A detailed review of the scientific literature was undertaken to examine the most recent developments in plasma processing in the field of medicine. The first part of the review includes a detailed breakdown of the different types of coatings that can be applied onto medical devices using plasma, with a specific focus on antimicrobial surfaces. The developments during 2023 in plasma deposited biocompatible, drug delivery and adhesive coatings are described and specific applications in additive manufacturing are highlighted. The use of plasma and plasma activated liquids as standalone therapeutics continues to evolve and pertinent advances in this field are described. In addition, the combination of plasma medicine with conventional pharmaceutical interventions was reviewed and key emerging trends were highlighted, including the use of plasma to enhance drug delivery directly into tissue. The potential synergies between plasma medicine and chemotherapeutics for oncology and infection treatment is a growing area and recent advancements are noted. Finally, the use of plasma to control excess antibiotics and to intentionally degrade such materials in waste streams is described.

The studied solar pot is a recent invention, which gained a utility model protection in 2021 from the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office under patent number 5489. The device is made for environmentally friendly cooking or heating (by utilizing solar energy) of foods and liquids. Its structure is similar to a double pipe heat exchanger, it has an outer mantle and an inner cooking tank. The goals of the paper are proposing a new physically-based mathematical model describing the solar pot and carrying out computer experiments with it, assembling an experimental system of the pot connected with a solar collector and performing measurements on it. Based on the results, the solar pot can successfully be used for cooking or sterilizing foods or liquids during the studied time period, in Hungary.

The research reported on this paper was aimed at improving the overall efficiency of a PDO certified artisanal cheese production process. Being a PDO certified foodstuff by the EU, it is considered to have properties and qualities determined by the geographical environment in which is made, with its production taking place in a specific and determined geographical location, in this case the Serra da Estrela region. In that sense, the authors conducted a mapping according to a systemic perspective of the processes involved in the context of manufacturing and distribution of certified Serra da Estrela cheese. Numerous methods were used throughout the process, such as a systemic design analysis, and techniques derived from ethnographic methods, which led to the collection of data in the field and consequently provided the immersion of the researcher in genuine work situations. Critical points were identified and emphasized in the systemic map with the purpose of encouraging initiatives to address and overcome the gaps and inefficiencies detected. The systemic design analysis triggered the development of design work. Observations following an ethnographic approach identified ergonomic risks in cheese making during the process of cutting excess chips, fostering the emergence of musculoskeletal disorders at the wrist. A tool that fits best to the task at hand was developed. A prototype of the new tool enabled collecting feedback from use in the work context, in order to inform product development. The domains of agricultural production and microbiology, considering the specific microorganisms developed trough the ripening process of the cheese, turned out to be aspects of high importance for the issue under focus, contributing to a broader understanding of the ripening process and its risks, simultaneously improving the efficiency and success of cheese production. If it were not for the systemic analysis, which served as a link between the boundaries of distinct domains such as the risk of microorganism contamination, ergonomics, energy efficiency, legislation and regulation policies, transportation challenges and economic viability, approached throughout the research. Simultaneously creating bridges between them, the various problems might not have been detected in the first place, as they are usually addressed in specialized disciplines, predetermined by the restrictions of each specific area of knowledge. As a consequence of the development of this research, which was based on an analysis that sought to establish possible connections between various disciplines and tried to constantly maintain a holistic perspective, making new connections and observing the issues from a new angle, apart from the already established methodologies. All this allowed to lay out the seeds for the development of a plan to tackle the critical points identified by the systemic analysis reported in this paper.

Climate change presents an urgent global challenge, manifesting in rising temperatures and extreme weather events with severe societal impacts. The Eastern Mediterranean, warming faster than the global average, faces immediate repercussions. Climate literacy emerges as pivotal, empowering individuals to comprehend climate science and act accordingly. This study delves into climate literacy, attitudes, and 'greening' behaviours in the Eastern Mediterranean hotspot of Greece, based on a survey of 1,962 citizens. Findings indicate high climate literacy but lower adoption of 'greening' behaviours, especially those involving financial costs. Regression analyses highlight the significant role of climate literacy, concerns about personal impacts, coping appraisal and trust in institutions in promoting 'greening' behaviours. The study underscores the need for multifaceted strategies emphasizing financial motivation, trust-building, and societal norm shifts. Socio-demographic disparities, including gender and occupation, highlight areas for targeted interventions. The emphasis on the mental health impacts of climate-related events underscores the need for holistic disaster management. Policy implications are discussed, highlighting the potential of expanded climate literacy to catalyze collective action toward sustainability.

Agriculture is a vital component of Egypt's economy; therefore, using Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) in agricultural planning in Egypt has significant benefits regarding water management, site appropriateness assessment, flood risk mitigation, and infrastructure construction. It is also essential for planners to make more informed decisions, optimize resource allocation, and support sustainable farming practices. This research paper investigates the accuracy of obtaining DEM data from four free global models (STRM30, ALOS30, COP30, and TanDEM-X90). The global DEM data has been compared to an actual GNSS-RTK DEM data surveyed onsite for two agricultural block areas in Aswan, the southern Government of Egypt. The two blocks are a part of a national project. For Block I and II, the RMSE of the Model STRM30 was 2.92 m and 3.59 m, respectively, indicating a poorer solution. Regarding accuracy, the ALOS30 model ranks third, reporting an RMSE of 2.58 m for block II and 3.30 m for block I. COP30 has an RMSE value of 1.06 m for blocks I and II and.91 m overall. TanDEM-X90 is the most accurate model in this investigation; block I provided an RMSE of 0.90 m with an SD of 0.58 m (SD95% = 0.38 m). After removing the anomalies, the model's stated RMSE for block II was 0.34 m, with an SD value of 0.62 m and 1.03 m. According to the classification using machine learning algorithms, with an accuracy of 84.7% for block I and 85% for block II, TanDEM-X90 is the best solution.

The electronic properties of calcium intercalated graphite (CaC6) as a function of pressure are revisited using density functional theory (DFT). The electronic band structures of CaC6, like many other layered superconducting materials, display cosine-shaped bands at or near the Fermi level (FL). Such bands encompass bonding/antibonding information with a strong connection to superconducting properties. Using an hexagonal cell representation for CaC6, construction of a double supercell in the c-direction effects six-folding in reciprocal space of the full cosine function, explicitly revealing the bonding/antibonding relationship divide at the cosine midpoint. Similarly, folding of the Fermi surface (FS) reveals physical phenomena relevant to electronic topological transitions (ETT) with application of pressure. For CaC6, the peak value for the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, occurs at about 7.5 GPa, near to the observed pressure of the calculated ETT. At this pressure, the radius of the nearly spherical Ca 4s-orbital FS coincides with three times the distance from the G centre point to the Brillouin zone (BZ) boundary of the 2c supercell (which is equal to half the identically defined distance for the primitive rhombohedral BZ). In addition, the ETT coincides with alignment of the non-bonding (inflection) point of the cosine band (the point at which the sign of the cosine amplitude modulation is reversed) with the FL. At other calculated pressure conditions, the Ca 4s-orbital FS undergoes topological changes that correspond and can be correlated to experimentally determined changes in Tc. The ETT is a key mechanism that circumscribes the known significant drop in Tc for CaC6 as a function of increasing pressure.

In this study the effects of three different main preparatory tillage operations [ploughing at 0.4 m (P40) and 0.20 m (P20) depth and minimum tillage at 0.20 m depth (MT) each of them carried out at two different soil water contents (WC) [low, 58% (LH) and high, 80% (HH) of field capacity] were investigated. The results obtained in this research show high values of soil strength in term of Penetration resistance (CI) and shear strength (SS) particularly in deeper soil layers at lower water content. Fossil-fuel energy requirements both for P40 LH and P20 LH were 25 and 35% higher with respect to the HH treatments and tractor slip were very high (P40 LH = 32.4%) with respect to the P40 HH treatment (16%). Therefore soil water content had significantly influenced tractor performance during soil ploughing, particularly at 0.40 m depth while MT was not influenced at all. A significant correlation between grain yield and soil penetration resistance was found highlighting how soil strength may be good indicator of its productivity. Obtained results during these field tests allowed considering MT and P20 treatments more suitable for this type of soil in climate change scenarios.

Kinesiophobia (fear of movement) has been recognized as a significant barrier to recovery and rehabilitation in patients after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Our goal was to identify predictors of kinesiophobia and examine its correlation with early functional outcomes in TKA recipients. On the first and fifth postoperative days (POD1 and POD5), we evaluated pain using the International Pain Outcomes Questionnaire (IPO-Q) and created multidimensional pain composite scores (PCS). Pain Composite Score-total (PCStotal) assesses the overall impact of pain, taking into account outcomes of pain intensity, pain-related interference with function, and emotions and side effects. Functional status on POD 5 was determined by the Barthel index, 6-minute walking test, and knee range of motion. Kinesiophobia was measured on POD5 using the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) and multivariable logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with kinesiophobia. Among 75 TKA patients, 27% exhibited kinesiophobia. The final regression model highlighted PCStotal on POD5 (OR=6.2, CI=1.9-19.9), PCStotal (OR=2.1, CI=1.2-3.8) on POD1, and the intensity of chronic pain before surgery (OR=1.4, CI=1.1-2.1) as significant kinesiophobia predictors. On POD5, those with kinesiophobia showed increased dependency, slower gait, and poorer knee extension recovery. This study highlights the importance of identifying and addressing kinesiophobia in TKA patients to optimize functional outcomes and improve recovery. Also, it is important to assess not only pain intensity but also the physical and emotional interference caused by pain, which can contribute to the development of kinesiophobia.

Neurosteroids are pleiotropic molecules involved in various neurodegenerative diseases with neuroinflammation. We assessed neurosteroids serum levels in a cohort of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients with heterozygous glucocerebrosidase (GBA) mutations (GBA-PD) compared with matched cohorts of consecutive non-mutated PD (NM-PD) patients, and healthy subjects with (GBA-C) and without (NM-HC) GBA mutations. A consecutive cohort of GBA-PD was paired for age, sex, disease duration, Hoehn & Yahr stage, and comorbidities with a cohort of consecutive NM-PD. Two cohorts of GBA-C and HC were also considered. Clinical assessment included the MDS-UPDRS and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Serum samples were processed and analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Twenty-two GBA-PD (males: 11, age: 63.68), 22 NM-PD (males: 11, age: 63.05), 14 GBA-C (males: 8; age: 49.36), and 15 HC (males: 4; age: 60.60) were studied. Compared to NM-PD, GBA-PD showed more hallucinations and psychosis (p<0.05, Fisher’s exact test) and higher MDS-UPDRS part-II (p<0.05). Most of the serum neurosteroids were reduced in both GBA-PD and NM-PD compared to the respective control cohorts, except for 5α-DHP. Allopregnanolone was the only neurosteroid significantly lower (p<0.01, Dunn’s test) in NM-PD compared to GBA-PD patients. Only in GBA-PD, allopregnanolone, and pregnanolone levels correlated (Spearman) with a more severe MDS-UPDRS part-III. Allopregnanolone levels also negatively correlated with MoCA scores, and pregnanolone levels correlated with more pronounced bradykinesia. This pilot study provides the first observation of changes in neurosteroid peripheral levels in GBA-PD. The involvement of the observed changes in the development of neuropsychological and motor symptoms of GBA-PD deserves further attention.

Background/Objectives: Concurrent opioid (OPI) and benzodiazepine (BZD) use may exacerbate falls/fractures risk compared to no use or use alone. Yet, patients may need concurrent OPI-BZD use for co-occurring conditions (e.g., pain and anxiety). Therefore, we examined the association between longitudinal OPI-BZD dosing patterns and subsequent injurious falls risk. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study including non-cancer fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries initiating OPI and/or BZD in 2016-2018. We identified OPI-BZD use patterns during the 3 months following OPI and/or BZD initiation (i.e., trajectory period) using group-based multi-trajectory models. We estimated time to first injurious fall within 3 months post-trajectory period using inverse-probability-of-treatment-weighted Cox proportional hazards models. Results: Among 622,588 beneficiaries (age≥65=84.6%, female=58.1%, White=82.7%; having injurious falls=0.45%), we identified 13 distinct OPI-BZD trajectories: Group(A):Very-low OPI-only (early discontinuation)(44.9% of the cohort); (B):Low OPI-only (rapid decline)(15.1%); (C):Very-low OPI-only (late discontinuation)(7.7%); (D):Low OPI-only (gradual decline)(4.0%); (E):Moderate OPI-only (rapid decline)(2.3%); (F):Very-low BZD-only (late discontinuation)(11.5%); (G):Low BZD-only (rapid decline)(4.5%); (H):Low BZD-only (stable) (3.1%); (I):Moderate BZD-only (gradual decline)(2.1%); (J):Very-low OPI (rapid decline)/Very-low BZD (late discontinuation)(2.9%); (K):Very-low OPI (rapid decline)/Very-low BZD (increasing)(0.9%); (L):Very-low OPI (stable)/Low BZD (stable)(0.6%); and (M):Low OPI (gradual decline)/Low BZD (gradual decline)(0.6%). Compared with Group(A), 6 trajectories had increased 3-month injurious fall risks: (C): HR, 95%CI=1.78, 1.58-2.01; (D): 2.24, 1.93-2.59; (E): 2.60, 2.18-3.09; (H): 2.02, 1.70-2.40; (L): 2.73, 1.98-3.76; and (M): 1.96, 1.32-2.91. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that 3-month injurious fall risk varied across OPI-BZD trajectories, highlighting the importance of considering both dose and duration when assessing fall risks of OPI-BZD use among older adults.

