Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) surgery is now a viable solution in selected patients and the “remodelling” palatopharyngeal surgery is the most common one. Recently it becomes less in-vasive with the introduction of Barbed Sutures (BS). An optimization of surgical technique is represented by Barbed pharyngoplasty (BP), that requires surgical precision and needs efficient and precise oropharyngeal visualization. Consequently, the lighting system is of pivotal im-portance in BP. The aim of this work is to describe the first experience on the use of a new light-ing system, called KlaroTM in BP for OSA. We evaluated the Klaro™ system in 15 consecutives BP for OSA in comparison with conventional headlamp illumination. The visualization of pala-topharyngeal muscle in the bottom of the tonsillar fossa, entry and exit needle, such as needle tip were statistically better with KlaroTM than headlamp illumination both for surgeon and resi-dent (p<0.05). No significant differences for the visualization of the posterior pharyngeal wall and uvula were reported. The KlaroTM lighting system allows a satisfied illumination of oral cavity and oropharynx in the majority of cases. We encourage to use of KlaroTM not only in BP for OSA, but also in all oral and pharyngeal surgeries, including tonsillectomy and oncological surgery.

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the higher education sector in South Africa. However, academics and students’ preparedness and competencies have been considered a major conundrum concerning the integration of online learning in the classroom. The purpose of this paper is to examine the academics’ perspectives on a blend of a metaverse in the higher education sector in the post-COVID-19 era at one of the South African rural-based universities. A survey was administered in 2022 to ten (10) academics and the reports were consulted from four (4) E-learning practitioners to solicit their perceptions regarding the use of online learning and contact classes in the post-pandemic era. A qualitative research approach was employed to comprehend the challenges encountered in a historically disadvantaged rural-based university in Limpopo Province. The findings of this study show that there are major issues and challenges impeding the establishment of effective e-learning education. Consequently, technological continuity as a new normal in the post-COVID-19 era appears to be unattainable due to the challenges encountered by the students and lecturers. The use of Learning Management Systems among academics seems to have deteriorated due to the adjustments in COVID-19 rules and regulations. Furthermore, the findings revealed that most academics believed that contact learning remains irreplaceable throughout generations and ages as some are technophilic. This paper recommends that the incompetence and technological resistance and reluctance in adopting transformative pedagogies may not be used as a stumbling block to consider e-learning as a viable option to discontinue online education.

Tributyltin (TBT) is an environmental contaminant present on all continents, including Antarctica, with a potent biocidal action. Its use began to be intensified during the 1970s, being effectively banned in 2003, but remaining in the environment to this day due to several factors that increase its half-life and misuse despite the bans. In addition to the endocrine disrupting effect of TBT, that may lead to imposex induction in some invertebrate species, there are several studies that demonstrated that TBT also has an immunotoxic effect. The immunotoxic effects that have been observed experimentally in vertebrates using in vitro and in vivo models involve different mechanisms, but mainly alterations in the expression and/or secretion of cytokines. In this review, we summarize and update the literature on the impacts of TBT on the immune system, as well as discuss what still needs to be done to fill the knowledge gaps regarding the impact of this endocrine disrupting-chemical on immune system homeostasis.

This paper presents the development of a housing information system application using the Agile development method. The rapid development of information technology has necessitated the use of systems in various fields for efficient administration and data processing. However, traditional soft- ware development approaches are time-consuming and may not meet user requirements. The Agile methodology, with its flexible and iterative approach, addresses these challenges by focusing on delivering a functional system quickly. In this study, credit scoring and background related to housing information systems are examined, along with an overview of related work in Agile software development methodologies. The methods used in developing the housing information system application are explained, including the Agile development process and the stages involved. The results show that the Agile development method effectively produces user-friendly and functional housing information system applications. The system provides a simple and intuitive interface that facilitates easy navigation and access to information. Overall, the Agile development method is a valuable approach for software development to meet evolving user needs.

Background: Alkylresorcinols (ARs) are polyphenolic compounds with a wide spectrum of biological activities and potentially implicated in the regulation of host metabolism. The present study is aimed to establish whether ARs can be produced by human gut microbiota and to evaluate alterations in the content of ARs in stool samples of C57BL and db/db and LDLR (-/-) mice in dependence on diet specifications and olivetol (5-n-pentylresorcinol) supplementation in order to estimate a regulatory potential of ARs. Methods: The quantita-tive analysis of ARs levels in mice stool samples was performed using gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection; fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from human donor to germ-free mice was performed to explore whether the intestinal microbiota could produce ARs molecules. Results: A significant increase in the amounts of individual mem-bers of ARs homologues in stool samples was revealed in 14 days after FMT. 5-n-Pentylresorcinol supplementation to a regular-chow diet influences the amounts of sev-eral ARs in stool of C57BL/6 and LDLR (-/-), but not db/db mice. Conclusions: For the first time, we have shown that several ARs can be produced by the intestinal microbiota. Taking into account, that AR concentrations in human serum are correlated with LPS levels and with microbiota diversity indexes in human stool samples, it can be assumed that ARs may serve as quorum-sensing molecules, influencing gut microbiota composition and host me-tabolism as well.

As an important means of controlling the spread of cities, large-scale urban green belts have been widely used in the planning and construction of green space systems in various mega-size cities around the world. In previous studies, there has been more research on the overall isolation effect of green belts, while there has been less research on changes in their internal structure. There have been more perspectives on the land-use change (LUC) caused by urban expansion, and less systematic research on the dual driving factors of LUC. In this paper, we constructed a multi-dimensional index system to measure the "contraction-expansion" mechanism of land use in the overlapping vegetation areas of large green belts under the dual influence of urban expansion and urban greening, from the perspectives of quantity, space, and connectivity during different construction periods. Taking the boundary of two green belts in Beijing as an example, we hope to provide scientific support for the construction and ecological protection of Beijing's green belts.

The study of energy sources has been an awareness of the modern world due to constraints on the current energy worldwide supply chain. The complexity of the theme as well as the consciousness of finite sources also the need of saving energy has become a priority. Although many papers have moved in this direction there is no record of papers studying the variables in a house heating system, which represents the highest energy consumption in many cold countries. This paper explores the energy-saving theme by studying the main variables present in houses’ heating systems in the winter season in cold countries like Canada, Russia, Norway, Iceland, Finland, etc. By using a novel combination of numerical thermal simulation by COMSOLTM and statistical analysis by MiniTabTM , it was possible to design an efficient thermal distribution in a house with the variables of the system by determining their significance and interaction qualitatively.

Battery Management System helps to improve the transient performance and life of electro-chemical rechargeable batteries like a Li-ion, lead–acid, etc. The investigation here was focused on the crucial part of the Battery Management System that is, Cell balancing, State of charge of the battery, etc. By analyzing the different control strategies a new optimal control strategy is developed to improve the battery performance according to application. The Control strategy is developed using an active and passive cell balancing model with the help of AVL Cruise and MATLAB/SIMULINK software. For the active cell balancing technique, a switched capacitor technique is chosen. To have longer battery life, the time required for the cell balancing must be as low as possible for which many control logics have been defined. The effect of these cell balancing techniques on the performance of battery packs is investigated and it is observed to produce a promising result.

The study follows the interaction between the individual and the social context regarding the development of adolescents protected in residential houses from the child protection system in Iasi County, Romania. Starting from the evidence that in situations of providing relatively identical material and social resources, the results obtained by these children vary greatly, we examine how the meaning (understood mainly as purpose and mattering) can constitute a developmental resource. Considering theoretical models and previous research, the study aims to describe, through a qualitative approach, how these young people see themselves and the external environment (family and residential care), how they project their future (their purpose and objectives), and how these constructions and perceptions can influence their quality of life and social integration. We conducted three focus groups with 35 adolescents and young people (the ages 13-21) protected in and for different periods in residential houses (period 1-20 years). The results highlighted that a specific meaning is reconfigured as compensatory when affected by a trauma or adverse external event and thus can be a resource for resilience. On the other hand, the research highlighted that only the existence of goals alone is insufficient to generate action, and the unrealistic meanings given to own persons, experiences, and resources can be dangerous.

A novel simplifying Volterra structure algorithm is proposed for intensity modulation direct detection (IM-DD) optical fiber short distance communication system by using the decision feedback equalization algorithm (DFE). Based on this algorithm, the signal damage for four-level pulse amplitude modulation signal (PAM-4) is compensated, which is caused by device bandwidth limitation and dispersion during transmission. Experiments have been carried out using a 25GHz Electro-absorption Modulated Laser (EML), showing that PAM-4 signals can transmit over 10km in standard single-mode fiber (SSMF). The 112Gbps and 128Gbps signals can reach the error rate threshold of KP4-FEC (BER=2*10-4) and HD-FEC (BER=3.8*10-3), respectively. The simplified principle and process of proposed Volterra-based equalization algorithm are presented. Experimental results show that the algorithm complexity is greatly reduced by 75%, which provides an effective theoretical support for the commercial application of this algorithm.

