical performances consisting of effective blood flow and blood volume, recirculation, urea and ionic Kt/V and total Kt, ultrafiltration volume and percent reduction of ß2-M were measured monthly as part of quality control in our unit. Results. At baseline, effective blood flow with DCath was close to 400 ml/min, similar to AVAs. Recirculation with DCath (7%, 6-13%) was higher than AVAs. Diffusive dialysis dose delivered with DCath (spKt and eKt/V) and convective dialysis dose achieved with DCath were slightly lower than AVAs, but still much higher than recommended by guidelines. Percent reduction of ß2-M achieved with DCath was also 4 to 10% lower than AVAs. On longitudinal follow-up, main clinical performance indicators of DCath (total Kt and total ultrafiltration volume, L/session) were maintained very stable over time and close to those achieved with AVAs. Conclusions. As shown in this study, high-flow DualCath tunneled two single lumen silicone catheters may be used to deliver high volume hemodiafiltration in a reliable and consistent manner without compromising clinical performances. These results rely from the specific design of the two silicone cannulas and the strict adherence to best catheter practices.

Background: The use of peripherally inserted central catheters and midline catheters is growing due to their potential benefits. These devices can increase patient safety and satisfaction while reducing the use of resources. As a result, many hospitals are establishing vascular access specialist teams staffed by nurses who are trained in the insertion and maintenance of these catheters. Objective: Evaluate ex-ante whether the benefits of replacing peripheral venous catheters, peripherally inserted central catheters and midline catheters with ultrasound-guided peripherally inserted central catheters and midline catheters by a vascular access specialist team outweigh their costs. Methods: Cost-benefit analysis from the perspective of the healthcare provider based on administrative data. The study estimates the reduction in resources used when replacing peripherally inserted central catheters, midline catheters and peripheral venous catheters with ultrasound-guided peripherally inserted central catheters and midlines, as well as the additional resources required for their use. Results: Each ultrasound-guided peripherally inserted central catheter replacing a peripherally inserted central catheter, results in a measurable resource reduction of approximately €31. When 3 peripheral venous catheters are replaced by an ultrasound-guided peripherally inserted central catheter, the saving is €63. Similarly, each ultrasound-guided midline catheter replacing a midline, results in a reduction of €16, while each ultrasound-guided midline catheter replacing 3 peripheral venous catheters results in a reduction of €96. Conclusion: The benefits of replacing peripheral venous catheters, peripherally inserted central catheters and midline catheters by introducing a vascular access specialist team trained in the implantation of ultrasound-guided peripherally inserted central catheters and midline catheters, outweigh its cost mainly because of the decrease in hospital stay due to the lowered risk of healthcare-associated infections. These results motivate the implementation of the service, adding to previous experience suggesting that it is also preferable from the point of view of patient safety and satisfaction.

In January and February 2001, El Salvador was hit by two strong earthquakes that triggered thousands of landslides, causing 1,259 fatalities and extensive damage. The analysis of aerial and SPOT-4 satellite images taken a few days after the events allowed us to map 6,491 coesismic landslides, which occurred in 14 study areas extending for about 400 km2. Four different Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) models were produced by using different covariate sets and landslide inventories, the latter containing the slope failures triggered by an extreme rainfall event of November 2009 and those induced by the earthquakes of 2001. Moreover, two validation scenarios were employed, including the 25% and 95% of the mapped landslides, respectively. The results of our experiment revealed that: (i) MARS algorithm provides reliable predictions of coesismic landslides; (ii) models calibrated with rainfall-induced landslides predict with acceptable accuracy landslides caused by deep earthquakes and distributed over vast areas; (iii) the best accuracy is achieved by models trained with both preparatory and trigger variables; (iv) a small portion of the landslides produced by an earthquake can be used to calibrate MARS predictive models that help to identify slopes where yet unreported landslides may have occurred.

Anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells represent a novel immunotherapy that has shown remarkable success in the treatment of adult relapsed or refractory (R/R) B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, adult R/R mantle cell lymphoma, and R/R acute paediatric lymphoblastic leukaemia. One barrier to the widespread use of CAR T-cell therapy is toxicity, primarily cytokine release syndrome (CRS) with a variable grade of severity. The main manifestations of CRS are fever, hypotension, cytopenia, organ dysfunction among others. Neurological toxicities vary widely and range from headaches to encephalopathy. In addition, anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy provokes an array of less frequent events, such as coagulopathies, delayed cytopenia, and cardiovascular toxicities. In general, toxicities are usually reversible and resolve on their own in most cases, though severe cases may require intensive care and immunosuppressive therapy. Deaths due to CRS, neurologic toxicity and infectious complications have been reported, which highlights the gravity of these syndromes and the critical nature of appropriate intervention. In this paper, we look at all available FDA- and EMA-approved information about the pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, risk factor reviews of existing toxicity grading systems, current management strategies, and guidelines for anti-CD19 CAR T-cell toxicities. We also present new approaches, which are under investigation, to mitigate these adverse events.

Extramammary Paget disease (EMPD) is an uncommon adenocarcinoma of apocrine gland-rich areas, presenting significant diagnostic challenges due to its nonspecific clinical appearance and frequent misidentification as benign, inflammatory skin conditions. Traditional diagnostic methods such as biopsy are invasive and uncomfortable, often required repeatedly due to high recurrence rates. Dermoscopy and non-invasive imaging techniques have been used but provide limited diagnostic accuracy due to their constraints in depth penetration and resolution. Recent advancements in imaging technologies, such as line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT), show promise in enhancing diagnostic precision while minimizing invasive procedures. LC-OCT merges high-resolution imaging with deep penetration capabilities, capturing detailed horizontal and vertical skin images akin to histopathology. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of LC-OCT in detecting EMPD and its recurrence in 17 clinically suspicious anogenital regions, belonging to 6 patients. Data were collected prospectively at patient bedside by an LC-OCT expert with poor training for EMPD; and, then, reviewed retrospectively by an independent LC-OCT expert with adequate training for EMPD and no concerns about time. The prospective examination yielded 64.7%-accuracy, 71.4%-sensitivity, and 33.3%-specificity. The retrospective analysis achieved 94.1%-accuracy, 100%-sensitivity, and 66.7%-specificity, with the only false positive case being a difficult-to-diagnose concomitant presentation of a lichen sclerosus et atrophicus. Despite the need for specialized training, our results suggest that LC-OCT represents a valuable tool for accurately identifying EMPD and improve its management by reducing unnecessary biopsies. Further studies are needed to standardize its clinical application.

