This paper introduces a three-layer system, proposing a comprehensive model of granular mixture transport over a mobile sloped bed in a steady flow. This system, consisting of the bottom, contact and upper zones, provides complete, continuous sediment velocity and concentration vertical profiles. The model considers gravity’s effect on sediment transport in the bottom (dense) layer, a crucial factor often overlooked in previous studies. The induced movement in the mobile sublayer of the dense layer causes an increase in velocity at the upper boundary of this layer, significantly affecting the vertical distributions of velocity and concentration above this layer. We described the interactions between fractions and an intensive sediment mixing and sorting process in the contact layer. The proposed shear variation, with an increase in its maximum value at the bed, adds to the novelty of our approach. The data sets used for the model’s validation cover various conditions, including slopes, grain diameters, densities and grain mobility conditions, from incipient motion to a fully mobilised bed. This extensive validation process instils confidence in the theoretical description and its applicability to real-world scenarios.

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are perceived as a first step towards the future of sustainable transport. Of course, battery electric vehicles (EVs) are currently ideal for what is wanted to stand for transport in the future. The lack of infrastructure for these vehicles makes many potential users choose hybrid vehicles in these conditions. This paper analyzes the influence of the engine and electric motor of hybrid vehicles on their performances. Three engines with slightly different power and close characteristics were considered for configured models. Also, two electric motors with very different power but having a very close maximum continuous torque have been used in models. One is an induction motor, and the other is a permanent magnet synchronous motor. ADVISOR software has been used for vehicles configuration and simulation. Series and parallel hybrid vehicles have been considered. The main dynamic performances and the fuel consumption in two driving cycles were compared for the configured models. Three conventional models with the same engines used in HEVs have also been simulated for reference. The results highlight that in the case of HEVs, the choice of combination engine/electric motor is crucial in obtaining the best report between dynamic performances and low fuel consumption, and implicitly a low negative impact on the environment.

Background and Objectives: The complications seen after lower impacted third molar surgery affect the quality of life of the patients. The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy of a single preoperative dose of deflazacort on pain, swelling and trismus following impacted lower third molar surgery. Materials and Methods: This randomised, prospective, double-blind, split-mouth clinical study included 30 healthy individuals with bilaterally impacted lower third molars that was removed for orthodontic purposes between September 2017 and September 2018. Group 1 was given a placebo (single dose vitamin C tablet) and group 2 was given a single 30 mg dose of deflazacort 1 hour prior to the surgery. Pain was evaluated using the visual analog scale for 1 week postoperatively. Edema (in mm) and trismus (in mm) were evaluated preoperatively and on postoperative days 2 and 7. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied for group analysis. p values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: When postoperative pain scores were evaluated, a significant difference was found between the groups only at the 6th and 12th hours (p0.05). Even high trismus values were recorded on the 2nd day, it was observed that the trismus resolved on the 7th day. There were no significant differences in trismus between the groups at any time point (p>0.05). Evaluation of swelling showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the study and control groups at any time point (p>0.05). No side effect was detected in both the study and the control groups. Conclusions: This was the first split-mouth study evaluating the anti-inflammatory effect of deflazacort after lower impacted third molar surgery. A single dose of 30 mg deflazacort was shown to be effective in reducing pain at 6 and 12 hours postoperatively.

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.

Numerous image processing techniques (IPTs) have been employed to detect crack defects, offering an alternative to human-conducted onsite inspections. These IPTs manipulate images to extract defect features, particularly cracks in surfaces produced through Additive Manufacturing (AM). This article presents a vision-based approach that utilizes deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for crack detection in AM surfaces. Traditional image processing techniques face challenges with diverse real-world scenarios and varying crack types. To overcome these challenges, our proposed method leverages CNNs, eliminating the need for extensive feature extraction. Annotation for CNN training is facilitated by LabelImg without the requirement for additional IPTs. The trained CNN, enhanced by OpenCV preprocessing techniques, achieves an outstanding 99.54% accuracy on a dataset of 14,982 annotated images with resolutions of 1536 × 1103 pixels. Evaluation metrics exceeding 96% precision, 98% recall, and a 97% F1-score highlight the precision and effectiveness of the entire process.

For some persistent pollutants, such as recalcitrant pesticides, the polluted water (urban, agricultural and/or industrial) treated by conventional wastewater treatment plants is in some cases insufficient to achieve the legally required level of purity. This issue is of particular concern in areas where low rainfall does not provide sufficient water resources to meet the needs of agriculture, requiring increased reuse of water from wastewater treatment plants. In this context, Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) hold great promise for the removal of organic pollutants. This study first evaluates the effectiveness of UV/S2O8= compared to heterogeneous photocatalysis using UV/TiO2 processes on the degradation of two commonly used herbicides (terbutylazine and isoproturon) in aqueous solutions using a photoreactor. In addition. the effect of UV wavelength on the degradation efficiency of both herbicides was investigated. Although degradation rate was higher under UV-254/S2O8= nm than under UV-365/S2O8= nm, complete degradation of the herbicides (0.2 mg L-1) was achieved within 30 min under UV-366 nm using a Na2S2O8 dosage of 250 mg L-1 in the absence of inorganic anions. To assess the impact of water matrix, the individual and combined effects of sulphate, bicarbonate and chloride were evaluated. They can react with hydroxyl and sulphate radicals formed during AOPs to form new radicals with a lower redox potential. The results showed negligible effects of sulphate, while the combination of bicarbonate and chloride seemed to be the key for the decrease in herbicide removal efficiency found when working with complex matrices. Finally, the main intermediates detected during the photodegradation process were identified and the likely pathways are proposed and discussed.

This study explores the enhancement of aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) using ammonium-enhanced vanadium oxide cathodes. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations reveal that NH₄⁺ incorporation into V₆O₁₆ lattices significantly facilitates Zn²⁺ ion diffusion by reducing electrostatic interactions, acting as a structural lubricant. Subsequent experimental validation using (NH₄)₂V₆O₁₆ cathodes synthesized via a hydrothermal method corroborates the DFT findings, demonstrating remarkable electrochemical stability with a capacity retention of 90% after 2000 cycles at 5 A g⁻¹. These results underscore the potential of NH₄⁺ in improving the performance and longevity of AZIBs, providing a pathway for sustainable energy storage solutions.

In this study, a critical review was carried out using the Web of ScienceTM Core Collection database to analyse the scientific literature published to date to identify lines of research and future perspectives on the presence of chemical pollutants in beer brewing. Beer is one of the world's most popular drinks and the most consumed alcoholic beverage. However, a widespread challenge with potential implications for human and animal health is the presence of physical, chemical and/or microbiological contaminants in beer. Biogenic amines, heavy metals, mycotoxins, nitrosamines, pesticides, acrylamide, phthalates, bisphenols, microplastics and, to a lesser extent, hydrocarbons (aliphatic chlorinated and polycyclic aromatic), carbonyls, furan-derivatives, polychlorinated biphenyls and trihalomethanes are the main chemical pollutants found during the beer brewing process. Pollution sources include raw materials, technological process steps, the brewery environment and packaging materials. Different chemical pollutants have been found during the beer brewing process, from barley to beer. Brewing steps such as steeping, kilning, mashing, boiling, fermentation and clarification are critical in reducing the levels of many of these pollutants. As a result, their residual levels are usually below the maximum levels allowed by international regulations.

In this work SiC-Ti3AlC2 and TiC-Ti3AlC2 composites produced by additive manufacturing are investigated. The fused granules fabrication (FGF) method as one of the material extrusion additive manufacturing (MEAM) technology is used to obtain composite samples. Composites with different ratios between components and different powder:polymer ratios are investigated. The technological features of the additive formation of composites are investigated, as well as their structure and properties. The optimal sintering temperature to form the best mechanical properties for both composites is 1300 °C. The composites have a regulatable porosity. Ti3AlC2 content, sintering temperature, and polymer content in the feedstock are the main parameters that regulates the porosity of FGF samples.

Polyphenols are the most common organic compounds in wine. They improve both the sensory aspects of wine and human health by activating antioxidant systems. Therefore, there is a great need for a simple, fast and accessible method to determine the polyphenol content of wine. The aim of this study is to characterize polyphenolic compounds in natural wine samples using an electrochemical method and a modified carbon paste electrode with TiO2 nanoparticles. This work is motivated by the promising improvement of the sensing properties of a TiO2 nanoparticle-modified carbon paste electrode observed in the electrooxidation of different polyphenols. Since the voltammetric response of wine is largely irreversible, another motivation was the possibility of improving the processing of voltammograms to obtain data indicative of wine polyphenols, based on the approach described in the seminal work by Espinoza et al. The modified electrode studied provides an improved and reproducible voltammetric response of gallic acid in wine samples and provides a good basis for further development of an integrated sensor/data system with the possibility of wider application for the quantification of gallic acid as a flavor and visually relevant parameter in winemaking.

Abstract: Spinal disorders are some of the most prevalent health concerns, especially among stu-dents. Based on student demographics, this cross-sectional study evaluated the correlation be-tween functional tests (FT) and spinal range of motion (ROM). This study included 206 students from Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacău. Participants' assessments were conducted using the following tests: (i) Ott, (ii) Schober, (iii) Stibor, (iv) finger-to-floor distance, (v) lateral flexion of the cervical and lumbar spine, and (vi) flexion of the cervical spine. Correlation analyses were evaluated using Spearman correlation coefficient analysis. The results indicated a very strong re-lationship between lateral flexion of the lumbar spine on the left (LFLSL) and right (LFSR) for all departments (r = 0.85 to 0.97, p < 0.05). There was a stronger relationship between FT results and spinal ROM of physical education department students compared to students from other de-partments (n = 17, r = -0.38 to 0.93, p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant correlation be-tween FT and spinal ROM based on age (p > 0.05). The study results provide evidence of the pri-mary risk factors that predispose students to postural deviations. Practitioners and physiothera-pists can utilize these values as a reference for potential therapeutic interventions.

Micro satellites must survive severe mechanical conditions during their launch phase. Therefore, structural design requirements are imposed on the micro satellites. These requirements are the strength requirement and the stiffness requirement. Usually, the structural design of a micro satellite is performed using the internal stress analysis and the natural frequency analysis, which are based on a Finite Element Method (FEM). The validity of this structural design is evaluated through vibration tests. In an early stage of development, which has a FEM model of a satellite in the process of creation, presumption of the natural frequency of a satellite may be difficult. In this study, a simple method for determining the longitudinal and lateral minimum natural frequencies of the micro satellites during the ascent phase was clarified. The structure of the micro satellites used in this research is made of aluminum alloy, and they have a monocoque structure. The Young's modulus and moment of inertia of area used to calculate the minimum natural frequencies were determined using the area ratio of the monocoque structure to the entire satellite. When this method is used, the estimated minimum natural frequencies of the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction are in agreement with the measured values acquired by the vibration tests. In order to shorten the process of micro satellites development, this paper describes a practical estimation method of the minimum natural frequency for micro satellites.

The electronic structure of 7/9-AGNR superlattices with up to eight unit cells has been studied by means of state of the art Density Functional Theory (DFT) and also by two model Hamiltonians, the first one including only local interactions (Hubbard model, Hu) while the second one is extended to allow long-range Coulomb interactions (Pariser, Parr and Pople model, PPP). Both are solved within mean field approximation. At this approximation level, our calculations show that 7/9 interfaces are better described by spin non-polarized solutions than by spin-polarized wavefunctions. Consequently, both Hu and PPP Hamiltonians lead to electronic structures characterized by a gap at the Fermi level that diminishes as the size of the system increases. DFT results show similar trends although a detailed analysis of the density of states around the Fermi level shows quantitative differences with both Hu and PPP models. Before improving model Hamiltonians, we interpret the electronic structure obtained by DFT in terms of bands of topological states: topological states localized at the system edges and extended bulk topological states which interact between them due to the long-range Coulomb terms of Hamiltonian. After careful analysis of the interaction among topological sates, we find that the discrepancy between ab initio and model Hamiltonians can be resolved considering a screened long-range interaction that is implemented adding an exponential cutoff to the interaction term of PPP model. In this way, an adjusted cutoff distance λ = 2 allows a good recovery of DFT results. In view of this, we conclude that the correct description of the density of states around the Fermi level (Dirac point) needs the inclusion of long-range interactions well beyond Hubbard model but not completely unscreened as is the case for the PPP model.

Neuron degeneration is the most common old age complications worldwide. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative condition with limited drug options and significant adverse effects. Hence, there is a growing interest in exploring natural products for their potential pharmacological activities against AD. This study investigates the efficacy of Verbesina encelioides flower extract (VFE) in alleviating neurobehavioral damage induced by Scopolamine in rat mimicking AD model. GC-MS analysis showed that V. encelioides flower extract is rich in carotenoids like spirilloxanthin. Various behavioural models were used to assess the rats' learning and memory capabilities. Additionally, biochemical tests were conducted on the AD rat models to evaluate oxidative stress in the brain, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), nitric oxide (NO), reduced glutathione (GSH), and anti-acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme assays. Findings from this study suggest that the VFE significantly improved the rats' cognitive aptitude and alleviated them from oxidative stress by reducing free radical generation. Based on the results obtained from GC-MS analysis, in silico interaction analysis of gingkolide A and spirilloxanthin with acetylcholinesterase was carried out. In summary, this study suggests that V. enceloides flower extract improves learning abilities and mitigates cognitive deficits caused by scopolamine. Thus V. enceloides could be potentially seen as natural therapeutic intervention against neurodegenerative disorders likes Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Despite the recent availability of immune checkpoint inhibitors, not all patients affected by Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) benefit from immunotherapy. The reason for this variability relies to a variety of factors which may allow the identification of novel biomarkers. Presently, a variety of biomarkers are under investigation, including the PD1/PDL1 axis, the tumor mutational burden, and the Microbiota. This latter is made by all bacteria and other microorganisms hosted in our body. The gut microbiota is the most represented and has been involved in different physiological and pathological events, including cancer. In this light, it appears that all conditions modifying gut microbiota can influence cancer, its treatment, and its treatment-related toxicities. The aim of this review is to analyze all conditions influencing the gut microbiota and, therefore, affecting response to immunotherapy, iRAEs and their management in NSCLC patients. The investigation of the landscape of these biological events can allow novel insights for optimal management of NSCLC immunotherapy.