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

Sentiment analysis plays a crucial role in understanding customer feedback, guiding product development, and informing business decisions. This paper introduces term sentiment entropy (TSE), a novel weighting method that leverages the distribution of sentiment labels associated with words to enhance text classification accuracy. TSE complements traditional TF-IDF techniques by capturing the nuances of sentiment variation across different contexts. Experiments across diverse public datasets demonstrate TSE's potential to improve sentiment analysis performance, especially in capturing subtle sentiment shifts and adapting to specific domains. While computational cost and label quality pose challenges, TSE offers a promising avenue for refining sentiment analysis and opening new research frontiers.

The role of foods is shifting from focusing on the provision of energy and basic nutrients to also include bioactive compounds that prevent the development of chronic age-related diseases. Mi-croalgae offer a source of nutritional compounds with important health effects, and have the po-tential for production of health-promoting products, without increasing agricultural land use and negatively impacting the environment. Here we investigate the health effects of microalgal ex-tracts with high levels of the colourless carotenoid phytoene. Phytoene is widely available from dietary sources and can be detected across different tissues in the human body. However, it is usually regarded as a precursor for the synthesis of other carotenoids, rather than a bioactive molecule. We utilised the model organism C. elegans to show that phytoene-rich extracts from Chlorella sorokiniana and Dunaliella bardawil have anti-ageing properties. The extracts protect against oxidative damage and amyloid-β42 proteotoxicity (a major pathology of Alzheimer's disease), and extends lifespan. We show that pure phytoene also has these anti-ageing effects, suggesting that phytoene is a bioactive molecule with positive effects on ageing and longevity.

One mechanism by which fructose could exert deleterious effect in metabolism and inflammation is via its potency vis-à-vis de Maillard reaction. We employed simulated stomach and duodenum digestion of ovalbumin to test the hypothesis that indeed AGEs are formed by fructose during simulated digestion of an ubiquitous food protein with intrinsic allergenic potential and under model physiological conditions. Methods: OVA was subjected to simulated gastric and intestinal digestion using standard models, in presence of fructose or glucose (0-100 mM). Peptide fractions were analyzed by fluorescence spectroscopy and intensity at Excitation: λ370 nm, Emission: λ 440nm. Results: AGE adducts form between fructose and OVA which can be found in peptide fractions (< 5 kDa) at times (30 min) and concentration ranges (10 mM) plausibly found in the intestines, whereas no reaction occurs with glucose. The reaction is inhibited by chlorogenic acid at concentrations compatible with those found in the gut. The reaction is inhibited by AG, a specific antiglycation agent. Conclusion: Our proof of principle study shows that fructose-AGE formation on an ubiquitous allergenic protein indeed occurs in one hour and thereby may pave the way for the study of yet another mechanism by which the excess fructose in our Western diets is contributing to disease: intestinal AGE formation, absorption and RAGE engagement.

Elevated carbon dioxide (eCO₂) stimulates wheat grain yield, but simultaneously reduces protein (N) concentration. Also other essential nutrients are subject to change. This study is a comprehensive synthesis of wheat experiments with eCO₂, estimating effects on N, minerals (B, Ca, Cd, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, Zn), and starch. Analysis was made by i) deriving response functions for the relative effect on element concentration in relation to CO₂ concentration, ii) meta-analysis to test the magnitude and significance of observed effects, and iii) relating CO₂ effects on minerals to effects on N and grain yield. Responses range from zero to strong negative effects of eCO₂ on mineral concentration, with largest reductions for the nutritionally important elements N, Fe, S, Zn and Mg. Together with the positive but small and non-significant effect on starch concentration, the large variation in effects suggests that CO₂-induced responses cannot be explained by a simple dilution model. To explain the observed pattern, uptake and transport mechanisms may have to be considered, along with the link of different elements to N uptake. Our study shows that eCO₂ has a significant effect on wheat grain stoichiometry, with implications for human nutrition in a world of rising CO₂.

Underreporting is the main limitation of the spontaneous reporting systems. This study aims to reduce underreporting enhancing public participation in vaccinovigilance through an SMS-based reporting system integrated with electronic immunization registries (IRs). Using the VigiVax software, parents of vaccinated children aged 2 years or younger received a single SMS inquiry about adverse events following immunization (AEFI). Responses were collected, validated by health operators and integrated with the information on IRs. AEFI reports were automatically submitted to the Italian Pharmacovigilance system. Among 254,160 SMS messages sent, corre-sponding to 451,656 administered doses (AD), 71,643 responses were collected (28.2% response rate), 21,231of them (8.3%) reporting an AEFI. After seriousness assessment based on clinical criteria, 50 reports (0,24%) were classified as serious. Among these, causality assessment identi-fied 31 reports at least potentially related to the vaccination (RR: 6.86/100,000 AD). Febrile seizures following MMRV vaccination accounted for 11 of these 31 cases, with an incidence of 32 per 100,000 AD. No fatal outcomes were reported. Our findings support the highly favorable risk profile of pediatric vaccinations and the possibility to improve spontaneous reporting through the integration of digital technologies.

Pelagic stingray (Pteroplatytrygon violacea) is the only species of stingray (Dasyatidae) that utilizes both pelagic and demersal habitats. It is the main bycatch species in pelagic longline fisheries targeting bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Lions. In the Mediterranean Sea, their stock structure, behavioural ecology and movements are unknown. For the first time in the Mediterranean, 17 individuals (39 to 60 cm disc width) were tagged with pop-up satellite archival transmitting tags using a novel method of tag attachment, to investigate horizontal and vertical movements. The tags were attached for between two and 60 days. Between the months of July and October, pelagic stingray occupied a temperature range of 12.5 to 26.6°C, and a depth range extending from the surface to 480 m. Monthly trends in catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) of pelagic stingray peaked in August and decreased by late autumn. Pelagic stingray may aggregate on the continental shelf during summer, and move southwards in early autumn, and this movement pattern is considered in relation to the reproductive cycle and overwintering. Future work and options for bycatch mitigation are discussed.

This study outlines the development of an innovative method utilizing UHPLC-PDA for the simultaneous identification of polyphenols and bitter acids (alpha-acids, beta-acids, and iso-alpha-acids) in beer samples. The resulting chemical profiles were leveraged to distinguish the characteristics of four bergamot-flavored beers, each representing distinct styles (IPA, Lager, Blanche, and ALE), produced on a pilot-scale plant. In a streamlined 29-minute analysis, twenty-nine polyphenols and fourteen bitter acids were successfully identified under optimized separation conditions. Rigorous validation, encompassing parameters such as Limit of Detection (LOD), Limit of Quantification (LOQ), R-squared (R2), repeatability, and reproducibility, was conducted for polyphenol quantification using constructed calibration curves with seven levels. Exploring polyphenolic components as potential discriminators among different beer styles, a total of thirty-two polyphenolic compounds were identified and quantified, including characteristic bergamot peel polyphenols like neoeriocitrin, naringin, and neohesperidin. The determination of bitter units and total phenols further aided in style differentiation. Multivariate analysis provided additional insights into variations among specific beer styles, revealing discrepancies in the presence or relative concentrations of specific compounds linked to brewing ingredients and processes. This research enhances to trace the fingerprinting of the chemistry governing beer quality through a straightforward and cost-effective analytical approach, readily applicable in common laboratories.

Laser-Powder Directed Energy Deposition (DED-LB/Powder) is an additive manufacturing process that is gaining popularity in the manufacturing industry due to its numerous advantages, particularly in repairing operations. However, its application is often limited to case studies due to some critical issues that need to be addressed, such as the degree of internal porosity. This paper investigates the effect of the most relevant process parameters of the DED-LB/Powder process on the level and distribution of porosity. Results indicate that, among the process parameters examined, porosity is less affected by travel speed and more influenced by powder mass flow rate and laser power. Additionally, a three-dimensional finite element transient model was introduced, which was able to predict the development and location of lack-of-fusion pores along the building direction.

Decision sciences (DSC) involve studying complex dynamic systems and processes to aid informed choices subject to constraints in uncertain conditions. It integrates multidisciplinary methods, techniques, and strategies to evaluate decision engineering processes, identifying alternatives and providing insights towards enhancing prudent decision-making. This study analyzes the evolutionary trends and innovation in DSC education and research to uncover the transformations over the years. We employ the science mapping method, text analytics, and metadata from bibliographic databases to evaluate thematic and social structures. The results highlight data science methods, including data mining and business/learning analytics as essential components. The evolutionary trends in DSC education and research mirror the development in practice, including technological transformation, computer science advances, and engineering processes. Sustainable education through virtual/online learning also constitutes a significant component of scientific production. The evolutionary trends in DSC education and research highlight innovative pedagogical approaches and strategies, including computer simulation and games ('play and learn'). The current era witnessed generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) adoption (e.g., ChatGPT) in teaching, learning, and scholarly activities amidst challenges (academic integrity, plagiarism, intellectual property violations, and other ethical and legal issues). Future research will implement and integrate AI automatic detection systems to address some GenAI adoption challenges.

The relationship of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Parkinson Disease and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction has led to study of the mitochondrial fission gene Drp1 in Drosophila. Drp1 can interact with mitochondrial proteins including parkin and the Drosophila Bcl-2 proteins. Mutations in Drp1 can lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and neuronal loss. Ddc-Gal4 was exploited to direct the expression of Drp1 and the inhibition of Drp1 in neurons. Here, the inhibition of Drp1 seems to compromise locomotor function throughout life but does not alter longevity. The consequences of Drp1 overexpression can be suppressed through overexpression of pro-survival Bcl-2 gene Buffy or by inhibition of the pro-cell death Bcl-2 homologue Debcl. The expression of Buffy suppresses the poor climbing induced by loss of Drp1 function. Interestingly, the loss of parkin function is rescued by the directed inhibition of Drp1. Alteration of the expression of Drp1 acts to phenocopy neurodegenerative disease phenotypes in Drosophila, while overexpression of Buffy can counteract these phenotypes to improve overall health. The pro-survival effect of Buffy can rescue the phenotypic effect due to the Drp1-induced apoptosis. The diminished health due to either overexpression or inhibition of Drp1 has produced a novel model to investigate mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disease.

Digital twins are an emerging technology that could be harnessed for the digitalization of the industry. Steel industry systems contain a large number of electro-hydraulic components, as proportional valves. An input-output model for a novel water proportional cartridge valve is derived from physical modelling based on fluid mechanics, dynamics, and electrical principles. The valve is a two-stage valve with two 2/2-way water proportional valves as the pilot stage and a marginally stable poppet-type cartridge valve as the main valve. The orifice equation, which is based on Bernoulli principles, is approximated by a polynomial which makes parameter estimation easier and makes modelling possible without measuring pressure of the varying control volume situated in the pilot stage part of the valve. Data were collected when the valve was operating as a component in a closed-loop system as part of a press-mill machine in a steel manufacturing plant. Parameter estimation was made by convex optimization with physical constraints to overcome problems caused by poor system excitation. For comparison, a simple linear model was derived and the least squares method used for parameter estimation. A thorough estimation of the parameters relative errors is presented. The model contains 5 parameters related to the design parameters of the valve. The modelled position output is in good agreement with experimental data for training and test data. The model can be used for real time monitoring of the valve’s status by the model parameters. One of the model parameters varies linearly with production cycles. Thus, aging of the valve can be monitored.

Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants have dominated the strains of COVID-19 circulating worldwide for the last two years. Although the mortality rate of the COVID-19 Omicron variants is only approximately half that of previous variants, vaccines effective against Omicron are needed. Demonstrating that a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine can protect against Omicron in an in vivo infection model, particularly in that of Syrian hamsters, is important for the preclinical characterization of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Here, we report on the evaluation of W-PreS-O for its ability to protect Syrian hamsters against infection by Omicron. W-PreS-O is a chimeric vaccine based on a single fusion protein (W-PreS-O), combining RBDs from Wuhan hu-1 wild-type and Omicron adsorbed to aluminum hydroxide. The Syrian hamsters were immunized three times at three-week intervals with W-PreS-O or with aluminum hydroxide (placebo), and then they were infected with Omicron BA.1. Non-infected and non-vaccinated animals served as controls. Neutralizing antibody (nAB) titers, weight, lung symptoms (i.e., edema and pneumonia index), and viral loads, as measured using RT-PCR in the upper and lower respiratory tracts, were determined. In addition, infectious virus titers from the lungs were measured using a plaque-forming assay. W-PreS-O-vaccinated hamsters developed robust nABs against Omicron, showed almost no development of pneumonia, and had significantly reduced infectious virus titers in the lungs. Importantly, the viral loads in the nasal cavities of W-PreS-O-vaccinated hamsters were close to or above the PCR cycle threshold considered to be non-infectious. Our data provide compelling evidence demonstrating that the W-PreS-O vaccine has protective effect against Omicron in a Syrian hamster in vivo infection model. W-PreS-O is therefore a highly promising candidate vaccine for Omicron infections, and it should be further evaluated in clinical studies.

This study provides a detailed investigation into the pathways through which microplastics from urban sources are transported to marine ecosystems, their distribution across different environments, and their impacts on marine life. Utilizing a combination of water and sediment sampling across urban, riverine, and marine environments, the research quantitatively assesses the concentration and types of microplastics present, and evaluates the ecological consequences of their accumulation in marine ecosystems. The findings reveal a significant concentration of microplastics in all examined environments, with the highest levels detected in urban areas, closely linked to industrial activities and inadequate waste management practices. The study documents a variety of microplastic polymers, with polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) being the most prevalent. A substantial impact on marine organisms was observed, including evidence of microplastic ingestion across a wide range of species and indications of stress and physical damage to coral reefs. Seasonal variations indicate that microplastic concentrations peak during periods of high rainfall, suggesting urban runoff as a critical pathway for microplastic transport. The study concludes with recommendations for improving waste management practices, enhancing public awareness and engagement in plastic recycling efforts, and implementing policies aimed at reducing the production and use of single-use plastics. This research underscores the urgent need for coordinated actions to mitigate the pervasive issue of microplastic pollution, highlighting the role of urban management and policy interventions in safeguarding marine ecosystems.