This article presents a buck converter in which the inductor has been replaced by a transmission line. This approach would be practically conceivable if the power supply and load have a greater spatial distance. In the time domain, this new converter can be described by a system of coupled partial and ordinary differential equations. In the frequency domain, a transcendental transfer function is obtained. For comparison with an equivalently parameterized conventional converter, Padé approximants are derived. A linear controller is designed for the converter topology under consideration.

Quantum cryptography revolutionizes secure information transfer, providing defense against both quantum and classical computational attacks. The primary challenge in extending the reach of quantum communication comes from the exponential decay of signals over long distances. Addressing this challenge, we have developed Quantum-protected Control-based Key Distribution (QCKD), overcoming transmission range limitations by monitoring signal leakages and rendering leaked quantum states significantly non-orthogonal. This paper reports on the experiments with the QCKD, conducted over a 1,707 km fiber line. We demonstrate advancements in critical components of the protocol, showing its remarkable scalability and adaptability for extended distances and multi-user configurations.

We propose a method for creating parallel Bessel-like vortical optical needles with an arbitrary axial intensity distribution via superposition of different cone-angle Bessel vortices. We analyze the interplay between the separation of individual optical vortical needles and their respective lengths and introduce a super-Gaussian function as their axial profile. We also analyze the physical limitations to observe well-separated optic needles, as they are influenced by mutual interference of the individual beams. To verify our theoretical and numerical results, we generate controllable spatial arrays of individual Bessel beams with various numbers and spatial separations by altering the spectrum of the incoming laser beam via the spatial light modulator. We demonstrate experimentally how to implement such beams using a diffractive mask. The presented method facilitates the creation of diverse spatial intensity distributions in three dimensions, potentially finding applications in specific microfabrication tasks or other contexts. These beams may have benefits in laser material processing applications such as nanochannel machining, glass via production, modification of glass refractive indices, and glass dicing.

Control of canine infections with Leishmania infantum (L. infantum), a major zoonotic disease in Brazil and southern Europe is becoming increasingly important due to their close proximity to humans, the increasing import of dogs from endemic regions and impact of climate change on vector spreading. Simple, rapid and reliable diagnostic tests are therefore needed to detect infected dogs. Here, we re-evaluated different serological methods for the diagnosis of canine leishmaniosis (CanL) in Croatia and Brazil. The diagnostic performance of the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and the VetLine® Leishmania ELISA was compared with three rKLi8.3 based diagnostic test systems, the rKLi8.3 ELISA, the INgezim® Leishma CROM lateral flow test (LFT) and the VetBlot® Leishmania LineBlot. CanL symptomatic dogs were efficiently diagnosed by all tests, except the VetLine® Leishmania ELISA, which is based on whole Leishmania antigens. The advantage of rKLi8.3 was also observed in oligo-and asymptomatic dogs from Brazil and Croatia, although with reduced diagnostic efficiency compared to symptomatic dogs. Similar to IFAT and rKLi8.3 ELISA, the LFT did not cross-react with other common canine pathogens, showed a very high specificity for healthy dogs from endemic regions of both countries and did not react with healthy, vaccinated dogs in Brazil. In conclusion, sero-diagnostic tests based on the rKLi8.3 antigens are superior to whole parasite antigens and the LFT has the advantage of providing a laboratory independent, rapid and specific diagnosis of CanL.

In the face of climate change, bringing more useful alleles and genes from wild relatives of wheat is crucial to develop climate-resilience varieties. We used two populations of backcrossed recombinant inbred lines (BIL1 and BIL2), developed using two intra-specifically diverse Aegilops tauschii accessions from lineage 1 and lineage 2, respectively, and backcrossing to common wheat cultivar ‘Norin 61’. The study aimed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with heat stress (HS) tolerance. The two BILs were evaluated under heat stress environments in Sudan for phenology, plant height (PH), grain yield (GY), biomass (BIO), harvest index (HI), and thousand kernel weight (TKW). Grain yield was significantly correlated with BIO and TKW under HS; therefore, stress tolerance index (STI) was calculated for these traits as well as for GY. A total of 16 heat tolerant lines were identified based on GY and STI-GY. The QTL analysis performed using inclusive composite interval mapping identified a total of 40 QTLs in BIL1 and 153 QTLs in BIL2 across all environments. We detected 39 QTLs associated with GY-STI, BIO-STI, and TKW-STI in both populations (14 in BIL1 and 25 in BIL2). The QTL associated with STI were detected on chromosomes 1A, 3A, 5A, 2B, 4B, and all the D-subgenomes. We found that QTL detected only under HS for GY on chromosome 5A, TKW on 3B and 5B, PH on 3B and 4B, and grain filling duration on 2B. The higher number of QTLs identified in BIL2 for heat stress tolerance suggests the importance of assessing the effects of intraspecific variation of Ae. tauschii in wheat breeding as it could modulate the heat stress responses/adaptation. Our study provides useful genetic resources for uncovering heat-tolerant QTLs for wheat improvement for heat stress environments.

