Contemporary literature dealing with the governance and exploitation of common-pool natural resources was initiated by Elinor Ostrom in 1990, and has been growing fast ever since. On the contrary, within the same research stream, the study of the presence and economic role of common resources in entrepreneurial organizations is, to date, under-researched. This work endeavors to fill some gaps in this research perspective by: (i) spelling out a new-institutionalist framework for the analysis of the accumulation and governance of common capital resources within organizational boundaries; (ii) considering co-operative enterprises as the organizational form that, on the basis of historical record, and of behavioral and institutional characteristics, demonstrated to be most compatible with a substantial role for common and non-divided asset-ownership and with its governance thereof; (iii) evidencing and explaining the strong connection between cooperative longevity and the presence of non-divided asset ownership. The economic forces influencing the optimal level of self-financed common capital resources in co-operatives are enquired. Conclusions to the paper evidence the main reasons why the new approach can better explain than preceding ones the economic sustainability and longevity of cooperative enterprises.

This study re-introduces a protein-free rapid test method for nucleic acids on paper based lateral flow assays utilizing special multichannel nitrocellulose membranes and DNA-Gold conjugates, achieving significantly enhanced sensitivity, easier protocols, reduced time of detection, reduced costs of pro-duction and advanced multiplexing possibilities. It is shown for the first time a protein-free nucleic acid based lateral flow assay (NALFA) with a limit of detection of 1 pmol of DNA. The total production duration of such an assay was successfully reduced from the currently known several days to just a few hours. The simplification and acceleration of the protocol make the method more accessible and practical for various applications. The developed method supports multiplexing, enabling the sim-ultaneous detection of up to six DNA targets. This multiplexing capability is a significant improve-ment over traditional line tests and offers more comprehensive diagnostic potential in a single assay. The approach significantly reduces the run time compared to traditional line tests, which enhances the efficiency of diagnostic procedures. The protein-free aspect of this assay minimizes the prevalent complications of cross-reactivity in immunoassays especially in cases of multiplexing. It is also demonstrated that the NALFA developed in this study is amplification-free and hence does not rely on specialized technicians, nor does it involve labour-intensive steps like DNA extraction and PCR processes. Overall, this study presents a robust, efficient, and highly sensitive platform for DNA or RNA detection, addressing several limitations of current methods documented in the literature. The advancements in sensitivity, cost reduction, production time, and multiplexing capabilities mark a substantial improvement, holding great potential for various applications in diagnostics, forensics, and molecular biology.

Introduction: Obesity affects over 650 million individuals worldwide and it is a major public health problem. Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for severe obesity, resulting in significant weight reduction and improvement in obesity-related conditions. However, the weight loss achieved through bariatric surgery often correlates with a notable decrease in skeletal muscle. This correlation suggests an elevated risk of sarcopenia among patients after surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of obesity and bariatric surgery on sarcopenia-related indicators and diagnosis before and after surgery. Methods: A total of 17 bariatric surgery patients were included in this prospective study. The parameters to diagnose sarcopenia were determined for each participant, based on EWGSOP2 and EASO/ESPEN consensuses. All evaluations were performed on the five moments of this study: before surgery and at 1, 6, 12 and 18 months after surgery. Results: In this study, 88.2% of the subjects were female, the mean BMI was 42.9 kg/m² and the mean weight was 105.9 kg. After surgery, the mean weight consistently decreased, with all differences from baseline being statistically significant (p<0.001). When using the SARC-F questionnaire for screening, the risk of sarcopenia increased post-surgery, and decreased at 12 months, declining to zero at 18 months. Muscle strength decreased significantly (p=0.002) at the 1 month after surgery assessment, with slight variations thereafter, none statistically significant. Muscle mass was normal before surgery but decreased significantly post-surgery (p<0.001). When applying the ESPEN/EASO consensus cut-off criteria for sarcopenic obesity, 35.3% of the patients met the criteria preoperatively. After surgery, the results increased to 70.6% in the first month but decreased afterward to 41.2% at 6 months. Discussion: This study evaluated the impact of bariatric surgery on sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity, for a duration of up to 18 months after surgery, using the EWGSOP2 and ESPEN/EASO consensuses criteria. Bariatric surgery, the most effective treatment for severe obesity, often results in muscle mass loss alongside fat loss. Handgrip strength, a key sarcopenia indicator, showed a significant early post-surgery decline, whereas the weight-dependent sit-to-stand test did not. This suggests weight loss impacts different muscle function tests variably. Muscle mass decreased continuously after surgery. However, other indicators had mixed results. Applying ESPEN/EASO guidelines, the study found a temporary post-surgery increase in sarcopenic obesity, peaking at one month and returning to pre-surgery levels by six months. However, different criteria led to different results. Conclusion: The results indicate a clear deleterious impact of bariatric surgery on muscle strength and mass, the most important indicators of sarcopenia. Also, the impact seems to occur very early after surgery, indicating that the appropriate timeframe to try to prevent this effect may be the prehabilitation period followed by the post-surgery timeframe.

(1) Background: The lateral arm flap has been the very useful choice in the reconstruction of small- to medium-sized defects like hand, extremity, oral head and neck area reconstructions. Its versatile characteristics and surgical feasibility allow this flap to be widely applied, but the reconstructive potential in facial subunit after tumor ablative procedures has never been reported. In this study, we aimed to utilize the advantages of the flap to treat facial temple subunit defect reconstruction. (2) Methods: Between 2020 and 2023, 12 patients underwent temple reconstruction with lateral arm free flaps after malignant tumor wide excision. There were 7 women and 5 men, and the mean patient age was 60.6 years old. Among the patients with cancer, 6 had squamous cell carcinoma, 5 had basal cell carcinoma and 1 had myxofibrosarcoma. All the flaps were elevated under general anesthesia. Aloprostadil(PGE1, Eglandin®) were administered postoperatively. (3) Results: All the flap types were fasciocutaneous type with varied sizes from 3 × 4 to 5 × 7 cm (Average size of flap 22.7cm2) were utilized. The average pedicle length was 6.1cm. The versatility of the lateral arm flap enabled successful coverage of all cases with no specific complications. Good functional outcome and range of motion in the recipient arm were obtained after surgery. (4) Conclusion: The authors successfully verified the advantages of lateral arm flaps in the treatment of medium sized facial subunt temple defect reconstruction.

The generation of high-quality wideband frequency sweeps presents a significant challenge, particularly in modern telecommunication, radar, and measurement systems where miniaturization is paramount. While phase-locked loops (PLLs) have become the dominant technique for signal generation, their application in broadband sweeps necessitates fractional-N operation. This, in turn, degrades phase noise and introduces unwanted spurs. This paper proposes a novel approach for broadband signal generation. By cascading two PLLs and utilizing a coaxial resonator, we achieve a high-performance oscillator that operates without the excessive fractional spurs, maintaining their level below -80 dBc across the entire frequency band. The prototype demonstrates non-degraded phase noise performance, reaching -102 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset and -121 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset for signal at 10 GHz. Despite significant frequency jumps, our design achieves lock times below 41 µs. These results, supported by theoretical analysis, validate the proposed method's effectiveness in generating low-noise broadband frequency sweeps, ideal for local oscillator applications.

This paper addresses the input coupling problem for the shape memory alloy (SMA) actuated parallel platform with completely unknown nonlinear dynamics. The problem means that in a parallel platform with multiple SMA actuators acting together, the displacement of one of the actuators will simultaneously affect the remaining actuators to change. Due to the coupling problem and nonlinear characteristics of the SMA actuators, it is not easy to control the platform to achieve bi-directional swing with completely unknown nonlinear dynamics. Therefore, a model-free adaptive sliding mode control method is proposed to improve the control accuracy of the complex motion of the platform, avoiding the complex modeling process of the SMA actuated parallel platform. Based on the model-free adaptive control (MFAC) theory, a multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) dynamic linearized mathematical model of the parallel platform is established using the online input and output data of the system. Then, a sliding mode controller is designed based on the dynamic model. A rigorous theoretical analysis proves that the proposed model-free adaptive sliding mode controller is able to stably control the SMA actuated parallel platform, and its tracking error is uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB). Finally, experiments are conducted on the established SMA actuated parallel platform. The results show that the proposed model-free controller is feasible and effective, and can control the system well to achieve the complex motion of bi-directional swing.

We presented unusual case of double left ventricular false aneurysm complicating late presentation AMI successfully treated with the combination of urgent surgical drainage of tamponade, staged PCI of non-culprit lesion, preventive implantation of ICD-DR, guideline directed heart failure medical therapy and delayed but effective reconstructive operation.

This is a retrospective chart review of outcomes of maxillofacial microvascular free flap reconstructions in pediatric and adolescent patients. A single head and neck surgical team performed all the included 136 procedures. Demographic and surgical patient data were recorded. Type of transfer performed in each recipient site and major complications were analyzed. Relevant influencing factors, such as age, gender and etiology of defect were determined using the ANOVA test and χ² test of independence. Results indicate a 90% success rate. No significant relation was found between the incidence of total flap loss and patient age, etiology or graft source. The maxillary reconstructions showed a higher incidence of total flap loss compared to mandibular ones (11 vs. 3 cases). Despite the high success rate, the findings underline the necessity for further research to validate these observations and enhance surgical methods for pediatric and adolescent patients.

Excessive body fat is a major contributor to obesity, which is related to high blood, total cholesterol and triglycerides. Lemons (Citrus limon) are renowned for their antioxidant and lipid-lowering properties. First, Sugar-free fermentation demonstrated better results lower sugar content and was identified as the preferred fermentation method. Next, the effect of two doses of sugar-free fermented lemon peel juice (SF-FLPJ) on obesity was investigated. Sprague Dawley (male rats) were randomly divided into 4 groups and fed a standard feed or high-fat diet (HFD) to induce fatness for eight weeks. The two groups of rats fed an HFD were administered SF-FLPJ at 0.45 or 0.9 g/kg body weight daily for eight weeks. The obese rats administered 0.9 g/kg (body weight/day) of SF-FLPJ exhibited significant reductions in body fat mass and percentage; they also had lower blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels than the other groups. Additionally, the rats displayed diminished liver fat accumulation. The results suggest that SF-FLPJ can be a supplement in managing body fat, contributing positively to addressing obesity within the context of health management, and reduce obesity-associated issues.

De-escalation is currently taking place both in surgical and systemic treatment of breast cancer. The introduction of trastuzumab, the first monoclonal antibody against the HER2 receptor over 20 years ago was a milestone in the treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer and marked the beginning of a new era in targeted tumor therapy. In the sense of de-escalation, omitting non-targeted cytotoxic chemotherapy altogether is often hailed as the ultimate goal of oncological research. Especially in case of small, node-negative, HER2 positive early breast cancer, it remains a challenge for clinicians to establish the safest and most efficient treatment plan while considering the significant potential for toxic side effects associated with chemotherapy and HER2 targeted therapy, and the generally excellent prognosis. In this context, several ongoing studies are currently assessing chemotherapy-free regimens as part of strategies aimed at de-escalating therapy in the field of HER2 positive early breast cancer. Despite promising early results from these studies, combination of anti-HER2 treatment with chemotherapy backbone remains standard of care.

Amid the deepening imbalance in the supply and demand of allogeneic organs, xenotransplanta-tion can be a practical alternative because it makes an unlimited supply of organs possible. How-ever, to perform xenotransplantation on patients, the source animals to be used must be free from infectious agents. This requires breeding of animals using assisted reproductive techniques, such as somatic cell nuclear transfer, embryo transfer, and cesarean-section, without colostrum de-rived in designated pathogen-free (DPF) facilities. Most infectious agents can be removed from animals produced by these methods, but several viruses known to pass through the placenta are not easy to remove, even with these methods. Therefore, in this review, we look at the characteris-tics of several viruses known to cross the placenta and determine how they can be detected. This review is intended to help maintain DPF facilities by preventing animals infected with the virus from entering DPF facilities and to help select pigs suitable for xenotransplantation.

The incidence of celiac disease and gluten intolerance has been significantly rising globally. Gluten-free product consumption registered a sudden rise also among tolerant people, due to psychosocial factors. Biscuits are popular, low-cost bakery foods, consumed by nearly everyone worldwide. The removal of gluten from the baked product causes some undesirable traits and different textures and tastes. The main goal consists of creating a food product with the same taste and texture as a product with gluten. Moreover, gluten-free bakery products are usually low-grade sources of protein and poor in dietary fiber. Quinoa is a source of TDF and valuable protein. In this study, quinoa flour was used as the main constituent in the formulation of gluten-free c to improve their nutritional properties. Six different recipes with different percentages of quinoa flour have been realized. The formulations were compared, by rheological analysis, of each other and with a wheat flour control shortbread. The recipes with rheological features more similar to control shortbread were subjected to a discrimination analysis and the preferred was characterized from a chemical-physical and sensorial point of view. The experimental shortbreads constituted a good compromise to exploit the good nutritional composition of quinoa maintaining an acceptable sensory profile.