In the present research, it has been tried to use the applied research bases in the field of business management with marketing orientation. Since there were wide and diverse spectrum in the field of economic activities in Isfahan province and Isfahan city, the model of economic sectors was used to categorize these activities. In this regard, the specific goals of the research in all five sectors of the model of economic sectors, drawing and prioritizing the components (in-dices) of the 7P marketing mix model in each of these economic sectors by the related individuals and members of subgroups of guilds and non-governmental organizations in Isfahan province, have been formed, specified and determined. Collecting data for processing and answer the question of this research, after designing a questionnaire in accordance with the AHP model standard, by spending a period of 2 months from September 2022 and ended in November 2022 , from the statistical population has been done.

Understanding the dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC) change in today's context of rapid urbanization is critical for sustainable urban planning and environmental conservation. Therefore, the research aim is to understand the LULC changes in Chattogram Metropolitan Area and to assess the policy implications of these changes for sustainable urban development. Through a comparative analysis of LULC maps for two periods (1997–2007; 2007–2017), we investigated the transformation of a detailed planning zone before and after detailed area plan (DAP) approval. Using a mixed-method approach integrating quantitative data with policy analysis, we elucidated the impacts of urbanization trends on local ecosystems—specifically the conversion of forest cover and waterscape use. The findings reveal a significant conversion of forested and waterscape areas to urban and peri-urban landscapes, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable planning interventions that focus on these peri-urban areas. The study further critiques the DAP's effectiveness, revealing a disconnect between regional policy implementation and local outcomes. This research proposes a validated, scalable framework for urban master plans that adapts to the complex socio-ecological contexts of rapidly urbanizing regions.

Confronting the dual challenges of rapid urbanization and climate change, although extensive research has investigated the influencing factors and practical strategies of urban carbon emissions and urban vibrancy, respectively, the unclear mutual nexus between them and the development strategy of collaborative optimization requires further in-depth analysis. This study explores the delicate balance between urban vibrancy and low-carbon sustainability within the confines of Beijing’s Fifth Ring Road. By integrating OpenStreetMap, land use, population, and building carbon emission data, we have developed a reproducible method to estimate total carbon emission and emission intensity per capita. Furthermore, we have introduced vibrancy index data to distinguish the vibrancy evaluation of residential and non-residential land and applied cross-combinational classification technology to dissect the spatial correlation between urban carbon emissions and urban vibrancy. The results reveal that the four combination typologies show more significant differences and regularity in residential land. Based on the discovery of spatial correlation, this study puts forward corresponding development strategy suggestions for each typology based on geographical location and the requirements of urban development policies of these four combination typologies. In conclusion, our study highlights the importance of integrating carbon emissions and urban vibrancy comprehensively in sustainable urban planning and proposes that various land use combinations need targeted development strategies to achieve this goal, which need to consider population, energy, service facilities, and other diverse aspects.

Radiotherapy remains a cornerstone in cancer treatment, leveraging ionizing radiation to eradicate malignant cells. Its efficacy, however, is frequently challenged by the heterogeneous sensitivity of tumors and surrounding tissues to radiation. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying radiosensitivity is crucial for improving treatment outcomes. Among the myriad of molecular players involved, the tumor suppressor protein p53 stands out as a central regulator with significant implications for radiosensitivity. Known as the “guardian of the genome,” p53 plays a pivotal role in maintaining genomic stability and orchestrating cellular responses such as cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, apoptosis, and senescence in response to various stress signals, including radiation-induced DNA damage. Activation of p53 triggers the transcription of target genes involved in DNA repair pathways, such as p21, MDM2, and GADD45, facilitating the repair of radiation-induced DNA damage or the elimination of irreparably damaged cells. This, in turn, influences the overall radiosensitivity of tissues. Mutations in the TP53 gene, which encodes p53, are among the most frequent genetic alterations in human cancers. Loss or dysfunction of p53 can compromise the cellular response to radiation, leading to increased resistance to therapy and poorer clinical outcomes. Conversely, intact p53 function is associated with enhanced radiosensitivity due to its ability to promote cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in response to radiation-induced DNA damage. In conclusion, elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which p53 influences radiosensitivity is essential for advancing our understanding of radiation response in cancer cells and developing more effective therapeutic approaches in cancer treatment. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the multifaceted role of p53 in modulating cellular responses to radiation, emphasizing its influence on radiosensitivity.

This study investigates by hybrid approach of classical calculations and numerical explicit FEM simulation the strain rate sensitive hardening of Polypropylene Sabic 83MF10 under dynamic tension loads. The Cowper-Symonds model is employed to characterize the non-linear increase in yield strength with strain rate, within the range of 0,01 to 1 [1⁄s]. For lower strain rates, a drastic decrease in yield strength is observed, suggesting the significant influence of creep and relaxation phenomena. The study proposes further research incorporating viscoelastic properties for a more comprehensive material model. Additionally, the study observes a disproportionate increase in yield strength for samples with smaller radius, indicating a dependency on triaxiality which suggests further research on the Drucker-Prager model for this material. The study concludes by recommending a broader range of input parameters for future studies, including the Johnson-Cook model and comparison of tensile test results with compression test results.

In this review we explore the recent progress in catalytic materials for ammonia synthesis that are based on metal nitrides and other catalytic surfaces. It comprises a detailed overlook of various techniques used in ammonia synthesis research and the state-of-the-art modeling techniques employed to investigate new reaction mechanisms and more efficient processes for sustainable ammonia synthesis production. The review is discussed in the context of reaction mechanisms developed and recent progress that has been made with respect to thermal, electrochemical and photocatalytic ammonia synthesis.

Developments in artificial intelligence techniques allow for an improvement in sustainable mobility strategies with particular reference to energy consumption estimates of electric vehicles (EVs). This research proposes a vehicle energy model developed on the basis of Deep Neural Network (DNN) technology. The study also explores the potential application of the model developed for the movement data of new vehicles in the province of Enna, Sicily, Italy. which is characterized by numerous attractors and the increasing number of hybrid and electric cars circulating. The energy model for electric vehicles shows high accuracy and versatility, requiring vehicle velocity and acceleration as input data to predict energy consumption. The research article also provides recommendations for the energy modeling of electric vehicles and outlines additional steps for model development. The implemented methodological approach and its results can be used by transport decision makers to plan new transport policies in Italian cities aimed at optimizing vehicle charging infrastructure. They can also help vehicle users accurately estimate energy consumption, generate maps, and identify locations with the highest energy consumption.

EIMIs face the challenge of adapting to the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal to achieve carbon neutrality. This change is being driven by consumer interest in low-carbon products, regulatory requirements from climate agreements and investors prioritizing sustainability. This pressure is pushing companies to go beyond short-term financial gains and integrate sustainability into their business. The growing awareness of the environmental impact of business models (BM) has fueled the development of Sustainable Business Models (SBMs). This study aims to link the discussion on the role of SBMs in the drivers of decarbonization, to improve the understanding of how the drivers can be integrated and enable new BMs for EIMIs. Based on a structured literature review, semi-structured interviews were conducted in the EIMIs. The study identifies BM-components that are influenced by these drivers and require sustainable business model innovation (SBMI). The results show that decarbonization drivers have a significant impact on all BM components. Experts emphasize the importance of collaborative approaches and cooperation throughout the value chain. This research elaborates on the importance of systematic analysis to understand how companies can effectively manage decarbonization drivers and suggests in-depth exploration within BM-research to uncover potential SBM design options.

Salt marshes in the southern North Sea are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wadden Sea, the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in the world. They provide a very high nature value while significantly contributing to coastal flood and erosion risk management as a nature-based element of flood and erosion risk management systems for the densely populated coastal area. Climate change-induced sea-level rise is a significant concern: An integrated approach to salt marsh management adapted to the effects of climate change necessitates a understanding of the impact of different management strategies. This review commences with a description of the biogeomorphological conditions and processes in salt marshes for a better understanding of the natural dynamics and how they are influenced by management and climate change. In a second step, the impact of salt marshes on hydrodynamic processes and their role as nature-based element of flood and erosion risk management is presented. Management options and implementation methods are discussed and analysed concerning coastal flood management and nature conservation requirements. In conclusion, a targeted salt marsh management needs to consider the initial conditions and the development aims of the specific site integrated in a conceptual framework. Salt marshes have the potential to adapt to sea-level rise, thereby contributing to the long-term protection of coastal areas.

Climate change poses a serious threat to the ancient Magnoliaceae family, particularly for the endangered Yulania trees. Until now, little is known about the suitable geographical range of Yulania zenii, and about how it responds to past and future climate scenarios. Here, we first employed ten models from Biomod2 to preliminarily simulate its potential distribution in China and selected MaxEnt for final modeling. The results showed that among the key environmental factors influencing its distribution, the top three factors were Bio2 (Mean diurnal range), Bio15 (Precipitation seasonality of variation coefficient) and Elevation. Its current suitable distribution were primarily concentrated in southern Anhui, central Hubei, eastern Hunan, southern Jiangsu, northern Jiangxi, and northern Zhejiang. The total suitable area of Yulania zenii was 14.68 × 104 km2, only taking 1.53% of China's total territory, which is larger than known. During the Last Interglacial and Middle Holocene, its suitable habitats were larger than currently, exhibiting a relatively continuous distribution. Under various future climate scenarios, its suitable habitats may averagely decrease by 20.26% compared with the current, and these habitats become more fragmented. Collectively, the centroid of Yulania zenii is expected to migrate towards the southeast in the future. Therefore, our findings demonstrate, for the first time, that climate change takes an adverse effect on this species in distribution from the past to current till future. Our study can contribute to the conservation and management of Yulania zenii in China, and can provide reference for other endangered Yulania species of this country under the condition of climate change.

Acute lower respiratory tract infection is a major health problem that affects more than 15% of the total population of Saudi Arabia each year. Epidemiological studies conducted over the last three decades have indicated that viruses are responsible for the majority of these infections. The epidemiology of respiratory viruses in Saudi Arabia is believed to be affected mainly by the presence and mobility of large numbers of foreign workers and the gathering of millions of Muslims in Mecca during the Hajj and Umrah seasons. Knowledge concerning the epidemiology, circulation pattern, and evolutionary kinetics of respiratory viruses in Saudi Arabia are scant, with the available literature being inconsistent. After reviewing the available data on epidemiology and evolution of respiratory viruses, this study examines the effect of varying vaccination rates across different age groups during the 2019/2020 influenza season in Saudi Arabia. Utilizing an age-structured SEIR (Susceptible–Exposed–Infectious–Recovered) model, it develops customized vaccination policies by considering age-specific incidence rates. This pioneering research segments the population into five age groups—infants and school-aged children, junior and older youth, young adults and adults, middle-aged, and seniors—across five regional areas in Saudi Arabis: Eastern, Central, Northern, Western, and Southern. A contact matrix, compiled from multiple sources, is used to delineate the dynamics of influenza transmission. The study undertakes a thorough comparison of three distinct vaccination scenarios: no vaccination, national vaccination, and optimized vaccine allocation policy, under various potential pandemic situations. It examines their impact on vaccination campaigns in terms of the total number of infections, mortality, and morbidity rates. The results emphasize the crucial impact of population demographics on disease transmission and vaccine distribution. According to the findings, the optimized vaccination scenario proved to be the most effective strategy in all scenarios.

Low carbon supply chain management (LCSCM) strategies are required in the Indian manufacturing industries due to rapidly growing energy usage for financial and environmental concerns. LCSCM technologies face a number of challenges that limit their adoption. Eleven hurdles were selected from the literature as well as the recommendations of business and academic experts. These barriers are defined by a number of factors, including a lack of information, financial worries, environmental concerns, and governmental limits, among others. In addition, efforts are being made to quantify the most optimal relevant barriers using Multi criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques such as interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and decision-making trail and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). MICMAC analysis is used to estimate the sensitivity and priority of barriers based on dependency power and driving power. One of these barriers is a needed factor; three are driving elements; four barriers are linked factors; and three are self-sufficient factors. The findings of this study can help academic specialists, industry representatives, and practitioners in their ongoing attempts to adopt 'LCSCM techniques' in Indian manufacturing industries. The model is appropriately explained and applies the link between the barriers.The objective of this paper is the Evaluation and selection of most influential of Barriers to Adopt Low Carbon Supply Chain Management (LCSCM) in the Indian Manufacturing Sector is interrelated.

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a disease characterized by typical clinical and immunopathogenic pe-culiarities, which correlate with age and sex/gender. Accordingly, MG patients show thymic al-terations and auto-antibodies productions, that can be the expression of a different pathogenetic mechanism related to age and gender. This determines, in relation to age at and sex/gender, a dif-ferent MG onset, prognosis, and outcome. Therefore, diverse MG forms can be identified, classi-fied, and characterized in relation to their different features, and precisely there are early onset and late-onset forms of MG. It has been hypothesized that the cause of appearance the two diverse forms of MG can be ascribed mainly to the diverse genetic and epigenetic factors. In this narrative review, we will analyze and discuss about the interplay of age- and sex-related factors (i.e. genet-ic and epigenetic factors) related to two different MG forms and how they contribute to their di-verse pathogenesis.