Nowadays, cyber-physical systems (CPSs) are composed of more and more agents and the demand for designers to develop ever larger multi-agent systems is a fact. When the number of agents increases, several challenges related to control or communication problems arise due to the lack of scalability of existing solutions. It is important to develop tools that allow control strategies evaluation of large-scale systems. In this paper, it is considered that a CPS is a heterogeneous robot multi-agent system that cooperatively performs a formation task through a wireless network. The goal of this research is to evaluate the system's performance when the number of agents increases. To this end, two different mixed reality frameworks developed with the open-source tools Gazebo and Webots are used. These frameworks enable combining both real and virtual agents in a realistic scenario allowing scalability experiences. They also reduce the costs required when a significant number of robots operate in a real environment, as experiences can be conducted with a few real robots and a higher number of virtual robots by mimicking the real ones. Currently, the frameworks include several types of robots being the aerial robot Crazyflie 2.1 and differential mobile robots Khepera IV those used in this work. To illustrate the usage and performance of the frameworks, an event-based control strategy for rigid formations varying the number of agents is analyzed. The agents should achieve a formation defined by a set of desired Euclidean distances to their neighbors. To compare the scalability of the system in the two different tools, the following metrics have been used: formation error, CPU usage percentage, and the ratio between the real-time and the simulation time. The results show the feasibility of using Robot Operating System (ROS) 2 in distributed architectures for multi-agent systems in mixed reality experiences regardless of the number of agents and their nature. However, the two tools under study present different behaviors when the number of virtual agents grows in some of the parameters, and such discrepancies are analyzed.

Huge-scale video surveillance systems have become essential in crime prevention and situation recording. Traditional surveillance systems relied on human monitoring of video streams, which often led to errors and difficulties in understanding events. Furthermore, locating specific scenes within recorded videos required extensive human investigation. To overcome these challenges of inefficiency, inconvenience, and potential risks, we propose an intelligent analysis scheme that utilizes abnormal behavior recognition and metadata retrieval algorithms to replace human monitoring. The proposed method consists of three stages: i) metadata generation through object detection and tracking, ii) abnormal behavior recognition, and iii) SQL-based metadata retrieval. By incorporating specific information such as object color and aspect ratio, our technique enhances the usability of retrieval. Moreover, our abnormal behavior recognition module demonstrates robust classification capabilities for activities such as pushing, violence, falling, and crossing barriers. The proposed method can be seamlessly deployed on both edge cameras and analysis servers, making it adaptable to various surveillance setups. This approach revolutionizes the traditional surveillance paradigm, enabling more efficient, reliable, and secure video monitoring and analysis.

Programmable Object Interfaces are increasingly intriguing researchers because of their broader applications, especially in the medical field. In Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN), for example, the patients’ health can be monitored using clinical nano sensors. Exchanging such sensitive data requires a high level of security and protection against attacks. To that end, the literature is rich with security schemes that include the advanced encryption standard, secure hashing algorithm, and digital signatures that aim to secure the data exchange. However, such schemes elevate the time complexity rendering the data transmission slower. Cognitive Radio technology with a medical body area network system involves communication links between WBAN gateways, server and nano sensors rendering the entire system vulnerable to security attacks. In this paper, a novel DNA-based encryption technique is proposed to secure medical data sharing between sensing devices and central repositories. It has less computational time throughout authentication, encryption, and decryption. Our analysis of experimental attack scenarios shows that our technique is better than its counterparts.

Mucosal healing (MH) is the main treatment target in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, and it is defined by a combination of complete endoscopic and histologic remission. Indeed, the complete resolution of mucosal inflammation should be confirmed at histology. Neutrophil infiltration represents the unique histological marker in discriminating the active vs quiescent phase of disease, also including crypt injuries (cryptitis and crypt abscesses), erosions and ulcerations. Basal plasmacytosis do not qualify by itself the remission in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), but it represents a diagnostic clue, mostly at onset. Several histological scoring systems have been developed to evaluate therapeutic efficacy, even though they often resulted tricky and subjective. Moreover, these scores listed a heterogeneous group of histological features as parameters. The recently proposed simplified histological score on MH was based on neutrophils and their distribution in the gut mucosa was also considered, aiming to provide a simple, time-sparing and reproducible tool to be applied to the routinary diagnostic practice. The artificial intelligence could be a promising tool both in evaluating and standardizing the histological assessment of disease activity in IBD. Moreover, novel molecules involved in the inflammatory dynamics in the gut could be employed in supporting the diagnostic practice in IBD.

Nanomaterials such as pH-responsive polymers are promising for targeted drug delivery systems, due to the difference in pH between tumor and healthy regions. However, there is a significant concern about the application of these materials in this field due to their low mechanical resistance, which can be mitigated by combining these polymers with mechanically resistant inorganic materials such as mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) and hydroxyapatite (HA). Mesoporous silica has interesting properties such as high surface area and hydroxyapatite has been widely studied to aid in bone regeneration, providing special properties adding multifunctionality to the system. Furthermore, fields of medicine involving luminescent elements such as rare earth are an interesting option in cancer treatment. The present work aims to obtain a pH-sensitive hybrid system based on silica and hydroxyapatite with photoluminescent and magnetic properties. The nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nitrogen adsorption methods, CHN elemental analysis, Zeta Potential, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), vibrational sample magnetometry (VSM), and photoluminescence analysis. Incorporation and release studies of the antitumor drug doxorubicin were performed to evaluate the potential use of these systems in targeted drug delivery. The results showed the luminescent and magnetic properties of the materials and showed suitable characteristics for application in the release of pH-sensitive drugs.

Reinforcement learning is used for air combat problems in recent years, and the idea of curriculum learning is often used for reinforcement learning, but traditional curriculum learning suffers from the problem of plasticity loss in neural networks. Plasticity loss is the difficulty of learning new knowledge after the network has converged. To this end, we propose a motivational curriculum learning distributed proximal policy optimization (MCLDPPO) algorithm, through which agents trained can significantly outperform the predictive game tree and mainstream reinforcement learning methods. The motivational curriculum learning is to help the agent gradually improve their combat ability by observing the agent's unsatisfactory performance and providing corresponding rewards as a guide. Additionally, a complete tactical maneuver is encapsulated based on existing air combat knowledge, and through the flexible use of these maneuvers, some tactics beyond human knowledge can be realized. In addition, we designed an interruption mechanism for the agent to increase the frequency of decision-making when the agent faces an emergency. When the number of threats the agent receives changes, the current action will be interrupted to reacquire observations and make decisions again. Using the interruption mechanism can significantly improve the ability of the agent. To simulate actual air combat better, we built an air combat environment based on digital twin technology to create an air combat engine core such as missiles and radars. Based on this environment, we develop a distributed intelligent training system that employs Redis as the cache and obtains the data generated in the distributed environment through a multi-threaded TCP/IP protocol, which significantly increases the training data throughput and helps the agent accelerates convergence. The experimental results demonstrate that the agent can fully exploit the situational information to make reasonable decisions and affords air combat tactical adaption, verifying the effectiveness of the algorithmic framework proposed in this paper.

This study focuses on one of the most famous open problems in mathematics, namely the Collatz conjecture. The Collatz conjecture or 3x + 1 Problem is perhaps today's most enigmatic unsolved mathematical problem. It is named after Lothar Collatz, who rst proposed it in 1937. It may be stated as as follow: Take any positive integer n. If n is even then divide it by 2, else do \triple plus one" and get 3n + 1. The conjecture is that this process will eventually reach the number 1, regardless of which positive integer is chosen initially. In this paper, we present a simple proof for the Collatz conjecture.

In this article we investigate the generalized Kawahara-KdV system. A new topological approach is applied to prove the existence of at least one classical solution and at least two nonnegative classical solutions. The arguments are based upon recent theoretical results.

Botswana, Eswatini and Lesotho are three Southern African countries which make use of re-turn-of-service (RoS) schemes to increase human resources for health in their countries. These initiatives bind beneficiaries to a pre-defined period of service upon completion of their studies based on the length of funding support received. We aim to review the history of these policies to understand the conceptualisation, intent and implementation of these schemes. We used a mul-ti-methods research design which consisted of a literature review, policy review and semi-structured interviews with policymakers and implementors. All three governments have a combination of grant-loan schemes and full bursaries or scholarships. The policies have all been operating for over 20-years, with Eswatini’s pre-service being the oldest since it was introduced in 1977 followed by Lesotho’s 1978 policy and Botswana’s 1995 pre-service policy. These policies have never been reviewed or updated. RoS schemes in these countries were introduced to ad-dress critical skills shortages, improve employability prospects for citizens, to have competent public sector employees by global standards, and to aid career progress of government employ-ees. Ministries of Health are passive role players. However, these schemes can only be efficient if there is clear cooperation and coordination between all stakeholders.