The retrospective noninterventional study investigated the kinetic energy of video images of 18 fertilized eggs (7 were normal and 11 were abnormal) recorded by a time-lapse device leading up to the beginning of the first cleavage. The norm values of cytoplasmic particles were measured by the optical flow method. Three phases profile for normal cases were found regarding the kinetic energy that were 2.199×10⁻²⁴±2.076×10⁻²⁴, 2.369×10⁻²⁴±1.255×10⁻²⁴, and 1.078×10⁻²⁴±4.720×10⁻²⁵ (J) for the phases 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In phase 2, the energies were 2.369 × 10⁻²⁴ ± 1.255 × 10⁻²⁴ and 4.694 × 10⁻²⁴ ± 2.996 × 10⁻²⁴ (J) (mean ± SD, P = 0.0372), and the time required was 8.114 ± 2.937 and 6.018 ± 5.685 (H) (P = 0.0413) for the normal and abnormal cases, respectively. The kinetic energy change was considered a condition for applying the free energy principle that states that, for any self-organized system to be in equilibrium in its environment, it must minimize its informational free energy. The kinetic energy while interpreting it in terms of the free energy principle suggesting clinical usefulness would further our understanding of the phenomenon of fertilized egg development with respect to the birth of human life.

.Celiac disease (CeD) is a chronic, autoimmune disorder triggered by the ingestion of gluten, affecting around 1% of the global population. It is a multifactorial disease involving both genetics and environ-mental factors. Nowadays, the only available treatment for CeD is a life-long gluten-free diet (GFD), which can cause a significant burden for patients, since symptoms and mucosal injury can persist de-spite apparent compliance with a GFD. That could also lead to psychological consequences and affect the quality of life of these patients. Thankfully, recent advances in understanding the pathogenesis of CeD and the availability of various targets have made it feasible to explore pharmaceutical treatments specific to CeD. Recently, the FDA has highlighted the unmet needs of adult patients on GFD who expe-rience ongoing symptoms attributed to CeD and also show persistent duodenal villous atrophy. This re-view will outline the limitations of a GFD, describe the targets of potential novel treatment of CeD and provide an overview of the primary clinical trials involving oral and injectable agents for a non-dietary treatment of CeD.

Dacomitinib is an irreversible epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and EGFR-activating mutations. Proton pump inhibitors decreased dacomitinib exposure. This anal-ysis summarizes the effect of H2RA on dacomitinib exposure. A within-patient comparison of steady-state trough concentrations (Ctrough,ss) of dacomitinib and its active metabolite and active moiety with and without concomitant use of H2RA was conducted using a linear mixed effects model with pooled data from 11 clinical studies in patients with NSCLC. An oral absorption PBPK model was constructed and verified using clinical PK data after a single dose of dacomitinib in healthy volunteers to estimate the effect of gastric pH altered by an H2RA on dacomitinib PK. The adjusted geometric mean of dacomitinib Ctrough,ss of dacomitinib parent, metabolite and active moiety following co-administration with H2RA was approximately 86%, 104% and 100% relative to that following dacomitinib 45 mg administration without H2RA (P>0.05). The PBPK modeling showed negligible change in dacomitinib Cmax and AUC over 0-24 hours after H2RA administra-tion, when compared with those administered dacomitinib alone. Co-administration of an H2RA with dacomitinib is not expected to have any clinically relevant effect on dacomitinib exposure.

Photosystem II (PSII) is a quinone-utilising photosynthetic system that converts light energy into chemical energy and catalyses the splitting of water. PsbA (D1) and PsbD (D2) are the core subunits of the reaction centre that provide most of the ligands to the redox-active cofactors and exhibit photooxidoreductase activities that convert quinone and water into quinol and oxygen. This analysis explored the putative uncoupled electron transfer pathways surrounding P680+ induced by far-red light (FRL) based on photosystem II (PSII) complexes containing substituted D1 subunits in Halomicronema hongdechloris. Chlorophyll f-synthase (ChlF) is a D1 protein paralog. Modelling PSII-ChlF complexes determined several key protein motifs of ChlF. The PSII complexes showed a dysfunctional Mn4CaO5 cluster if ChlF replaced the D1 protein. We propose the mechanism of chlorophyll f synthesis from chlorophyll a via free radical chemistry in an oxygenated environment created by over-excited pheophytin a and an inactive water splitting reaction due to an uncoupled Mn4CaO5 cluster in PSII-ChlF complexes. The role of ChlF in the formation of an inactive PSII reaction centre is under debate and the putative mechanisms of chlorophyll biosynthesis are discussed.

Oriented object detection is a challenging task in scene text detection and remote sensing image analysis, which has attracted extensive attention in recent years with the development of deep learning. Currently, mainstream oriented object detectors are based on preset anchor boxes. This method increases the computational load of the network and cause a large amount of anchor box redundancy. To solve this problem, we propose anchor-free oriented object detection based on the Gaussian centerness(AOGC), a single-stage anchor-free detection method. Our method uses contextual attention FPN(CAFPN) to obtain the contextual information of the target. Then we design a label assignment method for oriented objects. Finally, we develop a Gaussian kernel-based centerness branch, which can effectively determine the significance of different anchors. AOGC achieves mAP of 74.30% on the DOTA-1.0 datasets and 89.80% on the HRSC2016 datasets, respectively. AOGC exhibits superior performance to other methods in oriented anchor-free object detection methods.

Uzbekistan, as an emerging national economy, aims to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to foster the development of its free economic zones (FEZs). While recent policy reforms have enhanced the country's appeal to investors and facilitated the inflow of international capital, challenges persist in attracting investment. This study employs an economic geographical approach to analyze and propose solutions to these obstacles. By examining the spatial patterns of FEZs and FDI through a comprehensive geographical lens, this research utilizes document analysis as an alternative to empirical analysis, considering the broader context rather than focusing on a specific FEZ. The findings reveal that the insufficiency of an innovation-driven environment, logistical systems, energy resource-related issues, among others, negatively impact the inflow of FDI into FEZs. Moreover, the study underscores the significance of economic geography in understanding these factors. Finally, relevant insights and recommendations are provided from an economic geographical perspective.

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is commonly characterized by multifocality, which is associated with aggressive features and a less favorable prognosis. The current study aimed to compare the clinicopathologic characteristics and long-term oncological outcomes of bilateral and unilateral multifocal PTC. The medical records of 1745 patients with multifocal PTC who underwent thyroid surgery at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The clinicopathological characteristics and recurrence rates were compared based on cancer laterality. Further, 357 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy were matched to investigate the recurrence risk and disease-free survival (DFS). Before propensity score matching (PSM), there was no significant difference in the recurrence rate between the bilateral and unilateral multifocal PTC groups. Cancer laterality was not a predictor of DFS based on the Cox regression analyses. However, after PSM, unilateral multifocality was associated with a significantly high risk of recurrence. Similarly, unilateral multifocality was associated with a significantly poor DFS based on the Kaplan–Meier analysis. Compared with bilateral PTC, unilateral multifocal PTC was associated with a poor DFS. A comprehensive preoperative examination should be performed to detect multifocality before the initial surgical intervention for optimal treatment. Postoperative short-term follow-up is recommended for unilateral multifocal PTC for recurrence surveillance.

Formation of the excited doublet (D) and quartet (Q) states of free radicals under their photoexcitation is discussed. Relative positions of D and Q states are compared to the positions of photoexcited states of organic molecules (Jablonsky diagram). A number of representative cases of the detected by emission or absorption excited is presented. A special case of the population lowest Q-state in some radicals of is discoursed. Spin-statistical factor in the reactions of Q and D is debated.

Free route airspace (FRA) is a new concept of European air transport. It has been designed to eliminate the negative impact of air traffic on the environment, minimize fuel consumption, simplify and expand flight planning. In our research, FRA is modelled by using graph theory, networks, and convex analysis. We also looked for answers to the question which are the basic mathematical properties of airspace? Basic mathematical properties are expressed using axioms. Therefore, in our work, we state the general, basic axiom of airspace based on our FRA research. The axiom is given using practical, significant entry points and geodetic coordinates.

Fatty acids (FFAs) are important biological molecules that serve as a major energy source and are key components of biological membranes. Besides, FFAs play important roles in metabolic regulation and contribute to the development and progression of metabolic disorders like diabetes. Recent studies have shown that FFAs can act as important ligands of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) on the surface of cells and impact key physiological processes. Free fatty acid activated receptors include FFAR1 (GPR40), FFAR2 (GPR43), FFAR3 (GPR41) and FFAR4 (GPR120). FFAR2 and FFAR3are activated by short chain fatty acids like acetate, propionate and butyrate whereas FFAR1 and FFAR4 are activated by medium and long chain fatty acids like palmitate, oleate, linoleate and others. FFARs have generated considerable attention over the last few years and have become attractive pharmacological targets in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Several lines of evidence point to their importance in the regulation of whole-body metabolic homeostasis including adipose metabolism. Here we summarize our current understanding of the physiological functions of FFAR isoforms in adipose biology and explore the prospect of FFAR based therapies to treat patients with obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.

In proteomics, it is essential to quantify proteins in absolute terms if we wish compare results among studies and integrate high-throughput biological data into genome-scale metabolic models. While labeling target peptides with stable isotopes allows protein abundance to be accurately quantified, the utility of this technique is constrained by the low number of quantifiable proteins that it yields. Recently, label-free shotgun proteomics has become the “gold standard” for carrying out global assessments of biological samples containing thousands of proteins. However, this tool must be further improved if we wish to accurately quantify absolute levels of proteins. Here, we used different label-free quantification techniques to estimate absolute protein abundance in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. More specifically, we evaluated the performance of seven different quantification methods, based either on spectral counting (SC) or extracted-ion chromatogram (XIC), which were applied to samples from five different proteome backgrounds. We also compared the accuracy and reproducibility of two strategies for transforming relative abundance into absolute abundance: a UPS2-based strategy and the total protein approach (TPA). This study mentions technical challenges related to UPS2 use and proposes ways of addressing them, including utilizing a smaller, more highly optimized amount of UPS2. Overall, three SC-based methods (PAI, SAF, and NSAF) yielded the best results because they struck a good balance between experimental performance and protein quantification.

Gedanken experiments illustrating exemplifications of the Landauer principle in the free falling Einstein elevator are treated. Double-well simplest information system embedded into the free falling elevator is addressed. Infinitesimal horizontal force applied to the particle m transfers it from position “0” to position “1”, emerging from the free falling double-well system confining mass m. When thermal noise is considered, the potential barrier of kBT should be surmounted for the erasing of one bit of information. Entropic forces arising in the free falling elevator are considered. The maximal change in the entropy of free-joint polymer chain attached to the free falling elevator is estimated as ΔSmax≅kB, and it is remarkably independent of the mass attached to the chain and the parameters of the chain itself. Free falling minimal Szilard engine is treated. The informational re-interpretation of the minimal Szilard process is shaped as follows: the energy kBTln2 necessary for erasing of 1 bit of information is spent for lifting up mass, whatever, is the value of this mass. Appropriate choice of frames enables elimination of gravity in the considered system; however elimination of the thermal noise (dissipation processes) by the same procedure is impossible.

. This article presents, for the first time, the kinetics and the general features of a photopolymerization system (under visible light) G1/ Iodonium/ TEA/gold chloride (or A/B/N/G), having initial concentrations of A0, B0, N0 and G0, based on the proposed mechanism of Tar et al. Analytic formulas are developed to explore the new features including: (i) both FRP efficacy and the production of nanogold (NG) are proportional to the relative concentration ratios of (A0+B0+N0)/G0, which may be optimized for maximum efficacy; (ii) the two competing procedure of NG production and efficacy of free radical photopolymerization (FRP) can be tailored for optimal system with nanogold in the polymer matrix;(ii) the FRP efficacy is contributed by 3 components: the coupling of the excited state of copper complex (T) with the radicals (R and S) produced by the iodonium and the amine; (iii) the production of NG is contributed by 2 components: the coupling of T and radical (S) with gold ion; (iv) NG production has a transient state value which is an increasing function of light intensity and the combined concentration ratio [(A0/G0)+(N0/(K'M0). whereas it has a steady-state independent to the light intensity.

Our main objective in this work was to examine the possibility of non-intrusive, label-free, detection of whole Zika viruses using terahertz signals with or without a targeting/binding oligonucleotide (aptamers). We report for the first time the use of terahertz electromagnetic waves (0.75 THz – 1.1 THz) to detect Zika viruses. The Zika/aptamer complexes showed a reproducible terahertz reflection coefficient minimum at 1.064 THz while the Zika virus’s reflection minimum was at 1.073 THz. Of different substrates we examined, the polyester petri dish provided a very low loss and excellent terahertz transmission. To increase the interaction between the terahertz signal and the sample we also used polyester microbeads coated with aptamers. We then measured the terahertz reflection from the microbeads as a function of Zika concentration. The resulting terahertz Zika sensor had sensitivity of 63 Hz/Zika and minimum detectable signal of ~ 16x10³ Zika. Other substrates such as Graphene on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), 50 nm-thick gold film on polycarbonate, thin (30 um-thick) glass slide and Teflon were also examined. Graphene substrate enabled direct detection of the Zika without any aptamers.