The wetlands in northeastern Bangladesh are home to some of the most prolific and valuable ecosystems on the planet, offering a wide range of benefits to both the local and wider communities. A limited number of research on this topic have been carried out in various wetlands in coastal hilsa, but none have been located in the northeastern region of Bangladesh. Thus, the goal of this study was to better understand the most commercially relevant species (anadromous hilsa) in northeastern Bangladesh as well as to assess the wetland ecosystem services more thoroughly with the contribution of their fish genetic resources. In addition to laboratory studies, fieldwork was done in the fishing settlements along the Surma River, Hakaluki Haor, and Tanguar Haor. The study classified 77 fish species into 21 subcategories of ecosystem services, of which 56% were not threatened, 17% were vulnerable, and 10% were highly endangered. The species Hilsa was found to be the most economically significant, accounting for 1% of the GDP overall. The study determined if the hilsa stock of the examined wetlands maintains a single or several subpopulations in comparison to other parts of the country when they migrate from saline water to northeastern Bangladesh (freshwater). But when compared to other groups, the FST score was between 0.000 to 0.017, indicating that the populations are identical and that there is genetic material sharing between them. Additionally, these statistics imply that the Sylhet haor and adjacent river systems contain a single stock of Hilsa fish. Nevertheless, a number of stresses and risks, including overexploitation, illicit and destructive fishing, siltation, and natural disasters like flash floods, have been linked to changes in the supply of hilsa and other ecosystem services. This study also emphasizes the necessity of policy attention and research to address the concerns.

Background: Learning arrangements in health care profession education are increasingly taking place in digital environments. VR in nursing education, as one of the digital elements, is the subject of controversial debate. On the one hand it supports the authenticity of case studies by adding realistic perspectives and information. On the other hand, the costs of developing and maintaining software and hardware hinder long-term implementation. Methods: In this paper, we describe our findings and insights from two different research projects focused on the incorporation of digital tools, particularly virtual reality (VR), into nursing education. Based on the German context, our aim is to promote the adoption of innovative digital methods in nursing education and to offer invaluable experiences from the field. Results: Starting with a brief recapitulation of the projects, we then elucidate the pedagogical strategies for embedding VR-driven scenarios in nursing education. Based on our experiences during the projects we identify various positive aspects, such as change of perspective and simulating acute situations. Key findings: Although potential drawbacks remain, we advocate long-term implementation and specific use of VR at the interface between theory and practice. Nevertheless it is crucial to establish regular evaluation observing the value of digitalisation, especially VR; for nursing education.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to be a global threat due to its ability to evolve and generate new subvariants, leading to new waves of infection. Additionally, other coronaviruses like Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV, formerly known as hCoV-EMC) which first emerged in 2012, persists and continues to present a threat of severe illness to humans. The continued identification of novel coronaviruses, coupled with the potential for genetic recombination between different strains, raises the possibility of new coronavirus clades of global concern emerging. As a result, there is a pressing need for pan-CoV therapeutic drugs and vaccines. After extensive optimization of an HCV protease inhibitor screening hit, a novel 3CLPro inhibitor (MK-7845) was discovered and subsequently profiled. MK-7845 exhibited nanomolar in vitro potency with broad spectrum activity against a panel of clinical SARS-CoV-2 subvariants and MERS-CoV. Furthermore, when administered orally, MK-7845 demonstrated a notable reduction of viral burdens by &gt;6 log orders in the lungs of transgenic mice infected with SARS-CoV-2 (K18-hACE2 mice) and MERS-CoV (K18-hDDP4 mice).

Background: The workplace burnout syndrome is often associated with particular aspects of certain job positions, especially those which entail working with people with special needs. The burnout syndrome in healthcare jobs is a serious problem which has grown into an epidemic among healthcare workers and associates. Objectives: The aim of this research is to assess the presence of stress and burnout syndrome at work with healthcare workers, expert workers, professional associates and associates in social service institutions in Belgrade. Material and Methods: This research has been conducted in the form of a cross-sectional study of a representative sample in social institutions in Belgrade. It has been conducted from March to the end of June of 2023. The sample of the study had 491 participants. The questionnaires used were a structured instrument with social-demographic and social-economic characteristics, workplace characteristics, life style characteristics, and the following questionnaires: DASS-21, Copenhagen, Brief Resilience Scale, and Brief Resilient Coping Scale. Results: The end results indicate the following to be significant risk factors for the occurrence of workplace burnout syndrome: overtime (OR=2.62; CI=1.50-4.56), BRS average score (OR=0.28; CI=0.17-0.44), DASS21 D heightened depression (OR=2.09; CI=1.1-4.04), DASS21 A heightened anxiety (OR=2.38; CI=1.34-4.21), DASS21 S heightened stress (OR=2.08; CI=1.11-3.89). The only protective risk factor which stood out was the self-assessment of health levels (OR=0.60; CI=0.42-0.85). Conclusion: Overtime is a significant predictor of workplace burnout. Apart from it, other significant predictors of workplace burnout were heightened depression, anxiety, and stress levels.

Neonatal mortality remains a public health concern and timely identification and prompt intervention in the delivery room could improve the outcome in neonatal morbidity and mortality. We performed a retrospective study to help us finding the profile of the high-risk newborn regarding the need for NICU admission, necessary to establish a protocol regarding the mobilization of human and material resources for the urgent management of these situations. All deliveries and neonates born in Maternity of Bihor County Emergency Clinical Hospital from Romania were reviewed, including relevant maternal, foetal and perinatal data to identify risk factors that result in birth of newborns needing resuscitation at birth between 2012-2019. The number of births showed a downward trend but around 90% of the births were on term. The incidence of neonatal emergencies is increasing, the most frequently were respiratory, sepsis and other infections, cardiovascular emergencies, and extreme prematurity. It is noted that in 2021 the incidence of these neurological emergencies increased by three times compared to previous years. The neonatal and maternal risk factors associated with admission to the NICU were mother's age over 35 years, low level of education, second/more gestation, weight under 2500 g, Apgar score under 7, premature rupture of membranes, macrosomia and mother's infectious pathology. Accurate identification of risk factors and anticipation at the birth of a high-risk neonate would result in adequate preparation and prompt resuscitation of neonates who need some level of intervention and thus, reducing neonatal morbidity and mortality.

Since the effects of renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors on the clinical outcomes of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) have been conflicting in different studies, we performed this meta-analysis. A systematic search of published articles was performed in PubMed and EMBASE from January-May 5, 2020. Studies that reported the clinical outcomes of patients with COVID-19, stratified by the class of concomitant antihypertensive drug therapy, were included. The Mantel-Haenszel random effects model was used to estimate pooled odds ratio (OR). A total of 6,997 hypertensive patients with COVID-19 were included. The overall risk of poor patient outcomes (severe COVID-19 or death) was lower in patients taking RAAS inhibitors (OR=0.84, 95% CI: [0.73, 0.96]; P=0.017) compared with those receiving non-RAAS inhibitor antihypertensives. Patients taking angiotensin-I-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) were less likely to experience poor clinical outcomes (OR=0.73, 95% CI: [0.58-0.92]; P=0.01) compared with those receiving angiotensin-II receptor blockers (ARBs). Compared to all other antihypertensives, ACEIs decreases the risk poor COVID-19 outcomes (OR=0.77, 95% CI: [0.63-0.93]) while ARBs did not (OR=1.13, 95% CI: [0.95-1.35]). The risk of poor patient outcomes from COVID-19 was lower in patients who received RAAS inhibitors compared with those who took non-RAAS inhibitors. Unlike ARBs, ACEIs might help in decreasing the severity and mortality of COVID-19.

Recent studies have demonstrated a relationship between poor vitamin D status and respiratory infections and diarrhea among young children. Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) and diarrhea are among the two most important causes of death in under-5 children. In this analysis, we examine the extent to which vitamin-D deficiency (<10 ng/ml) predicts these outcomes using data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of daily folic acid and/ or vitamin B12 supplementation for six months in 6 to 30 months old children conducted in Delhi, India. Of the 960 subjects who had vitamin-D concentrations measured, 331(34.5%) were vitamin-D deficient. We found, after controlling for relevant potential confounders (age, sex, breastfeeding status, wasting, stunting, underweight, anemia status at base line and season), the risk of ALRI was significantly higher among vitamin-D deficient (OR 1.26; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.55) compared to vitamin-D-replete children in the six months follow-up period. Vitamin-D status was not significantly associated with episodes of diarrhea and clinical pneumonia. The extent of causal relationship of vitamin-D status and ALRI needs to be explored in further studies.

With the digital transformation of the logistics industry, smart logistics algorithms have become a core technology to improve efficiency and reduce costs. This paper reviews the development history of traditional logistics technology and discusses the key role of technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data analysis, artificial intelligence, and automation in logistics technology innovation. It focuses on the application of intelligent logistics algorithms in path optimization, intelligent scheduling, data mining and prediction, and intelligent warehousing. To solve the problem of inconsistency between training and testing objectives, this paper proposes DRL4Route, a deep reinforcement learning-based path optimization framework, and designs the DRL4Route-GAE model. Validated through extensive offline experiments and online deployments, the model significantly outperforms existing optimal benchmark methods on real datasets, improving the location deviation squared metrics and the top-three location prediction accuracy metrics. These research results provide important support to further promote the intelligent development of the logistics industry.

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

Inflammation and immune cell dysfunction are critical facilitators of endometriosis pathophysiology. The diverse cellular fractions in the endometriotic microenvironment are represented mainly by glands and stroma, which are infiltrated by immune cells, including macrophages. Macrophages are renowned for stimulating lesion growth, vascularization, and innervation and contributing to pain in the disorder. By combining macrophages and endometriotic cells, we determined if resveratrol and its natural analogs can target the immune dysregulation and oxidative imbalance in endometriosis. We studied the effect of analyzed compounds on the expression of key inflammatory and oxidative stress markers, cytokines release, and ROS production by applying q-PCR, ELISA, Cytometric Beads Array, and multiplexed fluorogenic staining and flow cytometry analysis with bioimaging. The results showed that endometriosis-related macrophages treated with resveratrol or its derivatives have impaired expression of pro-inflammatory markers such as IL6, IL8, IL1B, TNF, CCL2, CXCL10, and PTGS2. This study also reported a pronounced antioxidant effect of the compounds by reducing the accumulation of free radicals in macrophages, which correlated with the transcript activation of detoxification enzymes (SOD, GPx). Considering the harmful macrophage action in endometriosis, we described the prospects for potential therapy based on regulating the immune microenvironment and reducing the accumulation of free radicals.

The main purpose of this study is the determination of the optimal data acquisition and processing parameters of electric and seismic tomographic techniques, for the investigation of complex geological environments. Two different study areas, in central-east Peloponnese and SW Attica were selected, where a detailed geological mapping and surface geophysical survey were carried out. The applied geophysical survey included the application of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and seismic refraction tomography (SRT). The geoelectrical measurements were acquired with different arrays and electrode configurations. Moreover, various types of seismic sources were used at seventeen shot locations along the seismic arrays. For the processing of geoelectrical data, clustered datasets were created increasing the depth of investigation and the discriminatory capability. The seismic data processing included: (a) creation of synthetic models and seismic records to determine the effectiveness and capabilities of the technique, (b) spectral analysis of the seismic records to determine the optimal seismic source type and (c) inversion of the field data to create representative subsurface velocity models. The results of the two techniques successfully delineated the complex subsurface structure that characterizes these two geological environments. The application of the ERT combined with the SRT, are the two dominant, high-resolution techniques for the elucidation of complex subsurface structures.

We suppose that a Cooper pair (CP) will experience a damping force exerted by the condensed matter. A Langevin equation of a CP in two dimensional condensed matter is established. Following a method similar to Nelson's stochastic mechanics, generalized Schr\"{o}dinger equation of a CP in condensed matter is derived. If the CPs move with a constant velocity, then the corresponding direct current (DC) electrical conductivity can be calculated. Therefore, a Drude like formula of resistivity of CPs is derived. We suppose that the damping coefficient of CPs in two dimensional cuprate superconductors is a linear function of temperature. Then the resistivity and scattering rate of CPs turn out to be also linear-in-temperature. The origin of linear-in-temperature resistivity and Planckian dissipation in cuprate superconductors may be the linear temperature dependence of the damping coefficient of CPs.

The continuous casting process of helical fiber reinforced metal matrix composites was proposed, and the experimental equipment was designed and manufactured. The relationship model be-tween the process parameters and the helical shape of the fibers in the metal matrix is analyzed by differential geometry. Helical carbon fiber reinforced lead matrix composites were prepared under different conditions. When the melting temperature and cooling intensity were increased, the helical radius of helical carbon fiber in lead matrix was increased. When the fiber rotation speed was increased, the helical radius was decreased, and the helical pitch was de-creased proportionally. The experimental results are consistent with the process model. Carbon fiber rein-forced aluminum composites were prepared. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the infiltration between the aluminum matrix and the carbon fiber was not complete. As the volume fraction of carbon fiber which was added in composites is too small, the mechanical properties of the composites have not been significantly improved.

This article presents an innovative approach to the design of a safe adaptive backstepping control system. Tailored specifically for underactuated marine robots, the system utilizes simple sensors for enhanced practicality and efficiency. Given their operation in diverse oceanic environments fraught with various sources of uncertainties, ensuring the system's safe and robust behavior holds paramount importance in the control literature. To address this concern, this paper introduces a control strategy designed to ensure robustness at both the kinematic and dynamic levels. By emphasizing the compensation for the system uncertainties, the design integrates a straightforward fuzzy system structure. To further ensure the system's safety, a funnel surface is defined, followed by the design of a suitable nonlinear sliding surface as a function of the funnel and tracking error. Specifically leveraging the Lyapunov function, the study formally establishes the Semi-globally Practically Finite-time Stability of the closed-loop system, validated through simulations conducted on underactuated marine robots.