Neutral beam injection (NBI) is used for thermonuclear plasma heating, non-inductive current drive, rotation, operation scenario control, and for plasma diagnostics in nuclear fusion devices. NBI is the main source of fast particles in plasma which transmit energy to thermal plasma during their slow-down. Steady-state tokamak operation is only possible when the sub-thermal particles energy is absorbed and effectively confined in plasma volume. While NBI purposes and applications vary through different fusion systems, the engineering tasks performed during research and development (R&D) stage of neutral beamline design have much in common. The NBI studies, especially addressing long pulse and high-power operation typically include a beam transmission analysis and power loads distribution at the structural components of the beamline. Thermo-structural analysis is applied next to heat removal circuits design. ‘Beam Transmission’ (BTR) code is a dedicated tool, developed by a physicist and used by NBI physicists and engineers. BTR was created and 1^st applied during R&D phase of the world’s largest tokamak ITER. BTR code is intended for public usage and routinely applied for detailed simulations of neutral beam propagation through complex beamlines. BTR is flexible and intuitive in input, user-friendly and fully interactive. Thanks to visualization and high performance BTR looks and feels like a real NB flight simulator. Despite BTR ‘mature’ age, the code is still in evolution. Support is available to all new BTR users.

The use of unmanned aerial aircrafts (UAVs) is governed by strict regulatory frameworks that prioritize safety. To guarantee safety, it is necessary to acquire and maintain situational awareness (SA) throughout the operation. Existing Canadian regulations require pilots to operate their aircrafts in visual line-of-sight. Therefore, the task of acquiring and maintaining SA primary falls to the pilots. However, the development of aerial transport is entering a new era with the adoption of a highly dynamic and complex system known as advanced air mobility (AAM), which involves UAV operating autonomously beyond visual line-of-sight. SA must therefore be acquired and maintained primarily by each UAV through specific technologies and procedures. In this paper, we review these technologies and procedures in order to decompose the SA of the UAV in the AAM. We then use the system modeling language to provide a high-level structural and behavioral representation of the AAM as a system having UAV as its main entity. In a case study, we analyze one of the flagships UAVs of our industrial partner. Results show that this UAV doesn’t have all the technologies and methodologies necessary to achieve all the identified SA goals identified for the safety of the AAM. This work is a theoretical framework intended to contribute to the realization of the AAM, and we also expect to impact the future design and utilization of UAVs.

Background: Cancer patients require cross-professional care during the diagnosis and treatment periods. Therefore, methods for effectively carrying out case management are essential to tumor care. Purpose: To investigate the effects of using the community software LINE Official Ac-count on oral cancer case management. Methods: An experimental design was used; 100 patients were randomly divided into two groups by using a computer-generated random number table. The experimental group used LINE Official Account, which gave them self-care information, timely messages, and one-on-one health-care consultations. The control group followed standard healthcare practices. Results: The experimental group was satisfied with the self-care information provided by LINE Official Account (86.9%), patients regularly checked the self-care information (89.4%) and would check the information when receiving a push notification (54.3%). Ten patients used the one-on-one consultation(20.0%). LINE Official Account had a significant effect on the rate of participation in support groups. Generalized estimating equations indicated a significant difference between the two groups regarding the overall quality of life over 7 days (P = 0.023). Conclusion: Community software applications used in oncological case management can improve self-management and empower, also enable tracking of long-term follow-up effectiveness and reinforce the case manager’s role as a family therapist. Therefore, this study recommends that case manager systems be incorporated into mobile applications to increase the sustainable management, accessibility, effectiveness, and satisfaction of oncological management systems. This study also provides the value of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with Good Health and Well-being, and decreased social withdrawal among patients with oral cancer.

The final assembly of appliances and automotive industries is a rigorous process, that has limited capabilities of full traceability associated with: (1) the parts installed, (2) their fabrication processes, and (3) the assembly work. This is also the case for each of its sub-assemblies The many parts and sub-assemblies that compose the final assembly, make full traceability a challenging fit, that is almost unsurmountable. Such full traceability along the entire supply-chain is not existent today and must be based on documentation of most assembled parts, assembly tasks, and inspection tasks that compose the full assembled product. In addition, security measures are needed to prevent hostile hacking and unauthorized approach to the assembly documentation throughout the entire supply chain. The related documentation and repeated verifications require considerable effort and have many chances for human errors. So, automating these processes has a great value. This article expounds a framework that harnesses block-chain and smart-contract technology to offer traceable and protected documentation of the assembly process. We expand the concept of a Bill-Of-Assembly (BOA) to incorporate data from the bill of materials (BOM), the associated assembly activities, the associated activities’ specification parameters and materials, and the associated assembly resources (machines and/or operators). The paper defines the operation of the BOA with blockchain and smart-contract technology, for attaining full traceability, safety, and security, for the entire assembled product. Future research could extend the proposed approach to facilitate the usage of the BOA data structure in constructing a digital twin of the entire simulated system.

A triangular lattice model for pattern formation by core-shell particles at fluid interfaces is introduced and studied for the particle to core diameter ratio equal to 3. Repulsion for overlapping shells and attraction at larger distances due to capillary forces are assumed. Ground states and thermodynamic properties are determined analytically and by Monte Carlo simulations for soft outer- and stiffer inner shells, with different decay rates of the interparticle repulsion. We find that thermodynamic properties are qualitatively the same for slow and for fast decay of the repulsive potential, but the ordered phases are stable for temperature range depending strongly on the shape of the repulsive potential. More importantly, there are two types of patterns formed for fixed chemical potential - one for a slow and another one for a fast decay of the repulsion at small distances. In the first case two different patterns - for example clusters or stripes - occur with the same probability for some range of the chemical potential. For fixed concentration, an interface is formed between two ordered phases with the closest concentration, and the surface tension takes the same value for all stable interfaces. In the case of degeneracy, a stable interface cannot be formed for one out of four combinations of the coexisting phases, because of a larger surface tension. Our results show that by tuning the architecture of a thick polymeric shell, many different patterns can be obtained for sufficiently low temperature.