A modified free-wake vortex ring model is proposed to compute the dynamics of a floating horizontal-axis wind turbine. The model is divided into two parts. The near wake model uses a blade bound vortex model and trailed vortex model, which is developed based on vortex filament method. By contrast, the far wake model is based on the vortex ring method. The proposed model is a good compromise between accuracy and computational cost, for example when compared with more complex vortex methods. The present model is used to assess the influence of floating platform motions on the performance of a horizontal-axis wind turbine rotor. The results are validated on the 5MW NREL rotor and compared with other aerodynamic models for the same rotor subjected to different platform motions. It was found that the results from the proposed method are more reliable than the results from BEM theory especially at small angles of attack in the region of low wind speeds, on the one hand, and high wind speeds with blade pitch motions, on the other hand. And also the proposed method is less time consuming and has similar accuracy when comparing with more advanced vortex based methods.

Photoelectrochemical water splitting is a promising field for sustainable energy production using hydrogen. Development of efficient catalysts is essential for resourceful hydrogen production. The most efficient catalysts reported to date have been extremely precious rare-earth metals. One of the biggest hurdles in this research area is the difficulty of developing highly efficient catalysts comparable to the noble metal catalysts. Here, we report that non-noble metal dichalcogenide (Co₃Se₄) catalysts made using a facile one-pot electrodeposition method, showed highly efficient photoelectrochemical activity on a Si photocathode. To enhance light collection and enlarge its surface area even further, we implemented surface nano-structuring on the Si surface. The nano-structured Si photoelectrode has an effective area greater than that of planar silicon and a wider absorption spectrum. Consequently, this approach exhibits reduced overvoltage as well as increased photo-catalytic activity. Such results show the importance of controlling the optimized interface between the surface structure of the photoelectrode and the electrodeposited co-catalyst on it to improve catalytic activity. This should enable other electrochemical reactions in a variety of energy conversion systems.

For cereals grown under organic conditions, information on levels of free asparagine (free Asn) as a precursor to acrylamide (AA) formation, is almost completely lacking. This study investigated the impact of organically grown cereal species and cultivars of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum), winter spelt (Triticum aestivum ssp. spelta), winter rye (Secale cereale), winter einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and winter emmer (Triticum dicoccum) on the level of free Asn with simultaneous consideration of grain yields and flour qualities over three growing seasons (2005–2006, 2006–2007 and 2007–2008) in Southwest Germany. Additionally, the relation of free Asn and AA was investigated. Heritability revealed how strongly the level of free Asn was linked to the genotype. In this context free Asn of species and cultivars grown at a second location in Southern Germany were analysed. The level of free Asn was significantly influenced by species and within species by cultivars. Rye was found to exhibit the highest free Asn amount (52 mg 100 g⁻¹), followed by einkorn (32 mg 100 g⁻¹), emmer (16 mg 100 g⁻¹) wheat (10 mg 100 g⁻¹) and spelt (8 mg 100 g⁻¹), which showed the overall lowest free Asn content. Hence, replacing rye with spelt in food products would lead to an 85% reduction of free Asn in raw material. Within species, cultivars differed in their levels of free Asn by up to 67% for wheat, 55% for spelt and 33% for rye. Year also had a significant impact as almost all samples were significantly higher in their level of free Asn in 2008 compared to 2006 and 2007. Rye was most significantly affected by year as the level of free Asn varied by up to 32% between years. In contrast, wheat and spelt were only affected minimally by year. A high heritability was found for wheat (0.79) and spelt (0.91) concerning locations in 2008, meaning that the level of free Asn is mainly determined by the genotype and less influenced by environmental conditions. In contrast, heritability was low for wheat (0.23) but high for spelt (0.71) and rye (0.67) regarding years. As for organically grown cereals the relation between free Asn and AA formation was never investigated before. Correlation of both parameters was calculated. There was also a close correlation between free Asn and AA. Across species and years, the amount of free Asn correlated with the AA content in heated flour with R² = 0.69***. Thus, free Asn can serve as an indicator for AA formation during processing. In conclusion, the level of free Asn can be highly influenced by proper selection of species and cultivars under organic growing conditions.

Genetic disorders are quite a major topic of discussion and debate in the recent world of biological sciences. Turner’s syndrome is one such disorder caused by a chromosome aneuploidy and it has characteristic symptoms in the patient or the affected individual. The amniotic fluid is a complex biological material found in the amniotic sac of pregnant women and they can provide valuable knowledge and understanding of the pathogenesis of this particular chromosomal abnormality. In this study, global gene expression analysis of cell-free RNA in amniotic fluid supernatant was used to detect genes/organ systems which may be significant in the pathophysiology of Turner’s syndrome. The cell-free RNA from the amniotic fluid of five mid-trimester Turner’s syndrome fetuses and five euploid female fetuses matched for age of gestation were extracted, amplified and hybridized onto Affymetrix U33 Plus 2.0. array. The paired t-test was used to identify the significantly differentially regulated genes. Biological interpretation was conducted using ingenuity pathway analysis and BioGPS gene expression atlas. Of the genes, XIST was especially downregulated and SHOX was not expressed differentially. One of the most highly represented organ systems was the hematologic/immune system, differentiating the transcriptome of Turner’s syndrome from other chromosomal aneuploidies that are discussed in this area of science. The differences in the transcriptome of the Turner’s syndrome are due to genome-wide dysregulation. The hematologic/immune system differences are significant in early-onset autoimmune dysfunction. There are other genes which have been identified that are associated with the cardiovascular and the skeletal system, as these are often seen to be affected in the female patients with turner’s syndrome. Hopefully, such knowledge gained from this study will help us to understand the deeper mechanisms of this disorder and the possible treatments of this disease.

Orbit and clock products are used in real-time GNSS precise point positioning without knowing their quality. This study develops a new approach to detect orbit and clock errors through comparing geometry-free and geometry-based wide-lane ambiguities in PPP model. The reparameterization and estimation procedures of the geometry-free and geometry-based ambiguities are described in detail. The effects of orbit and clock errors on ambiguities are given in analytical expressions. The numerical similarity and differences of geometry-free and geometry-based wide-lane ambiguities are analyzed using different orbit and clock products. Furthermore, two types of typical errors in orbit and clock are simulated and their effects on wide-lane ambiguities are numerically produced and analyzed. The contribution discloses that the geometry-free and geometry-based wide-lane ambiguities are equivalent in terms of their formal errors. Although they are very close in terms of their estimates when the used orbit and clock for geometry-based ambiguities are precise enough, they are not the same, in particular, in the case that the used orbit and clock, as a combination, contain significant errors. It is discovered that the discrepancies of geometry-free and geometry-based wide-lane ambiguities are coincided with the actual time-variant errors in the used orbit and clock at the line-of-sight direction. This provides a quality index for real-time users to detect the errors in real-time orbit and clock products, which potentially improves the accuracy of positioning.

This article presents a self balanced multistage DC-DC step-up converter for photovoltaic applications. Proposed converter topology is designed for unidirectional power transfer and provides a doable solution for photovoltaic applications where voltage is required to be stepped up without magnetic components (Transformer-less and Inductor-less). The output voltage obtained from renewable sources will be low and must be stepped up by using a DC-DC converter for photovoltaic applications. K diodes and K capacitors along with two semiconductor control switch are used in the K-stage proposed converter to obtain an output voltage which is (K+1) times the input voltage. The conspicuous features of proposed topology are i) Magnetic components free (Transformer-less and Inductor-less). ii) Continuous input current iii) Low voltage rating semiconductor devices and capacitors iv) Modularity v) Easy to add a higher number of levels to increase voltage gain vi) Only two control switches with alternating operation and simple control. The proposed converter is compared with recent existing transformer-less and Inductor-less power converter in term of voltage gain, number of devices and cost. The application of proposed circuit is discussed in detail. The proposed converter has been designed with rated power of 60W, input voltage is 24V, output voltage is 100V and switching frequency is 100 kHz. The performance of the converter is verified through experimental and simulation results.

The dissolution of CO₂ in seawater in the form of bicarbonate ions is an attractive alternative to the storage in geological formations, on the conditions that the storage is stable over long times and does not harm the marine environment. In this work, we focus on the long-term chemical stability of CO₂ absorbed in seawater as bicarbonate, by monitoring the physico-chemical properties of the solutions (pH, dissolved inorganic carbon and alkalinity), in six different sets of experiments on both natural and artificial seawater lasting up to three months. The bicarbonate treatment of natural seawater consists in pouring pre-equilibrated solutions obtained from the reaction of CO₂ and Ca(OH)₂. If the pre-equilibrated mixture does not exceed a critical threshold (ca. 1000-1500 mmol/L), the resulting bicarbonate-rich solutions can be stable for over three months.

Safety signal detection, an integral component of Pharmacovigilance (PhV), aims to identify new or known adverse events (AEs) resulting from the use of pharmacotherapeutic products. Post-marketing spontaneous reports from different sources are commonly utilized as a data source for detecting these signals but there are underlying challenges arising from data complexity. This paper investigates the implementation of the Apriori algorithm, a popular method in association rule mining, to identify frequently co-occurring drugs and AEs within safety data. We discuss previous applications of the Apriori algorithm for safety signal detection and conduct a detailed study of an improved method specifically tailored for this purpose. This enhanced approach refines the classical Apriori method to effectively reveal potential associations between drugs/vaccines and AEs from post-marketing safety monitoring datasets, especially when AEs are rare. Detailed comparative simulation studies across varied settings, coupled with the application of the method to vaccine safety data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), demonstrate the efficacy of the improved approach. In conclusion, the improved Apriori algorithm is shown to be a useful screening tool for detecting rarely occurring potential safety signals from the use of drugs/vaccines using post-marketing safety data.

The revolutionary idea of complementary intelligence involves a unique strategy in which artificial intelligence (AI) works with human cognitive abilities embodied by natural intelligence (NI), creating a harmonious partnership instead of engaging in a competitive relationship. This innovative concept can potentially revolutionize how we approach scientific research and discovery. This cutting-edge process capitalizes on pooling the vast information from various distinct and autonomous sources to generate forecasts that frequently outshine human perspectives by significant margins, leading to groundbreaking advancements in scientific development based on hybrid intelligence. Multilayer networks extend traditional network theory to adjacent layers linked through copula nodes. Artificial intelligence, with its retrieval capacity to collect and interpret big data, sharply increases the number of nodes and their linking interpretation. This process, amplified by multilayer networks, dramatically improves the scalability of the networked ecosystem. Multilayer networks can represent NI and AI in complementary hyperplanes, connecting them with copula nodes and edge properties. Thus, it is possible to measure the interaction of NI and AI, assessing their scalable value co-creation properties. This study examines the interaction of NI and AI with an innovative and multidisciplinary approach. A theoretical framework of these related concepts precedes practical insights for possible applications in future research.

Volunteering has many social, emotional and health benefits and could be an option for people with younger/early onset dementia to engage in stage/age-appropriate, personally meaningful activity within their local community. Audio data of people with young onset dementia discussing their volunteering experiences were taken from the Dementia Diaries and co-analysed. This study explored how people with dementia volunteer in the UK, the benefits and barriers, and how we can improve access to volunteering opportunities. The findings suggest that stigma is the overarching concept (or net) which influences people’s experiences of volunteering with dementia. Within the stigma net, three themes were developed that employed a lifespan approach to challenging said stigma: 1) Valuing the past, 2) Valuing the present and 3) Valuing the future, each with additional subthemes. This research contributes to the limited pool of literature that highlights the clear benefits of volunteering for people with young onset dementia, while also considering how dementia stigma can create practical and institutional barriers to accessing volunteering. Guidance is provided for how to deliver meaningful and accessible volunteering opportunities.

A comprehensive investigation was undertaken at Vytautas Magnus University Experimental Station, located at 54°52’50” N latitude and 23°49’41” E longitude on soil (Epieutric Endocalcaric Planosol – PLe-gln-w) since 1999, to understand the impacts of different agrotechnical measures on soil health and crop yield. Two primary factors were assessed. Factor A incorporated practices of straw removal versus straw chopping and spreading, while Factor B evaluated a spectrum of tillage techniques: conventional deep ploughing, shallow ploughing, ploughless tillage, single seedbed discing, and two no-tillage practices, one of which involved cover crops. Findings from this long-term study highlight the significant potential of specific farming systems in enhancing soil organic carbon. It has a positive effect on the release of CO2 emissions from the soil, thus promoting soil resilience and increasing plant productivity. These insights are paramount in devising sustainable agricultural strategies to counter the challenges of climate change on agroecosystems. This research showcases the profound effects of combining residue management and tillage practices, setting a novel standard for sustainable soil management of climatic uncertainties.