Compressed carbon dioxide energy storage (CCES) offers several benefits over other existing energy storage systems, including ease of liquefaction, high energy storage density, and environmental friendliness. As a result, the research progress, economic and technological feasibility, and system operation of the CCES system are all discussed in depth in this study. The system evaluation method is summarized and the compressed carbon dioxide storage is analyzed, and the performance optimization direction of the compressed carbon dioxide energy storage technology is discussed. When the overall performance of a transcritical CCES system, a supercritical CCES system and a liquid CCES system are compared, it is discovered that the supercritical CCES system has better thermodynamic characteristics and a simpler system configuration, making it suitable for large-scale development and use. The goal of the CCES system's future development is to create a design with an optimum compression and expansion ratio, a more precise analysis and system model, and multi-field coupling. This review's discussion serves as a guide for the best design and use of the CCES system.

Nanoporous membranes promise energy-efficient water desalination. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), like graphene, exhibits outstanding physical and chemical properties, making it a promising candidate for water treatment. We employed Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations to establish accurate modeling of Na+ and Cl- permeation through hydrogen passivated nanopores in graphene and h-BN membranes. In these complex systems the classical potentials cannot properly account for the physics at play. We demonstrate that ion separation works well for the h-BN by imposing a barrier of 0.13 eV and 0.24 eV for Na+ and Cl- permeation respectively, compared to the graphene where the Cl- ion faces a negative barrier of 0.68 eV and is prone toward blockade and Na+ permeation is associated with a slightly negative barrier of 0.03 eV. From the change in the solvation shell, we get the following trend: Na/h-BN > Na/G > Cl/G > Cl/h-BN. We argue that the trend in the permeation barrier changes to Cl-h-BN > Na-h-BN > Na-G > Cl-G due to a combination of several interactions, including the distortion of the water network induced by the ions, the ion-water interaction, and the ion-nanopore interaction. Overall, the desalination performance of h-BN surpasses that of their graphene counterparts.

In this paper, we present an experimental procedure to enhance the dimensional accuracy of fabrication via Stereolithography (SLA) of features at the micro-scale. Using a custom benchmark part, deviations in feature dimensions (micro-pores diameters and depths) were detected and measured by confocal microscopy. Samples characterization and experimental observations allowed the identification of inaccuracy sources, mainly due to the laser beam scanning strategy and to the incomplete removal of uncured liquid resin in post-processing (i.e., IPA washing). As a technology baseline, the measured dimensional errors on pores diameters were up to -46%. A compensation method of the nominal laser spot diameter (85m) was defined and implemented resulting in relevant improvements in dimensional accuracy of 9.8% and 11.3% on full-open pores diameter and depth, respectively. Further investigation was performed on a customized test part to adjust the calibration procedure. The measurements revealed that the estimate of the laser beam spot size is 968m. Measurements on micro-pores having different sizes revealed that a constant compensation parameter (i.e., C=85, 96, 120m) is not fully effective at the micro-scale, where average errors still remain at -24%, -18.8%, and -16% for compensations equals to 85, 96 and 120m, respectively. A further experimental campaign allowed the identification of an effective nonlinear compensation law where the compensation parameter depends on the micro-feature size C= f (D). Results show a sharp improvement in dimensional accuracy on micro-pore fabrication, with errors consistently below +8.2%. The proposed compensation method can be extended for the fabrication of any micro-features without restrictions on the specific technology implementation. Concerning the inaccuracy introduced by the laser path, experimentation with a customized part allowed the optimization of the part orientation to reduce the errors and their differences along the X and Y machine axes.

There is increasing evidence that some adult mitral valve pathologies may have developmental origins involving errors in cell signaling and protein deposition during valvulogenesis. While early and late gestational stages are well-documented in zebrafish and small mammalian models, longitudinal studies in large mammals with a similar gestational period to humans are lacking. Further, the mechanism of chordae tendineae formation and multiplication remains unclear. This current study presents a comprehensive examination of mitral anterior leaflet and chordae tendineae development in a bovine model (with a gestational period of 9 months). Remarkably distinct from small mammals, bovine development displayed early branched chordae, with increasing attachments only until birth, while the anterior leaflet grew both during gestation and postnatally. Chordae also exhibited accelerated collagen deposition, maturation, and crimp development during gestation. These findings suggest that the bovine anterior leaflet and chordae tendineae possess unique compartmentalized processes of development despite being a continuous collagenous structure.

This study examined the impact of differences in fruit load of olive trees on the rate of stem refilling. The experiment was conducted in a commercial olive orchard over the consecutive years of 2021 and 2022, during which the biennial bearing cycle of olive trees resulted in minimal fruit production in 2021 and maximal production in 2022. The rate of stem refilling was determined by quantifying the differences in water volume traversing the apex and base of the principal branches of experimental trees using sap flow sensors. Concurrent measurements of tree water status were also conducted using psychrometers, while soil moisture content dynamics were continuously recorded. Results indicate that alternate bearing significantly influences the stem refilling process, while soil moisture availability also plays a pivotal role. Water reserves were more intensively utilized during the year of full production (“ON” year) primarily to fulfill the water demands of developing fruits. This replenishment occurred in various periods during the day, including early morning, afternoon, and night, when stomatal conductance measurements indicated stomatal closure. The study suggests a more intense replenishment of reserves during the night in "ON" year trees, irrespective of soil moisture, water vapor pressure deficit, or phenological fruit development stage.

The reviews usefulness has been the aim of several research studies. However, results regarding the significance of usefulness determinants are often contradicting, thus decreasing the accuracy of reviews’ helpfulness estimation. Also, bias in user reviews attributed to differences e.g. in gender, nationality, etc., may result into misleading judgments thus diminishing reviews’ usefulness. Research is needed for sentiment analysis algorithms that incorporate bias embedded in reviews, thus improving their usefulness, readability, credibility, etc. This study utilizes fuzzy relations and fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) in order to calculate reviews’ usefulness by incorporating users’ biases as expressed in terms of reviews’ articulacy and sentiment polarity. It selected and analysed 95.678 hotel user reviews from Tripadvisor, for five nationalities. The findings indicate that there are differences among nationalities. The British are most consistent in their judgments expressed in titles and review documents. The British and the Greek review titles suffice to convey any negative sentiments. The Dutch use fewer words in their reviews than the other nationalities. This study suggests that fuzzy logic captures subjectivity which is often found in reviews, and it can be used to quantify users’ behavioral differences, calculate reviews usefulness, and provide the means for developing more accurate voting systems.

In Mexico viticulture represents the second source of employment in the agricultural area after the fruit and vegetable sector. In developed countries, remote sensing is widely used for vineyard monitoring, however, this tool is barely used in developing countries of Iberoamerica. In this re-search, our overall objective is to characterize two vineyards in the state of Queretaro (Mexico) using Sentinel-2 and meteorological data, specifically spectral and thermal indices. Results showed that spectral indices obtained from Sentinel-2 bands have characterized adequately the phenolog-ical evolution of the different varieties of the vineyards. The Modified Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI) was adequately used to discriminate the first stages of vineyards, while the Nor-malized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was useful to monitor vineyards during the rest stages of vineyards. Thermal indices have shown that the best grape varieties were those that can adapt to both cooler and warmer temperatures, have a reasonable ripening period, and can produce wines with balanced acidity and flavors. In conclusion, the combination of meteorological (including thermal indices) and remote sensing data (NDVI and MSAVI) provide information for choosing the suitable grape variety for this region.

Sixteen crossbred rabbits (New Zealand white x Thai native breed) were randomly divided into two groups of eight to determine the effects of daily oral administration of crude extracts from the butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea L.) from weaning (at 35 days) to slaughter (at 90 days). Effects on phagocytic activity of blood polymorphoneuclear leukocytes, serum biochemistry, meat quality, muscular lipid peroxidation, apparent digestibility, and gut histology were studied. The results revealed that the phagocytic function of circulating leukocytes (75 and 90 days) and alveolar macrophages (90 days) did not differ between the two groups. At slaughter, treated rabbits had lower blood urea nitrogen concentrations and higher liver weight than control rabbits (p &lt; 0.05). After chilling at 4°C for 24 hours, lower meat pH and alteration of meat color (a brighter, less yellow, Hue angle and color saturation) were observed in the treated group (p &lt; 0.05). Furthermore, lipid peroxidation (measured at 3, 5 and 7 storage days) in the meat of treated rabbits was lower than in controls (p &lt; 0.05). Apparent digestibility (analyzed at 46 days for four days) revealed improved organic matter and ether extracts in the treated group (p &lt; 0.05), whereas gut histology was unaffected. In conclusion, butterfly pea extract supplementation did not affect phagocytic function but led to a modification in meat color, delayed lipid peroxidation, and improved digestibility.

The economic, social and environmental benefits generated by the use of urban public transportation infrastructure constitute a complex dynamic urban public transportation infrastructure utilization benefit system. This paper evaluates the coupling coordination among these three benefits taking four Chinese autonomous municipalities as an example. These four cities have large-scale urban public transportation infrastructures but their utilization has many serious problems. The basic function of urban public transportation infrastructure has not been fully played in these cities. Whether the different benefits of urban public transportation infrastructure have been developed in harmony or not is unclear. We analyzed the coordinated development among three benefits by constructing coupling coordination degree model and used Gini coefficient to study the difference of coordinated development among three benefits of four cities. The result shows that the levels of coordinated development among three benefits of urban public transportation infrastructure were lower in these four cities and have positive correlation with it of urban public transportation infrastructure utilization benefit. Raising the level of urban public transportation infrastructure utilization benefit is the most crucial solution of promoting the coordinated development among three benefits.

Several studies suggests that ghrelin (GHRL) has neurobiological effects that extend beyond control of food intake. Our previous results confirmed that GHRL modulates the secretory activity of the pineal gland (PG) through nocturnal melatonin (MEL) secretion in sheep, the seasonally reproductive animals. Here we investigated the effects of GHRL (10 ng/ml) on the expression of enzymes limiting synthesis of MEL, including tryptophan 5-hydroxylase 1 (TPH1), serotonin N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT) and its phosphorylated form p31T-AA-NAT in sheep PG explants (n = 72) during the 4-hour incubation in a gas-liquid interface, at a short (SD) and long (LD) photoperiods. After each hour of incubation selected explants were frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C for subsequent analysis (real-time PCR, western-blotting, ELISA). Results show that GHRL regulates nightly MEL secretion in a TPH1-independent manner. The factor modulating GHRL activity was photoperiod. During SD photoperiod GHRL significantly reduced the expression of p31T-AA-NAT, AA-NAT and inhibited MEL secretion from PG explants. Whereas, during LD photoperiod no effect of GHRL on MEL secretion and expression of examined enzymes was noted. Studies indicate that GHRL directly affects PG under in vitro conditions and causes MEL secretion in animals which exhibit seasonality in reproductive and metabolic processes.

Coal gasification with carbon dioxide is a process for generating clean gaseous fuels and relieving greenhouse effect. Zhundong coal has high alkali and alkali earth metals (AAEMs) content, medium volatile and low ash in nature. Isothermal CO₂ gasification of char derived from Zhundong coal (R-char) and char from acid washing R-char (AR-char) are performed in thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA). The effect of AAEMs is investigated on the gasification behavior in the range of temperatures 1073 K to 1273 K. The carbon conversion increases rapidly with increasing reaction temperature and CO₂ concentration. R-char has high gasification rate and carbon conversion compared with AR-char. The accuracy of the free-model approach for calculating activation energy at different conversions is validated by compared with different kinetic models (volume reaction model, distributed activation energy model). Moreover, R-char gasification with CO₂ shows a compensation effect as the Arrhenius parameters (EA and k0) increase or decrease simultaneously.

This paper aims to develop a hierarchical risk assessment model using the newly-developed evidential reasoning (ER) rule, which constitutes a generic conjunctive probabilistic reasoning process. In this paper, we first provide a brief introduction to the basics of the ER rule and emphasize the strengths for representing and aggregating uncertain information from multiple experts and sources. Further, we discuss the key steps of developing the hierarchical risk assessment framework systematically, including (1) formulation of risk assessment hierarchy, (2) representation of both qualitative and quantitative information, (3) elicitation of attribute weights and information reliabilities, (4) aggregation of assessment information using the ER rule and (5) quantification and ranking of risks using utility-based transformation. The proposed hierarchical risk assessment framework can potentially be implemented to various complex and uncertain systems. A case study on the fire/explosion risk assessment of marine vessels demonstrates the applicability of the proposed risk assessment model.

Titania is one of the most comprehensively studied nanostructures due to its widespread applications in production of catalytic, gas- sensing and corrosion- resistance materials [1]. M-polynomial of nanotubes has been vastly investigated as it produces many degree-based topological indices which are numerical parameters capturing structural and chemical properties. These indices are used in the development of quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) in which the biological activity and other properties of molecules are correlated with their structure like boiling point, stability, strain energy etc of chemical compounds. In this paper, we determine M-polynomials of single-walled titanium (SW TiO2) nanotubes and recover important topological degree based indices of them to theoretically judge these nanotubes. We also use Maple to plot surfaces associated to different types of single-walled titanium (SW TiO2) nanotubes.