Most cervical cancer cases are a result of persistent high-risk Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. Cervical cancer is prevalent in LMICs especially in SSA where it is second most prevalent cancer. In South Africa, it is the second most common cancer affecting women aged between 15 and 44 years. The host immune response has been shown as an important factor in controlling the progression or regression of high-risk HPV infection of the cervix to cervical cancer. The risk of cervical cancer is known to be influenced by the host's genetic diversity, particularly by immune response-regulating genes such as the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) class I and II genes. HLA class I genes present viral peptides to CD8+ T cells which are restricted and pre-programmed for cytotoxic functions. There is very little known about the HLA genes of South African women and how these influence outcome of HPV infections. This review aims to understand the role and influence of HLA class I genes in HPV clearance, persistence, and CD8+ T cell mediated immunity in African women by examining existing literature in this area. Understanding this role can influence and inform therapeutic vaccine design that is population specific.

Increased norepinephrine (NE) release from the sympathetic nerves during pregnancy in women or animal models, as occurs during stress, modifies the fetal environment and increases flow of NE to the fetus, programing the progeny and affecting its cardiovascular and metabolic function in adulthood. In the present work, gestating rats were exposed to stress during gestation and the female progeny was analyzed for heart and metabolic function. Pregnant Sprague–Dawley rats were exposed to cold stress (4 °C/3 h/day); rats’ female progeny were euthanized at 4, 20 and 60 days old and their hearts evaluated to determine the β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) mRNA, abundance and affinity to agonists and NE concentration. The in vivo response to glucose overload and the arterial pressure response to isoproterenol (ISO, 125 µg/kg weight/day/10 days) were monitored. Results: At 20 and 60 days old, stressed female progeny presented an increase in ventricular weight and no changes in the cardiac NE as compared with their age-matched controls. The β1AR mRNA in control rats decreased between 4 and 20 days of age, but stressed rats maintained 50% higher levels of mRNA as compared with their age-matched controls. This difference was also found in the protein abundance of β1AR. No differences were found at 60 days old. The β2AR mRNA levels were higher than in controls at both 4 and 20 days old, but not expressed in the amount of protein. An increase in the ratio of β1/β2 receptors was found at 20 days old but not at 60 days old. The displacement of 3H-dihydroalprenolol (DHA) from a membrane fraction with propranolol (β antagonist) showed decreased affinity (at 60 days old) but no changes in the βAR number. In vivo exposure to ISO induced a β-adrenergic overload and provoked death in 40% of stressed females by day 3 of ISO treatment. Regarding metabolic function, we found that stressed rats presented insulin resistance when adults. These data suggest permanent changes to the heart’s adrenergic response and metabolic function after rat progeny were stressed in the uterus.

This study presents a detailed comparative analysis of Molecular Docking data, focusing on the binding interactions of conventional ligands and natural compounds, Apigenin and Luteolin, with TP-53, pRb, and APOBEC. Utilizing advanced bioinformatics techniques, coupled with Ar-tificial Intelligence software and High-Performance Computing (HPC), we measured and con-trasted the binding energies of these interactions. Additionally, we investigated protein-protein interactions between HPV-16 oncoprotein E6 and tumor suppressors TP-53 and pRb. Our findings demonstrate that the natural compounds Apigenin and Luteolin exhibit significantly higher binding affinities to TP-53, pRb, and APOBEC compared to conventional pharmacological ligands. The binding energies for Apigenin and Luteolin were approximately -6.9 kcal/mol and -6.6 kcal/mol, respectively, indicating their strong potential as therapeutic agents in inhibiting the oncogenic functions of HPV-16. In contrast, conventional ligands showed lower binding affinities, with energies around -4.5 to -5.5 kcal/mol. The study further revealed that the protein-protein interactions between E6 and TP-53, and E6 and pRb, exhibited considerably higher binding en-ergies, approximately -976.7 kcal/mol, due to the multiple interaction sites and the complex nature of protein interfaces. A conversion formula was developed to translate these high-energy inter-actions to a comparable scale for non-protein-protein interactions, highlighting the superior binding potential of natural compounds, which, through the same conversion formula, was shown to be higher than that of interaction between E6 with TP-53 and E6 with pRb. These results underscore the therapeutic promise of Apigenin and Luteolin in preventing HPV-16-related on-cogenesis. By demonstrating their higher binding affinities to crucial tumor suppressors, this study supports the development of natural compound-based therapies. The findings also em-phasize the necessity for further experimental validation to explore these compounds' efficacy in clinical settings. This comprehensive analysis provides a robust framework for understanding the comparative binding interactions and lays the groundwork for innovative therapeutic strategies against HPV-16.

This research addresses a gap in the literature by conducting a comprehensive analysis of patients’ level of satisfaction with dental care. Methods: By combining quantitative and qualitative survey methods with the PSQ questionnaire this study aims to augment ongoing initiatives to enhance dental patients’ experiences by painting a more comprehensive depiction of patients' level of satisfaction; Results: When asked about their overall level of satisfaction 77,1% of the patients said they received excellent services from the office personnel and 72,2% said they trust their doctors; Conclusions: Assessing patient satisfaction in the realm of dental services quality is crucial for enhancing service quality and accuracy, benefiting both patients and dentists, and ultimately improving public health.

Cysteine and its derivatives, including H2S, can influence bacterial virulence and sensitivity to antibiotics. In minimal sulfate media, H2S is generated under stress to prevent excess cysteine and, together with incorporation into glutathione and export into the medium, is a mechanism of cysteine homeostasis. Here, we studied the features of cysteine homeostasis in LB medium, where the main source of sulfur is cystine, whose import can create excess cysteine inside cells. We used mutants in the mechanisms of cysteine homeostasis and a set of microbiological and biochemical methods, including real-time monitoring of sulfide and oxygen, determination of cysteine and glutathione, and expression of the Fur, OxyR, and SOS regulons genes. During normal growth, the parental strain generated H2S when switching respiration to another substrate. The mutations affected the onset time, intensity and duration of H2S production, cysteine and glutathione levels, bacterial growth and respiration rates, and induction of defense systems. Exposure to chloramphenicol and high doses of ciprofloxacin increased cysteine content and GSH synthesis. A high inverse relationship between log CFU/ml and bacterial growth rate before ciprofloxacin addition was revealed. The study points to the important role of maintaining cysteine homeostasis during normal growth and antibiotic exposure in LB medium.

The Bax inhibitor-1 (BI-1) gene family, which is required for plant growth, development, and stress tolerance, remains largely unexplored in cauliflower. In this study, we identified and characterized cauliflower BI-1 family genes. On the basis of aligned homologous sequences and collinearity with Arabidopsis genes, we identified nine cauliflower BI-1 genes, which encoded proteins that varied regarding length, molecular weight, isoelectric point, and subcellular localization (i.e., Golgi apparatus, plasma membrane, cell membrane, and chloroplast). Phylogenetic analyses detected evolutionary conservation and divergence among these genes. Ten structural motifs were identified, with Motif 5 crucial for inhibiting apoptosis. According to the cis-regulatory elements in their promoters, these genes likely influence hormone signaling and stress responses. Expression profiles among tissues highlighted the diversity in the functions of these genes, which were significantly expressed in the silique and root. Focusing on BobBIL4, we investigated its role in brassinosteroid (BR)-mediated root development and salt stress tolerance. BobBIL4 expression levels increased in response to BR and salt treatments. The functional characterization of this gene in Arabidopsis revealed it enhances root growth and salinity tolerance. These findings provide insights into BI-1 gene functions in cauliflower, while also highlighting the potential utility of BobBIL4 for improving crop stress resistance.

While the beneficial effects of using magnetic and electromagnetic treatment (ET) of brackish and saline waters on soil salinity reduction in the root zone were widely reported more studies are needed to answer questions about the soil salt leaching efficiency and the effect of the duration of the exposure to ET. For this aim, pot experiments were conducted using an Aqua-4DR physical water treatment device. The first experiment included two trials. The first considered 5 concentrations: C0:1.0; C1:4.5; C2:9; C3:13.5; and C4:18 dSm-1. The results revealed that the volume and the salt concentrations of the drained waters were significantly higher under irrigation with ET saline waters than those provided by untreated waters. The drained fraction of water varied from 20 to 26% under irrigation with untreated water and increased from 33 to 56% under irrigation with electromagnetized water indicating an improvement of salt leaching. The second trial was carried out with different irrigation doses. The result showed that the higher the dose, the more obvious and significant ET effect. The different treatment durations of water exposure revealed that the volume and salinity of drained water significantly increase as the ET duration increases. An increase in ET duration induces also an increase in soil water content of around 2.5%. Based on the experimental findings, we may conclude that the ET of saline water can reduce the adverse effect of salinity on the top soil, but these leached salts are carried away in depth and there is no concentration limit of water to the effect of the ET.

Australia has the highest small-mammal extinction rate in the world, and there are ample of reasons that have led to the higher extinction rates such as introduction of feral species, wildfires, climate change and uneven population distribution. All these factors instil a dire need to protect the species in captive environment. Stress has a major role to play in maintaining an adequate welfare conditions for wildlife, hence quantification of the stress levels in captive animals help us understand the effectiveness of the methods used to house the animals. In this study, we assessed the stress levels of captive marsupials namely Rufous bettongs (Aepyprymnus rufescens) (n=9), Long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) (n=4) and Greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) (n=5) by measuring the faecal cortisol metabolites using the Enzyme-Immuno assay (EIA) (R4866). We carried out a laboratory validation of the EIA for the Rufous bettongs and long-nosed potoroo by demonstrating parallelism between the pooled faecal samples and the standard curve. We also used the iterative baseline approach to calculate the baseline levels and detect peak concentrations of FCM in all the studied species. No significant differences were found in the FCM and baseline levels in the potoroos. Results highlighted a significant difference (p &lt; 0.05) in the individual FCM and baseline levels of the bettongs. Additionally, significant differences (p &lt; 0.05) were found in the FCM and baseline levels between male and female bettongs. In case of bilbies, the FCM and baseline levels showed no significant differences, however the male and female baseline levels were significantly different (p &lt; 0.05). Our study provides the baseline and peak FCM concentrations in Long-nosed potoroos and Rufous bettongs under captive management. Future studies can use the iterative baseline approach and validated EIA to detect any possible variations in the FCM concentration and baseline values in captive marsupials created due to factors like sex, grouping, and housing conditions.

System-of-systems (SoS) evolution is a complex and unpredictable process. Although various principles to facilitate collaborative SoS evolution have been proposed, there is a lack of experimental data validating their effectiveness. To address these issues, we present an Agent-Based Model (ABM) for SoS evolution in the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) , serving as a quantitative analysis tool for SoS research. By integrating multiple complex and rational behaviors of individuals, we aim to simulate real-world scenarios as accurately as possible. To simulate the SoS evolution process, our model employs multiple agents with autonomous interactions and incorporates external environmental variables. Furthermore, we propose three evaluation metrics: evolutionary time, degree of variation, and evolutionary cost, to assess the performance of SoS evolution. Our study demonstrates that enhanced information transparency significantly improves the evolutionary performance of distributed SoS. Conversely, the adoption of uniform standards only brings limited performance enhancement to distributed SoSs. Although our proposed model has limitations, it stands out from other approaches that utilize Agent-Based Modeling to analyze SoS theories. Our model focuses on realistic problem contexts and simulates realistic interaction behaviors. This study enhances the comprehension of SoS evolution processes and provides valuable insights for the formulation of effective evolutionary strategies.

The effect of doublet state metalloradical complex in a solar cell inside the common active layer poly(3-hexylthiophene)/ [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT/PC60BM) is explored. In this work is demonstrated that the role of the Bis-[1,3-Bis-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-4,5-dichloroimidazol-2-ylidene]palladium(I) hexafluoridophosphate dopant, [Pd(IPrCl)2][PF6], is crucial because, by having a stable unpaired electron in the molecule, it significantly improves the optoelectronic performance of the devices. We found the optimal concentration of this molecule in the active layer, and we demonstrated that the presence of this additive in the active layer helps to significantly improve the morphology of the device. The improvements in optoelectronic and morphological parameters are associated with a remarkable increase of photocurrent generation due to more favourable mechanisms of charge separation at the donor/acceptor (D/A) interfaces of the active layer and reduced recombinations. Moreover, the presence of this additive improves the stability of the unencapsulated solar cell against photochemical degradation produced by sunlight.

The Vu Gia - Thu Bon River Basin (VG-TB) is confronting numerous challenges related to water security (WS), particularly in the face of the impacts of climate change. These challenges manifest in salinity intrusion, altered rainfall patterns, and reduced water supply in downstream areas. To assess the current state of water security in the basin, the study employed statistical analysis methods, Process Analysis Method (PAM), SMART, and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to develop a comprehensive Assessment Framework for Water Security (AFWS) in the VG-TB. The AFWS encompasses five key dimensions, 17 indicators, and 28 variables, aligning with the UN-Water definition of water security and addressing the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6) criteria for global water sustainability. It also adheres to the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) approach to water security assessment as outlined in the Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO) reports. This allows for the computation of a comprehensive Water Security Index (WSI) for specific regions, serving as a foundation for decision-making and policy formulation aimed at enhancing water security in the context of climate change and facilitating sustainable basin development in the future.

Crystalline silver thin layers were obtained by high-energy pulsed laser ablation without heating of the deposition substrate. The fluid Plateau-Rayleigh (PRI), Rayleigh – Taylor (RTI) and Richtmyer – Meshkov (RMI) instabilities, as well as crown splash induced during pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in high energy regime, resulting in ring and pearl shaped structures, offer the benefit of increased sorption surface. These morphological structures obtained for the silver thin layers make them of interest for catalytic applications. The study presented with this work addresses both the fundamental and applied issues on the morphological structures obtained for the silver thin layer and their catalytic function in organic processes. In this sense, the catalytic action of the thin silver layer was highlighted by modifications of the Reactive Blue 21 dye (C.I.) in aqueous solution with sodium bicarbonate. Specific investigations and analyzes were carried out by electron microscopy and elemental analysis (SEM-EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and profilometry, mass spectrometry, ablation plasma diagnosis, diffractograms (XRD), as well as IR spectroscopy (FTIR). In addition to the experimental investigation and analyzes, simulation of the ionization energy threshold was conducted in COMSOL for complementary evaluation on the involved processes and phenomena.