Crop genetic diversity is most for the long-term sustainable production system. The breeding and production strategies of developing and growing uniform and homogenous varieties have created many different problems. Such populations are static and very sensitive to unpredictable stresses. In Nepal, more than 80% of seed system is informal s which has contributed greatly to creating and maintaining genetic diversity within the field particularly contributing to landrace diversity. This paper aims to assess and present the approaches and advantages of increased crop genetic diversity in the fields. The paper is developed based on experiences of implementing on-farm conservation activities carried out in Nepal since last two decades. Some of the evidences have been derived from on-going evolutionary plant breeding project being implemented in Nepal. The information is supplemented with field assessment, focus group discussion, and literature review. The major approaches to increase crop genetic diversity are evolutionary plant breeding, cultivar mixture, landrace enhancement, informal seed system, bulk method, diversifying the sources, participatory plant breeding, open pollination, etc. EPB and cultivar mixture are very simple and effective approaches to increase crop genetic diversity at field level. The involvement of farmers in these approaches helps to accelerate the population improvement particularly for landraces. The major advantages of increased crop genetic diversity are: seed maintenance by farmers themselves, minimal risk of crop failure, resilience to unpredictable stresses, increased amount of diversified nutrition, production increment each year, ease to produce organically, etc. However, there are some issues and problems associated with mixtures and diverse varieties, for example, not being able to harvest by machine, mature at a different date, difficulty in maintaining seeds and registration, etc. Crop genetic diversity should be considered for a climate-resilient and self-dependent production system. The higher the genetic diversity in farming land, the more chance of getting the multiple benefits in the agriculture system (Vernooy 2022).

The past years have shown the widespread vulnerability of agro-food systems and rural diets to external perturbations such as wars, climate events, and pandemics. Experiencing numerous obstacles, Cuba constitutes an example of success in the transition to agroecological sustainability models. This article characterizes how processes of agricultural change, local development, and industrial degrowth have impacted food availability and dietary diversity among rural livelihoods in the municipality of Yaguajay, Sancti Spíritus, for the past forty years (1980s-2020s). It integrates findings from focus groups, repeated nutritional surveys, and interviews carried out between 2016 and 2022 among residents of the towns of Yaguajay and La Picadora. The goal is to identify effects and response strategies within agro-food systems of rural populations. Distinguishing between periods of abundance and shortage, our findings show two counterpoints: intensive sugar monocrop cultivation which resulted in high dietary variety; and economic crises in 1990s and during the last period of the pandemic, which have led to significant dietary adjustments. The article concludes underscoring the importance of comprehensive assessments of dietary strategies to elicit what agroecological transitions mean for local realities and of the value of food consumption and small-holder production experiences to understand the limits to sustainable transformations.

In the polar region, the gravity vector and Earth's rotation vector tend to be in the same direction, leading to slower convergence speed and longer alignment time of the moving base alignment. When the alignment time is short, the alignment cannot converge, resulting in low azimuth accuracy. To address this issue, we propose a polar moving base alignment method based on backtracking scheme. Notably, this work first derives a polar coarse alignment method with the inertial frame based on the transverse Earth model. On this basis, we design a polar coarse alignment method based on backtracking scheme and optimize the data storage scheme. Then, an inverse navigation algorithm based on the transverse inertial navigation mechanical arrangement scheme was derived, and a polar fine alignment method based on backtracking scheme was designed. Semi-physical simulation experiments showed that the alignment algorithm based on backtracking scheme can converge in a short time with high alignment accuracy.

We explore several aspects of replica synchronization with the goas of retrieving the value of parameters for the Lorenz system. The idea is that of having a computer replica (slave) of a natural system (master, simulated in this paper), and exploit the fact that slave synchronizes with the master only if they evolve with the same parameters. As a byproduct, in the synchronized phase the state variables of the slave and that of the master are the same, thus allowing to perform measurements impossible on the real system. We review some aspects of master-slave synchronization using a subset of variables, with intermittent coupling. We show how synchronization can be achieved when some of the state variables are available for direct measurement using a simulated annealing approach, and also when they are accessible only through a scalar function, using a pruned-enriching ensemble approach, similar to genetic algorithms without cross-over.

Rottlerin(R) is a natural extract from Mallotus philippensis with antiviral properties. Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) is a fatal disease characterized by systemic granulomatous inflammation and high mortality, with no established prevention or cure. We investigated antiviral effect of liposome loaded R, Rottlerin-liposome(RL) against Feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV), the causative agent. We demonstrated that R and RL inhibited FIPV replication in dose dependently with a PKCδ related manner, not only in the early endocytosis step but also in the late step of replication. RL resolved the low solubility issue of rottlerin and improved its inhibition efficacy at the cellular level. Based on these findings, we suggest that RL has a value for further research as a potential antiviral agent against FIPV.

There is evidence that Additive Manufacturing plays a crucial role in the fourth industrial revolution. The design freedom provided by this technology is disrupting limits and rules from the past enabling engineers to have new products otherwise unfeasible. Recent developments in the field of SLM have led to a renewed interest in lattice structures that can be produced non-stochastically in previously unfeasible dimensional scales. One of the primary applications is aerospace engineering where the need of lightweight and performance is urgent to reduce the carbon footprint of civil transport around the globe. Of particular concern is fatigue strength. Being able to predict fatigue life in both LCF (Low Cycle Fatigue) and HCF (High Cycle Fatigue) is crucial for a safe and reliable design in aerospace systems and structures. In the present work, an experimental evaluation of compressive-compressive fatigue behavior has been performed to evaluate the fatigue curves of different cells, varying sizes and relative density. A Design of Experiment approach has been adopted in order to maximize the information extractable in a reliable form.

Intracranial hemorrhage is a serious medical problem that requires rapid and often intensive medical care. Identifying the location and type of any hemorrhage present is a critical step in the treatment of the patient. Diagnosis requires an urgent procedure, and the detection of hemorrhage is a difficult and time-consuming process for human experts. In this paper, we propose methods based on EfficientDet’s deep-learning technology that can be applied to the diagnosis of hemorrhages and thus become a decision-support system. Our proposal is two-fold. On the one hand, the proposed technique classifies slices of computed tomography scans for the presence hemorrhage or its lack, achieving 92.7% accuracy and 0.978 ROC-AUC. On the other hand, our methodology provides visual explanations of the classification chosen using the Grad-CAM methodology.

This review discusses the distribution pattern, nesting style, mating behavior, and colony structure of the Asian weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) in Asia. Recent findings suggested that weaver ant occurrences are not only limited to tropical rainforests biome, agroforestry and large monoculture fields, but have encroached human rural habitation including densely populated urban areas. Comparatively, O. longinoda and O. smaragdina are taxonomically classified as two distinct species, but the main differences between them are strongly dependent on the allopatric nature or geographical speciation of their distribution. Although weaver ants are dominant ubiquitous and conspicuous arboreal insects with a predilection for habitation in trees canopies, viable nests colonies on the ground have been reported in Thailand. O. smaragdina usually construct their polydomous nests (multiple satellites nests arrangement within a single host but diverse plants species) by weaving tree-leaves using their larval silk. Knowledge on mating behavior is rudimentary; hence more studies are needed especially in understanding how weather parameters affect nuptial flight swarming act. At the colony organization level, comprehensive reports about minor and major workers contrasts with the poorly documented but significant intermediate size of workers caste. The versatile impact of Asian Oecophylla is offering important ecological subsistence services to both the nature and humans. This is by combining positive economic implications to food security concern with a provision of organic nutrients for host plants and highly healthful diet enhancer (nourishing-medicinal). Despite its wide presence in large oil palms monoculture, only one report had exposed weaver ants’ potential positive ecological impact (i.e. predation on bagworms Pteroma pendula) in Southeast Asia.

To evaluate the nutrient load due to the grazing of laying hens in outdoor runs, soil characteristics were monitored in three Italian organic farms. For each farm, soil samples were taken from three increasing distances from the hen house and two depths and different chemical parameters were evaluated. The comparison among the results from the different distances shows that N-NO3 and Olsen P are the most affected parameters by hen faeces: both present high values with a statistically significant difference in the area close to the poultry house and for the most superficial layer. Even TKN and TOC show significant differences between the concentrations of the first layer (more concentrated) and those of the second layer (less concentrated). In general, the surface soil layer closest to the chicken house is the portion of the outdoor run most affected by chicken droppings and represents the most critical point in terms of potential environmental impact. Therefore, it is necessary to intensify the management of the outdoor run with tools that can facilitate the grazing of animals and with vegetation that can absorb nutrients by limiting leaching and run-off.

Hot spring is a hot water that is naturally occurring on the surface from the underground and typically heated by subterranean volcanic activity and local underground geothermal gradient. There are four main hot springs in Rwanda such as: Kalisimbi, Bugarama, Kinigi and Nyamyumba former name Gisenyi hot springs. It is often believed that soaking in hot springs is a great way which naturally detox human skin. This research focused on the geochemical analysis of Nyamyumba hot springs located near the fresh water of Lake Kivu for the purpose of understanding its healing capacity and safety. Nyamyumba hot springs are located in the western branch of the East African Rift System and they are located near Virunga volcanic complex, explaining the rising and heating mechanism of water. The concentrations of Sulfate, Iron, Ammonia, Alkalinity, Silica, Phosphate, Salinity, Alkalinity, and Conductivity using standard procedures were measured. The results showed that hot spring water has higher concentrations of chemicals compared to Lake Kivu water and the geochemistry of these hot springs maybe associated with rock dissolution by hot water. The measured parameters were compared with World Health Organization (WHO) standards for recreational waters and it has been identified that Nyamyumba hot springs are safe to use in swimming and therapeutic activities.