Breast cancer treatment mostly revolved around radiation therapy and surgical interventions, these treatments doesn’t provide satisfactory relief to the patients and carry unmanageable side-effects. Nanomaterials show promising results in treating cancer cells and have many advantages such as high biocompatibility, bioavailability and effective therapeutic capabilities. Interestingly, fluorescent magnetic nanoparticles have been used in many biological and diagnostic applications, but there is no report of use of fluorescent magnetic submicronic polymer nanoparticles (FMSP-nanoparticles) in the treatment of human breast cancer cells. In the present study, we have tested the effect FMSP-nanoparticles on human breast cancer cells (MCF-7). We have tested different concentrations (1.25µg/1mL, 12.5µg/mL and 50µg/1mL) of FMSP-nanoparticles in MCF-7 cells and evaluated the nanoparticles response morphometrically. Our results revealed that FMSP-nanoparticles produced a concentration dependent effect on the cancer cells, dose of 1.25µg/mL produced no significant effect on the cancer cell morphology and cell death, whereas dosages of 12.5µg/mL and 50µg/mL respectively showed significant nuclear augmentation, disintegration, chromatic condensation followed by dose dependent cell death. Our results demonstrate FMSP-nanoparticles have ability to induce cell death in MCF-7 cells and may be considered as a potential anti-cancer agent for breast cancer treatments.

The poly lactic acid (PLA) is one of the most used bio-derived thermoplastic polymers in 3D and 4D printing applications. The determination of PLA surface properties is of capital importance in 3D/4D printing technology. (1) Background: The surface thermodynamic properties of PLA polymer were determined by using the inverse gas chromatography (IGC) technique at infinite dilution. The determination of the retention volume of polar and non-polar molecules adsorbed on the PLA particles filling the column allowed us to obtain the dispersive, polar, and Lewis’s acid-base surface properties at different temperatures from 40 °C to 100 °C. (2) Methods: the applied surface method was based on our recent model that used the London dispersion equation and the new chromatographic parameter function of the deformation polarizability and the harmonic mean of the ionization energies of the PLA polymer and organic molecules. (3) Results: The application of this new method led to the determination of the dispersive and polar free surface energy of adsorption of molecules on the polymeric material, as well as the glass transition and the Lewis acid-base constants. (4) Conclusions: four interval temperatures were distinguished showing four zones of the variations of the surface properties of PLA as a function of the temperature before and after the glass transition.

Credit rationing, especially prevalent for smaller firms, impedes economic growth. A Central Bank aligned “not for profit” managed business to business “Stable-Coin” (“Synthetic Central Bank Digital Currency”) providing trade debt liquidity can lower small firm credit rationing. It raises growth by reducing monetary transmission imperfections consequent upon asymmetric information, commercial bank underwriting restrictions, market power dynamics and regulatory distortion. A simple framework is developed to contextualise small firm credit rationing and associated monetary transmission imperfections with broader credit flows into both the real and monetary sectors. Evidence is presented regarding US monetary transmission efficacy to firms, paving the way to proposing a trade debt business to business focused stable-coin to help close credit rationing gaps. Designed to minimise “moral hazard”, the proposed stable-coin provides an additional monetary transmission channel that supplies interest free trade debt funding to firms to support economic activity and raise growth. In addition to helping close the small firm financing gap, the stable-coin provides policy makers with an additional contra-cyclical monetary transmission instrument to minimise real economic disruption consequent upon financial system crises and liquidity events.

The VEMoS AXL system is a new optical biometer based on spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) that has been tested in terms of intrasession repeatability and compared with a swept-source optical coherence tomography biometer (SS-OCT), which is considered the gold standard, for an agreement analysis. A biometric analysis was performed three consecutive times in 120 healthy eyes of 120 patients aged between 18 and 40 years with the SD-OCT system and afterwards a single measurement was obtained with the SS-OCT system. Within-subject standard deviations were 0.004 mm, 4.394 µm and 0.017 mm for axial length (AL), central corneal thickness (CCT), and anterior chamber depth (ACD) measures obtained with the SD-OCT biometer, re-spectively. The agreement between devices was good for AL (Limits of agreement, LoA: -0.04 to 0.03 mm) and CCT (LoA: -4.36 to 14.38 µm), whereas differences between devices were clinically relevant for ACD (LoA: 0.03 to 0.21 mm). In conclusion, the VEMoS AXL system provides consistent measures of anatomical parameters, being most of them interchangeable with those provided by the SS-OCT-based gold standard.

Non-ulcerated cutaneous leishmaniasis (NUCL) is an atypical and peculiar clinical form of the disease that was first described by Ponce et al. (1988) in Honduras (Central America), where iso-lated or disseminated popular and/or nodular skin lesions are commonly seen in adolescents and young adults. Leishmania (L.) chagasi was then incriminated as the causal agent of the disease, as well as of American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL), although NUCL has been shown to be more prevalent than AVL in the region. Considering, however, the dubious taxonomic character of the causal agent of NUCL, as there is no evidence of this form of disease associated with L. (L.) cha-gasi in South America, this study aimed to carry out a retrospective taxonomic analysis on a se-ries of studies on the diagnostic approach to the Honduran parasite in loco (El Tigre island, Amapala municipality, west coast of Honduras), where taxonomic characters of a biological (in vitro and in vivo), epidemiological (vector and canine reservoir), clinical-immunological (im-munopathological features of in situ skin lesion and systemic infection) and molecular (ge-nomic/phylogenetic analyses) nature were considered. The findings, particularly those of mo-lecular nature, such as: the Honduran parasite showed to be more ancestral (molecular clock analysis of the DNA polymerase alpha subunit gene) than all viscerotropic ones [L. (L.) chagasi, L. (L.) donovani and L. (L.) infantum], as well as presenting an absolutely unprecedented structural variation on chromosome 17 and the highest frequency of genomic SNPs (more than twice the number seen in the Brazilian parasite), in addition to representing a different phylogenetic lin-eage (mainly in the NJ - RNA Pol II tree) from those viscerotropic ones, have pointed to the characterization of a new leishmanine parasite, Leishmania (Leishmania) poncei n. sp. (Kinetoplas-tea: Trypanosomatidae), in honor of Professor Ponce, who was the first researcher to describe NUCL in Honduras.