Trematode infections cause long-term suffering and debilitation, posing a significant threat to global animal health and production and leading to considerable economic losses. Studies on the epidemiology and control of these infections in Tanzania are limited, and most have been conducted in abattoir settings. The study aims to fill the knowledge gap by determining the prevalence, distribution, and risk factors for trematode infections in domesticated ruminants in two ecological zones of Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Lake Victoria and the southern highlands of Tanzania. Rectal fecal samples were collected and examined for Fasciola spp., paramphistomes, and schistosome infections using the sedimentation technique. A total of 1367 domesticated ruminants were sampled and examined for trematode infections. Prevalence of trematode infections was found to be 65.7%. The individual frequency of F. gigantica, paramphistomes, and S. bovis (based on egg morphology only,) was 35.1%, 60.2% and 3.1%, respectively. Adult cattle were more likely to be infected with paramphistomes (AOR: 1.98; 95% CI: 1.40-2.78) and S. bovis (AOR: 8.5; 95% CI: 1.12–64.19) than weaners. It was found that trematode infections in domesticated ruminants are prevalent across Tanzania, therefore effective and community-acceptable prevention and control strategies are highly needed.

Land cover mapping, essential for understanding global land use patterns, relies on satellite imagery for monitoring changes, assessing ecosystem health, and supporting conservation ef- forts. However, significant challenges remain in managing large, complex satellite imagery datasets, acquiring specialized datasets due to high costs and labor intensity, and a lack of comparative studies for optimal deep learning model selection. Additionally, a scarcity of aerial datasets specifically tailored for agricultural areas exists. This study addresses these gaps by presenting a method for semantic segmentations of land covers in agricultural areas using satellite images and deep learning models with pre-trained backbones. We introduce an efficient methodology for preparing semantic segmentation datasets and contribute the "Land Cover Aerial Imagery" (LICAID) dataset for semantic segmentation. The study focuses on the Franciacorta area, Lombardy Region, leveraging the rich diversity of the dataset to effectively train and evaluate the models. We conduct a comparative study, employing cutting-edge deep learning-based segmentation models (U-Net, SegNet, DeepLabV3) with various pre-trained backbones (ResNet, Inception, DenseNet, EfficientNet) on our dataset acquired from Google Earth Pro. Through meticulous data acquisition, preprocessing, model selection, and evaluation, we demonstrate the effectiveness of these techniques in accurately delineating land cover classes. Integrating pre-trained feature extraction networks significantly improves performance across various metrics. Additionally, addressing challenges such as data availability, computational resources, and model interpret-ability is essential for advancing the field of remote sensing and supporting sustainable environmental stewardship worldwide.

The enhancement of early diagnosis of lung cancer is mandatory to improve prognosis. We observed the increase cancer stem cells (CSC) and circulating tumor cells (CTC) in blood of mice on d3 after Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cell implantation before disease symptom. Besides we have developed an approach to reprogramming immune cells by inhibiting the MAPK/ERK pathway through MEKi and the PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint signaling pathway. We hypothesized that reprogramming of spleen CD8+ T-cells could also create a population of immune cells with high antitumor activity. We reprogrammed CD8+ T-cells derived from the spleen of C57BL/6 mice (rsCD8+T-cells). The rsCD8+T-cells were able to migrate to lung and were more resistant after the exhaustion in vitro in comparison with naïve sCD8+T-cells. In the orthotopic LLC model, the rsCD8+T-cells therapy increased the amount of proliferating CD8+ and CD4+ T-cells in blood and lung from mice. The amount of CSC decreased in the blood and lung of mice treated with rsCD8+ T-cells. A morphological study revealed a decrease in the number of metastases in lung tissue. The antitumor effects of rsCD8+T-cells are based on the activation of the host immune response by increasing the populations of CD8+ and CD4+ T-cells and apoptosis of CSCs.

The rapid growth of the sharing economy has propelled shared mobility to the forefront of attention. The continuous advancement of autonomous driving technology also brings new opportunities and challenges to the shared mobility market. This study comprehensively analyzes the market potential concerning autonomous vehicles (AVs) to provide shared mobility services, utilizing SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, and Porter’s Five Forces. The findings reveal that AVs can provide improved shared mobility services by increasing transportation safety, reducing emissions, reducing costs, enhancing traffic efficiency, and increasing customer satisfaction and the profitability of shared mobility services. However, challenges such as technological and policy uncertainties, safety concerns, high initial costs, inadequate public communication infrastructure, and the absence of standardized regulations can hinder the widespread adoption of AVs. The benefits are also restricted with a low market penetration rate of AVs. To promote AVs in the shared mobility market, this study also provides implications for AV stakeholders tailored to the evolving shared mobility market dynamics.

The speed-density or flow-density relationship is a fundamental aspect of traffic flow theory. Single-regime models often face challenges in consistently fitting empirical data under diverse traffic conditions. This paper addresses the inaccuracies of single-regime models, attributing them not only to their functional forms but also to data dispersion and sample selection bias. To mitigate these issues, the data is segmented into day and night periods, leading to the creation of separate models for each. Calibration results, conducted on data from two freeways, Tehran-Karaj and Tehran-Qom, reveal distinct challenges, with the former exhibiting high dispersion and the latter showing low dispersion. Surprisingly, single-regime models demonstrate notable effectiveness when applied to distinct day and night data. Further analysis, categorizing data into day and night, results in reduced errors (20-60% improvement in R-Square), emphasizing the potential for enhanced accuracy by considering distinct regimes. Overall, the study underscores the significance of regime-specific considerations for accurate traffic flow modeling. Upon thorough evaluation, the study highlights the superiority of the neural network Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) over traditional models. The research discusses the implications of incorporating day and night parameters into the models, emphasizing their potential for accuracy enhancement.

Promoting organic foods production and consumption contributes to accomplishing United Nations sustainable development goals. Social commerce provides a promising opportunity to develop the organic food industry. However, there is limited knowledge regarding customer behaviors in relation to purchasing organic foods via social commerce platforms. Therefore, this study expanded upon the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT-2) to develop a comprehensive model that explains how customers' social commerce trust and behavioral intentions to purchase organic foods using Instagram social commerce affect their purchasing behaviors. The research model was analyzed by employing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for the data collected from a quantitative survey of 410 customers who used Instagram to purchase organic foods in Iran. The results revealed that facilitated purchasing conditions, hedonic motivations, social influence, rating and reviews, and influencers’ endorsements increase customers' purchase intentions. Moreover, Instagram’s recommendations and referrals, influencers’ endorsements, as well as social influence boost customers' trust in the social commerce platform. Eventually, it was determined that influencers’ endorsements, social commerce trust, and purchase intention determine a customer’s organic foods purchasing behaviors. This research provides valuable insights for organic food marketers to optimize their social commerce strategies.

Firefighters Protective Clothing consist of several layers of different properties and functions. The layers create barriers against dangerous outer factor. However, they are also barriers to transport of sweat produced by human organism. It causes that very often sweat in the form of vapor is not transferred effectively from the human organism through the FPC to environment. This leads to sweat condensation on the skin of the FPC user causing his discomfort. In order to ensure as good as possible physiological comfort of firefighter while firefighting and other rescue actions it is necessary to take into consideration the transport of condensed sweat in the multilayer textile set creating the FPC. In the presented work four variants of multilayer textile sets for the FPC have been tested in the aspect of liquid moisture transport. Measurement was performed by means of the Moisture Management Tester (MMT290) – innovative instrument manufactured by the SDL Atlas. Obtained results showed that the transfer of sweat in liquid form occurs only in the inner, next to skin layer of the multilayer sets for the FPC.

The inhibition of kynurenine aminotransferase II (KATII) is a target for treating several diseases with an excess of kynurenic acid (KYNA). KATII inhibitors exist, but they have adverse side effects, given their irreversible inhibition mechanism. This study aimed to discover potent and safe inhibitors of KATII by using computational and in vitro methods. We identified herbacetin and (-)-Epicatechin as reversible KATII inhibitors from a small library of natural compounds, whose Glide docking scores (-8.66 kcal mol-1 and-8.16 kcal mol-1, respectively) and MM/GBSA binding energies (-50.30 kcal mol-1 and -51.35 kcal mol-1, respectively), which are higher scores than the standard inhibitor, PF-04859989 (-7.12 kcal mol-1 and -38.41 kcal mol-1, respectively). The ADMET analysis showed that herbacetin and (-)-Epicatechin have suitable pharmacokinetic parameters, are moderately bioavailable, and have a safe toxicity profile. Their KATII inhibitory activity is in the range of IC50 values of 5.98± 0.18 µM and 8.76 ± 0.76 µM, respectively. Furthermore, the MTT assay for cell toxicity showed that the two compounds do not alter HepG2 cell viability at their required concentration for KATII inhibition. These results show that herbacetin and(-)-Epicatechin are suitable for KATII inhibition and appropriate candidates for further development of KATII inhibitors.

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

Wireless Powered Communication Networks (WPCN), which has attracted much attention of researchers, also been recently recommended in 5^th generation (5G) wireless networks. With the help of the WPCN, the reliability and battery life of wireless low-power devices can be improved. In this paper, we investigate throughput and ergodic capacity in WPCN-assisted amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying system, considering two transmission modes including delay-tolerant and delay-limited. As important achievement, we propose symmetric energy harvesting protocol, namely time power switching relaying (TPSR) in order to find maximal throughput. In particular, both time switching and power switching coefficients in this schemes are considered. Unlike most of the previous works, we further focus on impact of outdated channel state information (CSI) in this WPCN. In order to evaluate information processing efficiency, the performance can be substantially improved by optimally harvesting time and power coefficients of the received signal at relay node for energy and information extraction, and by deploying several scenarios. By deploying Monte Carlo simulation, it is confirmed that the system performance is more sensitive to CSI estimation error, noise variance, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and resulting in other reasonable computations of TPSR need be deployed to obtain QoS requirement.

To conduct high-precision and high-resolution numerical simulation of complex flow structures in turbomachinery, a high-order finite volume weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for the large eddy simulation (LES) is improved and embedded into the three-dimensional viscous unsteady CFD solver NUAA-Turbo. Firstly, the spectral characteristics and unsteady convergence of the improved WENO scheme are studied. Compared with the classical WENO scheme, the improved WENO scheme has better dissipation and dispersion characteristics and faster convergence speed. Then, the coefficient CW of the Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity (WALE) model is calibrated by decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence (DHIT) test case. Finally, the scheme is applied to conduct high-precision LES calculations of turbulent boundary layer flow, supersonic compression corner flow, and low-pressure turbine cascade separation flow. The numerical simulation results show that this WENO scheme has excellent shock wave capture ability and turbulence resolution and can capture more flow field details with less mesh size, greatly reducing the computational cost and laying a foundation for large-scale engineering application of LES.

Intermetallic compounds are increasingly being expected to utilize in tribological environments, but to date the works are hindered by insufficient ductility at low and medium temperature. This paper presents a novel multiphase intermetallic alloy with the chemical composition of Mo-40Ni-13Si (at.%). Microstructure characterization reveals that a certain amount of ductile Mo phases formed during the solidification process of ternary Mo-Ni-Si alloy melt, which is undoubtedly beneficial to the ductility improvement of intermetallic alloy. Tribological properties of the designed alloy, including wear resistance, friction coefficient and metallic tribological compatibility, were evaluated under dry sliding wear test conditions at room temperature. Results suggested that the multiphase alloy possesses an excellent property for room-temperature wear applications, which is attributed to the unique microstructural features and thereby good combination in hardness and ductility. The corresponding wear mechanism is also reported by observing the worn surface, subsurface and wear debris of alloy, which to be found is soft abrasive wear.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a record of brain activity. Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology formed by the EEG signal has become one of the hotspots at present. How to extract the feature signal of EEG is the most basic research of BCI technology. In this paper, A new method of recognizing fatigue, conscious, concentrated state of human brain is proposed by the combination of discrete wavelet transform and the neural network based on EEG signal. First of all, the law signal is preprocessed by the wavelet denoising method because the law EEG signal contains a large number of high frequency noise, which is decomposed into multi-layer high frequency signal and low frequency signal. thus, δ wave, θ wave, α wave, β wave are obtained by the wavelet transform. And then, frequency band energy of the different wave is regards as the feature signal of EEG. In the experiment, the feature signal is classified by radial basic function (RBF) and annealed chaotic competitive learning network (ACCLN). RBF and ACCLN networks are trained with 500 sets of sample data and are tested by 100 sets of samples in different mental states. The experimental results show that the average accuracy of RBF network under three conditions are 88.75%, 88.25%, 88.5%, respectively, and the correct rate of ACCLN network is 97%, 98%, 98%, respectively.

The development of biofuels and biodiesel industry specifically, has resulted in the generation of large amounts of glycerol as a surplus. The conversion of glycerol, into chemicals with indus-trial interest, through anaerobic fermentation using E. coli as a biocatalyst is an attractive alter-native to improve economic performance in the biodiesel industry, for example through the bi-otransformation of residual glycerol into ethanol. For 2019, the size of the global ethanol market was valued at $ 89.1 billion US dollar. Biodiesel can be produced from several materials like rapeseed, palm, soya, corn, palm kernel, frying oil or olive-pomace oil (OPO). The last, can be extracted from alperujo, byproduct of olive oil process. However, olive-pomace oil converting into biodiesel is not enough established to achieve a global olive-oil/biodiesel derived process with minimized waste generation. Traditionally biodiesel production process produces an equivalent of 10% by mass of glycerol as a waste or by-product. This work explores the conver-sion of residual glycerol into chemicals like ethanol and hydrogen with a focus on projecting raw material potential availability from OPO, contributing to the promotion of the use of biofu-els and biodegradable compounds.