In this paper we present a successful implementation of the Hindmarsh–Rose model within a SC environment. The merits of the proposed approach are design simplicity, due to stochastic computing, and the ease of implementation. Simulation results showed that the approximation achieved is equivalent to introducing a noise source into the original model. A study for the level of noise introduced, according to the number of bits in the stochastic sequence, has been performed. Additionally, we demonstrate that such an approach, even though it is noisy, it reproduces the behaviour of biological systems, which are intrinsically noisy. It is also demonstrated that a speedup of x2 compared to biological systems is easily achievable, with a very small number of gates, thus paving the road for the in silico implementation of large neuron networks.

Rojolele is an Indonesian traditional rice variety from Klaten (Central Java) that classified as tropical japonica and low land rice which become a premium rice variety and have higher price in the market due to a delicious taste and a fragrance aroma. The agronomic characteristics of Rojolele are having high plant stature with sturdy stems and upright plant shape, thick and rough leaves, strong and deeper root systems, long panicle length, and long duration of life. Rojolele rice cultivation is facing important challenges from drought, diseases, long duration, and lodging. Thus, breeding Rojolele cultivars with resistance to drought, diseases, lodging, and short duration is the major focus for Rojolele rice improvement. Indonesian farmer have learned to successfully cultivate Rojolele by applying practical skills, leading to increase the rice productivity. Molecular breeding program, including quantitative trait loci (QTL), genome-wide association study (GWAS), genomic selection, and genome editing can be applied to improve Rojolele characteristics. In this review, important agronomic and quality traits, intensification system for irrigation and pest control, mutation breeding, transgenic lines, and also future perspectives for Rojolele research were presented. Rojolele is useful for rice breeding program in order to guarantee the food security to overcome increasing population and climate change.

The contribution deals with the selection of progressive methods and technologies to improve the management of production processes in the industrial area. The first chapter of the contribution summarises the theoretical starting points for the management of production processes and their progressive concepts. Chapter 2 deals with the analysis of the current state of play in the use of methods and technologies in production management and summarise its problem areas. Chapter 3 presents the design of a system for selecting the appropriate method and technology to improve the management of the production process. The system presented is designed from data collection blocks, a benchmark for the performance of industrial enterprises' production processes, and data mining to gain knowledge of the impact of the methods and technologies used on the performance of production processes. The last block of the system allows the presentation of the obtained results, which sets out the recommendation for the choice of progressive method and technology. The system is partially verified in the last chapter of the contribution.

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are the need of the hour due to growing climate change problems linked with the transportation sector. Battery Thermal Management System (BTMS), which is accountable for certifying safety and performance of lithium-ion batteries (LiB), is the most vital part of an EV. LiB has auspicious gravimetric energy density but the heat generation due to chemical reactions inside a LiB during charging and discharging causes temperature rise which has a direct effect on LiB performance and safety. This study specifically focuses on aircooled BTMS, defines different types of air-cooled BTMS (active and Passive), discusses limitations associated with air-cooled BTMS, and investigates different optimization techniques and parameters to improve performance of air-cooled BTMS. Maintaining temperature within optimum range and uniform temperature distribution between cells of a battery pack are the major design parameters for improving the performance and efficiency of air-cooled BTMS. Various optimization techniques including cell arrangement with a battery pack, air-flow channel optimization, and air inlet/outlet position variations are discussed and each technique is thoroughly reviewed. Finally, it’s noted that passive air-cooled BTMS is not that effective for long-distance vehicles so most researchers shifted their focus toward active air-cooled BTMS. Active air-cooled BTMS requires a lot of power for effective performance. Lastly, the most recent field of air-cooled BTMS technology which is Air-Hybrid BTMS is discussed and declared a very promising solution for overcoming major limitations associated with air-cooled BTMS.

This paper presents a low-cost C-band frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar system for use in indoor through-wall metal detection. Indoor remote-sensing applications, such as through-wall detection and positioning, are essential for the comprehensive realization of the internet of things or super-connected societies. The proposed system comprises a two-stage radio-frequency power amplifier, a voltage-controlled oscillator, circuits for frequency modulation and system synchronization, a mixer, a 3-dB power divider, a low-noise amplifier, and two cylindrical horn antennas (Tx/Rx antennas). The antenna yields gain values in the 6.8 ~ 7.8 range when operating in the 5.83 ~ 5.94 GHz frequency band. The backscattered Tx signal is sampled at 4.5 kHz using the Arduino UNO analog-to-digital converter. Thereafter, the sampled signal is transferred to the MATLAB platform and analyzed using a customized FMCW radar algorithm. The proposed system is built using commercial off-the-shelf components, and it can detect targets within a 56.3 m radius in indoor environments. In this study, the system could successfully detected targets through a 4-cm-thick ply board with a measurement accuracy of less than 10 cm.

This paper presents the results of quantitative research regarding the predictive model of citizens' attitudes about the risks of introducing the death penalty in the Republic of Serbia legal system. The research was conducted with the use of a questionnaire that was requested and then collected online from 427 people in June 2021. A multivariate regression analysis was used, identifying the extent to total scores of the main dependent variables (introducing the death penalty; trust in the legal system; advantages of introduction; disadvantages of introduction scores) were associated with five demographic and socio-economic variables: gender, marital, education, income, and age. We tested the central hypothesis of which gender is predicting variables citizens' attitudes about the risks of introducing the death penalty in the legal system of Serbia. The findings revealed that gender and educational level were the most effective predictors of the research variables under question. The majority of respondents support the introduction of the death penalty and the most important predictor of disadvantages of introducing the death penalty in the legal system is age. Based on the findings that there are major differences in the citizens' attitudes about the risks of introducing the death penalty in the legal system, policies, strategies, and regulations must take into account these very important findings.

Superstar Learning System is an interactive information platform, where teachers and students can not only have an easy access to various learning resources, but also interact in the whole teaching and learning process. Although there have been a large number of studies devoted to the use of Superstar Learning System in education, very few of them explored its behavioral intention. In order to deal with this missing link in literature, we adopt a random sampling technique and a questionnaire survey to collect data. This study concludes that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, lecturer influence, peer influence, user innovativeness, interface simplicity, and multiple functions exert a positive influence on behavioral intention to use Superstar Learning System. We form a fit extended technology acceptance model (TAM) by including innovative constructs, i.e. lecturer and peer influences, user innovativeness, interface simplicity, and multiple functions. Interdisciplinary research is needed to explore an extended TAM to use Superstar Learning System in the future.

The world is attesting a tremendous change today which is remarkably coined as industry 4.0. Several terminologies have developed as a result of the emergency of industry 4.0, notably is cybersecurity which entails the security of communication and network operations activities either on or offline and the measures taken to achieve such security. The most common form of communication by organizations and Business today is the electronic mails (Email), although email is a valuable tool, it also creates security challenges when not properly managed. There is a growing adoption of email as official form of communication in many organizations with majority of users on mobile android devices due to the popularity of the android operating systems and the proliferation of mobile devices. Banks, health care, educational institutions and many other service providers are communicating to their clients through email where sensitive and confidential information are shared. One major threat to email communication is lack of confidentiality for emails accessed via android mobile devices due to weaknesses of android operating system (OS) platform that presents possibilities to penetrate by hackers and android email client since it accepts a onetime login and password authentication which is only required again if the email account is deleted from the android mobile device. In this study, an algorithm was designed and implemented on an android application that allows an email sender to compose an email and set the time the email will stay in the receiver inbox before it automatically wipes off. Primary data was collected from email users using tightly structured questionnaires and respondents comprised of those with email technical background and those that are typical email users inorder to get their opinion on the lack of confidentiality on the android mobile email client, while secondary data from scholarly journals and articles informed the study design. The designed algorithm was tested and evaluated through expert opinion. The result of the study indicates that the designed algorithm addresses the confidentiality issues and threats on android email clients.

Recommender systems have been applied in a wide range of domains such as e-commerce, media, banking, and utilities. This kind of system provides personalized suggestions based on large amounts of data in order to increase user satisfaction. These suggestions help client select products, while organizations can increase the consumption of a product. In the case of social data, sentiment analysis can help gain better understanding of a user’s attitudes, opinions and emotions, which is beneficial to integrate in recommender systems for achieving higher recommendation reliability. On the one hand, this information can be used to complement explicit ratings given to products by users. On the other hand, sentiment analysis of items that can be derived from online news services, blogs, social media or even from the recommender systems themselves is seen as capable of providing better recommendations to users. In this study, we present and evaluate a recommendation approach that integrates sentiment analysis into collaborative filtering methods. The recommender system proposal is based on an adaptive architecture, which includes improved techniques for feature extraction and deep learning models based on sentiment analysis. The results of the empirical study performed with two popular datasets show that sentiment–based deep learning models and collaborative filtering methods can significantly improve the recommender system’s performance.