The numerical simulation of entropy generation at mixed natural free and forced convection flow in a square lid-driven cavity filled with an eletrically conducting binary fluids saturated porous media in the presence of a magnetic field is performed in this investigation. Both the top and bottom horizontal walls of the cavity are kept at constant and different temperatures while the left and right vertical walls are adiabatic and insulated. The magnetic field is applied in normal direction to the cavity. The Darcy model, including Brinkman term relative to viscous effects and Forchheimer term due to inertial forces, is used for the momentum equations, and the SIMPLER algorithm, based on the control volume finite-element method approach is used to solve the pressure –velocity coupling. The flow pattern and the heat transfer characteristics inside the cavity are presented in the form of isotherms, streamlines and isentropic lines and average Nusselt number trend. The entropy generation rate is determined for various values of Darcy number (10^-3 ≤ Da ≤ 1) and for a range of Hartmann number (0 ≤ Ha ≤ 10²). This study is limited to Pr = 7 which corresponds to water. It is observed that entropy generation is very affected by the variations of dimensionless control parameters considered.

Observe the synergistic effect and dose-effect relationship of Trimethoprim (TMP) on bactericidal activity with Flos Lonicerae in vitro. Microamount chessboard dilution method was conducted to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Trimethoprim, Flos Lonicerae, as well as the combination of Trimethoprim and Flos Lonicerae separately against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli in vitro and Salmonella. The pour plate count method was used to determine the combined bactericidal activity of Flos Lonicerae combined with Different concentrations TMP. The results showed that the MIC values of the combination of Flos Lonicerae with TMP was much less than the MIC values of the independent use of Flos Lonicerae or TMP, The FIC values of the combination of Flos Lonicerae with TMP were between 0.5 and 1, there was additive effect between them. The bactericidal rates were fitted with least square method, the 95% confidence intervals of the optimal blending quantity about the combination of Flos Lonicerae with TMP on the test organisms were 231μg·mL^-1-249μg·mL^-1, 237μg·mL^-1-259μg·mL^-1, and 235 -259μg·mL^-1

The mechanism of ciprofloxacin action involves interference with transcription and replication of bacterial DNA, which results in elevated oxidative stress, and bacterial cell death. Vorinostat was shown to induce oxidative DNA damage. In the current work, the possibility for interactive effect of vorinotat on ciprofloxacin-induced cytotoxicity against a number of reference bacteria was investigated. Standard bacterial strains were Escherichia coli ATCC 35218, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC29213, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228, Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 17978, Proteus mirabilis ATCC 12459, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 13883, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (ATCC 43300), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (ATCC 25923). The antibacterial activity of ciprofloxacin with or without pretreatment of bacterial cells by vorinostat was examined using disc diffusion procedure and determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and zones of inhibition of bacterial growth. All tested bacterial strains showed sensitivity to ciprofloxacin. When pretreated with vorinostat, significantly larger zones of inhibition and smaller MIC values were observed in all bacterial strains compared ciprofloxacin alone. As a conclusion, current results showed the possible agonistic properties for vorinostat when it is used together with ciprofloxacin. Future research will be focus on molecular mechanisms possible for such interactive effect.

The concept of a smart campus is rapidly gaining traction worldwide, driven by the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) along with the digital transformation of higher education institutions. While numerous initiatives have been undertaken to enhance the capability of smart campus systems to keep pace with AI advancements, there have been few attempts to develop a cohesive conceptual framework for the smart campus and, to date, there has been limited empirical research conducted to validate the framework. This study bridges this gap by providing the first in-depth assessment of a holistic smart campus conceptual framework. The paper uses a Delphi Study approach to validate and consolidate a framework for assessing the robustness of the smart campus assessment framework for application in university settings. The framework consists of four domains, 16 categories, and 48 indicators, comprising a total of 68 items were validated by the experts across the globe. Two rounds of structured questionnaires were conducted to achieve consensus on the framework. The first round involved 34 experts from diverse geographic and professional backgrounds in the smart campus field. The second round included 21 of the earlier participants, which was sufficient to determine consensus. In total seven of the 48 indicators were agreed upon after round 1, increasing to 43 after round 2. The results indicate strong agreement among the experts, affirming the framework’s robustness. This study offers an expert-based, interpretive assessment on the development of the smart campus concept, with a particular focus on validating the smart campus framework.

This study investigated vegetable farmers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for private advisory services in northwestern Ethiopia. Understanding farmers' preferences for modernizing agricultural advisory services is essential for enhancing the productivity and profitability of smallholder farming. The study assessed WTP for improved advisory services using data from 393 farm households in northwestern Ethiopia. Data from discrete choice experiments were analysed using a random parameter logit model. The results revealed the existence of heterogeneity in farmers’ WTP for vegetable advisory services. Household educational status and age influenced preferences for advisory service features. Farmers preferred enhanced services with frequent visits from agricultural experts and hands-on, field assistance over digital short message service (SMS) and voice-based advice. Additionally, they were more willing to invest in services that focused on leafy vegetables than on fruity vegetables or roots and tubers. The results suggest that the push for commercializing agricultural advisory services should consider contextual differences in smallholders’ preferences.

This paper presents a comparative analysis of several decision models for detecting Structured Query Language (SQL) injection attacks, which remain one of the most prevalent and serious security threats to web applications. SQL injection enables attackers to exploit databases, gaining unauthorized access, and manipulating data. Traditional detection methods often struggle due to the constantly evolving nature of these attacks, the increasing complexity of modern web applications, and the lack of transparency in the decision-making processes of machine learning models. To address these challenges, we evaluated the performance of various models, including Decision Tree, Random Forest, XGBoost, AdaBoost, Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (GBDT), and Histogram Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (HGBDT), using a comprehensive SQL injection dataset. The primary motivation behind our approach is to leverage the strengths of ensemble learning and boosting techniques to enhance detection accuracy and robustness against SQL injection attacks. By systematically comparing these models, we aim to identify the most effective algorithms for SQL injection detection systems. Our experiments show that Decision Tree, Random Forest, and AdaBoost achieved the highest performance, with an accuracy of 99.50% and an F1 score of 99.33%. Additionally, we applied SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) and Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations (LIME) for local explainability, illustrating how each model classifies normal and attack cases. This transparency enhances the trustworthiness of our approach in detecting SQL injection attacks. These findings highlight the potential of ensemble methods to provide reliable and efficient solutions for detecting SQL injection attacks, thereby improving the security of web applications.

The relationship between the global climate crisis associated with environmental risks and occupational hygiene has not been extensively studied. This study develops a framework for identifying how climate change and the climate crisis could impact the workplace environment, workers, and occupational morbidity, mortality, and injury. A framework based on a review of scientific literature published from 2012-2024 that addresses climate risks, their interaction with occupational hazards, and their effects on the workforce. Eight categories of climate-related hazards are identified: increased high temperatures, dust and air pollution, sun and cosmic ultraviolet exposure, pandemics, and infectious diseases, diseases transmitted by insects and changes in ecosystems, industrial occupational diseases, changes and crises in the built environment, and extreme weather events. It is important to consider the possibility of interactions between known hazards and new conditions and the productivity of workers, especially those who are most at risk of heat-related illnesses.

The thickness estimation is crucial for evaluating landslide evaluating. The traditional non-contact mass conservation method adopts three-dimensional deformation to estimate landslide thickness, which may be unsuitable due to the limitations of observations. In this study, a more feasible approach for estimating landslide thickness based on 2D deformation derived from two-track Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) observations is proposed, specifically applied to the Xiongba landslide. The comparison between the estimated thickness from the InSAR-derived 2D deformation and the measured thickness by geological and drilling methods validates the reliability of the proposed method. The mapped InSAR LOS deformation rate fields reveal two distinct deformation regions, including a frontal zone exhibiting significant deformation and a relatively stable zone. The analysis of the 2D deformation indicates that surface uplift at the front edge of the Xiongba-H2 landslide may result from the pushing of the rock-soil mass in areas of high deformation. The inversion result suggests that the thickness of the Xiongba-H2 landslide is ranging from 10 to 100 m, corresponding to the active volume of 6.17×107 m3. A thicker region is identified, at the front edge along the Jinsha River, posing the potential of further failure. It is believed that the proposed low-cost, easily implementable approach could enhances the applicability of InSAR technology for landslide motion analysis and hazard assessment.

Groundwater is the most important source of drinking water in the Sindh Province of Pakistan. However, the quality of this crucial element of life is deteriorating day by day throughout Pakistan, particularly in its Sindh province. Thus the study was carried out to determine the chemical contamination in the groundwater of the Larkana city of Sindh province. A total of 40 samples were collected randomly from various locations in Larkana city. The chemical parameters like pH, Calcium, Magnesium, Total hardness (TH), Arsenic, Chloride, Sodium, Iron, Nitrites, and Nitrates were determined in the laboratory and were compared with WHO permissible limits. The results revealed that 26% of samples had chloride beyond the permissible limit, and 32% of samples had a concentration of Total Hardness (TH) above the desirable limits. Moreover, 6%, 23%, 29%, 92%, and 80%, of samples had a concentration of Nitrates, Nitrites, Sulfate, calcium, and magnesium respectively beyond the permissible limit. However, the concentration of pH, Iron, Sodium, and Arsenic in groundwater was found within the permissible limit.

Medical ozone is a redox regulator with beneficial effects in oxidative etiology diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to conduct a holistic review from different pharmacological trials involving ozone in model diseases as well as the clinical response of RA patients. The ROS involved in RA and its relationship to the main pathological pathways of this autoimmune disease were here considered. The integrator analysis of experimental results from animals with clinical findings have revealed that both methotrexate (MTX) and medical ozone share common mechanisms via adenosinergic regulation. This finding has enabled us to propose a new pharmacological mechanism in the treatment of RA. We concluded that MTX + medical ozone combined therapy reduces ROS overproduction and the generation of proinflammatory cytokines, and decreases anti-cyclic citrullinate peptide levels by a mutual mechanism involving adenosine A1 receptors.

The present study examines the relationship between thermal and configurational entropy in two resistors in parallel and in series. The objective is to introduce entropy in electric circuits analysis by considering the impact of system geometry on energy conversion in the circuit. Thermal en-tropy is derived from thermodynamics, whereas configurational entropy is derived from network modelling. It is observed that the relationship between thermal entropy and configurational en-tropy varies depending on the configuration of the resistors. In parallel resistors, thermal entropy decreases with configurational entropy, while in series resistors, the opposite is true. The impli-cations of the maximum power transfer theorem and constructal law are discussed. The entropy generation for resistors at different temperatures was evaluated, and it was found that the con-sideration of resistor configurational entropy change was necessary for consistency. Furthermore, for the sake of generalization, a similar behavior was observed in time-dependent circuits, either for resistor-capacitor circuits or circuits involving degradation.

Deflectometry is a key component in the precise measurement of specular (mirrored) surfaces, however traditional methods often lack an end-to-end approach that performs 3D reconstruction in a single shot with high accuracy and generalizes across different free-form surfaces. This paper introduces a novel deep neural network (DNN)-based approach for end-to-end 3D reconstruction of free-form specular surfaces using single-shot deflectometry. Our proposed network, VUDNet, innovatively combines discriminative and generative components to accurately interpret orthogonal fringe patterns and generate high-fidelity 3D surface reconstructions. By leveraging a hybrid architecture integrating a Variational Autoencoder (VAE) and a modified U-Net, VUDNet excels in both depth estimation and detail refinement, achieving superior performance in challenging environments. Extensive data simulation using Blender, leading to a dataset which we are making available, ensures robust training and enables the network to generalize across diverse scenarios. Experimental results demonstrate the strong performance of VUDNet, setting a new standard for 3D surface reconstruction. The implementation of VUDNet is available on GitHub at https://github.com/hadious/VUDNet.