The aim of this study was to compare the effect of using L-PRF in patients undergoing impacted lower third molar surgery with either primary or secondary closure techniques. Methods: This prospective, randomised, double-blind, split-mouth clinical trial was conducted in patients with bilateral lower impacted third molars of similar position. Primary closure was performed in group 1 and secondary closure in group 2. Group 1 closure technique was applied to one side of the patients and group 2 closure technique was applied to the other side at different times. Nine pa-tients were excluded from the study due to alveolitis and failure to attend regular control visits out of the 45 patients evaluated. Results: Of the 36 patients included in the study, 23 were female and 13 were male and the mean age was 22.42±3.36 years. The secondary closure group had lower VAS scores at hour 6 (p

Nowadays, Multi-needle electrospinning has used to be an efficient method for producing nanofiber membranes. But in the process, the fluctuation errors in electrospinning fluid flow rate have directly influence the membrane quality, which bringing instability and still have not been solved yet. For finding out the solution to the inaccurate flow control in multi-needle, it is necessary to develop a multi-stage flow runner spinneret for large-scale production of nanofiber membrane. At first, the paper uses the finite element software COMSOL to numerically simulate the polymer flow in the runner of spinneret. Based on it, the velocity field distribution curve was draw and the velocity instability coefficient of the polymer flow was attained, which are providing theoretical guidance for the optimal design of spinneret. Next, the response surface analysis method (RSM) was used to establish a regression model between the average diameter of the nanofiber membrane and the process parameters. Then, above regression model used to perform variance data processing between the average diameter and the process parameter configuration. After that, the 2D and 3D response surface profiles and the significance analysis were completed. Finally, the stability of the nanofibers production was improved, which attained the optimal adjustment of process configuration in multi-needle electrospinning.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) hold enormous potential in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, benefit from their roles in intercellular signaling, as well as their plentiful presence and stability in body fluids. However, conventional EV isolation methods are labor-intensive, and harvest EVs with low purity and compromised recovery. In addition, the drawbacks, such as limited sensitivity and specificity of traditional EV analysis methods hinder the application of EVs in clinical use. Therefore, it is urgent to develop effective and standardized methods for isolating and detecting EVs. Microfluidics technology is a powerful and rapidly developing technology that has been introduced as a potential solution for the above bottlenecks. It holds the advantages of high integration, short analysis time, low consumption of samples and reagents. In this review, we summarize the traditional techniques alongside microfluidic-based methodologies for the isolation and detection of EVs. We emphasize the separation advantages of microfluidic technology in enhancing EV capture efficiency and precise targeting, while summarizing its analytical role in targeted detection and discussing the significance of EV detection in the tumor microenvironment, providing a direction for achieving automated and high-throughput EV detection in clinical samples.

Sympatric mountain ungulates experience population fluctuations due to intra and inter-specific competition and climate variations. In this comprehensive three-year study (2012-2015), we investigated the population dynamics, spatial distribution, and habitat use of Tibetan Antelope (Chiru) (Panthalops hodgsonii) in relation to four other sympatric ungulates (Argali Ovis ammon, Wild Yak Bos mutus, Tibetan Wild Ass Equus kiang, and Greater Bharal Pseudois nayaur) in the cold arid Changchenmo Valley of Ladakh, India. We conducted 162 intensive surveys covering 918.60 km, we recorded 215 animal sightings, encompassing 1670 Chiru individuals, exclusively males. Chiru exhibited encounter rate of 1.19±1.17 S.D individuals/km walked and 1.53±1.37 S.D. individuals/hr and a typical group sizes of 13.69. Our findings suggest spatio-temporal resource partitioning through habitat selection which favour species coexistence under harsh climatic conditions. While resource sharing occurred during summer, competition was observed during peak winters and springs. Noteworthy in our study was the coexistence of Chiru and Tibetan Wild Ass in shared habitats, indicating facilitation rather than interspecific competition. However, significant habitat segregation was observed between Chiru and other ungulates, highlighting distinct ecological preferences. The study reports a stable Chiru population and reveals a novel phenomenon of some individuals remaining in the area during winters, a behavior not previously documented. The overlap of all species in limited winter habitats poses a potential threat to Chiru survival. Additional threats include climate change, infrastructure development, armed conflict, and livestock competition. Special management efforts, including awareness programs for armed forces and stringent development regulations, are crucial. Our findings provide critical insights into complex species interactions and habitat preferences, forming an essential foundation for the conservation and management of Chiru and other Tibetan ungulates in the Trans-Himalayan landscapes affected by climate change.

Wearable technology has been proposed as a potential tool to change the way of human life, such as the smart bracelet and the Google Glass. In the wearable technology, the inertial sensor has great significance in tracking the object movements. The paper focused on detecting the movements of user’s finger based on the inertial sensor to give the control signals. Firstly, the attitude matrix, which represented the transformation relation of carrier coordinate system and the navigation coordinate system, was obtained. Secondly, the attitude matrix was expressed based on the quaternions. Thirdly, the finger gesture was processed by the attitude matrix to get the attitude angle. Finally, the robot was controlled by attitude angle to make the moving action. The experimental results showed the detection of the finger movement is effective.

At the end of the dry season in early March to early April each year, extensive agricultural biomass waste burnings occur throughout insular mainland Southeast Asia. During this biomass burnings period, smoke aerosols blanket the whole regions and were transported and dispersed by predominant westerly and south westerly winds to southern China, Taiwan and as far southern Japan and the Philippines. The extensive and intense burnings coincided with some wildfires in the forests due to high temperature making the region one of the global hot spots of biomass fires. In this study, we focus on the effect of pollutants emitted from biomass burnings in March 2019 at the height of the burnings period to the exposed population and their health impact. The Weather Research Forecast- Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model was used to predict the PM2.5 concentration over the simulating domain and health impacts are then assessed on the exposed population in the four countries of Southeast Asia, namely Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Using the health impact based on log-linear concentration response function and Integrated Exposure Response (IER), the results show that at the peak period of the burnings from 13 to 20 March 2019, Thailand experienced the highest impact, with an estimated 2170 premature deaths. Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia followed, with estimated mortalities of 277, 565, and 314 deaths respectively. However, when considering the impact per head of population, Laos exhibited the highest impact, followed by Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The results highlight the significant health impact and associated economic cost of agricultural waste burnings in Southeast Asia at the end of the dry season. And hence policy makers should take these into account to design measures to reduce the negative impact of widespread burnings on exposed population in the region.

The presented work offers a novel process scheme for valorizing historical Pb-Zn slag, which involves crushing, grinding, and then using separation techniques to concentrate valuable components (nonferrous metals). This methodology could have a significant impact on the global beneficiation of metallurgical slags since, in theory, it is significantly more simple, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective than standard pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical procedures. According to previous physicochemical and mineralogical studies, Pb-Zn slag from "Topilnica" Veles is a valuable secondary raw material. This inhomogeneous technogenic resource contains substantial amounts of nonferrous metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, and Ag). However, laboratory tests have indicated that the Pb-Zn slag contains a very uneven valuable metals amounts, ranging from several g/ton to several tens of g/ton. The main issue is that traditional metallurgical procedures for releasing beneficial elements are not commercially viable since the valuable elements are "trapped" within amorphous aluminosilicates or intergrowths of alloy grains and glassy phases. Gravity concentration (Wilfley 13 shaking table) and magnetic separation (Davis separator and disk separator) were used to obtain the final concentrate following comminution and grindability testing. The gravity concentration proved more effective. This streamlined approach of valorizing Pb-Zn slag can reduce the need for hazardous chemicals used in hydrometallurgical refinement operations, as well as the extremely high temperatures required for pyrometallurgical processing. This is the first investigation into the feasibility of this novel approach, which includes direct investigations of the Pb-Zn slag feed using these alternative technologies. After extracting the valuable metals, the amorphous aluminosilicate part of the Pb-Zn slag can be reapplied as an alternative raw material in the building sector, adding to the circularity of the suggested approach..

Earnings management and financial distress are two critical facets of financial management in corporations that have lately been the focus of thorough research from both scholars and practitioners. The purpose of the research is to evaluate the influence of financial distress on the earnings management of companies listed at the NSE during the pre- and post-COVID eras. Multiple linear regression was applied in this study to examine the causal association between earnings management and financial distress. To assess the effect of financial distress on earnings management, the study analyzed data from 37 listed companies during the pre-COVID and post-COVID periods. The methodology also takes into account control factors like firm size, GDP, and inflation. The pre-COVID research indicates a significant positive correlation between financial strain and earnings management. In contrast, the correlation between financial distress and earnings management is not statistically significant in the post-COVID analysis. However, research shows that firm size has a statistically significant negative influence on managing earnings. The results of this study show that smaller firms are more inclined to engage in earnings management during the post-COVID era than bigger ones.

Sinonasal carcinomas are aggressive neoplasms that present a high morbidity and mortality rate with unfavorable prognosis. This group of tumors exhibits morphological and genetic diversity. Genetic and epigenetic alterations in these neoplasms are currently targets for diagnosis and treatment. The most common type of cancer originated in the sinonasal tract are sinonasal squa-mous cell carcinomas (SNSCC), which presents different histological patterns and variable his-tological aggressiveness. A significant number of alterations have been reported in sinonasal tu-mors, including deficiencies in the SwItch/Sucrose non-fermentable (SWI/SNF) chromatin remod-eling complex. In the sinonasal tract, deficiencies of the subunits SMARCB1/INI1, SMAR-CA4/BRG1 and SMARCA2 have been noted in carcinomas, adenocarcinomas, and soft tissue tu-mors with distinctive high-grade morphology and fatal prognosis. Objective: To identify the status of the SWI/SNF complex using immunohistochemistry in sinonasal squamous cell carci-nomas and its association with morphology and survival. Methods: A total of 1582 SNSCC cases were analyzed, selecting those with high-grade malignancy morphology, which were then evalu-ated immunohistochemically for SMARCB1 and SMARCA4 proteins. Their expression was compared with the biological behavior and survival of the patients. Results: Among the SNSCC, 47% corresponded to the non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma (NKSCC) type with high-grade characteristics, 40% were keratinizing squamous cell carcinomas (KSCC), 9% were SMARCB1-deficient carcinomas, and 4% were SMARCA4-deficient carcinomas. Mosaic expres-sion for SMARCB1 (NKSCC 33%, KSCC 21.9%) and SMARCA4 (NKSCC 14.6%, KSCC 12.2%) was identified, showing an impact on tumor size and progression. Conclusions: We identified that the mosaic expression of INI1 in NKSCC exhibited a worse prognosis compared to intact carcinomas and was similar to SMARCB1-deficent carcinoma.

The mosquito-borne zoonotic nematode parasites, Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens, primarily affect dogs. In recent years, their distribution has expanded due to various factors influencing vector-borne pathogens. This study aimed to investigate the comparative prevalence of infection in dogs and humans within a hyperenzootic region of Europe and to estimate the proportional relationship between infection prevalence in dogs and humans, in the concept of “One Health”. To this end, 604 blood samples from dogs and 625 serum samples from humans living in the Thrace region of northeastern Greece were collected. Dog samples were examined using Kott’s test for Dirofilaria spp. microfilariae and a commercial serological test for D. immitis antigen. Human sera were analysed by western blot for both parasites. The overall prevalence of infection in dogs was 177 (29.3%), with 173 (28.6%) testing positive for D. immitis and 7 (1.3%) for D. repens, including 6 (1%) cases of mixed infection. Specific IgG antibodies were detected in 42 (6.7%) human samples, with 24 (3.8%) positive for D. immitis and 18 (2.9%) for D. repens. The infection proportion in humans was 23.4% of the corresponding canine infection, indicating a high risk of human infection in this hyperenzootic region.

This study explores the near-surface dispersion mechanisms of contaminants in coastal waters, leveraging a comprehensive method that includes using dye and drifters as tracers, coupled with diverse observational platforms like drones, satellites, in-situ sampling, and HF radar. The aim is to deepen our understanding of surface currents' impact on contaminant dispersion, thereby improving predictive models for environmental incident management, including pollutant releases. Rhodamine WT dye, chosen for its significant fluorescent properties and detectability, along with drifter data, allowed us to investigate the dynamics of near-surface physical phenomena such as the Ekman current, Stokes drift, and wind-driven currents. Our research emphasizes the importance of integrating scalar tracers and Lagrangian markers in experimental designs, revealing differential dispersion behaviors due to near-surface vertical shear caused by the Ekman current and Stokes drift. The elongation direction of the dye patch aligns with the Ekman current direction during slow current conditions. Analytical calculations of vertical shear, based on the Ekman current and Stokes drift, closely matched those derived from tracer observations. Over a 7-hour experiment, the vertical diffusivity of near-surface water was observed at 2×10-4 m2/s, and the horizontal eddy diffusivity of the dye patch and drifters reached the order of 1 m2/s and at a 1000m length scale. Particle tracking models demonstrate that while HF radar currents can effectively predict the trajectories of tracers near the surface, incorporating near-surface currents, including Ekman current, Stokes drift, and windage, is essential for a more accurate prediction of the fate of surface floats.