Truffles are ascomycete hypogeous fungi belonging to the Tuberaceae family of the Pezizales order that grow in ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with tree roots and are known for their peculiar aromas and flavors. Axenic culture of truffle mycelium is problematic because it is not possible in many cases, and the growth rate is meager when it is possible. This limitation prompts searching and characterizing new strains that can be handled in laboratory conditions for basic and applied studies. In this work, a new strain of Tuber borchii (strain SP1) has been isolated and cultured, and its transcriptome has been analyzed under different in vitro culture conditions. The results show that the best T. borchii SP1 growth was obtained using maltose-enriched cultures made with soft-agar and in static submerged cultures made at 22ºC. The transcriptome analysis of this strain cultured in different media indicated that most of the gene transcription effort is due to a limited number of genes (20% of genes account for 80% of the transcription), that the transcription profile of the central metabolism genes was similar in the different conditions analyzed with a transcription signal detected for around 80% of the annotated genes. The gene expression profile suggests that T. borchii uses a fermentative rather than respiratory metabolism, even in aerobic conditions. Finally, there is a reduced expression of genes belonging to secondary metabolite clusters, whereas there is a significative transcription of those involved in producing volatile aromatic compounds.

Underwater natural gas pipelines constitute critical infrastructure for energy transportation. Any damage or leakage in these pipelines poses serious security risks, directly threatening marine and lake ecosystems and potentially causing operational issues and economic losses in the energy supply chain. Due to the difficulty in detecting deterioration over time and regularly inspecting these submerged pipelines by divers, the use of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) becomes crucial in this field. In this study, an underwater pipeline tracking experiment was carried out by providing autonomous features to a remote-controlled unmanned underwater vehicle. During the tracking of the underwater pipeline, damages were identified, and the locations of these damages were determined. The navigation information of the underwater vehicle, including orientation in the x, y, z axes (roll, pitch, yaw) from a gyroscope integrated with magnetic compass, speed and position information in the three axes from an accelerometer, and the distance to the water surface from a pressure sensor, was integrated into the vehicle. Pre-tests determined the necessary pulse width modulation values for the thrusters of the vehicle, enabling autonomous operation by providing these values as input to the thruster motors. In this study, the vehicle moves in 3D was achived by the vertical thruster of the vehicle was activated to maintain a specific depth, and applying equal force to the vehicle’s right and left thrusters forward movement, while differential force induced deviation angles. In pool experiments, the unmanned underwater vehicle autonomously tracked the pipeline as intended, identifying damages on the pipeline using images captured by the vehicle's camera. The images for damage assessment were processed using a convolution neural network (CNN) algorithm, which is a deep learning method. The position of the damage relative to the vehicle was estimated from the pixel dimensions of the identified damage. The location of the damage relative to its starting point was obtained by combining these two positional pieces of information from the vehicle's navigation system. The all study was performed within the Python environment.

When a grid-forming (GFM) inverter is connected to a low or medium voltage weak power grid, the line impedance with resistive-inductive characteristics will cause power coupling. Typical GFM decoupling control strategies are designed under nominal line impedance parameters. However, there are deviations between the nominal line impedance and actual parameters, resulting in poor decoupling effects. Aiming at this problem, this paper proposes a power decoupling strategy based on a reduced-order extended state observer (ESO). Firstly, the power dynamic model of GFM is established based on the dynamic phasor method. Then, the model deviation and power coupling due to line impedance parameter perturbation are estimated as internal disturbances of the system, and the disturbances are compensated on the basis of typical power control strategy and virtual impedance decoupling. Good decoupling performance is obtained under different impedance parameters, improving the control strategy's robustness. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the results of RT Box hardware-in-the-loop experiments.

Laser scanning 3D imaging technology, because it can get accurate three-dimensional surface data, has been widely used in the search for wrecks and rescue operations, underwater resource development, and other fields. At present, the conventional underwater rotating laser scanning imaging system maintains a relatively fixed light window. However, in low-light situations underwater, the rotation of the scanning device causes some degree of water fluctuation, which warps the light strip data that the system sensor receives about the object's surface. To solve the problem, this research studies an underwater 3D scanning and imaging system that makes use of a fixed-light window and a spinning laser (FWLS). A refraction error compensation algorithm is investigated that is based on the fundamentals of linear laser scanning imaging and the dynamic refraction mathematical model is established by the motion of the imaging device. During the imaging process, the incident angle between the laser and the light window varies due to the scanning mode of the system. The experimental results show that the reconstruction radius error is reduced by 60% (from 2.5 mm to about 1 mm) when the measurement data for a standard sphere with a radius of 20 mm are compensated. Moreover, the compensated point cloud data exhibits a higher degree of correspondence with the model of the standard spherical point cloud. This study has a specific reference value for the refractive error analysis of an underwater laser scanning imaging system, and it provides certain research ideas for the subsequent refractive error analysis of various scanning imaging modalities.

Document deskewing is a fundamental problem in document image processing. While existing methods have limitations, such as Hough Line Transformation that can deskew images upside down, and Deep Learning models that require huge amounts of human labour and computational resources and still fail to deskew while taking care of orientation, OCR-based methods also struggle to read text when it is tilted. In this paper, we propose a novel, simple, cost-effective deep learning method for fixing the skew and orientation of documents. Our approach reduces the search space for the machine learning model to predict whether an image is upside down or not, avoiding the huge search space of predicting an angle between 0 and 360. We finetuned a MobileNetV2 model, which was pre-trained on imagenet, using only 200 images and achieve good results. This method is useful for automation-based tasks, such as data extraction using OCR technology, and can greatly reduce manual labour.