In this paper, a completely different metaheuristic algorithm called the Orangutan Optimization Algorithm (OOA) is introduced, which replicates the complex and adaptive behaviors of Orangutans in their natural habitat. The main inspiration for OOA lies in the strategic foraging techniques of Orangutans, alongside their highly developed nesting abilities. More words are used to provide a detailed theoretical explanation of OOA, followed by a comprehensive modeling of the algorithm’s implementation in two key phases: exploration and exploitation. These phases are mathematically structured to ensure the balance required for optimal search processes. The performance of OOA is rigorously evaluated using twenty-nine benchmark functions from the CEC 2017 test suite, with problem dimensions of 10, 30, 50, and 100. More sentences are included to elaborate on the optimization outcomes, which reveal that OOA effectively balances the exploration and exploitation stages, yielding suitable and competitive solutions across the benchmark functions. Additionally, to further validate its quality, the results from OOA are compared against twelve other well-established metaheuristic algorithms. The analysis of these simulation results demonstrates that OOA consistently outperforms competing algorithms by achieving superior results across most benchmark functions. Furthermore, to assess its real-world applicability, OOA is implemented on a set of twenty-two constrained optimization problems drawn from the CEC 2011 test suite. The extended simulation results clearly indicate that OOA is highly efficient in solving real-world optimization challenges, consistently delivering a superior performance when compared to other competitor algorithms.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia. With the global aging population, the incidence of AD and related dementias is projected to rise dramatically, posing significant public health challenges. Traditionally, the diagnosis of AD has relied on the detection of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles of hyperphosphorylated tau in the brain, assessed through invasive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and costly positron emission tomography scans. However, these methods are not feasible for widespread screening or use in low-resource settings. Recent advances in blood-based biomarkers offer a promising alternative for the early detection and monitoring of AD. These biomarkers provide a minimally invasive, cost-effective means of tracking the pathological progression of AD before the onset of clinical symptoms, potentially enabling earlier and more accurate diagnosis. Blood-based biomarkers, including those related to Aβ, phosphorylated tau, and neurofilament light polypeptide, have demonstrated significant potential in reflecting the underlying neuropathology of AD and correlating with traditional CSF and imaging biomarkers. This review synthesizes the latest research on blood-based biomarkers in AD, highlighting their role in the disease's etiopathogenesis, diagnostic accuracy, and prognostic value. We discuss the emerging evidence on proteinopathies, neuroinflammation, vascular pathology, and bioenergetic profiles, emphasizing the clinical applicability of these biomarkers. Furthermore, we explore the integration of blood-based biomarkers with advanced neuroimaging techniques and their potential to revolutionize the diagnostic landscape of AD, particularly in resource-limited settings. We have integrated protein-protein interaction (PPI) and miRNA network analyses to enhance the analysis. By incorporating these, we can explore the interactions and relationships between different proteomic, genomic, and epigenomic biomarkers, potentially unveiling new insights into the underlying biological mechanisms of AD. The continued development and validation of these biomarkers could lead to more accessible and equitable AD diagnostics, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major global health concern. The number of people with CVD is expected to rise due to aging populations and increasing risk factors such as obesity and diabetes. Identifying new molecular markers is crucial for early diagnosis and treatment. Among these, plasma levels of some miRNAs specifically expressed in cardiac and skeletal muscle known as myomiRs, has gained attention for their roles in cardiovascular health. This study analyzed the plasma levels of myomiR-133a, -133b, and -206 in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Exploiting of a case-control study design with patients recruited from several nursing homes form Calabria (Southern Italy) characterized by different types of CVD compared to non-CVD controls, we found downregulation of miR-133a in heart failure and miR-133b in stroke, along with the overall decreased expression of miR-133b and miR-206 in CVD patients. In silico functional characterization of their targets and signaling pathways revealed their involvement in critical cardiovascular processes. Although further research is necessary to fully elucidate their mechanisms and clinical utility, the results here reported support the idea that myomiRs could serve not only as biomarkers but also as therapeutic targets, offering new avenues for managing and potentially preventing CVD progression.

As the carbon storage capacity of timber is recognized, there is growing interest in timber and wooden structures as a solution to various environmental problems. The use of Korean timber with substantial carbon storage capacity is required to reduce Korean carbon emissions and circulate timber resources. In this study, fire tests were conducted to investigate the charring properties of glued laminated timber columns made of Korean larch. The fire tests were conducted under both load-bearing and non-load-bearing conditions. The fire test results showed that the charring depth was affected by the corners of the section, and that the load ratio had an insignificant influence on the charring depth when the load ratio was 0.9 or less. This study provides data that can be used to compare the charring properties of laminated wood produced using South Korean larch with the charring properties of foreign standards. This provides reference data for developing fire-resistant design standards for timber structures made from South Korean timber.

Background/Objectives: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways affecting over 10% of the global population. It is characterized by airway inflammation, mucus hypersecretion, and bronchial hyperresponsiveness, driven predominantly by type 2 helper T cells (Th2) and type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) in a subset of patients. However, a significant portion of asthmatic individuals present with "type 2-low" asthma, often refractory to standard inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy. Therefore, developing innovative therapeutic strategies has become essential. Recent studies have highlighted cannabidiol (CBD) as a promising anti-inflammatory agent capable of modulating immune responses. This study investigates the therapeutic potential of a high-CBD extract (CBD-X) in asthma; Methods: We evaluated the effects of CBD-X on cells involved in asthma pathogenesis using primary human Th2 cells, neutrophils and asthma mouse model; Results: Our findings indicate that CBD-X extract inhibits Th2 differentiation and reduces the secretion of IL-5 and IL-13, which are crucial cytokines in asthma. Additionally, CBD-X significantly reduces pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-8 and IL-6 in neutrophils and impairs their migration, a critical step in airway inflammation. In a murine asthma model, CBD-X administration led to marked downregulation of IgE and pro-asthmatic cytokines, along with reduced leukocyte, eosinophil, and neutrophil infiltration in lung tissues; Conclusions: These results suggest that CBD-X extract could offer a novel, complementary approach to managing both type 2-high and type 2-low asthma by targeting key inflammatory pathways and modulating immune cell behavior.

This investigation pioneers an examination of the scarcely explored terrain of social diversity in medical education, assessing the complex impacts of socioeconomic status (SES), prior working experiences, and completed apprenticeships on a spectrum of psychological and academic facets among first-year medical students (n = 336) in an urban university setting. By utilizing a systematic and detailed approach, the study illuminates prior anatomical knowledge and various psycholog-ical constructs, marking a significant stride into a domain where knowledge remains profoundly limited. Analyses indicated that SES significantly affects financial anxiety (F(4, 331) = 17.391, p < .001) and academic behavioral confidence (F(4, 331) = 4.323, p = 0.002). Students with prior working experience reported higher self-perceived clinical experience but lower A-level grades (t(279.459) = -6.690, p < .001), competence in natural sciences (t(321.045) = -3.178, p = 0.002), and online competence (t(319.429) = -2.026, p = 0.044). Those who completed an apprenticeship showed higher resilience, academic confidence, self-efficacy, and greater concerns about balancing studies and work (t values ranging from 2.020 to 3.158, p < 0.05). Correlation analysis revealed a positive relationship between resilience (RQS) and coping with academic stress (CAS) (r = 0.632, p < .001), as well as between resilience and academic behavioral confidence (ABC) (r = 0.608, p < .001). Negative correlations were observed between resilience, coping with academic stress, academic confidence, and cognitive test anxiety (CTA) (r values from -0.235 to -0.404, p < .001). The findings emphasize the need for tailored support for students from diverse SES backgrounds and with varying expe-riences. The study highlights the value of a comprehensive approach in medical education, con-sidering the diverse backgrounds and experiences of students. Future research should explore the long-term impact of these factors on professional competencies and patient care, leveraging the diversity of the student body for a holistic educational experience.

(1) Exoskeletons offer potential benefits for overhead working tasks, but gender effects or differences are unclear. This study aimed to compare the performance, strain, and comfort of men and women using an upper-body exoskeleton. (2) n=20 female and n=16 male participants performed an overhead drilling task with and without a passive upper-body exoskeleton in a randomized cross-over study. Task performance of different movement phases, perceived exertion, and ease of use were measured to compare gender differences. One and two-way analyses were used to com-pare genders in the different conditions. (3) Gender differences after controlling for BMI in task performance were found for error integrals (p <.001) with higher values in male participants. Moreover, there was a significant interaction effect for gender x exoskeleton use. While females showed performance decrements in aiming with exoskeleton use, the male's performance increased (p=.025). No other gender differences were observed. (4) Gender differences in task performance using an upper-body industrial exoskeleton were less detectable than expected after controlling for BMI, indicating that body composition and anthropometrics might be valuable indicators for per-formance including assisting devices. Moreover, future studies should also integrate the examina-tion of muscle activity to gain more insights into potential gender movement control patterns.

About 14% of adolescents experience mental illnesses globally. The rate increased after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of COVID-related major mental illnesses (depression and anxiety) and their predictors among adolescents. This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 350 adolescents aged 10-19 years, recruited from rural communities in West Bengal, India. The study areas included 27 subcenters in the Budge Budge II Block, which comprised 1,91,709 population and 45,333 households. Data were collected from randomly selected households by trained research assistants through house-to-house interviews. Pretested standardized questionnaires, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) for depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) for anxiety, and a demographic questionnaire were used for data collection. The prevalence of anxiety was 35.7% (125 out of 350), and the prevalence of depression was 30.0% (105 out of 350). Females had significantly higher scores of anxiety (6.67 ± 4.76 vs. 3.42 ± 3.17, respectively, p &lt;0.001) and depression (5.51 ± 4.99 vs. 3.26 ± 3.86, respectively, p &lt;0.001) compared to males. Adolescents who had COVID-19 cases or deaths in the family had significaly higher scores of anxiety and depression compared to those who didn’t have these events. In multivariate analysis, the statistically significant predictors of anxiety were COVID-19 death in the family, COVID-19 cases in the family, female gender, and a lower income group (p &lt;0.001 for all). For depression, the significant predictors included COVID-19 death in the family, COVID-19 cases in the family, female gender, a lower income group, and a higher age group in adolescents (p &lt;0.001 for all). Based on the study results, we recommend that immediate attention is needed for adolescents’ mental health support and coping with stresses following COVID-19.

Background: Attendance to neonatal follow-up programs (NFU) presents as a significant factor associated with long-term outcome of high-risk infants. Few studies have focused on attrition or loss to follow up particularly during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, data from 1137 high-risk neonates who participated in a hospital NFU program were collected (573 before and 564 after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic). The study sample was grouped to: G1 (N=831) who maintained participation in the program, G2 (N=196) who discontinued, and G3 (N=110) who never visited the outpatient clinics. Data was obtained from the hospital's Systems Applications and Products Software, and a structured questionnaire, answered by parents of newborns either discontinuing (G2) or not attending (G3) the NFU program, through a telephone contact.Results: The most frequently reported reason for discontinuance before the onset of the pandemic was the parents' perception that it was not necessary to maintain participation in the program (44.12%). During the COVID-19 pandemic, provider-related barriers to maintaining hospital access, inability to provide high-quality services (37.14%), and feelings of fear and insecurity (18.5%), emerged as factors for non-attendance. Citizenship and morbidity (RDS, sepsis, NEC, jaundice) acted as incentives to join the NFU program during both study periods. Multiple regression analysis showed that multiple gestation infants had higher odds for maintaining participation during the COVID-19 period (OR, 4.04; CI, 1.09-14.9). Conclusion: Understanding the potential impact of COVID-19 and the transformative changes in NFU clinics is crucial to apply compliance strategies. Removing barriers to maintain family participation can lead to increased attendance rates.

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.

The antimicrobial resistance to clinically approved antibiotics is rapidly increasing worldwide. Staphylococcus aureus is a critical contributor to deaths associated with antibiotic resistance. In this regard, the search for natural compounds is quite active, that alone or in combination with other agents can be effective as new antibacterial agents. The antibacterial activity of essential oils has presented an increasing interest during the last years and was effective even on multidrug-resistant strains. The present study aims to investigate the interaction effects of oregano essential oil (OEO) with some conventional antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus tested by agar methods. For this purpose, we selected S. aureus ATCC 29213 and five clinical isolates representative of the species. The essential oil was analyzed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The analysis of the Oregano essential oil revealed the main component to be carvacrol (81,20%). Concentration 2.5% (v/v) OEO was combined with drugs proposed by EUCAST, 2024, specifically penicillin, cefoxitin, erythromycin, gentamycin and tetracycline. The research results showed that the combination of OEO with penicillin, cefoxitin, erythromycin, and tetracycline enhanced the antimicrobial activity of the antibiotics against S. aureus in almost all cases. The area of suppression remained identical (but not smaller) in the unaffected cases. When comparing the effects of the GEN-OEO combination and GEN against most S. aureus strains, a decrease in antimicrobial activity was reported by the diffusion agar method.

The impulse of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is triggering the demand for few specific metals. These include copper, silver, gold, and platinum group metals (PGMs), with important applications in renewable energies, green hydrogen, and electronic products. However, the continuous extraction of these metals is leading to a rapid decline in their ore grades and, consequently, increasing the environmental impact of extraction. Hence, obtaining metals from secondary sources, such as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), becomes imperative for both environmental sustainability and ensuring availability. This recovery entails few problems such as allocation due to the simultaneous production of several metals, the use of non-renewable resources, and the exergy destruction during the life cycle of the metals. Therefore, this work analyses the waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) recycling process by proposing different exergy-based cost allocations for the mentioned metals, disaggregating the exergy cost into non-renewable and renewable, and considering the complete life cycle of metals with the Circular Thermoeconomics methodology. The results show a significant saving of non-renewable energy by using renewable energies in primary extraction (67-87%), recycling (97.6-98.5%), and renewable energies in recycling (98.7%, 99.0%), compared to conventional primary extraction. However, when considering the entire life cycle, between 47% and 53% of the non-renewable exergy is destroyed during recycling. Therefore, delaying recycling as much as possible would be the most desirable option for maximizing the use of non-renewable resources, which nature cannot replace in a short time.

Physical fitness is a fundamental indicator of health, leading to increased interest in fitness activ-ities under professional guidance. Fitness instructors play an essential role, requiring both tech-nical and interpersonal skills. Their image significantly influences participants perceptions and satisfaction. The objective of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis between Romania and Portugal regarding the quality of services offered within group fitness classes, focusing on instructors. It involved 133 group fitness instructors and 210 participants from Romania and Portugal. An adaptation of the Szumilewicz et al. (2008) questionnaire was used to assess the importance of the different attributes of fitness instructor image. Statistical analyses included de-scriptive statistics, t-tests, and effect size to compare perceptions between countries and groups. Romanian instructors and participants generally attributed higher importance to the fitness in-structor’s image compared to their Portuguese counterparts. Significant differences were found in attributes like physical fitness, technical execution and communication. Instructors tented to overestimate the importance of their image compared to participants. The fitness instructor image is crucial in determining participant satisfaction and perceptions of service quality. This study highlights the need for a balanced approach in instructor training, emphasizing both technical proficiency and interpersonal skills tailored to cultural contexts.