Eco-agricultural technology is crucial to alleviating agricultural resource scarcity and environ-mental pressures. However, financial constraint affects its successful promotion. Digital finance has a significant impact on farmers, but existing research lacks an exploration of the impact of digital finance on farmers' adoption of eco-agricultural technology. This study focuses on Rice–Crayfish Co-cultivation Technology as an example. It utilizes survey data from 1,063 households in China. An Endogenous Switching Probit model is employed to solve self-selection bias. The results reveal several key findings. First, the average treatment effect on the treated is 51.5%. This indicates that if farmers who use digital finance were to stop using it, the probability of adopting rice–crayfish co-cultivation technology would decrease by 51.5%. Therefore, digital finance is beneficial for farmers in adopting this technology. Second, heterogeneity analysis reveals that digital finance has a greater promoting effect on older farmers, those with lower education levels, and higher proportions of agricultural income. This suggests a greater reliance on digital financial services among vulnerable groups. Third, digital finance promotes farmers' adoption of rice–crayfish co-cultivation technology by alleviating financial constraints, expanding information channels, and increasing social capital accumulation. Overall, the findings offer valuable insights for for-mulating supportive policies.

Marine lipids are recognized for their health promoting features, mainly for being the primary sources of omega-3 fatty acids, and therefore critical for human nutrition in an age when the global supply for these nutrients is experiencing an unprecedent pressure due to an ever-increasing demand. The seafood industry originates a considerable yield of co-products worldwide that, while already explored for other purposes, remain mostly undervalued as sustainable sources of healthy lipids, often being explored for low value oil production. These co-products are especially appealing as lipid sources since, besides the well-known nutritional upside of marine animal fat, particularly rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), they have also interesting bioactive properties, which may garner them further interest, not only as food, but also for other high-end applications. Besides the added value that these co-products may represent as valuable lipid sources, there is also the obvious ecological upside of reducing seafood industry waste. In this sense, repurposing these bioresources will contribute to a more sustainable use of marine animal food, reducing the strain on already heavily depleted seafood stocks. Therefore, untapping the potential of marine animal co-products as valuable lipid sources aligns with both health and environmental goals by guaranteeing additional sources of healthy lipids and promoting more eco-conscious practices.

Functional dependence of the axial zero-field splitting parameter D with respect to a properly chosen geometrical parameter (Dstr) in metal complexes is termed the Magnetostructural D-Correlation. In mononuclear hexacoordinate Ni(II) complexes with the ground electronic term 3B1g (3A2g in the regular octahedron) it proceeds along two intercepting straight lines allowing to predict the sign and magnitude of the D-parameter by knowing the X-ray structure alone; Dstr is constructed from the metal-ligand bond lengths. In hexacoordinate Co(II) complexes it is applicable only in the segment of the compressed bipyramid where the ground electronic term 4B1g is orbitally non-degenerate so that the spin Hamiltonian formalism holds true. The D vs Dstr correlation is strongly non-linear and it is represented by a set of decreasing exponentials. In tetracoordinate Co(II) complexes, on the contrary, the angular distortion from the regular tetrahedron is crucial so that the appropriate structural parameter Dstr is constructed of bond angles. All of these empirical correlations originate in the electronic structure of metal complexes that can be modelled by the generalized crystal-field theory. As the barrier to spin reversal in the single-molecule magnets is proportional to the D-value, for a rational tuning and/or prediction of the single-molecule magnetic behavior knowledge/prediction of the D-parameter is beneficial. In this review, we present the statistical processing of an extensive set of structural and magnetic data of Co(II) and Ni(II) complexes, which were published over the past 15 years. Magnetostructural D-correlations defined for this data set are reviewed in detail.

The effective treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), also known as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), has transformed a highly lethal disease into a chronic and manageable condition. However, better methods need to be developed for eliminating the virus from reservoirs, enhancing patient access and adherence to therapy, and improving treatment in the long term to reduce adverse effects. From the perspective of drug discovery, one promising strategy is the development of anti-HIV prodrugs. This approach aims to enhance the efficacy and safety of treatment, promoting the development of more appropriate and convenient systems for patients. In this review, we discussed the use of the prodrug approach for HIV antiviral agents and emphasized nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. We comprehensively described various strategies that are used to enhance factors such as water solubility, bioavailability, pharmacokinetic parameters, permeability across biological membranes, chemical stability, drug delivery to specific sites/organs, and tolerability. These strategies might help researchers conduct better studies in this field. We also reported successful examples from the primary therapeutic classes while discussing the advantages and limitations. In this review, we highlighted the key trends in the application of the prodrug approach for treating HIV/AIDS..

A comparative study of the physicochemical properties of natural bentonite clays of Pogodayevо (Republic of Kazakhstan, mod.1) and Dash-Salakhli (Republic of Azerbaijan, mod.2) deposits and modification of the bentonite clay with polyhydroxocations of iron (III) and aluminium (III). It-wasestablished that the modification of natural bentonitesusing polyhydroxocations of iron (III) and aluminium(III) by the method of "co-precipitation" leads to a change in their chemical composition, structural and sorption properties. The results showed that hydroxy-aluminum cations ([Al3O4(OH)24(H2O)12]7+) and poly-hydroxyl-Fe or polyoxo-Fe were intercalated into clay layers, which led to an increase in the values of d001 and specific surface areas compared to those of the original bentonite, from 37 to 120 for the Pogodaevo bentonite and from 51 to 172 respectively for bentonite from the Dash-Salakhli deposit. It is shown that modified sorbents based on natural bentonite are finely porous objects with a predominance of pores of 1.5−6.0 nm in size. As a result, there is a significant increase in the specific surface area of sorbents. Modification of bentonite with polyhydroxocations of iron (III) and aluminium (III) by the "co-precipitation" method also leads to an increase in the sorption capacity of the sorbents obtained with respect to nickel (II) cations. Modified bentonites were used for the adsorption of Ni (II) ions from the model solution. Ni (II) was absorbed in a neutral pH solution. The study of equilibrium adsorption showed that the data are in good agreement with the Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum adsorption capacity of the Ni (II) monolayer obtained from the Langmuir equation was 25.0 mg/g (mod. 1_Al_5-c), 18.2 mg/g (mod. 2_Al_5-c) for Al-bentonite and 16.7 mg/g (mod. 1_Fe_5-c), 10.1 (mod. 2_Fe_5-c) for Fe-bentonite. The kinetics of adsorption is considered. The high content of Al-OH anion exchange centresin them determines the higher sorption activity of Al-modified bentonites.

Scrub typhus (ST) is one of the most neglected tropical diseases, a leading cause of acute undifferentiated febrile illness in areas of the ‘tsutsugamushi triangle’, diagnosed frequently in South Asian countries. The bacteria Orientia tsutsugamushi is the causative agent of the disease, which enters to human body through the bite of trombiculid mite (Chigger) of the genus Leptotrombidium deliense.The diagnosis of the disease becomes challenging as its early symptoms mimic other febrile illnesses like dengue, influenza, and corona viruses. Lack of rapid, reliable, and cost-effective diagnostic methods further complicates the identification process. Northeast India, a mountainous region with a predominantly rural tribal population, has witnessed a resurgence of scrub typhus cases in recent years. Various ecological factors, including rodent population, habitat characteristics, and climatic conditions, influence its prevalence. Entomological investigations have confirmed the abundance of vector mites, highlighting the importance of understanding their distribution and the probability of transmission of scrub typhus in the region. Proper diagnosis, awareness campaigns, and behavioral interventions are essential for controlling scrub typhus outbreaks and reducing its impact on public health in Northeast India. Further research and community-based studies are necessary to accurately assess the disease burden and implement effective prevention strategies.

This research elucidates the dynamic expression of expansin genes during the wheat grain (Triticum aestivum L.) development process using comprehensive meta-analysis and experimental validation. We leveraged RNA-seq data from multiple public databases, applying stringent criteria for selection, and identified 60,852 differentially expressed genes across developmental stages. From this pool, 28,558 DEGs were found to exhibit significant temporal regulation in at least two different datasets, and were enriched for processes integral to grain development such as carbohydrate metabolism and cell wall organization. Notably, 30% of the 241 known expansin genes showed differential expression during grain growth. Hierarchical clustering and expression level analysis revealed temporal regulation and distinct contributions of expansin subfamilies during the early stages of grain development. Further analysis using co-expression networks underscored the significance of expansin genes, revealing their substantial co-expression with genes involved in cell wall modification. Finally, qPCR validation and grain morphological analysis under field conditions indicated a significant negative correlation between expression of select expansin genes and grain size and weight. This study illuminates the potential role of expansin genes in wheat grain development and provides new avenues for targeted genetic improvements in wheat.

The ultrasonic vibration assisted pressing process can improve the fluidity, the uneven distribution of density and particle size of WC-Co powder. However, the microscopic mechanism of ultrasonic vibration on the powder remains unclear. In this paper, WC and Co particles are simulated by three-dimensional spherical models of two particle sizes with the aide of the secondary development of Python. At the same time, the forming process of powder at mesoscale is simulated in the virtue of the finite element analysis software ABAQUS. The influence of vibration amplitude on the fluidity, the filling density and the stress distribution of WC-Co powder is investigated when the ultrasonic vibration is applied to the conventional pressing process. From simulation results, the ultrasonic vibration amplitude has great influences on the density of the compact. With the increase of the ultrasonic amplitude, the compact density also increases gradually. At the initial stage of the compaction, the particles move violently under the action of ultrasonic vibration, the fluidity is obviously enhanced, the arch bridge effect between particles is destroyed, the fine particles quickly fill the pores between the large particles, which increase the density, and the residual stress in the billet decreases after the compaction. From the experimental results, the size distribution of the billet is more uniform, the elastic aftereffect is reduced, the dimensional instability is improved, and the density curves obtained by experiment and simulation are within a reasonable error range.

The objective of the current investigation is to identify the first or first draining node or sentinel lymph node (SLN) from the primary tumor mass in a regional lymphocenter. Four different indirect lymphography (IL) methods were employed in 96 canine patients with different types of cancer between 2018 and 2021. The IL technique involved intradermal, submucosal, and peritumoral injections of 2ml contrast agent in the four-quadrant principle which were divided into equal aliquots. Lymphatic mapping with lipiodol (iodized oil) was 100% in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, anal sac apocrine gland adenocarcinoma, mast cell tumor, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, mammary carcinoma, and with methylene blue dye, 100% detection was achieved in testicular tumor and mammary carcinoma. Instead of a very short washout time of 2 minutes, Iohexol showed an excellent detection in indirect CT lymphography for histiocytic sarcoma and in indirect radiographic lymphography for lymphosarcoma. The significance of contrast and blue dyes in detecting the lymphatic spread of canine cancers is clearly emphasized in the current investigation. The nature of cancerous tissue was again analyzed through image and machine learning approach in this work. Supervised machine learning technique is applied in this work for automatic classification of cancerous and non-cancerous regions. Various statistical and texture-based features are extracted from X-Ray images and support vector machine with linear, polynomial, multilayer perceptron (MLP), and RBF kernel functions are applied for classification. Highest 95.53%, 94.64%, 93.05% sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, respectively, is achieved using RBF kernel function.

Surface defect detection is one of the most widely used research areas in the field of image processing and machine vision. Detection of surface defects is used in visual inspection systems and medical image analysis. In this manuscript, an innovative method for detecting surface defects based on energy changes in co-occurrence matrices is presented in several directions. The method presented in this manuscript includes two stages of learning and testing. In the learning phase, to extract texture features, the gray level co-occurrence matrix operator is applied on the healthy image of the desired level. Then the energy value of the output matrix is ​​calculated. In the following, changes in the amount of energy are considered as statistical characteristics that are a good representative of the image of a healthy surface. Finally, with its help, a suitable threshold for the health of the images is obtained. Then, in the test phase, with the help of the calculated quorum, the defective windows that have suffered from non-normality are distinguished from the healthy surface sections. In the results section, the efficiency of the mentioned method has been measured on medical images and stone and ceramic images, and its detection accuracy has been compared with some previous effective methods. The advantages of the presented method include high accuracy, low calculations and compatibility with all types of levels due to the use of the learning stage. The proposed approach can be used in medical applications to diagnose abnormalities such as diseases. All extracted features are statistical, so its detection speed is higher than deep neural networks.

Mutations within the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome have been associated with rapid progres-sion to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, there is limited information regarding the prevalence and impact of these mutations in most of sub-Saharan Africa, including Botswana. We aimed to determine the prevalence of HBV mutations known to be associated with progression to HCC using a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of 48 previously generated HBV sequences from adults with concomitant HBV/HIV initiating HIV antiretroviral therapy in Botswana. The sequences were aligned with reference sequences, and HCC-associated mutations were manually identified using BioEdit. Sixteen (33.3 %) of 48 participant samples had 20 HCC-associated mu-tations. Seven HCC mutations were present in the core region, 4 in the preCore region, 7 in the X region, and one mutation in the surface region, as well as deletions within the preSurface 1 region. Seven of the 16 participants (43.8%) had multiple HCC-associated mutations. There were also previously uncharacterized mutations at positions with known HCC-associated mutations. HCC-associated mutations were common in this cohort; hence, some participants may require close clinical monitoring as they might be more prone to rapid disease progression. Other functionally uncharacterized polymorphisms were also detected and require characterization in future studies.