OBJECTIVE A quality improvement study to assess catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rate post-implementation of a bladder catheter with integrated active drain line urine clearance and automated intra-abdominal pressure monitoring in a burn intensive care unit (ICU). DESIGN Eight-year retrospective before and after study (2015–2022). SETTING A single American Burn Association verified Burn Center with fourteen inpatient beds. PATIENTS Patients meeting criteria for admission to a Burn Center METHODS Retrospective cohort study following the implementation of a novel urine output monitoring system with integrated drain line and urine clearance. Data from a 48-month (from January 2015-December 2018) historical control (period 1) were compared to data from a 28-month (from January 2020 to April 2022) post-implementation period (period 2). Pre- and post-implementation CAUTI event incidences were compared. Charts were reviewed to characterize the patients. RESULTS A total of 42 CAUTIs in 2243 patients were identified using the National Health and Safety Network (NHSN) definition during the analyzed period. There were 40 CAUTI events in period 1 and two CAUTIs in period 2. The incidence of CAUTI events pre-implementation was 0.030 (mean of 10 CAUTI events per year) compared to 0.002 (mean of 1 CAUTI event per year) post-implementation of an automatic drain line clearing UO monitoring system showing a significant reduction in CAUTI events (P<0.01, risk ratio novel vs. gravity bladder catheter 0.071, 95% confidence interval: 0.017-0.294). CONCLUSIONS CAUTIs were reduced in the period following the implementation of a novel urinary catheter system with an integrated active drain line and urine clearance in burn patients.

Integrating triple bottom line (TBL) goals into supply chains (SCs) is a challenging task which necessitates the careful coordination of numerous stakeholders’ individual interests. Recent technological advancements can impact TBL sustainability by changing the design, structure and management of modern SCs. Blockchain technology enables immutable data records and facilitates a shared data view along the supply chain. The Physical Internet (PI) is an overarching framework that can be applied to create a layered and comprehensive view of the SC. In this conceptual paper I define and combine these technologies and derive several high-level research areas and research questions to investigate adoption, management as well as structural SC issues. I suggest a theory-based research agenda for the years to come that exploits the strengths of rigorous academic research, while remaining relevant for the industry. Furthermore, I suggest various well-established theories to tackle the respective research questions and provide specific directions for future research.

This research explores the predictive capabilities of autonomous driving systems by integrating human factor considerations within the context of safety-critical events. Recognizing the significance of human behaviors in influencing driving dynamics, the study employs advanced modeling techniques to enhance the accuracy of predictions in scenarios that demand heightened safety measures. Traditional rule-based systems and monotonic logic often fall short in addressing the complexities of safety-critical events. To overcome these limitations, the research proposes the application of non-monotonic logic, allowing for flexible and adaptive reasoning that accommodates exceptions and context-specific information.The study emphasizes the importance of incorporating individual differences among drivers, such as risk-taking tendencies, reaction times, decision-making processes, and driving styles. By considering these human factors, the research aims to develop realistic and accurate autonomous driving models that capture the nuances of real-world driving scenarios, especially in safety-critical situations. The predictive model takes into account both internal and external factors, enabling the autonomous system to anticipate and respond effectively to unforeseen events.The primary goal is to provide autonomous vehicles with the capability to make plausible inferences, handle conflicting data, and adapt their behavior in real-time during safety-critical events. The proposed model integrates personalized cognitive agents for each driver, incorporating their unique preferences, characteristics, and needs. This personalized approach aims to optimize the safety and efficiency of autonomous driving, contributing to the ongoing evolution of intelligent transportation systems.In conclusion, this research contributes to advancing the field of autonomous driving by introducing a predictive model that leverages human factor considerations to enhance safety in safety-critical events. The incorporation of non-monotonic logic and individualized cognitive agents signifies a comprehensive approach to address the challenges associated with predicting autonomous driving behavior, paving the way for safer and more reliable autonomous vehicles in dynamic and unpredictable environments.

This work presents emission line flux and kinematic structure mapping based on IFU data of the planetary nebulae Abell 30 (A30). The IFU has a field of view (FoV) of 16" x 12.3" and was used to partially cover knots J1 and J2, and completely cover knots J3 and J4 of A30. Our emission line flux map shows recombination species C II, C III, He I, O II as well as forbidden line species [O III], [Ne III] and [Ne IV] of high excitation level are all distributed in different parts of the knots. The kinematic structure shows considerable variation in both the velocities and spatial locations of these knots with positive and negative velocity excursions from the systematic value. Forbidden line species [O III], [Ne III] are distributed in both knots J3 and J4 but they are travelling at different speeds in opposite directions. Despite variation in distribution of the species, the velocities of [Ne IV] and [O III] are similar and travelling in the same direction while the other species [Ne III], He I, and O II share similar velocity of 200kms−1 up in the opposite direction. The complexity of distribution and kinematic structure of the knots revealed in this work indicates a strong tendency towards the hypothesis of multiple triggering events in the past history of A30.

Mountain and pastoralist societies around the world have for centuries sustained their livelihoods and cultures by accumulating specialist knowledge about their local and regional socio-ecological environments. Developing traditional knowledge and customary practices takes time, sometimes spanning across generations. As macro-level changes to social and natural environment are now taking place, such as globalization and climate change, local communities could potentially also benefit from complementary, suitably adapted educational opportunities for sustainable development. However, access to education has often required moving to urban centres, which can weaken community structures and cohesion, and could also foster increased dependence on external specialists, providers or decision-makers. Careful introduction of emerging Educational Technologies could alleviate and possibly reverse such trends as mobile Internet access spreads to remote areas. This paper examines the role of education in sustainable development and specifically explores the potential for two educational innovations, open badges and blockchain, to provide a new construct for transformation in sustainable development amongst mountain and pastoralist societies. These technologies could not only facilitate education through online distance learning, but also allow geographically remote populations to highlight the value of their traditional knowledge and to engage more comprehensively in their changing worlds.