The generation of forensic DNA profiles consisting of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is now being facilitated by wider adoption of next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods in casework laboratories. At the same time, and in part because of this advance, there is an intense focus on the generation of SNP profiles from evidentiary specimens for so-called forensic or investigative genetic genealogy (FGG or IGG) applications. However, FGG methods are constrained by the algorithms for genealogical database searches, which were designed for use with single-source profiles, and the fact that many forensic samples are mixtures. To enable the use of two-person mixtures for FGG, we developed a workflow, MixDeR, for the deconvolution of mixed SNP profiles. MixDeR, a flexible and easy to use R package and Shiny app, processes ForenSeq Kintelligence® (QIAGEN, Inc.) SNP genotyping results and directs deconvolution of the profiles in EuroForMix (EFM). MixDeR then filters the EFM outputs to produce inferred single-source genotypes in reports formatted for use with GEDmatch® PRO. An optional MixDeR output includes metrics that assist with testing and validation of the workflow. As the Shiny app provides a graphical user interface and the software is designed to be run offline, MixDeR should be suitable for use by any laboratory developing FGG capabilities, no matter their bioinformatic resources or expertise.

Droughts have negative impacts on agricultural productivity and economic growth. Effective monitoring and accurate forecasting of drought occurrences and trends are crucial for minimizing drought losses and mitigating their spatial and temporal effects. In this study, trend dynamics in monthly total rainfall time series measured at Cape Town International Airport were analyzed using Mann-Kendall (MK) test, Modified Mann-Kendall (MMK) and innovative trend analysis (ITA) were examined. Additionally, we utilized hybrid prediction method that combined the model with the complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) technique, the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model, the long short-term memory (LSTM) network (i.e. CEEMDAN-ARIMA-LSTM) to forecast SPI values of 6-, 9-, and 12-months using rainfall data between 1995 and 2020 from Cape Town International Airport meteorological rainfall stations. The results demonstrate the following essential points: (1) The trend analysis results of the total monthly rainfall values indicate a significant decreasing trend with the negative z-score (MK= -3.7541 and MMK= - 4.0773). ITA also indicated a significant downwards trend of rainfall in the study area. (2) As the forecasting horizon increases, the prediction accuracy of the models and CEEMDAN-combined models gradually improves, reaching their optimum performance at the 12-month horizon. (3) CEEMDAN efficiently stabilizes time-series data, resulting in greater prediction accuracy in the hybrid model compared to individual models at all timescales. (4) The RMSE and R2 values for the hybrid CEEMDAN-ARIMA-LSTM model at a 12-month forecasting horizon are 0.042 and 0.995, demonstrating the applicability of this hybrid approach for drought forecasting.

More than 700 anthocyanins are described so far, and many different sources are rich in these natural pigments. During the last few years, researchers have been focusing of strategies to recover and purify anthocyanins, from simple liquid-liquid extractions to more advanced supercritical CO2 extractions, however, with such a huge number of different sources, it’s extremely hard to get a simple and fast methodology that fits several sources, not only by the structural nature of the anthocyanins but also by the presence of specific groups of natural compounds. Using simple methodologies like solid-phase extraction resins represents a powerful economical and efficiency strategy. In this work, we tested several sources of structurally distinct anthocyanins, including purple basil, purple cabbage, purple sweet potato, butterfly pea flower, cornflower and wild pansy, in different resins to assess their efficiency in the obtention of anthocyanin-pure extracts. The results showed us that the combination of oasis HLB® resin followed by a cation-exchange SPE with DSC-MCAX® resulted in high-purity anthocyanin extracts for all the cases.

In the field of quality analysis of food and flavoring products, gas chromatography – quadrupole mass spectrometry – ion mobility spectrometry (GC-QMS-IMS) is a powerful technique for the simultaneous detection of volatile organic compounds (VOC) by both QMS and IMS. GC is an established technique for the separation of complex VOC-rich foods such as beverages, dairy and fruit products as well as flavorings in general. While the subsequent detection by IMS features soft ionization of fragile compounds (e.g., terpenes) with characteristic drift times, MS provides the analytes’ m/z-values for database substance identification. A limitation of the prominently used static headspace-based GC-QMS-IMS systems is the substantially higher sensitivity of IMS in comparison to full scan QMS, which results in the detection of relevant VOC only in IMS, but not in the QMS analyzer. The present study describes a new prototypic trapped-headspace (THS)-GC-QMS-IMS setup, with optimized active flow regulation, able to gain valuable data of both detectors. This ultimately allows the combination of a soft ionization with m/z values obtained from database-searchable electron ionization (EI) spectra and as such, offers a substantial advantage in fields of quality control. The new setup features aligned retention times for IMS and MS and sufficient signal intensities for QMS and IMS. The analytical setup was evaluated with a set of mango puree samples from various provenances and the data was evaluated by suitable machine learning approaches. The results demonstrate that THS-GC-QMS-IMS allows for the classification of mango purees from different cultivars and can be a promising alternative method for authenticity control of food, flavors, and beverages.

Digital Twin (DT) technology is a pivotal innovation within the built environment industry, facilitating digital transformation through advanced data integration and analytics. DTs have demonstrated significant benefits in building design, construction, and asset management, including optimizing lifecycle energy use, enhancing operational efficiency, enabling predictive maintenance, and improving user adaptability. By integrating real-time data from IoT sensors with advanced analytics, DTs provide dynamic and actionable insights for better decision-making and resource management. Despite these promising benefits, several challenges impede the widespread adoption of DT technology, such as technological integration, data consistency, organisational adaptation, and cybersecurity concerns. Addressing these challenges requires inter-disciplinary collaboration, standardization of data formats, and the development of universal design and development platforms for DTs. This paper provides a comprehensive review of DT definitions, applications, capabilities, and challenges within the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industries. This paper provides important insights for researchers and professionals, helping them gain a more comprehensive and detailed view of DT. The findings also demonstrate the significant impact that DTs can have on this sector, contributing to advancing DT implementations and promoting sustainable and efficient building management practices. Ultimately, DT technology is set to revolutionize the AEC industries by enabling autonomous, data-driven decision-making and optimizing building operations for enhanced productivity and performance.

Fungal infections (FIs) are spreading globally causing a significant public health concern. However, its documentation remains sparse in Africa, particularly in Rwanda. This literature review, aims to assess the risk and document current gaps in evidence and policy. It summarizes the published data about FIs in Rwanda, including ten reports published between 1972-and-2022. Blastomyces, Candida, Cryptococcus, Histoplasma, Microsporum, Pneumocystis, Rhinosporidium, and Trichophyton caused human infections. These infections primarily affected the brain, respiratory, urinary and reproductive organs, and they were diagnosed using culturing, histopathology, immunology, and/or microscopic techniques. Our findings provide an overview of the diversity and distribution of FIs, highlighting significant limitations in the country’s diagnostic capacity and surveillance system for FIs. Also, indicating severe gaps in evidence to inform policymaking, guide strategic planning and intervention, underscoring the urgent need to build national capacity in fungal diagnosis, surveillance, and research. Raising awareness among the public, scientific community, healthcare providers, and policymakers remains crucial. Furthermore, this report reveals the threats of FIs on public health and food insecurity in Rwanda. A Multisectoral One Health Strategy is essential in research and intervention to determine and reduce the health and safety impacts of fungal pathogens on human, animal, and the environment.

Uterine leiomyosarcoma (LMS) is a rare and aggressive form of uterine cancer, with a poor prognosis and high number of uterine cancer-related deaths. Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is an immunotherapy approach to antigen specific of cancer cell, thereby enhancing the immune system's ability to target and destroy cancer cells. This study aims to investigate the potential of targeting differentially expressed genes (DEGs) as a novel therapeutic strategy using CAR T-cell technology in LMS. Genome datasets were obtained from NCBI-GEO database, Of the five datasets, genes that experienced significant overexpression in at least three datasets were categorized as DEGs, and DEGs were evaluated for protein localization, Gene Ontology, bioactivity, interaction, and overexpression. The results identified 25 DEGs, with ten of them expressed on the plasma membrane; four of them—HMMR, KIF20A, PRC1, and ZWINT—were part of the main protein network derived from the 25 DEGs. The dominant bioactivity of these PMGs involves influencing the cell cycle, particularly processes related to chromosome segregation. In conclusion, HMMR, KIF20A, PRC1, and ZWINT are high-potential DEGs as candidates for tumor-associated antigen CAR T-cell therapy. Further research, both in vitro and in vivo, is needed to enhance the validity of these findings.

We present a case report of a 26-years-old female suffering from Coffin Siris Syndrome, who underwent orthodontic treatment and surgery to solve her malocclusion and improve her aes-thetics and functional occlusion. Methods: The presurgical phase involved multibracket self-ligating attachments, Damon prescription. The patient underwent maxillofacial surgery to correct the severe skeletal malocclusion and relocate the bone bases in the right relationship. The post-surgical orthodontic treatment was performed to complete the alignment. Results: The pa-tient improved her aesthetics and functional abilities. Conclusions: Syndromic patients can un-dergo orthodontictreatment if comorbidities and collaboration allow it. Support and collaboration of families and psychotherapists must be considered, but clinical cases of syndromic patients can be faced and solved. Obviously, each syndromic patient is considered unique, and the risk-benefit ratio must be correctly assessed for each one.

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.

Dementia, primarily caused by neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (AD), affects millions worldwide, making detection and monitoring crucial. To enable these tasks, we propose encoding in-text pauses and filler words (i.e., “uh” and “um”) in text-based language models, and thoroughly evaluate their effect in performance. Additionally, we suggest using contrastive learning to improve performance in a multi-task framework. Our results demonstrated the effectiveness of our approaches in enhancing the model’s performance, achieving 87% accuracy and an 86% F1-score. Compared to the state-of-the-art, our approach has similar performance despite having significantly fewer parameters. This highlights the importance of pause and filler word encoding on the detection of dementia.

Phosphite (Phi) has gained attention in agriculture due to its biostimulant effect on crops. This molecule has been found to benefit plant performance by providing protection against pathogens, improving yield and fruit quality, and improving nutrient and water use efficiency. It is still unclear how Phi enhances plant growth and protects against multiple stresses. It has been hypothesized that Phi acts by directly affecting the pathogens and interacting with the plant cellular components and molecular machinery to elicit defense responses. This study delves into elucidating the mechanisms underlying Phi’s beneficial effects on plants, revealing a complex interplay with fundamental signaling pathways. A RNA-seq study of Arabidopsis seedlings under optimal and limiting phosphate conditions helped us unveil Phi’s role in promoting plant growth by activating the expression of genes involved in the biosynthesis and signaling pathways associated with abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), and jasmonic acid (JA). Expression of ABA-related genes, known for their involvement in stress response and development regulation, is triggered by Phi treatment, contributing to enhanced resilience and growth. Simultaneously, the activation of the SA pathway, associated with defense responses, suggests Phi’s potential in bolstering plant immunity. Moreover, Phi influences JA biosynthesis and signaling, which are crucial for defense against herbivores and pathogens, thereby strengthening plants’ defenses. Our findings reveal a multifaceted mechanism through which Phi benefits Arabidopsis development. Understanding its intricate interplay with key signaling pathways opens avenues for leveraging Phi as a strategic tool to enhance plant resilience, immunity, and growth in agricultural and ecological contexts.

Fusarium species are agriculturally important fungi with a broad host range and can be found as endophytic, pathogenic, or opportunistic parasites in many crop plants. This study aimed to identify Fusarium species in bare-rooted, dormant plants in Turkish grapevine nurseries using molecular identification methods and assess their pathogenicity. Asymptomatic dormant plants were sampled from grapevine nurseries (43) in different regions of the country, and fungi were isolated from plant roots and internal basal tissues. The Fusarium isolates were identified by performing gene sequencing (TEF1-α, RPB2) and phylogenetic analyses. Pathogenicity tests were carried out by inoculating mycelial agar pieces of isolates onto the stem or conidial suspensions into the rhizosphere of vines (1103 Paulsen rootstock). Laboratory tests revealed that Fusarium species were highly prevalent in Turkish grapevine nurseries (41 out of 43). Gene sequencing and phylogenetic analyses unraveled that 12 Fusarium species (F. annulatum, F. brachygibbosum, F. clavum, F. curvatum, F. falciforme, F. fredkrugeri, F. glycines, F. nanum, F. nematophilum, F. nirenbergiae, F. solani, and Fusarium spp.) existed in the ready-to-sale plants. Some of these species (F. annulatum, F. curvatum and F. nirenbergiae) consistently caused wood necrosis of seedling stems, rotting of the basal zone and roots, and reduced root biomass. Although the other nine species also caused some root rot and root reduction, their virulence was not as severe as the pathogenic ones, and they were considered opportunistic parasites or endophytic species. This study is the first detailed investigation of Fusarium species in grapevine nurseries in Türkiye and emphasizes the need to consider pathogenic species in producing healthy grapevine seedlings.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) refer to a group of conditions that affect the temporomandibular joint, causing pain and dysfunction in the jaw joint and related muscles. The diagnosis of TMDs typically involved clinical assessment through operator-based physical examination, self-reported questionnaire and imaging studies. To objectivize the measurement of TMD, this study aims at investigating on the feasibility to use machine-learning algorithms fed with data gathered from low-cost and portable instruments to discriminate the presence of TMD in adult subjects. Through this aim, the experimental protocol involved fifty participants, equally distributed between TMD and healthy subjects, acting as control group. The diagnosis of TMD has been performed by a skilled operator through the typical clinical scale. Participants underwent to a baropodometric analysis by using a pressure matrix and the evaluation of the cervical mobility through inertial sensors. Nine machine-learning algorithms belonging to support vector machine, k-nearest neighbours and decision tree were compared. The k-nearest neighbours based on cosine distance was found as the best performing, achieving performance of 0.94, 0.94 and 0.08 for the accuracy, F1-score and G-index, respectively. These findings open the possibility to use such methodology to support the diagnosis of TMDs in clinical environments.