A digital text abstract presents the essential information of an article, and we can find the trend and value of the research by analyzing it rigorously and digging up knowledge. Therefore, this study focuses on the abstracts of index journals in China and Taiwan from July 2010 to June 2020 (a total of 3,283 abstracts). Through the concepts of text mining and natural language processing (NLP), it constructs processes such as text retrieval, text segmentation and word cloud analysis, TF-IDF weight analysis, co-word analysis, network analysis, and trend analysis, and analyses a large amount of text data. The results show that the scope of research in China covers the fields of social sports and sports science, and research in Taiwan covers both natural and social sciences. The network diagram highlights the richness of sports-related research fields in the two regions, but research on sports philosophy is relatively rare. It is suggested that all disci-plines/departments should re-allocate the same resources, so as to show a balanced development trend and help expand a new chapter in the sports academic field.

A polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) composed of 50 wt% poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) as its base polymer, 40 wt% Aliquat® 336 as its extractant and 10 wt% dibutyl phthalate (DBP) as plasticizer provided efficient extraction of vanadium(V) from its sulfate solutions adjusted to pH 2.5. It was suggested that V(V) was extracted as VO2SO4− via an anion exchange mechanism. Quantitative back-extraction was achieved in a sulfuric acid solution (6 mol L-1) containing 1 v/v% of hydrogen peroxide. It was assumed that the back-extraction process involved the oxidation of VO2+ to VO(O2)+ by hydrogen peroxide. The newly developed PIM with the optimized composition mentioned above exhibited excellent selectivity for V(V) in the presence of metallic species present in digests of spent alumina hydrodesulfurization catalysts (i.e., Al(III), Co(II), Cu(II), Fe(III), Mn(II), and Ni(II)). The co-extraction of Mo(VI) with V(V) was eliminated by its selective extraction at pH 1.1. The optimized PIM was characterized by contact angle measurements, atomic-force microscopy (AFM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)/derivatives thermogravimetric analysis (DTGA), and the stress-strain measurements.

Background: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the SLC10A1 gene, coding for a functional receptor of hepatitis B virus (HBV), sodium taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP), may influence the susceptibility, the outcome, and disease course of HBV infection in some populations. Aim: to determine the prevalence of SNPs of NTCP gene, rs2296651 and rs943277, and their relationship with chronic HBV infection in a group of Egyptian patients. Methods: 137 patients with HBV and 65 healthy controls were enrolled, and the patients were divided into two groups; group I chronic HBV infection (68 patients with normal ALT and minimal or no liver necroinflammation or fibrosis) and group II chronic hepatitis B (69 patients with elevated ALT and moderate or severe liver necroinflammation). They were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, laboratory investigations, abdominal ultrasound, and liver stiffness measurement using both Echosens® Fibroscan and acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI). Real time PCR TaqMan 5’ allelic discrimination assay was applied to detect the SNPs in NTCP gene, rs2296651 and rs943277. Results: On studying the rs2296651 variant, all controls and patients had genotype GG without any significant association with HBV infection or disease progression. However, the rs943277 variant in all controls and 98% of patients had genotype GA, except for two chronic HBV infection patients who had genotype AA, but no significant difference between patients and controls was found. The non-invasive methods for liver fibrosis assessment ARFI, AST/platelet's ratio (APRI), and fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4) could predict the stages of fibrosis in agreement with Fibroscan with AUCOR 0.8, 0.79, and 0.76, respectively. Conclusion: These findings may suggest that there is no relation between these SNPs of the NTCP gene and susceptibility or chronicity of HBV infection in the Egyptian population. We also suggest that the use of the non-invasive methods for liver fibrosis assessment, ARFI, FIB-4, and APRI may decrease the need for liver biopsies in prediction of significant hepatic fibrosis in chronic HBV patients.

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

Based on electromagnetic heat transfer and metal phase transformation co-simulations, we modeled an AISI 1045 specimen under high-frequency heat treatment. Hardening zone predictions were confirmed through cooling and metal phase transformation simulations after obtaining the results from electromagnetic heat transfer simulations. The cooling process was modeled by applying the cooling coefficient of the cooling water in the same way as the actual heat-treatment process. To obtain the current flowing through the coil during high-frequency induction heating, the voltage was measured and applied using the resistance–inductance–capacitance circuit calculation method. Experimental and simulated results of the heating temperature and curing depth of an AISI 1045 specimen with a carbon content of 0.45% were compared; the comparison indicated good agreement between the two. Using the simulation results, we established a method for obtaining the current flowing through the induction coil for predicting the extent and depth of the hardening zone during high-frequency induction heat treatment.

In December 2019, pneumonia caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection emerged in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. Early in 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a new name for the 2019-nCoV-caused epidemic disease: coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and declared COVID-19 to be the sixth international public health emergency. Cellular co-infection is a critical determinant of both viral fitness and infection outcome and plays a crucial role in shaping the host immune response to infections. In this study, sixty-eight public next-generation sequencing libraries from SARS-CoV-2 infected patients were retrieved from the NCBI Sequence Read Archive database using SRA-Toolkit. Using an alignment-free method based on K-mer mapping and extension, SARS-CoV-2 was identified in all except three patients. Influenza A H7N9 (3/68), Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (1/68), rhabdovirus isolate (3/68), Human metapneumovirus (1/68), coronaviruses NL63 (1/68), Parvovirus (1/68), Simian virus 40 (1/68), and hepatitis virus (1/68) genome sequences were detected in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.

Angiogenesis is a term that describes the formation of new blood and lymphatic vessels from a pre-existing vasculature. This allows tumour cells to acquire sustenance in the form of nutrients and oxygen and the ability to evacuate metabolic waste. As one of the hallmarks of cancer, angiogenesis has been studied extensively in animal and human models to enable better understanding of cancer biology and the development of new anti-cancer treatments. Angiogenesis plays a crucial role in the process of tumour genesis, because solid tumour need a blood supply if they are to grow beyond a few millimeters in size. On the other hand, there is growing evidence that some solid tumour exploit existing normal blood supply and do not require a new vessel formation to grow and to undergo metastasis. This review of the literature will present the current understanding of this intricate process and the latest advances in the use of angiogenesis-targeting therapies in the fight against cancer.

Enhancing the effectiveness of search and rescue operation at sea is always a duty of utmost importance of the coastal states. The search area for distressed objects can be determined by using Monte Carlo simulation, combined with the Median-Filter. Once the search area has been identified, the success of search and rescue operations depends on the sweeping ability of search and rescue vessel at the probability area of the distress object with the minimum time. This is the important element to the success of the search and rescue operation as it minimizes the risk and cost for Search and rescue team. In this article, the authors study and propose the use of Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm (BFOA) to calculate the optimal search and co-ordination route for many search and rescue vessels in Vietnam sea. The simulation results show that it is quite consistent with reality and BFOA can be effectively applied to determine a quick search.

The dye effluent is usually difficult to be degraded by conventional wastewater treatment in leather industry. In order to develop efficient and cost-effective treatment methods, we evaluate the effect of white-rot fungus immobilization for dye decolorisation in this paper. The Phanerochaete chrysosporium BKM-F-1767 was used for immobilization. This research found that the white-rot fungus immobilization had an obviously decolorisation effect in dye wastewater treatment, and plant carriers such as sorghum stalk and corn cob were helpful to the growth of Phanerochaete chrysosporium in white-rot fungus immobilization. Due to the stability and recyclability, the white-rot fungus co-immobilization was considered as the most suitable treatment for decolorisation of dye effluent which enjoyed the advantages of both adsorption immobilization and entrapment immobilization. Furthermore, the dye decolorisation evaluation was carried out to find the most suitable carrier for co-immobilization, and it found that sorghum stalk - calcium-alginate gel spherical particle (SS-CGPB) has better decolorisation effect than corn cobs - calcium-alginate gel spherical particle (CC-CGPB), and the dye decolorisation rate was 86.77%. After 5 cycles, the dye decolorisation rate was 85.87% which indicated the SS-CGPB preserved functional integrity successfully. By further analyzing the biodegradation process with white-rot fungus immobilization, the intermediate products were observed and the degradation pathway of acid golden yellow dye molecular was proposed. The results showed that the C-N single bonds attached to the central benzene in the dye molecule were attacked and destroyed in white-rot fungus co-immobilization treatment, thus the structure of dye molecule could be successfully degraded into small molecules which would be more easily treated by conventional treatment methods. Therefore, the white rot fungus co-immobilization might be appropriate for pre-treatment as an important biotechnology for the advanced treatment of dye effluent.

Irish beef farms have experienced poor viability longitudinally, with officially acknowledged ‘crisis’ levels in 2013. In response, beef Producer Organisation (PO) legislation was introduced. Through the lens of international evidence in the literature about how POs function, this paper presents an analysis of Irish stakeholders’ views in the context of a public consultation process. While stakeholders indicate the need for individual POs to collaborate, little emphasis is placed on other factors necessary for success: collaboration with other chain actors; and market differentiation of products. Stakeholders identified primary threats as poor engagement on the part of both farmers and processors/purchasers.

Crotoxin (CTX), the predominant toxin in Crotalus durissus terrificus snake venom (CdtV), has anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. Despite its inhibitory action on neutrophil migration and phagocytosis, CTX does not directly affect the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by the neutrophils. In contrast, it enhances the generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen intermediates by macrophages. Given the importance of macrophage-neutrophil interactions in innate antimicrobial defense, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of CTX on neutrophil ROS production and killing activity, either through CTX-treated macrophage co-culture or conditioned medium of CTX-treated macrophages. The results showed an important modulatory action of CTX on the neutrophil function as well as neutrophil-macrophage interactions, as demonstrated by the increased production of hydrogen peroxide, hypochlorous acid, nitric oxide and TNF-α, along with the increased fungicidal activity of neutrophils.

Urban areas face daunting economic challenges that have increased in scope in recent years. At the same time, cities provide for opportunities for growth and value creation. The interplay of these challenges and opportunities represents the area of intervention for policymakers and researchers. However, the traditional approach to urban policy, deriving from the managerial and economic policy theories, shows difficulties mainly related to the capacity to counterbalance the interests and expectations of a multitude of stakeholders participating to the value co-creation process and to bring all different components to synergically contribute to the sustainability of the system. The Author proposes an innovative approach to urban public policy, by adopting the theoretical corpus of the Viable Systems Approach ("VSA"). Urban planning will be particularly analysed, as systemic components of urban areas, with the aim to investigate the decision-making processes for an integrated, efficient, effective and sustainable management of the territory as a multidimensional, multisectoral and multi-stakeholder entity. By recovering different settings, the VSA intends the co-creation of value as the capacity of the viable systems to increase its surviving chances in its own context. The value derives, first of all, from the strategic decisions aimed at finding both dyadic and context consonance. Through its strategic decisions, the Governing Body of the territory develops a specific system as the overall synthesis of all possible systems organised within a specific area, identifying pattern of development agreed by the several stakeholders of the territory. In the dynamics of value co-creation in systemic multi-subjective organizations, where the level of complexity is particularly significant, the research for consonance among different stakeholders is particular important in order to achieve the most value for the territory. In this respect, the VSA may constitute a valid tool, helping to find the necessary capacities to imagine evolutionary paths towards new competencies.

The present work investigates primarily the morphology evolution of the body-centered-cubic (BCC)/B2 phases in AlxNiCoFeCr high-entropy alloys (HEAs) with increasing Al content, which has been neglected so far. There exist two types of microscopic morphologies of BCC and B2 phases in this HEA series: one is the weave-like morphology induced by the spinodal decomposition, and the other is the microstructure of a spherical disordered BCC precipitation on the ordered B2 matrix that appears in HEAs with a much higher Al content. The shape of coherent precipitates is found to be closely related to the lattice misfit between BCC and B2 phases, which is sensitive to Al. The mechanical properties, including the compressive yielding strength and microhardness of the AlxNiCoFeCr HEAs, are also discussed in light of the concept of the valence electron concentration (VEC).

The success of deep learning (DL) in offline brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) has not yet translated into efficient online applications. This is due to two limiting factors: the need for large amounts of training data in DL and the fact that current DL solutions are primarily developed for offline decoding. To enable real-time decoding, even across subjects without calibration data, we first introduce a novel method real-time adaptive pooling (RAP) to tune existing offline DL models towards online decoding by modifying the pooling layers. To reduce the amount of training data required, our approach leverages different levels of domain adaptation. We show how different settings enable different adaptation solutions. Our results demonstrate that our approach is both powerful and can be calibration-free, providing a robust and practical solution for real-time BCI applications. These findings pave the way for the development of co-adaptive and highly efficient DL-based BCI systems.