This work deals with a numerical implementation of a fifth order CENTRAL WENO-TVD (\textit{Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory-Total Variation Dimimishing}) of Haschem (2006) scheme applied to the convective terms of some hyperbolic conservation laws problems, in a volume finite framework. The WENO-TVD scheme is used to solve the 1D advection and Burgers equations. For this case is implemented two different numerical fluxes: The Lax-Friedrichs and TVD fluxes. In the TVD fluxes the schemes applied are in flux-limiter form. The schemes implemented for this flux are: Van Albada-1 (van Albada et al.,1982), van Albada-2 (Kermani et al., 2003), van Leer (Hassanzadeh, 2009) and MINMOD (Hirsch, 2007). The WENO type schemes are characterized for their high order approximation, and do not produce spurious oscilations near discontinuities, shocks and higher gradients. A third order Runge-Kutta TVD for the temporal variable is used. Qualitative and quantitative comparison are presented. The numerical solutions are computed with an in-house computer code developed in MATLAB software. In future works, it will develope a paralelization of computer code for solving systems of conservation laws, e.g. Euler equations of gas dynamics.

In general, a superconductor has zero resistance, although it requires significant refrigeration or high pressures with high manufacturing costs, which prevents it into practical applications. In other words, solving these issues implies main superconducting researches. To solve these problems, this paper describes a new type of superconductivity, which is independent for temperatures and which operates without pressures. The principles of the presented system are as follows:First a voltage source, a current source and a load are connected in series. Then, the voltage of the voltage source is adjusted to balance the voltage of the load. Under this condition, the balance of the two voltages provides a zero voltage between the taps of the current source and the generated current from the voltage source becomes zero because of the internal infinite resistance of the current source. As a result, the electric powers generated by the two sources are zero, and therefore, the load cannot generate Joule heating because of energy conservation. However, the current from the current source (not the voltage source) is not zero; therefore, we can predict that the resistance of the load must be zero. As a theory, we derived a new electric field and transient attractive force, which result in a very short coherence of an electron pair because there is not the Coulomb repulsive force due to the existence of the above transient attractive force. Note that both the forces are derived by the Poisson equation, which implies that they cannot be compatible. Therefore, the pair combination energy from spins becomes extremely strong, which is not destroyed by the normal heat energy. Moreover, every center-of-mass motion of electron pair results in the Bose-Einstein condensation and the macroscopic wave function, which produces the London equation (i.e., the Meissner effect). Moreover, by introducing the equivalent circuit, this paper conducted numerical calculations. As a result, we could derive numerically zero resistance and responses for additional static magnetic fields as a discharged current, which implies the Meissner effect. Note that this paper has prepared Appendix section, which provides a guide to reproduce actual experiments and preliminary experimental results. These results in the Appendix indicate the zero resistances and Meissner effects.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a cancer with poor prognosis. For relapsed extensive-stage (ES) SCLC, second-line treatment options are scarce. Topotecan was the only approved treatment in this setting until 2020. Since topotecan induces significant toxicities, alternative off-label regimens are being used. This study evaluated real-world efficacy and safety of Paclitaxel Gemcitabine chemotherapy in patients with relapsed ES-SCLC. We retrospectively reviewed data from all consecutive patients with relapsed ES-SCLC who received Paclitaxel Gemcitabine chemotherapy from september 2008 to january 2022 in two centers. Patient characteristics (n=188) were: PS≥2: 24.5%; brain metastasis: 42%; platinum-sensitive disease: 41%. Patients received Paclitaxel Gemcitabine as second- (77%) third (18%) or fourth (6%) line of therapy. Median progression-free and overall survival were 2.1 (95CI 1.8–2.4) and 3.8 (95CI 3.3–4.8) months in the overall population, respectively, with 17% response rate (RR) and 28% disease-control rate. PS, history of brain radiation, platinum-sensitive disease, liver, and adrenal gland metastasis were associated with longer survival in univariate analysis. PS was the only prognostic factor in multivariate analysis, with 21% RR and 4.1 months median DOR in PS 0-1 patients. Paclitaxel Gemcitabine chemotherapy may represent a treatment option in PS0-1 relapsed SCLC.

The streptavidin and biotin interaction is one of the strongest non-covalent interactions in nature. As a result, this non-covalent interaction has been of great interest when it comes to biochemical assays, diagnosis of diseases, and cell-targeted drug delivery. Past research has proven that biotin-streptavidin is useful in biosensor development to improve the detection of a system when conjugated to nanoparticles. This study aims to prove that streptavidin-coated nanoparticles can be conjugated with biotinylated antibodies using the primary-secondary method to non-invasively detect adenocarcinoma in-vitro. While the use of nanoparticles is not uncommon to the diagnostics area of scientific research, the technique this research aims to investigate is a non-invasive one, utilizing the primary-secondary method. Specifically, the increased stability of fluorophores when bound to antibodies as opposed to nanoparticles directly can be indicative of the particles conjugated through the primary-secondary method’s ability to specifically bind to overexpressed transferrin receptors in the A549 cell line. In this paper, streptavidin-coated nanoparticles were conjugated with biotinylated anti-transferrin receptor antibodies and AlexaFluor-488 secondary antibodies were used to enable fluorescence-based detection. The efficiency of these particles were observed quantitatively through a plate reader and qualitatively through a fluorescence microscope. I demonstrated that these nanoparticles are able to specifically bind to the target proteins in this study. These findings contribute to the field of nanoparticle diagnostics and can be extended to different diseases caused by overexpression of proteins in the future. While this was conducted in-vitro, conjugates can be prepared to detect cancer in-vivo and can be tested with magnetic relaxometry in the future.