The paper provides a methodological framework based on Multiple Criteria Decision Aid methods for determining relative regional vulnerabilities associated with forest fires that occurred during a given period. Different notions of ex-post vulnerability are defined based on the forest area burned and the frequency of forest fires, and their relation to the regions’ area and several socioeconomic characteristics. The methodology is applied to Greece and its administrative regions for the period 2000–2022. Linking the forest fire events with summer and spring temperatures and precipitation and using econometric count data analysis, the paper explores the climatic drivers of forest fire occurrence and provides projections of the expected change in the frequency of fires of specific size classes conditional on the evolution of mean seasonal regional temperature and precipitation according to IPCC scenarios. The results regarding relative regional vulnerabilities and expected forest fires could be useful in designing policies for preserving forests as natural capital and promoting sustainability.

The global warming has caused poor grape skin coloration and reduced the production of high-quality berries. To overcome these problems, the effect of synephrine (Syn) on anthocyanin accumulation was investigated. Syn treatment above 1 mM increased anthocyanin content in cultured grape cells in a molecular-structure-specific and concentration-dependent manner, and increased only the anthocyanin without affecting the sugar/acid ratio in grape bunches. It increased the expression of genes linked to anthocyanin synthesis after 24 h of treatment, without affecting phytohormone levels. Syn treatment induced the expression of SOD3, elevating hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production from 3 to 24 h after treatment in cultured cells. Subsequent increases in CAT and APX6 expression occurred, which encode H2O2-eliminating enzymes. In cultured grape cells, Syn and H2O2 treatments upregulated the H2O2-responsive gene Chit4 and the anthocyanin-biosynthesis-related genes mybA1 and UFGT 4 days after the treatments and promoted anthocyanin accumulation 7 days after the treatments. In berries, both treatments enhanced anthocyanin accumulation after 9 days. These results suggest that Syn promotes anthocyanin accumulation through the production of H2O2 without the upregulation of phytohormone biosynthesis. Syn treatment is expected to improve poor grape coloration and contribute to higher-quality fruit production.

The purpose of the evaluation of the Peruvian energy generation system is to project the electricity generation and demand until the year 2050. To achieve this, three alternative scenarios have been defined and analyzed using the LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning) software. The scenarios are as follows: the first one, Business-as-Usual scenario, based on normal trends according to historical data and referencing projections made by Peruvian state entities; the second one is focused on Energy Efficiency, the highlighted characteristic is taking into consideration the efficient conditions in transmission and distribution of electric energy; and the third one, centered on Geothermal Energy, focused on the development of this type of energy source and prioritizing it. The primary purpose of this analysis is to identity advantages and disadvantages inherent in each scenario in order to get the best of each one. In this way, the intention is to propose solutions based on Peru’s national reality or possible uses of the country’s energy potential to supply its energy demand. Currently, Peru’s energy demand relies on fossil fuels, hydraulic, and thermal energy. However, there is the possibility of transforming this system into a sustainable one, by strengthening existing and growing energy sources such as solar and wind energy, and new technologies for hydraulic and thermal energy, in addition to considering geothermal energy as the main energy source in the third scenario. The new system mentioned satisfactorily indicate that the CO2 equivalent emissions decrease significantly in the third scenario, with a 15.8% reduction compared to the first scenario and a 9.7% reduction in comparison to the second. On the other hand, the second scenario shows a 5.6% decrease in CO2 emissions compared to the first, resulting from improvements in technology and energy efficiency without requiring significant modifications or considerable investments, as in the third scenario.

To improve efficacy and safety of sunscreen emulsions, UV‐filter skin permeation could be kept as low as possible by reducing UV‐filter content or changing emulsion composition. In this work, different lipid phase ratio (12, 14 and 16% w/w) were assessed for their ability to affect the technological and sensory properties of O/W emulsions in which bemotrizinol (BMTZ), a broad spectrum sunscreen agent, was incorporated free or loaded into nanostructured lipid nanocarriers (NLC) to reduce its release from the vehicle and, hence, its skin permeation. The following technological properties were evaluated in vitro by suitable methodologies: spreadability, viscosity, pH, occlusion factor, BMTZ release, sun protection factor (SPF). Sensory attributes were assessed by trained panelists in three different phases: before/during pick‐up, rub‐in, after application. Raising the lipid phase ratio led to an increase of viscosity and to a corresponding drop of spreadability while the incorporation of BMTZ‐loaded NLC determined a decrease of occlusion factor and an increase of SPF. No BMTZ release was observed from all emulsions. Sensory attributes were mainly affected by lipid phase ratio. These results suggest that lipid phase ratio and BMTZ incorporation into NLC could contribute to determine technological and sensory properties of O/W emulsions.

κ Draconis is a binary system with a classical Be star as the primary component. Its emission-line spectrum consists of hydrogen lines, notably the Hα line with a peak intensity ratio (V/R) variations phase-locked with the orbital period P = 61.55 days. Among binaries demonstrating the Be phenomenon, κ Dra stands out as one of a few systems with a discernible mass of its secondary component. Based on more than 200 spectra obtained in 2014 − 2023, we verified the physical parameters and constructed the mass function. We used part of these data obtained in 2014 − 2021 to investigate regions in the circumstellar disk of the primary component that emit the Hα line using the Doppler tomography method. The results show that the disk has a non-uniform density distribution with a prominent enhancement at Vy≈ 99 km s−1 and Vx≈−6 km s−1 that corresponds to a cloud-like source of the double-peaked Hα line profile. We argue that this enhancement’s motion is responsible for the periodic variations of the Hα V/R ratio, which is synchronised in orbital phase with the radial velocity (RV) of absorption lines from the atmosphere of the primary component.

The protection and regulation of international trade of Australia’s native species is legislated by its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999. In response to overwhelming evidence that the Act is ineffective at protecting biodiversity, the Australian Government is currently reforming its environmental laws. One problematic component of the Act is in cases where threatened species interact with multiple regulatory and management frameworks, such as commercially fished marine species that are traded as seafood. Here, we analyzed international seafood trade data and found that Australia exports four threatened fish species listed under the Act and additional species acknowledged as globally threatened. In light of our analysis, we have three recommendations for Australia’s new environmental legislation: 1) apply the same precautions to commercially harvested species as to other threatened species; 2) review the status of all threatened species annually; and 3) assess species listed on global conservation conventions. These recommendations will help ensure that Australia’s marine biodiversity is protected, despite its commercial value.

: To improve the efficiency of rhizobial inoculation operations and address the current situation of rhizobial inoculation being labor-intensive, a spraying and control system for variable rate application (VRA) of liquid rhizobia was developed. The system can accurately regulate the spraying rate of liquid rhizobia according to the desired rate of rhizobia by incremental Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) closed-loop control algorithm, making it particularly suitable for precise spraying with small amounts. In the laboratory experiment of precise flow control, variation coefficient of spraying nozzle from 0.10 MP to 0.20 MP pressure were no more than 1.2%. A clear linear relationship was observed between the spraying rate and pressure. The maximum response time was 1.93 seconds, while the average response time was 1.62 seconds when controlling the spraying system for small amounts. Field trial was conducted in Heilongjiang Agricultural Xianghe Farm of China. Average seeds number and 100-seed weight of soybean plant with rhizobia inoculation treatment were better than control group, and average yield of spraying liquid rhizobia agent with full base fertilizer increased by 232.5 kg/hm2, representing a significant 7.4% improvement over the control group. The results of these trails clearly showed the positive effect of the spraying and control system for liquid rhizobial inoculation, which has superior to existing inoculation manners, and provides an important technical support for the widespread adoption of rhizobia technology.

This paper details the comprehensive activities conducted in a laboratory setting to assess the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of prefabricated building envelopes. Aimed at enhancing the structural evaluation of buildings, the focus of this research lies in employing nondestructive sensors for SHM with the objective to advance in the understanding and assessment of facade conditions. The paper outlines the methodologies employed, starting with a modal analysis to define the structural vibration's modal frequency. Subsequently, tests were defined and executed to validate building envelope compliance in case of stress typical of high-rise building. Throughout these tests, continuous monitoring of the façade was conducted using both conventional (accelerometers, extensimeter washers) and non-conventional sensors (Fiber Optic Sensing) The gathered data underwent thorough processing and analysis to provide an overall perspective on the structure's behavior during the stress test. The investigation aimed to identify whether specific physical phenomena correlate with distinct signals and to evaluate if continuous façade monitoring over the building's lifespan aids in preventing potential structural damage. Moreover, two modal analyses were conducted to compare final data and frequencies with earlier data, enabling the detection of any structural alterations. The results from compliance testing and structural analysis yielded noteworthy insights contributing to the evolving field of structural health monitoring, offering valuable findings that advance our ability to proactively manage and maintain the integrity of building structures.

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of athletes' respiratory muscle strength, as assessed through maximal inspiratory (MIP) and expiratory pressure (MEP), on aerobic endurance, as indicated by maximal oxygen consump-tion (Max VO2) kinetics. Respiratory muscle strength was assessed using a digital spirometer (Pony FX Cosmed, Italy), while maximal oxygen utilization capacity was measured using a breath-by-breath automatic portable gas analysis system (Cosmed K5, Italy). Statistical analysis was conducted utilizing SPSS 22.0. Based on the standardized regression coefficients (β), it was found that MEP (mean ± SD: 130.95 ± 42.82) and inspiratory diaphragmatic circumference values significantly influenced ventilatory equivalent (VE), oxygen consumption (VO2), and carbon dioxide pro-duction (VCO2). Conversely, the remaining predictor variables did not exhibit a sig-nificant effect on VE (mean ± SD: 134.80 ± 36.69), VO2 (mean ± SD: 3877.52 ± 868.47 ml), and VCO2 (mean ± SD: 4301.27 ± 1001.07 ml). In contrast, measurements of chest circumference (mean ± SD: 91.40 ± 10.72 cm), MEP, and diaphragmatic cir-cumference during inspiration (mean ± SD: 95.20 ± 10.21 cm) were found to signifi-cantly impact Max VO2 (mean ± SD: 58.52 ± 10.74 ml/kg/min), while the other pre-dictor variables did not demonstrate a significant effect on Max VO2. Conclusively, the study revealed that measured values of diaphragmatic circumference during inspiration and MEP exerted a notable influence on Max VO2, VE, VO2, and VCO2. Our findings underscore the importance of considering respiratory muscle strength in assessing and enhancing athletes' aerobic performance. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of the interplay between respiratory function and exercise capacity, offering potential avenues for optimizing training regimens and perfor-mance outcomes in athletic contexts.

Background: In recent years, whole blood parameters and derivatives have been used as prognostic criteria in the course of the disease in various diseases. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI), the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) have been adapted as an indicator of inflammation and have been widely studied to define the severity of inflammation in some diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between parameters such as NLR, SII, PNI, controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score, nutritional risk index (NRI) and with immunonutrition status and disease activity in patients with ischemic stroke of small vessel, large vessel and other etiologies. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the records of 1454 consecutive ischemic stroke patients hospitalized in the emergency department of Gaziosmanpasa Education and Research Hospital from 2019 to 2023. Results: Of the 1350 SVO patients included in the study, 58.8% had small vessel, 29.3% had large vessel and 11.9% had other etiologies. There was a significant difference between the 3 etiology groups for PNI and CONUT. The median PNI was 47.03 (41.33-52.85) in the other etiology group, 35.29 (33.69-37.25) in the small vessel group, and 34.11 (30.23-36.87) in the large vessel group. The CONUT median was 5(5-6) in the small vessel group, 5(4-6) in the large vessel group and 4(4-4) in the other etiology group. In addition, CONUT and PNI were also found to be independent risk factors for death. A negative significant correlation was observed between PNI and NLR (r:-0.692), SII (r:-0.591), CONUT (r:-0.685). Significant correlations were observed between CONUT and NLR (r:0.402), SII (r:0.312). Conclusion: PNI and SII were significantly associated with disease activity. PNI, CONUT and NRI as a more accurate prognostic indicator of nutritional status in patients with ischemic stroke of small vessel, large vessel and other etiologies. NLR and SII may be important predictive markers in the course and prognosis of stroke.

Background and Objectives: ARNE score was developed for the prediction of difficult airway for both general and ENT surgery with a universal cut-off value. We tested the accuracy of this score in the case of laryngeal surgery and provided an insight of its combination with flexible laryngoscopy. Materials and Methods: This prospective pilot clinical study included 100 patients who were being scheduled for microscopic laryngeal surgery. We have calculated ARNE score for every patient and flexible laryngoscopy was provided preoperative. Difficult intubation was assessed according to intubation difficulty score (IDS). Results: A total of 33% patients had difficult intubation according to IDS. ARNE score showed to be accurate for prediction of difficult intubation in laryngology with P&lt;0.0001 and AUC 0.784. Flexible laryngoscopy showed to be an independent parameter with P&lt;0.0001 and AUC 0.766. We have defined a new cut-off value of 15.50 for laryngology, according to AUC curve. After the patients were divided in two groups, according to the new cut-off value and provided cut-off value, AUC improved to 0.707 from 0.619 respectively. Flexible laryngoscopy improved the prediction model of ARNE score to AUC 0.882 and of new cut-off value to AUC 0.833. Conclusions: It is recommended to use flexible laryngoscopy together with ARNE score in difficult airway prediction in patients with laryngeal pathology. Also, universally recommended cut-off value of 11 can not be effectively used in laryngology and a new cut-off value of 15.50 is recommended.