The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is one of the largest herbivore mammals in the world. A portion of the total elephant population is under human care, where health problems such as skin lesions and decreased appetite are reported. The objective of this study was to apply the therapeutic properties of cannabidiol (CBD) to aid treatment of palmar abscesses and a suboptimal food intake in a female Asian elephant in Mexico. A CBD-isolate compounded medication was administered orally at a dose of 0.05 mg/kg/day. CBD administration showed positive effects such as reduction in abscess size, decreased food selectivity, increased food intake, weight gain and increased mobility. More research in elephants is needed to understand their cannabinoid pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics and proposing a dosage range and therapeutic applications for this species.

Galangin(Gal) is a natural active flavonoid compound separated from the roots and rhizomes of Alpinia ofcinarum Hance. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Gal has a variety of biological activities such as anti-tumor, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-ischemic stroke, suppressing vitiligo and Alzheimer’s disease, etc. The purpose of this research was to prepare a galangin self-microemulsion drug delivery system (Gal-SMEDDS) and compare its anti-oxidant activity and pharmacokinetics with free Gal.The average particle size of the prepared Gal-SMEDDS was approximately 21.33 nm, the polydispersity index was 0.096, the zeta potential was -4.09 mV, and the entrapment efficiency was 96.74%. Compared with free Gal, the release of Gal-SMEDDS was improved in vitro release experiment. Cell experiments showed that Gal had obvious anti-oxidation effect, and the effect of Gal-SMEDDS was better than that of free Gal. In vivo pharmacokinetic experiments showed that the pharmacokinetic parameters of Gal-SMEDDS were better than that of free Gal, which indicated that the self-microemulsion drug delivery system(SMEDDS) effectively increases the oral bioavailability of Gal and alters its pharmacokinetic parameters, such that it may be effective in the treatment of anti-oxidant.

TWIST1 is a transcription factor that affects cell behavior during development and cell differentiation. Yet, it is better known for its roles in neoplasia through regulation of cell plasticity. The pathological contributions of TWIST1 in tumor initiation, angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis, and chemo-resistance have been the focus of much research. To-date, the only way to quantitatively measure the abundance of TWIST is by immunoblots. Yet, no bioassay exists that can detect TWIST1 activity. Thus, we present here a TWIST1 cell-based assay that allows measuring the amount of active TWIST1 non-invasively in living cells. The bioassay was characterized against previously described TWIST1 “inhibitors”, as well as by epigenetic modulators of TWIST1 gene expression. Moreover, we tested multiple cell lines, showing that the level of TWIST1 mRNA resembles that of the bioassay. We show that prostate cancer cells (PC3) undergoing EMT, migrate out of 3D-spheroids and have increased TWIST1 activity. This fast and reliable system to detect active TWIST1 in different biological conditions allows a detailed analysis of this factor, as well as it can be used for drug discovery, since TWIST1 is a potential target for cancer chemotherapeutics.

Term vascular dysfunctional refers to a wide spectrum of vascular abnormalities including pathogenesis of tumors, their proliferation and leading to malfunctioned conditions. The treatment of most of the vascular anomalies including peripheral arterial disease and cardiac disease is multi factor procedure which include the embolic therapy, laser-based treatments and coagulation are all plating important role in managing the disease associated with vascular breakdown. The research proposal defines the treatment and diagnosis procedures involved in treatment of vascular abnormalities with a deep emphasis on techniques, efficiency and complications resulted from various other procedure and use of mapping and sequencing techniques based on genetics of variants of selected genes PIk3CA which will ultimately be more effective.

Energy transitions are reshaping the global energy system. Such shift has taken the power system to become a critical infrastructure for achieving economic development of every nation in the planet, therefore, guaranteeing its security is crucial, not only for energy purposes but as a part of a national security strategy. This paper presents a multi-dimensional index developed to assess energy security of electrical systems in the long term. This tool, named Power System Security Index (PSIx), and which has been previously used for the evaluation of a country in two different time frames, is applied to evaluate the member countries of the Latin American Energy Organization, located within the Latin America and the Caribbean region, in order to measure their performance on energy security. Mixed results were obtained from the analysis, with clear top performers in the region such as Argentina, while there are others with broad areas of opportunity, as it is the case of Haiti.

The low relative humidity (RH) levels in a greenhouse during the daytime in a strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch) cultivation period negatively affect the growth of strawberry related to photo-physiology. Therefore, this study was conducted to confirm an efficient RH management method by analyzing the phenotypic characteristics related to photo-physiology by controlling the RH in a greenhouse during the daytime with a fog system. Strawberry plants were grown respectively in a greenhouse affected by natural RH changes (control) and in a greenhouse with 40% ~ 50% RH adjusted during the daytime using a fog system. In the greenhouse, with controlled RH, the temperature decreased, and the RH was higher in the initial growth stage of strawberry planting than the control. It was observed a significant increase in the survival rate of the strawberry plant, as well as the incidence of powdery mildew, was lowered. In addition, the photosynthetic rate and OJIP chlorophyll a fluorescence transients related to photosystem II efficiency of strawberry leaves were significantly higher in the fog treatment than in the control. In winter, during the day, the number of days on which the temperature dropped below 20℃ has increased, the greenhouse temperature with controlled RH was lower due to the fog system. When the yield per strawberry plant in January and February was investigated, the control was higher than the RH treatment. Therefore, RH management using a fog system must be controlled at a level where a temperature range is adequate for plant growth, in which the efficient control of these parameters increases strawberry productivity.

An interesting anomaly of the diffusion process with an apparently negative diffusion coefficient defined through the mean-square displacement in a one-dimensional quantum molecular chain model is shown. Nevertheless, the system satisfies the H-theorem, so that the second law of thermodynamics is satisfied. The reason why the “diffusion constant” becomes negative is due to the effect of the phase mixing process, which is a characteristic result of the one-dimensionality of the system. We illustrate the situation where this negative “diffusion constant” appears.

In the present study, we compare energy transition scenarios from a new set of Integrated Assessment Models, the suite of MEDEAS models, based on a systems dynamic modelling approach, with scenarios from two already well know structurally and conceptually different Integrated Assessment Models, the Integrated MARKAL-EFOM System (TIMES) and the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning system (LEAP). The investigation was carried out to cross-compare and benchmark the response of MEDEAS models with TIMES and LEAP in depicting the energy transition in two different countries, Austria and Bulgaria. The preliminary results show a good agreement across all the models in representing scenarios projecting historical trends, while a major discrepancy is detectable when the rate of implementation of renewable energy is forced to increase to achieve energy system decarbonization. The discrepancy is mainly traceable to the differences in the models’ conception and structures rather than in a real mismatch in representing the same scenarios. The present study is put forward as a guideline for validating new modelling approaches that link energy policy decision tools to the global biophysical and socioeconomic constraints.

TThe paper presents the results of research on the influence of the settings of lubrication and cooling system parameters (solenoid valve opening time and lubricant feed pressure in terms of its quantity) in order to select the optimal lubricating conditions and thus reduce the wear of the dies used in the first forging operation of the valve forging made of high-nickel steel. Based on the observation of lubrication in the industrial process, it was found that a significant part of the lubricant fails to reach the die cavity, reaching the outside of it, which causes die wear due to seizure resulting from adhesion of the forging material to the tool surface, as well as high lubricant consumption and dirt in the press chamber. The authors proposed their own mobile lubricating and cooling system, which allows for a wide range of adjustments and provided with automatic cleaning procedures of the entire system, unlike the fixed lubrication system used so far in the industrial process. First, tests were carried out in laboratory conditions to determine the highest wettability and the lubricant remaining inside the tool cavity. These tests determined the lubrication system parameter settings which ensured that the greatest amount of lubricant remains in the cold die cavity without the forging process. Then, to verify the obtained results, tests were carried out in the industrial process of hot die forging of valve forgings, for short production runs of up to 500 forgings. The results were compared with the measurement of changes in the geometry of tools and forgings based on 3D scanning and surface topography analysis with the use of SEM. For best results (the variant of the setting of the dose and the time of exposure to lubricant), the forging process was carried out with the use of a new tool, up to the maximum service life.

Abstract: Traffic collisions cause a huge problem of public health in low and middle income countries.. The safe system approach is generally considered as the leading concept on the way to road safety. Based on the fundamental premise that humans make mistakes, the overall traffic system should be ‘forgiving’. Sustainable safe road design is one of the key elements of the safe system approach. However, the road design principles behind the safe system approach are certainly not leading in today’s infrastructure developments in most LMICs. Cities are getting larger and road networks are expanding. In many cases, existing through-roads in local communities are up-graded, resulting in heavy traffic loads and high speeds on places, that are absolutely not suited for this kind of through-traffic. Furthermore a safe system would require that functional design properties of cars and roads would be conceptually integrated, which is not the case at all. Although advanced driver assistance systems are on their way of development for quite a long period, their potential role in the safe system concept is mostly unclear and at least strongly underexposed. The vision on future cars is dominated by the concept of automation. This paper argues that the way to self-driving cars, should take a route via the concept of guidance, i.e. vehicles that guide drivers, both on self-explaining roads and on more or less unsafe roads. Such an in-vehicle support system may help drivers to choose transport mode, route and speed, based on criteria related to safety and sustainability. It is suggested to develop a driver assistance system using relatively simple and cheap technologies, particularly for the purpose of use in LMICs. Such a GUIDE (Generic User Interface for Driving Evolution) may make roads self-explaining - not only by their physical design characteristics - but also by providing in-car guidance for drivers. In future the functional characteristics of both cars and roads should be conceptualized into one integrated safe system, in which the user plays the central role. As such GUIDE may serve as the conceptual bridge between vehicle and roadway characteristics. It is argued that GUIDE is necessary to bring a breakthrough in road safety developments in LMICs and also give an acceleration towards zero fatalities in HICs.