Optimization techniques are pivotal across various scientific domains, typically involving solving problems among feasible alternatives based on specific goals, alternatives, or constraints. In mathematical optimization, traditional methods like Simulated Annealing (SA) do not guarantee finding global minima/optima, especially in cases that contain high dimensions in objective functions. This paper introduces a novel approach where a free-energy driven self-adaptive SA algorithm is designed to handle such cases by incorporating free-energy costs within the Metropolis-Hastings framework. This algorithm not only dynamically adjusts to the changing dimensions of the objective function, but it also enhances a faster optimization process. Furthermore, as examples we demonstrate its capability on a convex unimodal function and the non-convex Rastrigin function, revealing faster convergence to search global minima compared to standard SA algorithm. At last, parameter estimation of noisy exponential data has been executed by our Simulated Annealing driven by the Free-Energy (SAFE) algorithm. Our results suggest that this novel approach may significantly improve optimization speed and accuracy, providing a robust tool for complex multidimensional optimization problems.

The study focuses on the free vibration analysis of beams made of axially functionally graded materials (AFGM) with curvilinear variable cross-sections along their length. The beams encompass various shapes, including concave and convex conic sections, with axial material properties varying according to polynomial and exponential laws. The equations of motion are derived using Hamilton's principle within the framework of Timoshenko beam theory. These governing equations, subjected to various boundary conditions, are solved using the differential transform method (DTM). The proposed solution technique is validated by comparing computed natural frequencies with existing in literature results and those obtained through three-dimensional finite element analysis in ABAQUS. The incorporation of material gradients into the beam finite element models was achieved through the user-defined material subroutine (UMAT). Additionally, a comprehensive study is conducted to examine the influence of various factors on the natural frequencies of functionally graded beams. These factors include parameters of material laws, types of variable beam shapes, slenderness ratio, and specific boundary conditions. This study provides a thorough understanding of the modal dynamics of the considered beams, offering valuable insights into the behavior of FGM structures.

Structural and functional materials are subjected to harsh oxidizing environments that lead to a rapid decline in their surface chemical stability. At high-temperatures, the diffusion of atoms is erratic; thus, the reactive elements (REs) get a chance to migrate to the surface and look for oxygen-reactive sites. Their migration from the lattice sites creates vacancies in the matrix and thus weakens the bond, making the material prone to environmental degrading factors. Subsequently, the inward diffusion of oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, or carbon may occupy these vacancies, resulting in undesired precipitation at the grain boundary, which is usually brittle. The solubility and dissociation of attacking species and corrosion products play the most critical role in corrosion in high-temperature water. To evade such situations, Ti, Al, and Cr are added in Ni/Fe-based alloys, forming a dense oxide layer on the surface that impedes further surface migration of ions. The stability of the alloys is then determined by the capability of these oxide layers to heal or reform during spalling/cracking. This review attempts to understand the migration of REs at the interfaces to prepare structural materials in any unexpected set of oxidizing service conditions. This review will also try to establish the interaction mechanism of REs novel/conventionally added in the alloys with the oxidizing elements in the environments to design better degradation-resistant high-temperature alloys.

Quantum theory predicts violations of Bell’s inequality. This implies a contradiction with at least one of three statistical conditions, known as “Realism” (joint distribution of relevant observables), “Locality” (conditional separability of pairwise observations, given a set of hidden variables), and “Free Will” (statistical independence between hidden variables and measurement settings). Here we describe a classical system with “clockwork” properties that is unquestionably local. It produces maximal violations of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality. It contradicts every one of the three listed formal conditions. Nonetheless, it expresses the qualitative markers of ontological Realism, ontological Locality, and ontological Free Will, all at the same time. In other words, the three listed conditions do not correspond to the three ontological concepts with the same names. Therefore, there is no conflict between quantum theory and Local Realism.

Kawasaki disease is a febrile illness characterised by systemic inflammation of small- and medium-sized blood vessels which commonly occurs in young children. Although self-limiting, there is a risk of developing coronary artery lesions as disease progresses with delay in diagnosis and treatment. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of KD continues to remain a clinical dilemma. Thus, this article not only summarises the key research gaps associated to KD, but also evaluates the possibility of using circulating endothelial injury biomarkers such as, circulating endothelial cells, endothelial microparticles and vascular endothelial cell-free DNA, as diagnostic and prognostic tool of KD: a “liquid biopsy” approach. The challenges of translating liquid biopsies to use in KD, and the opportunities for improvement in its diagnosis and management that such translation may provide are discussed. The use of endothelial damage markers, which are easily obtained via blood collection, as diagnostics is promising and we hope this will be translated to clinical applications in the near future.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are vital for their optical and electrical properties, with lead-based PSCs reaching a remarkable efficiency of 26.1%, while tin-based counterparts achieve 18.71%. Due to lead's toxicity, there's a push for alternatives like tin. However, tin-based PSCs suffer from stability issues and high defect density states, necessitating the development of cost-effective, high-performance, and eco-friendly alternatives. In this study, we designed a hetero-junction architecture using MASnI3-based Perovskite, opti-mized with SCAPs-1D. After exhaustive analysis, our device achieved a power conversion efficiency of 24.18%, with enhanced parameters including Voc of 0.09323V, Jsc of 30.8360 mA/cm2, and FF of 84.10%. Recombination rates, particularly Shockley-Read Hall recom-bination, were significantly reduced. Parametric analyses, encompassing absorber layer thickness, band gap, defect density, doping concentration, and operating temperature, in-dicate potential efficiency enhancements. This underscores the viability of Sn-based PSCs as a cost-effective, efficient, and environmentally benevolent alternative to lead-based counterparts, promising advancements in future research and development efforts.

As precision medicine such as targeted therapy and immunotherapy often have limited accessibility, low response rate and evolved resistance, it is urgent to develop simple, low-cost, and quick-turnaround personalized diagnostic technologies for drug response prediction with high sensitivity, speed, and accuracy. Major challenges of drug response prediction strategies employing digital database modeling are the scarcity of labeled clinical data, applicable only to a few classes of drugs, and losing the resolution at the individual patient level. Although these challenges have been partially addressed by large-scale cancer cell line datasets and more patient-relevant cell-based systems, the integration of different data types and data translation from pre-clinical to clinical utilities are still far-fetched. To overcome current limitations of precision medicine with a clinically proven drug response prediction assay, we have developed an innovative and proprietary technology based on in vitro patient testing and in silico data analytics. First, a patient-derived gene expression signature was established via transcriptomic profiling of cell-free mRNA (cfmRNA) from the patient’s blood. Second, a gene-to-drug data fusion and overlaying mechanism to transfer data was performed. Finally, a semi-supervised method was used for database searching, matching, annotation and ranking of drug efficacies from a pool of ~700 approved, investigational or clinical trial drug candidates. A personalized drug response report can be delivered to inform clinical decision within a week. The PGA (Patient-derived Gene expression-informed Anticancer drug efficacy) test has significantly improved patient outcomes when compared to the treatment plans without PGA support. Implementation of PGA, which combines patient-unique cfmRNA fingerprints with drug mapping power, has the potential to identify treatment options when patients are no longer responding to therapy and when standard-of-care is exhausted.

Background/Aim: Stool gluten immunogenic peptides (GIP) determination is now considered a valuable tool for detecting dietary lapses in treated celiac disease (CeD) patients. Our study aims to explore the diagnostic performance of a qualitative lateral flow immunoassay point-of-care test (LFIA/PoCT) compared with a qualitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of stool GIP. Methods: The study is a post hoc analysis of stool samples collected in the real-life conditions from a cohort of gluten-free diet-treated CeD patients. Stool GIP was measured in µg/g of stool using an ELISA kit (iVYLISA GIP S®, Biomedal SL). For the qualitative evaluation of stool GIP, a LFIA/PoCT test (GlutenDetect®; Biomedal S.L) was employed, which reported results as positive or negative. The LFIA/PoCT performance was evaluated against ELISA, considered as the gold standard. GIP concentrations

Immunotherapy, particularly Immune Checkpoint Blockade (ICB), has demonstrated significant efficacy in treating melanoma in recent years. However, accurately predicting treatment success and avoiding ineffective therapies remains an unresolved challenge. Therefore, this study aims to develop statistical models utilizing neural networks to forecast the effectiveness of immune checkpoint therapies for melanoma patients. Our models primarily rely on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to anticipate both Overall Survival (OS) and Progression-Free Survival (PFS) among melanoma patients undergoing anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD1/anti-PDL1 therapy. We incorporate gene expression data, measured in Transcripts per Million (TPM), derived from bulk tumor RNA-sequencing datasets. Additionally, clinical variables such as gender, age, and treatment type are factored into our analysis. The ANN underwent optimization to attain the highest feasible precision in anticipating the predetermined survival outcome. Issues stemming from high-dimensional data, such as overfitting, were tackled through regularization and feature selection methods. Consequently, the ANN-based model incorporating feature selection exhibited the capacity to forecast survival (PFS) in response to ICB therapy with a maximal precision of 86%. Conversely, the ANN lacking feature selection but incorporating regularization achieved accuracies of up to 72% for PFS and 71% for OS, correspondingly. In order to confront the challenge posed by limited patient samples and to assess replicability, the model underwent training and validation based on the amalgamation of all five datasets. However, this amalgamation failed to enhance predictive performance, necessitating further investigations.

Cement-free concrete has superior physical performance, such as strength and durability, compared to OPC concrete, however, it has the disadvantage of large shrinkage. Large shrinkage can cause cracks due to shrinkage stress in the long term. In this study, a shrinkage reducing agent (SRA) was used to reduce the shrinkage of cement-free mortar; its content was increased from 0.0 to 1.5 %. For an SRA content of 1.0 %, a calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) expansive additive (EA) (2.5, 5.0, and 7.5%) was added. To calculate the shrinkage stress of cement-free mortar using the SRA and EA, the compressive strength, elastic modulus, and total and autogenous shrinkage were measured. The unit shrinkage stress of cement-free mortar was obtained by multiplying the elastic modulus by the length change and accumulated to obtain the shrinkage stress acting on the mortar according to the age. The shrinkage stress of cement-free mortar showed different tendencies as the age increased. At early ages, the shrinkage rate of the mortar occupied a large proportion of the shrinkage stress. In the long term, the shrinkage stress was significantly affected by the elastic modulus. As a result, SRA was found to be effective in reducing the shrinkage stress by decreasing both the elastic modulus and shrinkage. However, EA increased the shrinkage stress over the long term due to an increase in elastic modulus even though it compensated for early-ages shrinkage.

This paper introduces a novel architecture—bidirectional optical neural network (BONN)—for providing backward connections alongside forward connections in artificial neural networks (ANNs). BONN incorporates laser diodes and photodiodes and exploits the properties of Köhler illumination to establish optical channels for backward directions. Thus, it has bidirectional functionality that is crucial for algorithms such as the backpropagation algorithm. BONN has a scaling limit of 96 × 96 for input and output arrays, and a throughput of 8.5 × 1015 MAC/s. While BONN's throughput may rise with additional layers for continuous input, limitations emerge in the backpropagation algorithm as its throughput doesn't scale with layer count. Successful BONN-based implementation of the backpropagation algorithm requires the development of fast spatial light modulator to accommodate frequent data flow changes. A two-mirror-like BONN and its cascaded extension are alternatives for multilayer emulation, and they help save hardware space and increase the parallel throughput for inference. An investigation into the application of the clustering technique to BONN revealed its potential to help overcome scaling limits and to provide full interconnections for backward directions between doubled input and output ports. BONN's bidirectional nature holds promise for enhancing supervised learning in ANNs and increasing hardware compactness.

This paper investigates the impact of debt financing on dividend payments when they face the agency costs of free cash flow. Focusing on a sample of 120 firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange during the period 2011-2021. The study found a negative association between agency cost of free cash flow and dividend payment. More importantly, our research highlights the significant role of long-term debt in making more prudent use of free cash flow. The obligation to meet interest and principal payments acts as an incentive for them to steer clear of unprofitable expenses and risky investments. Concurrently, long-term debt imposes restrictive clauses in debt contracts, such as minimum dividend distribution requirements, which further encourage higher dividend payments. Since interest and debt repayments are fixed obligations, using free cash flow for dividend disbursement is considered a more profitable and beneficial approach for shareholders in the context of Saudi Arabia.

Machine Learning deals with creating algorithms capable of learning from the provided data. These systems have a wide range of applications and can also be a valuable tool for scientific research which in recent years has been focused on finding new diagnostic techniques for particle accelerator beams. In this context SPARC_LAB is positioned, a facility located at the Frascati National Laboratories of INFN, where the progress of beam diagnostics is one of the main developments of the entire project. With this in mind, you aim to present the design of two neural networks aimed at predicting the spot size of the electron beam of the plasma-based accelerator at SPARC_LAB, which powers an undulator for the generation of x-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL). Data-driven algorithms use two different data preprocessing techniques, namely autoencoder neural network and PCA. With both approaches, the predicted measurements can be obtained with an acceptable margin of error and most importantly without activating the accelerator, thus saving time, even compared to a simulator that can produce the same result but much more slowly. The goal is to lay the groundwork for creating a digital twin of linac and conducting virtualized diagnostics using an innovative approach.

Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) refers to small fragments of DNA molecules released after programmed cell death and necrosis in several body fluids such as blood, saliva, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid. The discovery of cfDNA has revolutionized the field of non-invasive diagnostics in the oncologic field, in prenatal testing, and in organ transplantation. Despite the potential of cfDNA and the solid results published in recent literature, several challenges remain, represented by low abundance, need for highly sensitive assays and analytical issues. In this review, the main technical advances in cfDNA analysis are presented and discussed, with a comprehensive examination of the current available methodologies applied in each field. Considering the potential advantages of cfDNA, this biomarker is increasing its consensus among clinicians, as it consents to monitor patients’ conditions in an easy and non-invasive way, offering a more personalized care. Nevertheless, cfDNA analysis is still considered a research marker to be further validated, and very few centers are implementing its analysis in the real-life assistance. As technical improvements are enhancing the performances of cfDNA analysis, its application will transversally improve patients’ quality of life.

Patient-derived tumor organoids (PDTOs) are a novel preclinical model of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for studying tumor biology and precision medicine, which recapitulates tumor morphology and gene expression profile. However, some issues such as low establishment rates, long-term production, and the loss of the immune microenvironment have hindered their widespread practical use. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of a recently introduced free-floating organoid production method to address these issues. The free-floating approach provided PDTO establishment success rate of over 90 % resulting in organoid formation within a short period of one week. These organoids retained the elements of the parental tumor morphology and contained stroma and immune cell populations, as confirmed by flow cytometry analysis. Importantly, we found that the cytokine and growth factor expression profiles of the free-floating organoids correlated with those of the original tumors in 58 % of cases, indicating the preservation of tumor-associated signaling pathways. Obtained organoids exhibited different responses to anticancer chemotherapeutics that might be a result of variable expression of drug resistance-associated genes. Considering the high establishment rate and short time of free-floating organoid production, this technique provides a valuable tool for a more accurate evaluation of therapeutic strategies and cancer biology studies.

The growing adoption of distributed energy production technologies, and the potential of energy underutilization when it is produced by non-connected groups, has raised interest in ‘sharing economy’ concepts in the electricity sector. We suggest that mechanisms, such as peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading, will allow users to exchange their surplus energy for mutual benefits, stimulate the adoption of renewable energy, encourage communities to ‘democratically’ control their own energy supplies for local development, and improved energy efficiency, and create many other benefits This approach is receiving increasing attention across the world, particularly in Germany, the Netherlands and Australia. Nevertheless, the actual development and implementation of these platforms is slow and mostly limited to trial activities. This study investigates the challenges and barriers facing P2P energy trading developments based on previous academic and industry studies. We provide a comprehensive multidimensional barrier analysis through a PESTLE approach to assess the barriers from a variety of perspectives, including the political (P), economic (E), social (S), technological (T), legal (L), and environmental (E) aspects. This approach clarifies the many intersecting problem fields of P2P trading in renewable energy, and the paper identifies a list of such barriers, and discusses the prospects for addressing these issues. We also elaborate on the importance of incentive-based P2P market design.

Accurate pathogenic detection in wastewater is critical for safeguarding public health and the environment. However, the presence of free nucleic acids in wastewater samples poses significant challenges to molecular detection accuracy. This comprehensive review explores the current status and future potential of pretreatment methods to remove free nucleic acids from wastewater samples. The study contributes a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms, strengths, and limitations of various pretreatment approaches, including physical, chemical, and enzymatic processes. The effect of various factors on the removal efficiency of these pretreatment methods is also discussed. This review enhances our comprehension of pretreatment techniques and their vital role in achieving precise pathogenic detection in complex wastewater matrices. Furthermore, it outlines future perspectives and developments for improving the speed and effectiveness of pathogenic detection, contributing significantly to disease surveillance, early warning systems, and environmental protection.

Determination of the fetal gender in the first trimester is important in twin pregnancy cases of familial X-linked genetic syndromes and helps determine chorionicity. We assessed and compared the accuracy of first-trimester ultrasound scans, and circulating cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) performed by non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) in determining fetal gender in the first trimester of twin pregnancies. For this purpose, we enrolled prospectively pregnant women with twin during the first trimester, gestational week (GA) 11-13. The fetal gender was determined using both ultrasound scans and cffDNA screening. Both results were compared to the newborn gender at delivery. A total of 113 women with twin pregnancies were enrolled. There was 100% sensitivity and specificity in Y chromosome detection using cffDNA. The accuracy of gender assignment using ultrasound in any first-trimester scans was 79.7%. Accuracy level increased from 54.2% in CRL 45-54 mm to 87.7% in CRL 55-67 mm and 91.5% in CRL 67-87 mm. Male fetuses had significantly higher chances of a gender assignment error compared to female fetuses, odds ratio = 23.57 (CI 7.356 - 75.66). This is the first study that compared the accuracy of gender determination in the first trimester by cffDNA and by ultrasound scanning in twin pregnancy. It was concluded that the cffDNA is highly sensitive and specific in determining the presence of the Y chromosome in twin pregnancies in the first trimester. Between CRL 67-87 mm, ultrasound scanning offers a highly accurate determination of fetal gender in twin pregnancies. Larger cohorts of multi-center studies are warranted.

This research evaluated the role and feasibility of the granular nanocellulose particles (GNC) from sugarcane bagasse obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis in reducing lipid digestibility and permeability in the in vitro simulated gastrointestinal (GI) system. GNC concentration (0.02%, w/v) had significantly affected the released free fatty acid (FFA) reduction of approximately 20%. The Pick-ring emulsion of the GNC and olive oil simulation mixture revealed higher oil droplet size distribution and stability in the initial stage than the vortexed mixture formation. The difference in particle size distribution and zeta potential of the ingested GNC suspension and GNC-olive oil emulsion were displayed during the in vitro gastrointestinal simulation. GNC particles interacted and distributed surrounding the oil droplet leading to the interfacial emulsion. The GNC concentration (0.01-0.10%, w/v) showed low toxicity on the HIEC-6 cell, ranging from 80.0 to 99% of cell viability. The release of FFA containing the ingested GNC suspension and GNC-olive oil emulsion was about 30% reduction compared to without GNC digest solution. The FFA and triglyceride permeability through the HIEC-6 intestinal epithelium monolayer were deceased in the digesta containing the ingested GNC and emulsion. This work indicated that GNC represented a significantly critical role and properties in the GI tract and reduced lipid digestion and absorption. This GNC could be utilized as an alternative food additive or supplement in fatty food for weight control due to their inhibiting lipid digestibility and assimilation.

A scalable optical convolutional neural network (SOCNN) based on free-space optics and Koehler illumination was proposed to address the limitations of the previous 4f correlator system. Unlike Abbe illumination, Koehler illumination provides more uniform illumination and reduces crosstalk. SOCNN allows for scaling up of the input array and the use of incoherent light sources. Hence, the problems associated with 4f correlator systems can be avoided. We analyzed the limitations in scaling the kernel size and parallel throughput and found that SOCNN can offer a multilayer convolutional neural network with massive optical parallelism.

This study aimed to compare the prognosis and characteristics of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with first-line atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (AB) combination therapy and hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy (HAIC). We retrospectively assessed 179 and 72 patients treated with HAIC and AB combination therapy, respectively, between January 2018 and January 2023. The progression-free survival of patients treated with HAIC was significantly superior than that of patients treated with AB (P&lt;0.05), but there was no significant difference in overall survival and objective response rate (ORR) between the two groups (P=0.1056 and P=0.137, respectively). After propensity score matching (PSM), our data revealed that there was no significant difference in PFS between patients who received AB combination therapy and HAIC therapy (P=0.8888). However, patients who received AB combination therapy had significantly better overall survival than those who received HAIC therapy (P=0.0133). In addition, after PSM, significant differences in ORR and disease control rate were not observed. In conclusion, our propensity score study reveals that patients treated with AB therapy have a significantly longer OS than those treated with HAIC.

In the last years, a recent growing line of research has been developed with fruitful results by using fractional and conformable derivatives in the iterative procedures of classical methods for solving nonlinear equations. In that sense, the use of conformable derivatives has shown better behavior than fractional ones, not only in the theory, but also in the practice. In this work, we adapt the approximation of conformable derivatives in order to design the first conformable derivative-free iterative schemes to solve nonlinear equations: a Steffensen’s type method and a Secant type method; the latter with memory. Convergence analysis is made, preserving the order of classical cases, and the numerical performance is studied in order to confirm the results in the theory. It is shown that these methods can present some numerical advantages versus their classical partners, with wide sets of converging initial estimations.

Background: Liquid biopsies are revolutionary tools to detect tumor-specific genetic alterations in body fluids, and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) can be used for molecular diagnosis in cancer patients. In brain tumors cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cfDNA might be more informative than plasma cfDNA. Here, we assess the use of CSF cfDNA in pediatric embryonal brain tumors (EBT) for molecular diagnosis. Methods: CSF cfDNA of pediatric patients with medulloblastoma (n=18), ATRT (n=3), ETMR (n=1), CNS NB FOXR2 (n=2) and pediatric EBT NOS (n=1) (mean cfDNA concentration 48 ng/mL; range 4-442 ng/mL) and matched tumor genomic DNA were sequenced by WES, and/or a targeted sequencing approach, to determine single nucleotide variations (SNVs)/copy number alterations (CNA). A specific capture covering transcription start sites (TSS) of genes of interest was used for nucleosome footprinting in CSF cfDNA. Results: 15/25 CSF cfDNA samples yielded informative results, with informative CNA and SNVs in 11 and 15 cases, respectively. For cases with paired tumor and CSF cfDNA WES (n=15), a mean of 83 (range 1-160) shared SNVs was observed, including SNVs in classical medulloblastoma genes such as SMO and KMT2D. Interestingly, tumor-specific SNVs (mean 18; range 1-62) or CSF-specific SNVs (mean 5; range 0-25) were observed suggesting clonal heterogeneity. The TSS panel resulted in differential coverage profiles across all 112 studied genes in 7 cases, indicating distinct promoter accessibility. Conclusion: CSF cfDNA sequencing yielded informative results in 60% of cases (15/25), with WES feasible in 83% (15/18). These results pave the way for implementation of these novel approaches for molecular diagnosis and minimal residual disease monitoring.

In order to study the movement characteristics of fuel in the fuel tank during aircraft maneuvering, this paper conducts numerical simulations of a typical wing fuel tank using the finite point set method based on certain boundary conditions and excitation. The results show that the finite point set method can capture the complex phenomena of fuel free surface fluctuations, surging, rolling and breaking, as well as the change in center of gravity caused by fuel movement. Under aircraft acceleration and pitch angle excitation, fuel will generate sustained impact pressure on the fuel tank wall. The velocity attenuation of fuel flowing through the baffle communication hole is fast, and the flow resistance and energy dissipation of the communication hole buffer the impact of fuel on the fuel tank wall.

This paper proposes an optimal trading algorithm based on a novel application of the conventional Control Engineering (CE). We consider a fundamental CE concept, namely, the feedback control and apply it to the Algorithmic Trading (AT). The concrete feedback control strategy is designed in a form of the celebrated Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) model. The highly fluctuating nature of the modern financial markets has led to the adoption of a model-free realisation of the generic PID framework. The control theoretical methodology we propose is combined with the advanced statistics for the historical market data. We obtain a specific log-normal probability distribution function (pdf) associated with the specific quantities associated with the available stock data. The empirical log-normal pdf mentioned above makes it possible the necessary PID gains optimization. For this aim, we apply the data-driven optimization approaches and consider the corresponding Monte Carlo solution procedure. The optimized PID trading algorithm we propose is also studied in the Fourier analysis framework. This equivalent frequency domain representation involves a new concept in the financial engineering, namely, the "stock market energy" concept. For the evaluation, we implement the proposed PID optimal trading algorithm and develop a Python based prototype software. We finally apply the corresponding prototype software to a dataset from the Binance BTC / USDT stock market. The experimental result illustrates the implementability of the proposed optimal PID trading scheme and also shows the effectiveness of the proposed CE methods in the modern AT.

Ageing is the strongest known risk factor for many of the neurodegenerative diseases causing cognitive decline and dementia. Identification of cognitive impairment may be a prelude to appropriate treatment, hopefully disease-modifying. Use of cognitive screening instruments may be an equitable way to identify cognitive impairment. This study examined the use of two such instruments, Free-Cog and Mini-Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (MACE), in patient cohorts referred to a dedicated cognitive disorders clinic based at a tertiary neurosciences centre. Results showed that: (1) specificity and positive predictive value increased with patient age for both tests with some loss of sensitivity and negative predictive value. (2) In the oldest age groups (≥75 and ≥70 years respectively) where specificity was at maximum, a positive test result (i.e. below the specified test cut-off) rules in the diagnosis of cognitive impairment. (3) Values of an “Efficiency Index” for each test indicated qualitatively a moderate change in the probability of correct diagnosis and quantitatively an approximately 15-25% increase in the probability of correct diagnosis. These findings show that both Free-Cog and MACE may be used with confidence for the identification of cognitive impairment and dementia in older patient cohorts. These findings may have implications for public health policies directed to case-finding in clinical practice as opposed to population-based screening.