Preventing the occurrence of secondary caries serves as one of the significant issues in dental clinic, thus make it indispensable to improving the properties of conventional composite resin (CR) by developing a novel CR. In present study, two groups of experimental CRs loaded with different contents of fluoride-doped nano-zirconia fillers (25 wt% and 50 wt%) were fabricated. The surface topography, mechanical performance, fluoride release, antibacterial effect, aging property and cytotoxicity of the experimental CRs were evaluated subsequently. A uniform distribution of the F-zirconia fillers over the whole surface of resin matrix could be observed. The experimental CRs showed continuous fluoride release within 28 days, which was positively correlated with the content of F-zirconia fillers. Moreover, the amount of fluoride release increased in the acidic buffer. Addition of F-zirconia fillers could improve the color stability, wear resistance and microhardness of the experimental CRs, without reducing the flexure strength. Furtherly, the fluoride ions released continuously from the experimental CRs resulted in effective contact and antibacterial properties, while they showed no cytotoxicity. As a consequence, considerations can be made to employ this new kind of composite resin loaded with fluoride-doped nano-zirconia fillers to meet clinical requirements when the antimicrobial benefits are desired.

In the face of escalating climate concerns and the push for sustainable development, the global shift towards renewable and decentralized energy systems presents new challenges and opportunities. This study investigates integrating decentralized energy production, particularly photovoltaic (PV) systems, into national energy planning, aiming to optimize energy strategies that balance local production and consumption with national objectives. By analyzing the Swiss energy model, the research employs the EnergyScope and REHO models to assess the strategic implications of decentralized versus centralized energy systems. Results show that a decentralized approach can significantly reduce PV installation needs to 35 GW, about 23% of potential capacity, and decrease annual system costs by 10% to CHF 1230 per capita. This strategy emphasizes local consumption, minimizes grid reinforcement demands, and leverages economic advantages while addressing overproduction challenges through effective energy storage and grid management. Conclusions underline the strategic value of combining centralized and decentralized methods for resilient and sustainable energy planning. The study contributes to the discourse on energy policy and infrastructure planning, advocating for a hybrid model that accommodates both local conditions and broader energy objectives, urging further research into climate impacts and technology integration for a comprehensive energy future.

In the dynamic interplay between people and their physical environments, the Global South stands as a mosaic undergoing a multitude of transformative influences in architecture and urbanism where examining social sustainability becomes imperative. While prevailing attention remains on environmental and economic sustainability, this study addresses a persistent gap in the urban literature by focusing on the dynamic and manifold nature of social sustainability. Positioning itself within the context of sustainable development, the study links the pursuit of social aspects of sustainability with selected unique urban contexts from the Global South. Five cases that include Alexandria (Egypt), Tripoli (Libya), Basra (Iraq), Lilongwe (Malawi), and Accra (Ghana) are discussed through multi-layered investigations that involve attitude surveys, interviews, focus groups, participatory systematic observations, and behavioral mapping, engaging directly with inhabitants and stakeholders. Uncovering people-place narratives in the identified contexts, the cases are developed into five knowledge typologies that serve as practical tools for planning and design decision-making, policy formulation, and academic discourse. Discussions are conceived to demonstrate the transformative role people-place narratives play in fostering a more sustainable and equitable urban future. Conclusions are drawn to offer practical insights for stakeholders involved in various capacities in shaping the urban landscape of the Global South.

This paper provides a comparative analysis of AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and Salsa20 algorithm implementations, focusing on power consumption efficiency in passive RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags and ultra-low-power devices. The main objective of this work is to determine which of these algorithms is more suitable to operate in these types of devices. For this purpose, ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) implementations of AES and Salsa20 based on low-power approaches were developed and their power consumption was evaluated. Results demonstrate that Salsa20 power consumption is lower than AES (2.82μW and 4.01μW, respectively - both in 0.18μm), indicating that Salsa20 is a better choice than AES for passive RFID tags.

Soot combustion experiments with 5%O2/He were conducted using model soot, and four distinct compositions of CexPr1-xO2-δ oxides were prepared, varying nominal cerium com-positions (x=0, 0.2, 0.3, and 1). The catalyst samples were comprehensively characterized using techniques such as XRD, Raman spectroscopy, HR-TEM, N2 adsorption at −196 °C, XPS, O2-TPD, H2-TPR, and work function measurements. The Pr-rich compositions, rang-ing from Ce0.3Pr0.7O2-δ to PrO2-δ, resulted in a significant increase in the total evolved O2 amounts and enhanced catalyst reducibility. However, a decrease in textural properties of the catalysts was noted, being particularly important for the pure praseodymia under the synthesis route conducted. The catalytic activity was investigated under two contact modes of mixing between soot and catalyst: loose and tight. The results revealed that the catalytic performance is associated with the surface contact in tight contact mode and with the combination of surface/subsurface/bulk oxygen mobility and the BET surface ar-ea in loose contact mode. Notably, the T10 and T50 parameters were achieved at much lower temperatures than the uncatalyzed soot combustion, even under loose contact conditions. Specifically, the 50% conversion was achieved at 511℃ and 538℃ for Ce0.3Pr0.7O2 and Ce0.2Pr0.8O2, respectively. While no direct correlation between catalytic activity and work function was observed a significant relationship emerges between work function values and the formation of oxy-gen vacancies, whatever the conditions used for these measurements. On the other hand, the ability to generate a high population of oxygen vacancies at low temperatures, rather than the direct activation of gas-phase O2, influences the catalytic performance of Pr-doped ceria catalysts, highlighting the importance of surface/subsurface oxygen vacancy generation, which was the parameter which showed better correlation with the catalytic activity, whatever the soot conversion value or the mode of contact considered.

In this study, 10%PTFE/PEEK blend were modified by potassium titanate whisker (PTW) and chopped glass fiber (GF), respectively. The blends were prepared by three-screw extruder. Through the investigation of thermal stability, tribological properties, mechanical properties and rheological behavior, the effects of reinforcing agents were determined. The results illustrated that the mechanical properties of 10%PTFE/PEEK blend can be dramatically improved by adding reinforcing agent of PTW or GF, and the reinforcing effect of GF was especially obvious. As for tribological properties, 1% addition was the best proportion. The friction coefficient and wear rate of the blend with 1% PTW were 0.283 and 4.97 × 10^-6 mm³/N · m, which decreased by 7.2% and 21% compared with those of the blend without reinforcing agent.

This research article investigates the recycling of end-of-life solar photovoltaic (PV) panels by analyzing various mechanical methods, including Crushing, High Voltage Pulse Crushing, Electrostatic Separation, Hot Knife Cutting, Water Jet Cutting, and Magnetic Separation. Each method's effectiveness in extracting materials such as glass, silicon, metals (copper, aluminum, silver, tin, lead), and EVA was evaluated. The analysis reveals that no single method is entirely sufficient for comprehensive material recovery. Based on the data analysis, a new hypothetical hybrid method Laser and High Voltage Pulse (L&HVP) is proposed, which integrates the precision of laser irradiation with the robustness of high voltage pulse crushing. The laser irradiation step would theoretically facilitate the removal of the ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulant, preparing the materials for subsequent separation. The high-voltage pulse crushing would then selectively fragment and separate the remaining components, potentially enhancing material recovery efficiency while minimizing contamination. The proposed approach is grounded in the observed limitations of existing techniques. This method aims to offer a more comprehensive and sustainable solution for solar PV module recycling. Further research and experimentation are necessary to validate the effectiveness of the L&HVP method and its potential impact on the field of solar PV recycling.

Background: Recent publications suggest that the threshold for validation of the learning curve is 25 procedures. The aim of this study was to evaluate this threshold using another method which is little used, based on a composite quality indicator. Methods: We included all patients from the French medico-administrative database receiving robot-assisted surgery for lung cancer between 2019 and 2022 in hospitals performing at least 25 procedures. For postoperative complications analysis we used the Clavien-Dindo classification. We used the sequential probability ratio test to estimate the number of procedures from which a team achieved its learning curve. Results: In France, the number of robotic-assisted procedures has risen steadily over the years: 195 in 2019 and 1,567 in 2022: overall, 28 teams performed 3,707 Robot-Assisted surgery for lung cancer. The total number of patients with Clavien-dindo classification > II was 833 (24.7%). Among the 28 hospitals, 8 achieved their learning curve with a threshold ranging from 94 to 174 procedures, and a median of 110. Severe complications such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, respira-tory failure, heart failure, acute ischemia of the lower limbs and pulmonary embolism were signif-icantly more frequent in the group of hospitals that did not validate the learning curve threshold. Conclusion: This study suggests that the threshold of 25 procedures may not be sufficient enough to validate the robot-assisted surgery learning curve in lung cancer surgery. To significantly re-duce postoperative complications, a team would need to perform between 94 to 174 procedures to guarantee patient safety.

Triticale is recognized worldwide due to its high protein and lysine content, high production capacity and adaptability to biotic and abiotic stress conditions, these qualities being taken over from wheat and rye. Triticale is widely used in various fields such as animal feed in various forms, in medicine, the bakery, beer, alcohol, cellulose, bioethanol industry and many others. Thus, the demand for triticale grains is increasing, and this has led to the research and improvement of culture technology to obtain superior products, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The purpose of this study was to identify the best varieties of triticale cultivated in the north-west of Romania, sown in different plots and fertilized on the ground or additionally, the study being carried out over a period of two years at the Livada Agricultural Research and Development Station, Satu Mare county. The study was located on an acidic soil with a pH between 5.19 and 6.65 and a humus content of 2.82%. The climatic conditions in the reference period were extremely variable, in the first year a deficit of more than 90 mm/m2 of precipitation was registered, and in the second year of the study, an increase of more than 34 mm/m2. The effects of additional fertilization were influenced by the level of precipitation, so in the experimental variants additionally fertilized, lower productions were obtained compared to the variants fertilized only on the soil. Compared to the Negoiu control, the Utrifun variety proved to be the most productive, but this will be proven in the following years of study, under different climatic conditions.

The paper presents a new method of path planning for an industrial robot manipulator performing thermal plasma spraying of coatings. Path planning and automatic generation of the manipulator motion program are performed using preliminary 3D surface scanning data from a laser trian-gulation distance sensor installed on the same robot arm. The new path planning algorithm is based on constructing a function of the geodesic distance from the starting curve. A new method for constructing a geodesic distance function on a surface is proposed based on the application of discrete exterior calculus methods characterized by high computational efficiency. The developed algorithms and their software implementation were experimentally tested through robotic mi-croplasma spraying of a protective coating on the surface of a jaw crusher plate, which was then successfully operated for crushing mineral raw materials.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from medicinal plants and infusions prepared on them, as well as the assessment of the transfer of these contaminants from plants to infusions. The separation of compounds was achieved using microwave extraction for dryed plants and liquid-liquid extraction in the case of infusions. The extracts were cleaned by solid phase extraction, and compounds analysed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The risks related to the consumption of the infusions from the analysed plants were also evaluated by calculating the exposure contribution to the infusion consumption (EDI, ng/Kg.bw/day) and Margins of Exposure (MOEs). The average total content of PAHs varied from 277.22±12.78 to 2466.46±203.45µg/kg in dry plants, and benzo[b]fluoranthene and benzo[a]pyrene are the compounds present in all samples. In the herbal tea infusions, the average total PAHs content varied between 612.55±46.12ng/L and 2292.2±140.24ng/L. Statistical analysis showed that only BabF shows a significant strong correlation between the content of individual PAHs in plants and their infusions, while BaP, 4PAHs and HMW-compounds showed weak correlations. Average transfer rates of ∑16PAHs from plants to infusions varied from 7.25 to 32.86%. The MOEs of BaP and 4PAHs in herbal tea infusions with the highest PAH content confirmed that the consumption of medicinal teas presents a low risk to contamination with PAHs.

Introduction: Based on clinical practice guidelines, the application of corticosteroids as first-line therapy is common. Although SSHL's etiology is primarily idiopathic, hearing loss can result from perilymphatic fistula (PLF). Recent findings show evidence of a spe-cific rate of PLF based on a cochlin- tomoprotein (CTP) detection test. Based on this rate of PLF treatment, the concepts of SSNHL need to be re-evaluated. The present study aimed to evaluate CTP in SSNHL patients and compare pre-surgical and post-surgical pure tone hearing thresholds after round and oval window sealing as first-line treatment. Material and Methods: 30 patients with unilateral SSNHL with pure tone average (PTA) (4 Freq.) of 60 dB or more were enrolled in a prospective study. All patients underwent tympanoscopy for middle ear exploration as first-line treatment. After intraoperative obser-vation of possible PLF all patients obtained middle ear lavage to gain CTP samples for following ELISA-based CTP detection tests. All patients received round window and oval window sealing with fascia. PTA hearing thresholds were analyzed post-surgical 3 weeks after treatment based on 4-frequency bone conduction (BC). Results: Average preoperative pure-tone BC threshold was 97,7 dB compared with 69 dB postoperative BC threshold. Mean BC improved by 20,3 dB after middle ear explora-tion and window sealing. 56% (17 of 30) of patients recovered at least 10 dB. Middle ear cochlin-tomoprotein detection rate was in 70% positive. Conclusion: The combination of early tympanoscopy and inner ear-specific cochlin-tomoprotein as a detection tool for suspected perilymphatic fistula shows evidence of PLF as a key causative in SSNHL.