Wetland ecosystems in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are pivotal for global ecology and regional sustainability, contributing significantly to terrestrial ecosystems by regulating runoff, mitigating floods, and enhancing water quality. This study investigates the dynamic changes in wetland ecosystems within the Chaidamu Basin and their response to drought, aiming to foster sustainable wetland utilization in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Using Landsat TM/ETM/OLI data on the Google Earth Engine platform, we employed a random forest method for annual long-term land cover classification. Meteorological drought conditions were assessed using SPEI3, SPEI6, SPEI9, and SPEI12, derived from monthly precipitation and evapotranspiration data. Pearson correlation analysis examined the relationship between wetland changes and various SPEI scales. The BFASAT method evaluated the impact of SPEI12 trends on wetlands, while cross-wavelet analysis explored teleconnections between SPEI12 and atmospheric circulation factors. Our findings revealed that the land cover dataset of the Chaidamu Basin (1990-2020) exhibited diverse categories with high classification accuracy (OA: 90.27%, Kappa: 88.34%). Wetlands, including lake, glacier, and marsh types, exhibited a noticeable increasing trend. Wetland expansion occurred during specific periods (1990-1997, 1998-2007, 2008-2020), featuring extensive conversions between wetland and other types, notably from other types to wetlands. Spatially, lake and marsh wetlands predominated in the low-latitude basin, while glacier wetlands were situated at higher altitudes. The study identified significant negative correlations between SPEI at various scales and total wetland area and types, with SPEI12 exhibiting the most substantial effect between September and December (r <-0.75) on wetlands. SPEI12 displayed a decreasing trend with non-stationarity and distinct breakpoints in 1996, 2002, and 2011, indicating heightened drought severity. Atmospheric circulation indices (ENSO, NAO, PDO, AO, WP) exhibited varying resonance with SPEI12, with NAO, PDO, AO, and WP demonstrating longer resonance times and pronounced responses.The continuous growth of wetlands amidst increasing aridification emphasizes the need for thoughtful wetland development to establish a sustainable "forest-lake-grass-field-river" ecological community. These findings underscore the significance of comprehending wetland changes and drought dynamics for effective ecological management in the Chaidamu Basin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Dynamic virtual testing by Hardware in the Loop (HIL) real time simulation systems is common to minimize physical tests to validate and verify control algorithms, logics and software, under normal and emergency conditions. The accurate but costly HIL models setup activities could have an extended use to simulate faulty conditions that are seldom observable in the real system, yet they must be detected in advance and recognized. Data driven diagnostic methods have reached a mature development, in various sectors, proving effective in early detecting slowly varying deviations from nominal patterns of signals, even without a priori knowledge of their nature and behavior. These methods rely on vast amount of data logged from real systems that are ever and ever richer of monitoring telemetries that are worth being exploited. However, due to the usually reliable and safe systems being managed, it is often difficult to collect enough data on anomalous situations to validate fault detection and isolation and limit false positives. HIL model-based simulations allow generating and observing operational domains or transients rarely observed in real operations. This allows identifying the signals that are most correlated to faults and that could be selected to setup data-based diagnostic models of parts or subsystems, which are more suitable than the whole HIL model for online diagnostics, as well as to identify the features and trends that are most symptomatic of anomalous conditions.

Button batteries pose a significant threat to young children and are found in many household items and children’s toys. Along with product manufacturers and retailers, parents and caregivers have a role in button battery ingestion prevention through vigilance regarding items containing button batteries in the home, and knowledge of button battery ingestion symptoms. There is limited information available about parent and caregiver perspectives towards button battery safety. Identifying the areas where increased education is required is important for informing safety campaigns and delivering targeted education. This study aimed to examine parent and caregiver elemental perspectives on button battery safety. One hundred and seventy-four parents and caregivers of children aged 0 to 5 completed a cross-sectional online survey. Distribution occurred via social media. The survey contained multiple-choice questions pertaining to button battery perspectives, and one open-ended question. Respondents recognized the dangers of button battery ingestion, yet only 37% reported being familiar with button battery ingestion symptoms. While 68% knew of household items containing button batteries, only 21% were aware of product recall information sources. Approximately 64% understood immediate post-ingestion steps and 17% found current safety labels unsatisfactory. In an open-ended question, parents and caregivers provided comments about button battery safety that revealed five broad themes; supervision and education; safe storage of button batteries in the home; ensuring children cannot access button batteries; disposing of button batteries safely; and avoiding purchasing items containing button batteries. This study provides a foundation for ongoing investigation of parent and caregiver perspectives on button battery home safety.

Background: The implementation of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has brought a significant improvement in the prognosis for CML patients and a decrease in the number of patients requiring allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Nevertheless, the impact of TKIs on allo-HCT outcomes have not been thoroughly explored. Objectives: The main endpoint of our research was to assess the impact of prior TKI treatment on acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD) and chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD). Methods: In our retrospective analysis we included 240 patients treated between 1993 and 2013, and divided them into 3 groups according to the therapy administered prior to matched related or matched unrelated donor allo-HCT (imatinib group n=41, dasatinib/nilotinib group n=28, TKI naïve group n=171). Results: Both the cumulative incidence of aGvHD (p=0.044) and cGvHD (p&lt;0.001) in individuals receiving second generation TKIs (2G-TKIs) prior to allo-HCT compared to patients receiving no TKIs or imatinib (IMA) (40.7% vs 61.4% vs 70.7%, p=0.044; 25.0% vs 76.4% vs 51.2%, p&lt;0.001, respectively). In case of the 2G-TKI cohort, the number of low-grade aGvHD and cGvHD was significantly lower compared to the IMA and TKI-naïve groups (p=0.018, p=0.004; p&lt;0.001 versus TKI-naïve, respectively). In terms of 3-year overall survival (OS) there were no important variations between TKI-naïve, IMA and 2G-TKI (55% vs 49.9% vs 69.6%, p=0.740). Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that TKI treatment prior to allo-HCT may have protective impact on immune-mediated outcomes.

The growing global population and limitations in fish catch production have led to a surge in the demand for aquaculture. Contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) are frequently being detected at low levels in surface water. These CECs, which include previously unidentified or unregulated pollutants, pose potential risks to health and the environment, though their impacts are not yet fully understood. Extensive research studies have been proposed and undertaken to address the issue of aquaculture wastewater, aiming to minimize its impact and implement effective treatment methods. This review provides an analysis of various technologies used for treating aquaculture wastewater using advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) focusing on photocatalysis and ozonation. It examines their advantages and disadvantages, as well as their respective treatment efficacies and discusses their potential applications in sustainable aquaculture practices complying with the Sustainable Development Goals of 1,2 and 6 and the Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) framework.

Introduction: Despite its high prevalence and impact on health, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is inadequately addressed in European primary care (PC), with a large proportion of cases going undiagnosed or diagnosed too late. A multi-country European re-search consortium led a project to design and evaluate a patient-centered, integrated model for MASLD screening, diagnosis and linkage to specialty care for European PC settings. Aim: Based on the lessons from this project, the latest research evidence and existing guidelines for the management of MASLD, we sought to develop a set of practice recommendations for screening, referral and management of MASLD in PC. Methods: The Rand/UCLA modified Delphi panel method, with two rounds, was used to reach consensus on practice recommendations. The international panel consisted of experts from six countries, representing family medicine, gastroenterology, hepatology, cardiology and public health. Initially, fifteen statements were drafted based on a synthesis of evidence from the literature and earlier findings from our consortium. Prior to the consensus meeting, the statements were rated by the experts in a first round. Then, in a hybrid meeting, the experts discussed findings of round one, adjusted the statements and reassessed the updated recommendations in a second round. Results: In round one, there was already a high level of consensus on 10 out of 15 statements. After round 2, there were fourteen statements with a high agreement (>90%). One statement was not endorsed. The approved recommendations addressed the following practice areas: risk screening and diagnosis, management of MASLD – Lifestyle interventions, pharmacological treatment of MASLD/MASH, pharmacological treatment for co-morbidity, integrated care, surgical management and other referrals to specialists. Conclusion: The final set of 14 recommendations focuses on increasing comprehensive care for MASLD in PC. The recommendations provide practical evidence-based guidance tailored to PC practitioners. We expect that these recommendations will contribute to the ongoing discussion on systematic approaches to tackle MASLD and support European PC providers by integrating the latest evidence into practice.

Fisheries and bottom seawater data were collected in July in 2022 and 2023 from 15 sampling stations in the Huanghe River Estuary and adjacent seas in China. The patterns of functional alpha- and beta-diversity of fish communities in this area and their relationship with environmental factors were studied using trait-based analysis. Five functional classifications, which included 16 functional traits, four functional alpha-diversity indices (functional richness, functional evenness, functional divergence, and community-weighted mean), three functional beta-diversity indices (functional beta-diversity and its turnover and nestedness components), and 14 bottom environmental factors were considered. The dominant traits of fish communities were: benthivorous feeding habits, small and front-facing mouths, high trophic level, demersal, anguilliform, low growth coefficient, medium resilience, low vulnerability, and adapted to warm temperate conditions. The dominant migration traits and types of fish eggs varied by year, and fish abundance was the main factor affecting the dominant traits of the communities. The results of multiple regression on distance matrices and variance partitioning analysis indicated that ammonia nitrogen content, total phosphorus content, and pH were the main environmental factors that affected fish functional diversity. The N/P ratio had an upward control effect on fish functional diversity. Our findings also revealed that high pH gradients and distant geographical distances can inhibit trait turnover in fish communities.

X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy, temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) and temperature-programmed hydride decomposition (TPHD) were employed to elucidate the structures of a series of PdRe/Al2O3 bimetallic catalysts for selective hydrogenation of furfural. TPR evidenced low-temperature Re reduction in the bimetallic catalysts consistent with migration of [ReO4]- (perrhenate) species to hydrogen-covered Pd nanoparticles on highly hydroxylated  Al2O3. TPHD revealed strong suppression of β-PdHx formation in the reduced catalysts prepared by (i) co-impregnation and (ii) [HReO4] impregnation of reduced Pd/Al2O3 indicating formation of Pd-rich alloy nanoparticles; however, reduced catalysts prepared by (iii) [Pd(NH3)4]2+ impregnation of calcined Re/Al2O3 and subsequent re-calcination did not. Re LIII X-ray absorption edge shifts were used to determine average Re oxidation states after reduction at 400°C. XAFS spectroscopy and high-angle annular dark field (HAADF)-scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) revealed that a reduced 5 wt.% Re/Al2O3 catalyst contained small Re clusters and nanoparticles comprising Re atoms in low positive oxidation states (~1.5+) and incompletely reduced Re species (primarily Re4+). XAFS spectroscopy of the bimetallic catalysts evidenced Pd-Re bonding consistent with Pd-rich alloy formation. Pd and Re total first-shell coordination numbers suggest that either Re is segregated to the surface (and Pd to the core) of alloy nanoparticles and/or segregated Pd nanoparticles are larger than Re nanoparticles (or clusters). The Cowley short-range order parameters are strongly positive indicating a high degree of heterogeneity (clustering or segregation of metal atoms) in these bimetallic catalysts. Catalysts prepared using the Pd(NH3)4[ReO4]2 double complex salt (DCS) exhibit greater Pd-Re intermixing but remain heterogeneous on the atomic scale.

The fractional advection-dispersion equation FADE plays an important role, especially in explaining the process of solute-transport in natural porous media with different degrees of heterogeneity. However, studies of the flow and transport of contaminants in the underground environment are based on the knowledge of many functional parameters of the subsoil. The delay factor caused by nonlinear absorption is one of these parameters inheriting significant ambiguities in its estimation in heterogeneous media. In the study, a fractional advection-dispersion FADE model was developed by the implicit Euler method, based on a Grunwald and Caputo-Liousville approximation to explicitly evaluate and simulate the transport mechanism of contaminants in media with unsaturated porous materials subjected to a nonlinear sorption model. Better solute mass retention was observed for fractional advection-dispersion FADE model. Moreover, the absorption parameter of the retardation coefficient has a better impact on the motion of the solute in a saturated porous medium. In other words, it has a significant effect on the dispersion of pollutants in aquifers. This study highlights the need to characterize the aquifer to predict solute transport in porous media.

The analysis and simulation of water quality in distribution networks is a complex issue of great concern today. The analysis of the evolution of water age, as a simple indicator of water quality in the network, is of great interest in both design and operation phases. Understanding the factors that have the strongest influence on water quality is key to developing adequate strategies aimed at preserving it. This paper firstly analyses the factors with biggest influence in the tanks water age, to support the selection of the most appropriate configuration from the point of view of water quality during design phases. Then, the main considerations when modelling tanks following the different mixing models considered in Epanet have been presented. Also, a real tank behaviour has been characterised through field measurements and Epanet simulations in order to determine the best fitted mixing model.

The oncological outcomes are improving in gastrointestinal cancer with advancement in systemic therapies, and there is notable potential in combining immunotherapy and radiation therapy (RT)to allow for further improvements in outcomes. Various preclinical and early phase II studies have shown promising synergy with immunotherapy and RT in gastrointestinal cancer. Consolidative nivolumab in esophageal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiation (CRT) and complete resection has recently been approved as standard treatment after improved disease free survival in phase III study. Immunotherapy has shown promising results in hepatocellular carcinoma and colorectal cancer as well. We have reviewed the published and ongoing studies of the combinations of immunotherapy and RT in gastrointestinal cancers.

This study evaluated the presence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Bovine Leukemia Virus (BLV) DNA in breast cancer (BC) samples from women in Northeastern Brazil. We analyzed 186 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue block samples using PCR and qPCR to detect HPV and BLV DNA. BLV DNA was not detected in any BC patients. However, HPV DNA was found in 46.2\% of the BC samples: 44.6\% were positive for HPV16, 3.5\% for HPV31, and 2\% were coinfected with HPV16 and HPV31. Additionally, we found an association between HPV-positive BC and Ki-67 expression (P=0.03, OR=1.85; CI=1.02-3.34), as well as between HPV31-positive BC and mitotic index (P=0.047). Although BLV was not detected in BC patients from Northeastern Brazil, the association between HPV and cell proliferation markers warrants further investigation, as HPV may contribute to the aggressiveness of BC in these patients.