Our recent study detected the expression of a tissue Renin-Angiotensin System (tRAS) in human intervertebral discs (IVDs). The present study sought to investigate the impact of angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AGTR1) antagonist losartan on human nucleus pulposus (NP) cell inflammation and degeneration induced by tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Human NP cells (4 donors, Pfirrmann grade 2-3, 30-37 years old, male) were isolated and expanded. TNF-α (10 ng/mL) was used to induce inflammation and degeneration. We examined the impact of losartan supplementation and measured gene expression of tRAS, anabolic, catabolic, and inflammatory markers in NP cells after 24 h and 72 h of exposure, respectively. T0070907, a PPAR-gamma antagonist, was applied to examine the regulatory pathway of losartan. Losartan (1 mM) significantly impaired TNF-α induced increase of pro-inflammatory (nitric oxide and TNF-α), catabolic (matrix metalloproteinases), and tRAS (AGTR1a and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme) markers. Further, losartan maintained the NP cell phenotype by upregulating aggrecan and downregulating collagen type I expression. In summary, losartan showed anti-inflammatory, anti-catabolic, and positive phenotype modulating effects on human NP cells. These results indicate that tRAS signaling plays an important role in IVD degeneration, and tRAS modulation with losartan could represent a novel therapeutic approach.

The type 6 protein secretion system (T6SS) is prevalently utilized by Gram-negative bacteria to compete for resources and space. Upon activation, toxic effectors from this secretion system are translocated into the competitor prokaryote or eukaryote in a contact-dependent manner. While much has been reported on T6SS-mediated prokaryotic competition, very little is understood about the mechanisms of bacterial interactions with eukaryotic hosts. Likewise, many virulent T6SS effectors are known to be antibacterial. In recent years, however, evidence has emerged on numerous T6SS effectors that interact with related immunity proteins in a range of eukaryotic hosts. Insights into how this effector-immunity pairing alters the physiological responses of the recipient organism might provide opportunities relating to the T6SS agricultural and biotherapeutic applications. We, therefore, summarize the impacts of the T6SS effectors with a special focus on bacterial interactions with animals, plants, and fungi. We further briefly discuss pipelines that are currently used to characterize antieukaryotic T6SS effectors.

Medical Trust-Network is one of the most promising fields of study in network science. Establishment of trust within medical entities ensures better treatment and increases better medical facilities. The word ‘Trust’ signifies a very important behavioral aspect between any human entities, especially among doctors and patients. To represent such relationships Trust Network Models are built to express the interactions between human entities within such networks. Though the idea of a Trust-Network has traditionally been one of the major areas of research, yet the concept of a medical trust network model is relatively a new domain. In this paper, we introduce an overall multilayered Trust Network to represent the entire healthcare architecture. More specifically our model is based on an evolutionary graph system with a discrete relationship between the three most important entities of any healthcare system, namely – Doctors, Departments, and Hospitals. Observations indicate that based on our model, the medical healthcare system is a multilayered model unlike a feed-forward model as indicated by previous studies.

The paper presents results from investigation focused on toxicity content in the exhaust gases emitted by the internal combustion compression ignition engine fueled with glycerol-ethanol blends at ratio of 50/50% by volume. Innovative issue of this engine is application of 2 high pressure injectors for glycerol-ethanol blend and diesel fuel direct injection at high pressure over 200 MPa. As known, glycerol is considered is by-product from biodiesel production technologies, hence its cost is relatively low to other renewable alternative fuels, which can be applied as a fuel to the reciprocating piston engines. Tests on exhaust gases toxicity were performed. It was found that the toxic components UHC, NOx and CO were below the maximal allowed limits. Both NOx and smoke emissions were strongly reduced with increase in glycerol-ethanol fraction in the fuel. Summarizing, such a fueling strategy proposed in this paper made it possible to effectively and environmentally friendly combust crude glycerol in the compression ignition engine working in a heat and power cogeneration unit. Exhaust gas emission tests conducted in this case confirmed usability of this technology to be implemented into practice.

In this study pH, temperature of the contents of the forestomach of cows and cow activity were measured using specific smaXtec boluses manufactured for animal care. Rumination time, body weight, milk yield, milk fat/protein ratio, milk lactose, milk somatic cell count, milk electrical conductivity and conception of concentrates were registered with the help of Lely Astronaut® A3 milking robots. The following parameters were obtained: base excess in blood, partial carbon dioxide pressure, partial oxygen pressure, bicarbonate, hydrogen potential, total carbon dioxide carbon, base excess in extracellular fluid, sodium, calcium, potassium, packed cell volume, chlorides, hemoglobin concentration and lactate. According to the concentration of lactose in milk, cows were grouped into two groups: group 1 - milk lactose &lt;4.70% (n = 20), group 2 - milk lactose ≥ 4.70% (n = 15). Data of cows were also divided by milk fat and protein ratio: F/P&lt;1.2 (class 1), F/P=1.2 (class 2) and F/P&gt;1.2 (class 3). According our results we can conclude that inline registered milk lactose concentration can be used as indicator for the health status of fresh dairy cows. Cows with higher lactose concentration (≥ 4.70%) developed more activity (54.47%) and had less risk of mastitis (lover milk EC, and SCC) and metabolic disorders according to F/P. Cows with higher lactose concentration showed higher glucose concentrations. Low level of lactose can be used as indicator of mastitis (milk SCC ≥ 100 thousand/ml) and metabolic disorders according to F/P.

Is the extensive decline of insects partially due to an insect-specific feature of their functional organization that is disadvantageous for living in an industrialized environment? The unique way in which gases are supplied in insect tissues is such a special trait. It exposes cells directly to the gas phase, via tracheae that end in micro-tubes, the tracheoles, which have diameters in the same range as particles of ultra-fine dust transported by air of industrialized countries. Number and volume of these particles – calculated to be inhaled by honeybees, e.g., – are indicative to locally impede O2-uptake and CO2-release and thus to restrain physiological activities.

One of the main challenges for autonomous learning in virtual environments is finding the right material that fits students’ needs and supports their learning process. Personalized recommender systems partially solve this problem by suggesting online educational resources to students based on their preferences. However, in educational environments (which need a proper characterization of both users and educational resources), most existing recommendation algorithms either fail to include all the available information or use hybrid processes that do not exploit possible relationships between users and item features. This article presents a personalized recommender system for educational resources aimed at combining user and item information into a single mathematical model based on matrix factorization. As a result, estimated latent factors can provide insight into possible interactions between users and item features, improving the quality of the information retrieval process. We validated the proposed model on a real dataset that contains the ratings assigned by students from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and Universidade Feevale to educational resources in the Colombian Federation of Learning Object Repositories (FROAC in Spanish). User characterization included learning style and educational level, whereas item characterization (obtained from the objects’ metadata), included interactivity level, aggregation level and type, and resource format. These results, compared to those obtained when not all the available information is included, show that our method can improve the recommendation process.

A global approach towards quality management highlights the need for constructing a new body of knowledge that views the field of global quality from a systems perspective. Based on the results of field experiments, and in light of the need to develop new global quality management terminology, the current article presents several key concepts in this field, with emphasis on a systems-oriented rationale and perspective. As such, the article is an important stage in building this body of knowledge, and towards the conceptualization of key variables used in global quality management, from a systems approach that interacts with the fields of international management and strategic management.

A Mamdani-type fuzzy-logic model has been developed to link Mediterranean seagrass abundance to the prevailing environmental conditions. Big Databases, as UNEP-WCMC (seagrass abundance), CMEMS and EMODnet (oceanographic/environmental) and human-impact parameters were utilized for this expert system. Model structure and input parameters were tested according to their capacity to accurately predict seagrass families at specific locations. The optimum FIS comprised of four input variables: water depth, sea surface temperature and nitrates and bottom chlorophyll-a concentration, exhibiting fair accuracy (76%). Results illustrated that Posidoniaceae prefers cool (16-18oC) and low chlorophyll-a presence (&lt; 0.2 mg/m3); Zosteraceae favors cool (16-18oC) and mesotrophic waters (Chl-a &gt; 0.2 mg/m3), but also slightly warmer (18-19.5 oC) with lower Chl-a levels (&lt; 0.2 mg/m3); Cymodoceaceae lives from warm, oligotrophic (19.5-21.0oC and Chl-a &lt; 0.3 mg/m3) to moderately warm mesotrophic sites (18-21.3oC and 0.3 – 0.4 mg/m3 Chl-a). Finally, Hydrocharitaceae thrives in warm Mediterranaean waters (21-23oC) of low chlorophyll-a content (&lt; 0.25 mg/m3). Climate change scenarios showed that Posidoniaceae and Zosteraceae tolerate bathymetric changes, Posidoniaceae and Zosteraceae are mostly affected by sea temperature rise, while Hydrocharitaceae exhibits tolerance in higher sea temperature rise. This FIS could be used by national and regional policy-makers and public authorities.