Cotton cationization with low molecular-weight/polymeric cationic modifiers allows the effective dyeing of fabrics with reactive dyes under salt-free and more environmentally-friendly conditions. The current work focuses on the spectroscopic study of the intermolecular interactions, which dictate the physicochemical process associated with dyeing. Water-soluble copolymers of vinyl benzyl chloride and vinyl benzyl triethylammonium chloride (VBCTEAM) have been used as cellulose cationic modifiers. Dye uptake was assessed using Remazol Brilliant Blue and Novacron Ruby dyes. The study involves ATR-FTIR, UV-Vis, fluorescence and XPS spectroscopy. The results of binary polymer-rich dye-polymer aqueous solutions or dye-polymer precipitates at stoichiometric charge-ratio revealed that the sulfonate/sulfate anions of the dyes interact with the cationic VBCTEAM units of the polymer via electrostatic interactions. Moreover, the comparative study of unmodified/modified dyed cotton indicates that the dye reactive sites remain unaffected for cationized cotton, suggesting that electrostatic interactions are the main driving force for the high dyeing performance observed.

Precise binding affinity predictions are essential for structure-based drug discovery (SBDD). Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a member of the tyrosine kinase protein family and is overexpressed in a variety of human malignancies. Inhibition of FAK using small molecules is a promising therapeutic option for several types of cancer. Here, we conducted computational modeling of FAK targeting inhibitors using 3-dimensional structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR), molecular dynamics (MD), and hybrid topology-based free energy perturbation (FEP) methods. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies between the physicochemical descriptors and inhibitory activities of the chemical compounds were performed with reasonable statistical accuracy using CoMFA and CoMSIA. These are two well-known 3D-QSAR methods based on the principle of supervised machine learning (ML). Essential information regarding residue-specific binding interactions was determined using the MD and MM-PB/GBSA methods. Finally, physics-based relative binding free energy (〖∆∆G〗_RBFE^(A→B)) values of analogous ligands were estimated using the alchemical FEP simulation. An acceptable agreement was observed between the experimental and computed relative binding free energies. The overall results using ML and physics-based hybrid approaches could be useful for the rational optimization of accessible lead compounds with similar scaffolds targeting the FAK receptor.

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury results in cell death by inducing apoptosis. During I/R, early generation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) can induce neighboring mitochondria to release additional ROS, a toxic cycle resulting in significant mitochondrial and cellular injury. Oxidative damage in the mitochondria contributes to various pathologies, including I/R injury. Accordingly, preventing mitochondrial oxidative damage should be therapeutically relevant for many disorders, including cardiovascular diseases. We recently discovered an Indole-Peptide-Tempo Conjugate (IPTC) that served as a novel bifunctional agent with both antioxidant and autophagy-modulating capacity. Here, we demonstrate that IPTC can protect H9C2 cardiomyocytes from hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury that results from mtROS overproduction due to impaired mitophagy and resultant mitochondrial dysfunction. We hypothesize that the mechanism of action of IPTC involves the capacity to decrease mtROS combined with induction of mitophagy.

Cancer stem cells play a crucial role in tumor initiation, metastasis and therapy resistance. Cellular heterogeneity and plasticity challenge the isolation of cancer stem cells. The impact of intratumoral cellular heterogeneity in the context of treatment resistance using a label-free approach remains understudied. Here, we use the sedimentation field-flow fractionation technique to separate, without labeling, cell subpopulations of colorectal cancer cell lines and primary cultures according to their biophysical properties. One of the three cell subpopulations sorted by SdFFF exhibits cancer stem cell traits, including high tumorigenicity in vivo, and a higher frequency of tumor-initiating cells compared to the other subpopulations. In vitro two- and three-dimensional chemosensitivity assays emphasize the therapeutic relevance of this cancer stem cell-like subpopulation due to its chemoresistance. Therefore, our findings highlight a label-free cell sorting approach to reveal intratumoral cellular heterogeneity and its implication in therapy resistance. This approach enables the study of the individualized response of each sorted cell subpopulation by breaking down the tumor, thus offering new perspectives for personalized therapy.

Zika virus (ZIKV) has been characterized as one of the potential pathogens and placed under future epidemic outbreaks by the WHO. However, lack of potential therapeutics can result in uncontrolled pandemic like other human pandemic viruses; therefore, prioritized effective therapeutics development has been recommended against ZIKV. In this context, the present study adopted the strategy to explore the lead compounds from Azadirachta indica against ZIKV via concurrent inhibition of the ZIKVpro and ZIKVRdRp proteins using molecular simulations. Initially, structure-based virtual screening of 44 bioflavonoids reported in Azadirachta indica against the crystal structures of targeted ZIKV proteins resulted in the identification of top four common bioflavonoids, viz. rutin, nicotiflorin, isoquercitrin, and hyperoside. These compounds showed substantial docking energy (-7.9 to -11.01 kcal/mol) and intermolecular interactions with essential residues of ZIKVpro (His51, Asp74, and Ser135) and ZIKVRdRp (Asp540, Ile799, and Asp665) by comparison to the reference compounds, O7N inhibitor (ZIKVpro) and Sofosbuvir inhibitor (ZIKVRdRp). Long interval molecular dynamics simulation (500 ns) on the selected docked poses reveals the stability of respective docked complexes contributed by intermolecular hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions. The predicted complex stability was further supported by calculated end-point binding free energy using molecular mechanics generalized born surface area (MM/GBSA) method. Consequently, the identified common bioflavonoids are recommended as promising therapeutic inhibitors of ZIKVpro and ZIKVRdRp for further experimental assessment.

Currently, old-style personal medicare techniques rely mostly on traditional methods, such as cumbersome tools and complicated processes, which can be time-consuming and inconvenient in some circumstances. Furthermore, such old methods need the use of heavy equipment, blood draws, and traditional bench-top testing procedures. Invasive ways of acquiring test samples can potentially cause patients discomfort and anguish. Wearable sensors, on the other hand, may be attached to numerous body areas to capture diverse biochemical and physiological characteristics as a developing analytical tool. Physical, chemical, and biological data transferred via the skin is used to monitor health in various circumstances. Wearable sensors can assess the aberrant conditions of the physical or chemical components of the human body in real-time, exposing the body state in time, thanks to unintrusive sampling and high accuracy. Most commercially available wearable gadgets are mechanically hard components attached to bands and worn on the wrist, with form factors ultimately constrained by the size and weight of the batteries required for the power supply. Wearable gadgets with “skin-like” qualities are a new type of automation that is only starting to make its way out of research labs and into pre-commercial prototypes. In this paper, we studied the recent advancement in battery-powered wearable sensors established on optical phenomena and skin-like battery-free sensors which brings a breakthrough in wearable sensing automation.

Vertically aligned Fe, S, and Fe-S doped anatase TiO₂ nanotube arrays are prepared by electrochemical anodization process using an organic electrolyte in which lactic acid is added as an additive. In the electrolyte, nanotube layers of greater length (12 μm) and high order with inner diameter of approx. 90 nm and outer diameter of approx. 170 nm are achieved. Doping of Fe, S, and Fe-S via simple wet impregnation method substituted Ti and O sites with Fe and S, which leads to enhance the rate performance at high discharge current densities. Discharge capacities of TiO₂ tubes increased from 82 mAh g-1 (bare) to 165 mAh g-1 for Fe-S doped TiO₂ at high current densities of 0.3 mAcm-2 after 100 cycles with exceptional capacity retention of 85% after 100 cycles. Owing to the enhancement of thermodynamic and kinetic properties by doping of Fe-S, Li-diffusion increas2ed resulting in remarkable discharge capacities of 143 mAh g-1 and 89 mAh g-1 at a current density of 7.4 mA cm-2 and 19 mA cm-2, respectively.

This article presents, for the first time, comprehensive model based on the proposed mechanism of Rahal et al [17], Bonardi {20], Tar et al [20], and Mau et al [24], for 3-component systems of G1/Iod/EDB, G1/Iod/amine (in gold chloride), and Iod/Benzoic/Borate (for reduced oxygen inhibition) for the hybri free radical (FRP) and cationic (CP) photopolymerization of interpenetrated polymer network (IPN) systems. Analytic formulas are developed to explore the new features including: (i) conversion efficacy(CE) of FRP is an increasing function of the light intensity (I), the effective absorption coefficient (b), for transient state, whereas, CE at steady-state is independent to the light intensity; (ii) initiator regeneration (RGE)
provides a catalytic cycle for improved CE for FRP and CP; (iii) in the IPN system, the synergic effects due to the co-exist of FRP and CP include: (i) CP can increase the medium viscosity limiting the diffusional oxygen replenishment, such that OIH is reduced; (ii) the cationic monomer also acts as a diluting agent for the radical polymer network, and (iii) the exothermic property of the CP polymerization. We have proposed ascaling law for the transient and steady-state dependence of CE on the key parameter P=bIC₀, given by a an m-order power law of P^m, with m = 0.5 to 1.5, depending on various conditions. The CE also has an optimal value for maximum CE. The presented comprehensive model (with minimum mathematics) focusing on the enhancement mechanisms/pathways, provides analytic formulas which can be used to analyze reported data, and, more importantly, serves as guidance for exploring new functional materials or new kinetic schemes for improved conversion or procedures for both industrial and medical applications such as additive manufacturing (AM), 3D and 4D bioprinting. Finally, we have proposed new directions/experiments based on our theoretical predictions.

The calculation of the vapour pressure of organic molecules at 298.15K is presented using a commonly applicable computer algorithm based on the group-additivity method. The basic principle of this method rests on the complete breakdown of the molecules into their constituting atoms, further characterized by their immediate neighbour atoms. The group contributions are calculated by means of a fast Gauss-Seidel fitting algorithm using the experimental data of 2036 molecules from literature. A ten-fold cross-validation procedure has been carried out to test the applicability of this method, which confirmed excellent quality for the prediction of the vapour pressure, expressed in log(pa), with a cross-validated correlation coefficient Q2 of 0.9938 and a standard deviation  of 0.26. Based on these data, the molecules' standard Gibbs free energy G°vap has been calculated. Furthermore, using their enthalpies of vaporization, predicted by an analogous group-additivity approach published earlier, the standard entropy of vaporization S°vap has been determined and compared with experimental data of 1129 molecules, exhibiting excellent conformance with a correlation coefficient R2 of 0.9598, a standard error  of 8.14 J/mol/K and a medium absolute deviation of 4.68%.

In Lagrangian dynamics, the detection of coherent clusters can help understand the organization of transport by identifying regions with coherent trajectory patterns. Many clustering algorithms, however, rely on user-input parameters, requiring a priori knowledge about the flow and making the outcome subjective. Building on the conventional spectral clustering method of Hadjighasem et al (2016), a new parameter-free spectral clustering approach is developed that automatically identifies parameters and does not require any user-input choices. A noise-based metric for quantifying the coherence of the resulting coherent clusters is also introduced. The parameter-free spectral clustering is applied to two benchmark analytical flows, the Bickley Jet and the asymmetric Duffing oscillator, and to a realistic, numerically-generated oceanic coastal flow. In the latter case, the identified model-based clusters are tested using observed trajectories of real drifters. In all examples, our approach succeeded in performing the partition of the domain into coherent clusters with minimal inter-cluster similarity and maximum intra-cluster similarity. For the coastal flow, the resulting coherent clusters are qualitatively similar over the same phase of the tide on different days and even different years, whereas coherent clusters for the opposite tidal phase are qualitatively different.

The most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in adults is diffuse large B-cell (DLBCL). There is a historical unmet need for more effective therapies in the 2nd and 3rd line setting. Emerging immunochemotherapies have shown activity in small studies of heavily pre-treated patients with prolonged remissions achieved in some patients. Anti-CD19 CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T cells are potentially curative in the 3rd line and beyond setting and are under investigation in earlier lines of therapy.1 Antibody-drug conjugates (ADC’s) such as polatuzumab vedotin targeting the pan-B-cell marker CD79b has proven effectiveness in multiply-relapsed DLBCL patients. Tafasitamab (MOR208) is an anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody producing prolonged remissions when combined with Lenalidomide in patients who were not candidates for salvage chemotherapy or autologous stem cell transplant. Selinexor, an oral, small-molecule selective inhibitor of XPO1-mediated nuclear export (SINE), demonstrated prolonged activity against heavily-pretreated DLBCL without cumulative toxicity and is being investigated as part of an oral, chemotherapy-free regimen for relapsed aggressive lymphoma. This article reviews current strategies and novel therapies for relapsed/refractory DLBCL.

Conservation history of D614 residue is valuable in predicting the consequences of D614G mutation in the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (SGP). We report here that the D614 belonged to an extraordinarily conserved, densely hydrophobic eleven amino acid peptide-motif vavlyqdvnct (11-aa), in the Sarbecovirus group and the variant carrying vavlyqdvnct had appeared in Chinese samples and became predominant in several geographical hotspots in late March, 2020. Interestingly a 2009 annotation of SARS-CoV contained the same mutation.