The presence of fecal indicator bacteria in therapeutic mineral waters (TMWs) represents an important factor that can alter their chemical properties and therapeutic effect, correlated with an increased health risk for patients. The purpose of study was to evaluate the interrelationship between the level of contamination with coliform bacteria/Escherichia coli determined by the culture-dependent method and the concentrations of major ions, trace elements and gases in mineral waters that are used for curative or prophylactic purposes. Coliform bacteria showed a degree of survival modulated by the physical-chemical profile of TMWs, their viable count being statistically correlated with T°C, pH, TDS, EC and major ions (Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe2+, Cl-, HCO3-, SO42-). The prevalence of E.coli bacteria was not sen-sitive to the oscillation of the values of T°C; pH; TDS; EC of TMWs, but on the other hand, for the concentration variations of Cl-, HCO3-, total miner-alization from the composition of lakes/bathing pools, a positive correla-tion was identified with its numerical density. For sulfurous TMWs, the results showed a negative correlation between H2S concentration and the level of CB or E.coli, and in carbonated TMWs, CO2/CB values varied di-rectly proportionally, while E.coli evolved numerically independently of CO2 concentration fluctuations, as expected, being aerobe/facultative an-aerobic bacteria.

This review aimed to identify the risks of cosmetics during the sensitive period of pregnancy. Pregnancy causes many hormonal changes and skin issues, such as red stretch marks, cellulite, and more. These aesthetic concerns can impact both the appearance and health of the pregnant woman. Cosmetics and aesthetic treatments can help improve these problems and positively affect the mental well-being of these women. However, the lack of clinical trials regarding the safety of such treatments during pregnancy has led to the recommendation of only the mildest aesthetic applications. Additionally, professional aestheticians and dermatologists who provide cosmetics and other aesthetic treatments (e.g., laser, ultrasound, radiofrequency) during pregnancy face challenging and sometimes adverse working conditions. They should be treated with respect for their situation, with careful consideration of all the peculiarities associated with pregnancy. Further research and additional recorded data are crucial for better understanding the use of cosmetics and aesthetic treatments during pregnancy.

Nutritional interventions facilitating the consumption of available, affordable, and environment-compatible health-promoting functional foods (FF) are a promising strategy for controlling non-communicable diseases (NCDs) responsible for decreasing health expectancy. Given that the complex of tomato micronutrients produces healthier outcomes than lycopene, its major antioxidant component, we have devised a new controlled berry processing to improve its health-supporting properties. The newly generated whole tomato food supplement (WTFS), enriched by 2% olive wastewater polyphenols, contains a complex of healthy nutrients with converging biologic activities superior to those provided by tomato commodities. WTFS equals the antioxidant activity of N-acetyl-cysteine and interferes with multiple inflammation-eliciting and sustaining metabolic pathways. WTFS inhibits prostate experimental tumors, and improves benign prostate hypertrophy-associated symptoms. No side effects have been so far reported for dietary supplementation with WTFS compared to the culinary use of tomatoes. Although WTFS may be susceptible to further improvements and clinical scrutiny, its composition embodies the features of an advanced FF to ease adherence to dietary regimens, i.e. the Mediterranean diet, aimed at contrasting the low-grade inflammation. Ongoing investigations suggest new areas of potential translational use of WTFS, as a basis for developing more targeted FF interceptive or preventive of NCDs.

5-Pentadecylresorcinol (C15) is a natural alkylresorcinol that has been shown to protect against complications caused by imbalanced nutrition. Although the exact mechanisms of beneficial activity of C15 are not known, we assume that the protective effects of C15 on metabolic health are mediated by their modulatory influence on the composition of the intestinal microbiota and functional activity. Cobamides and vitamin B12 are believed to be crucial modulators of mammalian gut ecosystems. We proposed that C15 may influence the representation of enzymes and pathways for vitamin B12 synthesis in the gut microbiome, providing compositional and functional changes in the microbial community. High-throughput metagenome sequencing of the contents of the small and large intestines of C57Bl6 mice fed a regular or high-fat diet with or without C15 supplementation was performed followed by reconstruction of the metabolic activity of the microbiota to clarify the role of C15 in vitamin B12 synthesis by the gut microbiota. It has been established that C15 significantly increases the representation of the cobalamin salvage pathway and enzymes in the microbiome of the large intestine of mice fed a high-fat diet. The genera Clostridium, AF12, and [Ruminococcus] had shown the highest number of correlations with enzymes for B12 synthesis and were negatively associated with the representation of probiotic bacteria. Therefore, the beneficial effect of C15 on the gut microbiota community can be achieved by modulating B12 synthesis that, in turn, serves as one of the key regulators of gut microbiota ecology.

This study presents a comparative analysis of indoor air quality (IAQ) across health centers in Arakale, Iju, Owode, FECA, and Oba Ile, Ondo State, Nigeria. Particle count data were analyzed to identify common trends, similarities, and differences in IAQ parameters, with the aim of informing targeted interventions for improving indoor air quality in healthcare settings. The findings reveal consistent positive skewness in particle count distributions, indicating occasional spikes in pollution levels amidst generally lower concentrations. Fine particles in the size range of PC 2.5 were consistently dominant across all locations, emphasizing their significance in IAQ assessment. Similar variability in particle count data suggests comparable levels of fluctuations in IAQ among the health centers. However, variations in PCA patterns highlight unique factors influencing IAQ in specific locations, such as combustion sources and control strategies. Targeted interventions, including enhancing ventilation systems, controlling indoor pollution sources, and promoting smoking cessation programs, are proposed to mitigate health risks associated with indoor air pollution exposure. Ongoing monitoring and collaboration with environmental experts are crucial for assessing IAQ trends and implementing evidence-based interventions to safeguard the health of patients, staff, and visitors in healthcare facilities.

We recently demonstrated the effectiveness of long-term treatment with rifaximin and the probiotic VSL#3 at improving urogenital and gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with both chronic inflammatory prostatitis (IIIa prostatitis) and diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D), relative to patients with IBS-D alone. Because low-grade inflammation of the intestine and prostate may be one of the reasons for co-developing both IIIa prostatitis and IBS-D, we designed the present study to once again evaluate the efficacy of combined rifaximin and VSL#3 treatment in patients affected by IIIa prostatitis plus IBS-D, but we also measured seminal plasma pro-inflammatory (IL-6) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokines before and after treatment. We consecutively enrolled 124 patients with IIIa prostatitis and IBS-D (diagnosed using the Rome III criteria). Patients were randomized into two groups: group A (n=64) was treated with rifaximin (seven days per month for three months) followed by VSL#3, and group B (n=60) was treated with a placebo. At the beginning of the study and after three months of treatment, all patients completed NIH-CPSI and IBS-SSS questionnaires to score the severity of their urogenital and gastrointestinal symptoms, and we measured seminal plasma levels of IL-6 and IL-10 using ELISA. We defined patients who improved following the treatment as those with a ≥6-point reduction in their NIH-CPSI score or ≥50-point reduction in their IBS-SSS score. By the end of the intervention, 68.7% and 62.5% of patients from group A reported improved NIH-CPSI and IBS-SSS scores, respectively, compared to only 3.3% and 5% of the placebo group. Group A patients also had significantly lower mean seminal plasma levels of IL-6 (11.3 vs 32.4 pg/mL) and significantly higher mean levels of IL-10 (7.9 vs 4.4 pg/mL) relative to baseline, whereas levels of IL-6 and Il-10 did not change in the placebo group. The co-occurrence of two clinical phenotypes (IBS-D plus IIIa prostatitis) result in increased intestinal inflammation and altered immune activation, both of which can be balanced by treatment with rifaximin and VSL#3.

Despite ongoing efforts, the relationship between groin strength and injury remains unclear. The challenge of accurately predicting injuries presents an opportunity for researchers to develop pre-vention strategies to reduce the occurrence of such injuries. Consequently, this issue requires further investigation to obtain insights into effective mitigation strategies. In 120 male soccer players the maximum isometric strength of the hip muscle groups was measured, and the strength ratios were calculated. Previous injury and anthropometric data were registered. Injury data were collected following the FIFA/UEFA consensus. The K- Nearest Neighbour (k-NN), was used to predict the incidence of injury, while the significant predictive variables of the k-NN algorithm were fitted into a multivariate logistic regression model (LR) to analyze the likelihood of players sustaining a groin injury. The LR model determined two variables as significant predictors of groin injury. Players were less likely to sustain a groin injury by 76% for each decrease of the Adductors/Abductors isometric strength ratio in the non-dominant limb (OR = 0.238, CI 95%= [(0.098-0.572]). Players with a history of previous injury had a 67% greater risk of sustaining an injury (OR = 0.333, CI 95%= [(0.1068-1.038]). Isometric hip adductor and abductor strength im-balances of the non-dominant lower limb and a history of previous injury were risk factors for groin injury in soccer players.

Dynamic sparse training is an effective strategy to alleviate the training and inference demands of artificial neural networks. However, current sparse training methods face a challenge in achieving high levels of sparsity while maintaining performance comparable to that of their fully connected counterparts. The Cannistraci-Hebb training (CHT) method produces an ultra-sparse advantage compared to fully connected training in various tasks by using a gradient-free link regrowth method, which relies solely on the network topology. However, its rigid selection based on link prediction scores may lead to epitopological local minima, especially at the beginning of the training process when the network topology might be noisy and unreliable. In this article, we introduce the Cannistraci-Hebb training soft rule (CHTs), which applies a flexible approach to both the removal and regrowth of links during training, fostering a balance between exploring and exploiting network topology. Additionally, we investigate the network topology initialization using several approaches, including the bipartite scale-free and bipartite small-world network models. Empirical results show that CHTs can surpass the performance of fully connected networks with MLP architecture by using only 1% of the connections (99% sparsity) on the MNIST, EMNIST, and Fashion MNIST datasets and can provide remarkable results with only 0.1% of the links (99.9% sparsity). In some MLPs for image classification tasks, CHTs can reduce the active neuron network size to 20% of the original nodes (neurons), demonstrating a remarkable ability to generalize better than fully connected architectures, reducing the entire model size. This represents a relevant result for dynamic sparse training. Finally, we present evidence from larger network models such as Transformers, with 10% of the connections (90% sparsity), where CHTs outperform other prevalent dynamic sparse training methods in machine translation tasks.

Lipids have not traditionally been considered likely candidates for catalyzing reactions in biological systems. However, there is significant evidence that aggregates of amphiphilic compounds are capable of catalyzing reactions in synthetic organic chemistry. Here we demonstrate the potential for the hydrophobic region of a lipid bilayer to provide an environment suitable for catalysis by means of a lipozyme, or lipid aggregate capable of speeding up a chemical reaction. By bringing organic molecules into the non-polar or hydrophobic region of a lipid bilayer, reactions can be catalyzed by collections of small, nonpolar or amphiphilic molecules. We demonstrate this concept by the ester hydrolysis of calcein-AM to produce a fluorescent product, which is a widely used assay for esterase activity in cells. The reaction was first carried out in a two phase octanol-water system with the organic phase containing the cationic amphiphiles cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) or octadecylamine. The octanol was then replaced with DOPC added to the water in the form of vesicles, where the reaction was also found to be carried out. The reaction was monitored using quantitative fluorescence which revealed catalytic turnover numbers on a scale of 10−4s−1 for each system, which is comparable to some slow enzymes. The reaction product was characterized by 1H-NMR measurements which were consistent with ester hydrolysis. The implications of thinking about lipid aggregates as catalytic entities are discussed in the context of biochemistry, pharmacology and synthetic biology.

Background: The effectiveness of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine remains a matter to be clarified. Methods: The humoral and cellular immunity after the administration of three doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech and Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 over one year and the appearance of post-vaccination COVID-19 have been studied. Results: Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgA antibodies showed a progressive increase throughout the vaccination period. This increase was greatest after the third dose. The highest levels were observed in subjects who had anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies prior to vaccination. There was an increase in CD4+ αβ, CD8+ γδ and TEM CD8+ γδ T cells, and a decrease in apoptosis in CD4+CD8+ and CD56+ αβ and γδ T cells. Post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infection was greater than 60%. The symptoms of COVID-19 were very mild and were related to γδ T cell deficit, specifically CD8+ TEMRA and CD56+ γδ TEM, as well as lower pre-vaccine apoptosis levels. Conclusions: Those results demonstrate the important role that γδ T cells play in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine immunization.

The liver diseases are posing serious threat to human health associated with abusive use of allopathy medicines, especially in developing economies like Pakistan. The strengthening of detoxification system using natural products might be a suitable option to minimize the liver problems. In this current research, Zingiber officinale and Azadirachta indica were evaluated for their hepatoprotective role. For the purpose, 20 Sprague Dawley rats were equally divided into four groups i.e., negative control, paracetamol positive control, 2.5% ginger and 2% neem powder, respectively. During 42 days study, the levels of bilirubin and liver enzymes significantly elevated due to liver damage. Although, the values dropped (20-25%) in treatment group. Serum glucose and serum lipid profile increased in positive control group, but reduced (5-10%) in both ginger and neem groups. The serum protein profile declined in liver damage group, however, improved (~5%) in treatment groups. The hematological parameters slightly declined in liver damage group, but increased in ginger and neem groups. Moreover, the white blood cells differential count and renal parameters showed abnormal values in liver damage group, but improved after treatment. This study is promising and highlighted the hepato-protective role of neem and ginger that may open several avenues of research.