Passive plasma spectroscopy is a well-established non-intrusive diagnostic technique. Depending on the emitter and its environment which determine the dominant interactions and effects governing emission line shapes, passive spectroscopy allows the determination of electron densities, emitter and perturber temperatures as well as other quantities like abundances. However, using spectroscopy needs appropriate line shape codes retaining all the physical effects governing the emission line profiles. This requires for line shape code developers to continuously correct or improve them to increase their accuracy when applied for diagnostics. This is exactly the aim expected from code-code and code-data comparisons. In this context, the He I 492 nm emitted in a helium corona discharge at room temperature represents an ideal case since its profile results from several broadening mechanisms: Stark, Doppler, resonance and van der Waals. The importance of each broadening mechanism depends on the plasma parameters. Here the profiles of the He I 492 nm in a helium plasma computed by various codes are compared for a selected set of plasma parameters. In addition, preliminary results related to plasma parameter determination using experimental spectra from a helium corona discharge at low pressure 1- 2 bars, are presented.

Many spectroscopic diagnostics are routinely used as a technique to infer the plasma parameters from line emission spectra but their accuracy depends on the numerical model or code used for the fitting process. However, the validation of a line shape code requires some steps : comparison of the line shape code with other similar codes for some academic (simple) cases and then more complex ones, comparison of the fitting parameters obtained from the best fit of the experimental spectra with those obtained with other diagnostic techniques and/or comparison of the fitting parameters obtained by different codes to fit the same experimental data. Here we compare the profiles of the hydrogen Balmer β line in a helium plasma computed by six codes for a selected set of plasma parameters and we report on the plasma parameters inferred by each of them from the fitting to a number of experimental spectra measured in a helium corona discharge where the pressure was in the range 1- 5 bar.

All empirical water column correction methods have consistently been reported to require existing depth sounding data for the purpose of calibrating a simple depth retrieval model; they yield poor results over very bright or very dark bottoms. In contrast, we set out to (i) use only the relative radiance data in the image along with published data, and several new assumptions, (ii) in order to specify and operate the simplified radiative transfer equation (RTE), (iii) for the purpose of retrieving both the satellite derived bathymetry (SDB) and the water column corrected spectral reflectance over shallow seabeds. Sea truth regressions show that SDB depths retrieved by the method only need tide correction. Therefore it shall be demonstrated that, under such new assumptions, there is no need (i) for formal atmospheric correction, (ii) nor for conversion of relative radiance into calibrated reflectance , (iii) nor for existing depth sounding data, to specify the simplified RTE and produce both SDB and spectral water column corrected radiance ready for bottom typing. Moreover, the use of the panchromatic band for that purpose is introduced. Altogether, we named this process the Self-Calibrated Supervised Spectral Shallow-sea Modeler (4SM). This approach requires a trained practitioner, though, to produce its results within hours of downloading the raw image. The ideal raw image should be a “near-nadir” view, exhibit homogeneous atmosphere and water column, include some coverage of optically deep waters and bare land, and lend itself to quality removal of haze, atmospheric adjacency effect, and sun/sky glint.

Neurodevelopmental disorders are characterised by an amalgam of genetic and epigenetic faults implicating neuronal protein-related loss-of-function and gain-of-function respectively, hence their inclusion into the category of complex diseases. Neurodevelopmental disorders are regarded as autism spectrum disorder due to this reason; that the risk factors and phenotype constitute a spectrum of faults and protein overactivity. One example of an epigenetic factor leading to the onset of neurodevelopmental delays constitutes a set of immune response-based dysregulations, as well as the excessive growth of the adaptive immune memory of the foetus or the baby following significant infectious disease during pregnancy, as well as in babies aged 0-2, given the existence of profound links between developmental immunity and developmental neurology. Given that genetic information very likely represents a form of energy, the intake of excessive pathogen-related information may transiently overload the adaptive immune memory similarly to the manner functional pathogens do whilst inducing significant illness, and if events as such occur during important stages of neuro-immunological development, then there could often be irreversible effects upon the rate of development in neurological networks that normally have a major importance in the modulation of the related cognitive and behavioural phenotype. The full extent of evidence may only be obtained via a thorough study of the applications of physical laws into biology and medicine, given the foundational role of the physical matter in the development and maintenance of life. A common misconception is that neurodevelopmental delays are characterised solely by an accumulation of protein loss-of-function incidences in the central nervous system area, rather than a disruption of neuronal region developmental rates. For example, an overexpression of neuronal proteins related to cognition factors that is accompanied by an underexpression of proteins related to social behaviour is phenotypically manifested in people with sharper rational thinking and poorer communication skills, with an impact on the abilities of decision-making as well, and this tends to be regarded as a classical example of the clinical manifestation of neurodevelopmental delays. More severe forms of autism spectrum disorder tend to implicate a more generalistic impact upon the developmental rates of key human behaviours, including those related with the development and maintenance of social and intimate relationships. Likewise, more severe implications upon regular developmental rates tend to bring a major impact upon the healthy function of related functions. As a result, lower functioning forms of neurodevelopmental delays bring fresh concerns with regards to a possible uncanny increase of incidences of deviated sexuality during years of adulthood, and in the worst cases, such deviations may lead to the planning and development of criminal activity, particularly in individuals who are or become prone to breaking the moral code that established the civilised society. What holds the concerns valid is the exponential increase in the number of lower functioning autism cases throughout the world and the major signs that such an increase will continue with a full force. One major solution to this potential future problem would be a much higher investment into awareness of the exact genetic and environmental factors that directly or indirectly result in the onset of lower-functioning autism and of the current research efforts to develop the matching support for people found in situations as such. The most important aim of future research with regards to such a scenario would be a separation of disease and disability with choices made to step into more severe forms of disease and into areas that are outside of the established moral circle.