Agricultural extension and advisory services in Africa have significant impact on food security as well as economic and social development. Recent moves towards a pluralistic delivery system, including the emergence of private-sector led initiatives in many countries are subject of policy and academic discourse. Our study used an adapted, fit-for-purpose market systems development framework to review available research in extension and advisory services in selected sub-Sahara Africa countries. Using a literature survey methodology, we report evidence of multiple actors in extension delivery, findings that point towards evolution towards mixed delivery as well as objectives. While there are significant uptake of cost-recovery approaches among commercially-oriented farmers, many smallholder farmers still depended on donor-funded services. Our review adds to existing knowledge through incorporating a market systems development framework, which extends the often-used willingness to pay approach, and highlights the need for merger of the public and private-sector objectives to achieve developmental outcomes.

There are ~200.000 households living in the detached houses and ger (yurt) with the small-coal stove which burns a raw coal in the Ulaanbaatar city. The proper heating system and improvement on the energy efficiency of residential dwellings is vital important for Ulaanbaatar city to reduce an air pollution as well as for the operation of current central energy system. This study shows the experimental results of two Gers with two different heating system and different thermal insulation. Technical availability of the system consisting of ETS heater with daytime charging schedule and areal PV system is also examined by using a simulation of MATLAB programming. As a result of the experiment, the indoor comfort level and energy efficiency of the Ger with added insulation and ETS heater with nighttime charging was enhanced to compare with the reference Ger. The Ger with added insulation and ETS heater consumed 3169 kWh for electric appliances and 5989 kWh for the heating season. The simulation was resulted that the ETS heater to be installed in the Ger 2 had prospected to increase the PV self-consumption rate by 76% because of the daytime charging schedule of ETS heater. The PV system supplied 31% of the total energy consumption with remained 69% of the main grid.

Farmer’s right and their sovereignty is an important issue related with intellectual property rights and agrobiodiversity management. To boost farmer’s right, a conceptual hypothesis is proposed where they choose either a new high yielding variety or the existing one and apply conventional breeding approaches to select the seed for next years in their own fields. Although farmers produce seeds traditionally from several years, they have not been guided with scientific discipline to produce sufficient amount of quality seeds. This new concept suggests trained farmers can use breeding approaches to produce quality seed for their own use.

Covid-19 disease is caused by SARS Cov-2 virus. Despite its high transmissibility, the CFR (Case Fatality Rate) of COVID-19 seems to be lower than the SARS (9,5%) and MERS (34,4%) ones⁹³ , but higher than the influenza one (0-1%)^94,95 . The disease is asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic in most of the patients, although in few cases it can be characterized by serious complications. The main causes of hospitalization in intensive care are represented by ALI (Acute Lung Injury), ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome), cardiovascular problems and coagulopathies (diffuse thrombosis, microthrombosis, embolisms, myocarditis, arrhytmias, heart failure, stroke)^96-98, acute nephropathy^99,100 and encephalopathies¹⁰¹. The virus presence in the vascular wall can cause endotheliitis, which triggers the process of diffuse coagulation that can lead to a worsening of the systemic inflammation. The exaggerated inflammatory response seems to be connected with the development of ARDS, MOF (Multiple Organ Failure) and coagulopathies^102-107.

With confirmed COVID-19 cases surpassing the 8.5 million mark around the globe, there is an imperative need to deepen the efforts from the international scientific community to gain comprehensive understanding of SARS-CoV-2. Although the main clinical manifestations are associated with respiratory or intestinal symptoms, reports of specific and non-specific neurological signs and symptoms, both at presentation or during the course of the acute phase, are increasing. Approximately 25-40% of the patients present neurological symptoms. The etiology of these neurological manifestations remains obscure, and probably involves several direct pathways, not excluding the direct entry of the virus to the Central Nervous System (CNS) through the olfactory epithelium, circumventricular organs, or disrupted blood-brain barrier (BBB). Furthermore, neuroinflammation might occur in response to the strong systemic cytokine storm described for COVID-19, or due to dysregulation of the CNS angiotensin system. Descriptions of neurological manifestations in patients in the previous coronavirus (CoV) outbreaks have been numerous for the SARS-CoV and lesser for MERS-CoV. Strong evidence from patients and experimental models suggests that some human variants of CoV have the ability to reach the CNS and that neurons, astrocytes and/or microglia can be target cells for CoV. A growing body of evidence shows that astrocytes and microglia have a major role in neuroinflammation, responding to local CNS inflammation and/or to dysbalanced peripheral inflammation. This is another potential mechanism for SARS-CoV-2 damage to the CNS. In this work we will summarize the known neurological manifestations of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, explore the potential role for astrocytes and microglia in the infection and neuroinflammation, and compare them with the previously described human and animal CoV that showed neurotropism. We also propose possible underlying mechanisms by focusing on our knowledge of glia, neurons, and their dynamic intricate communication with the immune system.

To reduce the risk factors for mortality, the paper has focused on the assessment of the socioeconomic, clinical, physical, biophysiological, and biochemical characteristics of Down's syndrome which can be affected by the type of nutrition system, toxicity, and ecological footprint. Patients were males with trisomy 21 diagnosed by karyotype test and assessed by clinical examinations. Samples were collected from different biofluids. The physicochemical analyses of the biomatrix samples were performed and these properties had compared to findings of healthy males and age-matched controls. Duraphat application was proved effective for their oral treatment and saliva was the optimum biomarker for detecting malnutrition. Patients were hypersensitive to Cu while the Mn content in blood and hair was considered an expression to the degree of epileptic condition and chronic seizure development. The ecological footprint was 5.6 gha and carbon footprint was recognised in food poverty habits. These can be reduced by eating more plant-based proteins and fibre-rich foods with low saturated fats and sodium. The findings provide an up-to-date reference for expected developmental outcomes in children with DS in terms of biophysicochemistry. The genetically sensitive intervention is affected by heredity factor and sensitivity to toxics. Down's syndrome is encouraged to live green-hipster life.

Many ligands directly target adenosine receptors (ARs). Here we review the effects of noncanonical AR drugs on adenosinergic signaling. Non-AR mechanisms include raising adenosine levels by inhibiting adenosine transport (e.g. ticagrelor, ethanol, cannabidiol), affecting intracellular metabolic pathways (e.g. methotrexate, nicotinamide riboside, salicylate, 5‐aminoimidazole‐4‐carboxamide riboside), or undetermined means (e.g. acupuncture). Yet other compounds bind ARs in addition to their canonical ‘on-target’ activity (e.g. mefloquine). The strength of experimental support for an adenosine-related role in a drug’s effects varies widely. AR knockout mice are the ‘gold standard’ method for investigating an AR role, but few drugs have been tested in these mice. Given the interest in AR modulation for treatment of cancer, CNS, immune, metabolic, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal conditions, it is informative to consider AR and non-AR adenosinergic effects of approved drugs and conventional treatments.

Among humans, simply looking at infants can activate affiliative and nurturant behaviors. However, it remains unknown whether mere exposure to infants also activates other aspects of the caregiving motivational system, such as generalized defensiveness in the absence of immediate threats. Here, we demonstrate that simply viewing faces of infants (especially from the ingroup) may heighten vigilance against social threats and support for institutions that purportedly maintain security. Across two studies, participants viewed and rated one among several image types (between-subjects design): infants, adult males, adult females, and puppies in Study 1, and infants of varying racial/ethnic groups (including one's ingroup) and puppies in Study 2. Following exposure to one of these image types, participants completed measures of intergroup bias from a range of outgroups that differed in perceived threat, belief in a dangerous world, right-wing authoritarianism and social-political conservatism (relative to liberalism). In Study 1 (United States), stronger affiliative reactions to images of infants (but not adults or puppies) predicted stronger perceptions of a dangerous world, endorsement of right-wing authoritarianism, and support for social-political conservatism (relative to liberalism). Study 2 (Italy) revealed that exposure to images of ingroup infants (compared to outgroup infants) increased intergroup bias against outgroups that are characterized as threatening (immigrants and Arabs) and increased conservatism. These findings suggest a predisposed preparedness for social vigilance in the mere suggested presence of infants e.g., viewing images, even in the absence of salient external threats.

This paper presents a novel micro-segmented genetic algorithm (μsGA) to identify the best solution for the locomotion of a quadruped robot designed on a rectangular ABS plastic platform. We compare our algorithm with three similar algorithms found in the specialized literature: a standard genetic algorithm (GA), a micro-genetic algorithm (μGA), and a micro artificial immune system (μAIS). The quadruped robot prototype guarantees the same conditions for each test. The platform was developed using 3D printing for the structure and can accommodate the mechanisms, sensors, servomechanisms as actuators. It also has an internal battery and a multicore embedded system (mES) to process and control the robot locomotion. This research proposes a μsGA that segments the individual into specific bytes. μGA techniques are applied to each segment to reduce the processing time; the same benefits as the GA are obtained, while the use of a computer and the high computational resources characteristic of the GA are avoided. This is the reason why some research in robot locomotion is limited to simulation. The results show that the performance of μsGA is better than the three other algorithms (GA, μGA and AIS). The processing time was reduced using a mES architecture that enables parallel processing, meaning that the requirements for resources and memory were reduced. This research solves the problem of continuous locomotion of a quadruped robot, and gives a feasible solution with real performance parameters using a μsGA bio-micro algorithm and a mES architecture.

In this manuscript we report new effects of resonance detuning on various dynamical parameters of a generic 3-wave system. Namely, for suitably chosen values of detuning the variation range of amplitudes can be significantly wider than for exact resonance. Moreover, the range of energy variation is not symmetric with respect to the sign of the detuning. Finally, the period of the energy oscillation exhibits non-monotonic dependency on the magnitude of detuning. These results have important theoretical implications where nonlinear resonance analysis is involved, such as geophysics, plasma physics, fluid dynamics. Numerous practical applications are envisageable e.g. in energy harvesting systems.

During software development requirement gathering is an important phase. Requirements are the basis of software development. The success or failure of any software depends upon level of understanding developed in requirements. During software development requirements keeps on changing due to different reasons. Hence requirements are such a critical phase that leads to the total project failure. So, to understand the impacts and to identify the conflicts with existing requirements, it is important to manage and analyze the requirements well. Requirement change management is the interest of this paper. Different requirement change management techniques has been discussed in this paper and analyzed them well and finally conclude the results accordingly.

Helicobacter pylori is a common human pathogen that causes gastroduodenal diseases. H. pylori genome consists of numerous restriction-modification (R-M) genes. It is established that N6-adenine methylation plays a crucial role in bacterial gene regulation and virulence, but not much is known about the role of C5-cytosine methylation. In this study, we examined the influence of an orphan cytosine methyltransferase, hpyAVIBM on gastric infection in mice and cultured cells. Histopathological staining showed that the deletion of hpyAVIBM in H. pylori strain SS1 had increased damaging hemorrhagic effects on the mice stomach. The gelatin-zymography result demonstrated that the mice infected with mutant SS1ΔhpyAVIBM had significantly up-regulated pro-MMP-9 than those infected with SS1. Additionally, ELISA results of pro-inflammatory cytokines proved that mutant strain caused significantly more inflammatory effect on mice stomach than its wild-type counterpart. The immunohistochemistry data showed that mutant strain caused attenuated epithelial cell damage. Co-culture studies of H. pylori with AGS (Human Gastric Adenocarcinoma cell line) cells revealed that SS1ΔhpyAVIBM instigated significantly more apoptotic death in the AGS cells compared to the wild-type strain. Our results indicated that DNA methylation by hpyAVIBM plays a crucial role in modulating virulence factors in bacterial cells and their interaction with the host cells.

Patients with glioblastoma (GB), a highly aggressive brain tumor, have a median survival of 14.6 months following neurosurgical resection with adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Quiescent GB cancer stem cells (CSCs) invariably cause local recurrence. These GB CSCs that can be identified by embryonic stem cell markers express components of the renin-angiotensin system and are associated with circulating CSCs. Despite the presence of circulating CSCs, GB rarely develops distant metastasis outside the central nervous system. This paper reviews the current literature on GB growth inhibition in relation to CSCs, circulating CSCs, the RAS and the novel therapeutic approach by repurposing drugs that target the renin-angiotensin system to improve overall symptom-free survival and maintain quality of life.

Globally karst aquifers store large amount of precious water and create beautiful karst springs in many places. However, most of the karst springs flow declined, and some of the karst springs dried up with the effects of extensive groundwater development and climate variation. For example, Jinci Springs (China) is known for the beautiful landscape it created and large area of paddy fields it irrigated. Unfortunately, it dried up in May 1994. For better understanding of the hydrological processes of karst springs, this study introduced grey system models to quantify spring flow taking Jinci Springs as an example. Based on the characteristics of Jinci Springs flow, the spring flow was divided into two stages: the first stage (1954-1960), when the spring flow was affected only by climate variation; and the second stage (1961-1994), when the flow was impacted by both climate variation and anthropogenic activities. Results showed that the Jinci Springs flow had strong relations with precipitation occurring one year and three years earlier in the first stage. Subsequently, a grey system GM (1, 3) model with one-year and three-year lags was set up for the first stage. By using the GM (1, 3) model, we simulated the spring flow in the second stage under effects of climate variation only. Subtracting the observed spring flow from the simulated flow, we obtained the contribution of anthropogenic activities to Jinci Springs cessation. The contribution of anthropogenic activities and climate variation to Jinci Springs cessation was 1.46m3/s and 0.62m3/s, respectively. Finally, each human activity causing spring flow decline was estimated.

Filter Media (FM) sourced from recycled organic and mineral material offers a low cost and effective means of treating urban stormwater. Using recycled materials rather than from an increasingly scarce source of virgin materials (typically sandy loam soil) can ensure a sustainable long-term economy and environment. This paper presents results from the laboratory analysis and mathematical modeling to highlight the performance of recycled organic and mineral material in removing nutrients and metals from stormwater. Analysis included physical and chemical characterisation such as particle size distribution, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), bulk density, effective cation exchange capacity, and pollutant removal performance. Design mixes (DM), comprising a combination of organic and mineral materials, were characterised and used to develop/derive modelling design within the Model for Urban Stormwater Improvement Conceptualisation (MUSIC v6) [1]. Comparison is made to the Adoption Guidelines for Stormwater Biofiltration Systems - Summary Report [2] which were based on the Facility for Advancing Water Biofiltration (FAWB) guidelines to assist in the development of biofiltration systems, including the planning, design, construction and operation of those systems. An observed outcome from over two decades of biofiltration guideline development has been the exclusion of alternative biofilter materials due to claims of excessive leaching. Results from this study indicate that high nutrient and metal removal rates can be achieved over a range of hydraulic conductivities using design mixes of recycled organic and mineral materials that have a demonstrated equivalence to existing guideline specifications.

Background: Underreporting of Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) in India remains a problem to public health controls. Effective and reliable surveillance systems are critical for monitoring disease outbreaks and public health control programs. However, in India, government surveillance systems are affected by levels of scarcity in resources and therefore, uncertainty surrounds the true incidence of asymptomatic and clinical cases, affecting morbidity and mortality rates. The State of Bihar alone contributes up to the 40\% of the worldwide VL cases. The inefficiency of surveillance systems occurs because of multiple reasons including delay in seeking health care, accessing non-authentic health care clinics, and existence of significant asymptomatic self healing infectious cases. This results in a failure of the system to adequately report true transmission rates and number of symptomatic cases that have sought medical advice (thus, high underreporting of cases). Objectives and Methods: There are several methods to estimate the extent of underreporting in the surveillance system. In this research, we use a mathematical dynamic model and two different types of data sets, namely, monthly incidence for 2003-2005 and yearly incidence from 2006-2012 from the Bihar's 21 most VL affected districts out of its 38 districts. The goals of the study are to estimate critical metrics to measure level of transmission and to evaluate the estimation process between the two data sets and 21 districts. In particularly, our focus is on (i) estimating infection transmission potential, underreporting level in incidence and proportion of self-healing cases, (ii) quantifying reproduction number of the$R_0$, and (iii) comparing underreporting incidence levels and proportion of self-healing cases between the two periods 2003-2005 and 2006-2012 and between 21 districts. Results: Our research suggests that the number of asymptomatic individuals in the population who eventually self-heal may have a significant effect on the dynamics of VL spread. The estimated mean self-healing proportion (out of all infected) is found to be $\sim 0.6$ with only 7 out of 21 affected districts having self-healing proportion less than $0.5$ for both data sets. The estimated mean underreporting level is at least $64$\% for the state of Bihar. The estimates of the basic reproduction numbers obtained are similar in magnitude for most of the districts, being in the range of (0.88, 2.79) and (0.98, 1.01) for 2003-2005 and 2006-2012, respectively. Conclusions: The estimates for the two types (monthly and yearly) of temporal data suggest that monthly data are better for estimation if less number of data points are available, however, in general, using such data set results in larger variances in parameters as compared to estimates obtained through aggregated yearly data. Estimated values of transmission related metrics are lower than those obtained from earlier analyses in the literature, and the implications of this for VL control are discussed. The spatial heterogeneity in these control metrics increases the risk of epidemics and makes the control strategies more complex.

The function of sleep in mammal and other vertebrates is one of the great mysteries of biology. Many hypotheses have been proposed, but few of these have made even the slightest attempt to explain the essence of sleep - the uncompromising need for reversible unconsciousness. During sleep, epiphenomena - often of a somatic character - occur, but these cannot explain the core function of sleep. One answer could be hidden in the observations made for long periods of time of the function of the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS is faced with conflicting requirements on stability and excitability. A high level of excitability is desirable, and is also a prerequisite for sensitivity and quick reaction times; however, it can also lead to instability and the risk of feedback, with life-threatening epileptic seizures. Activity-dependent negative feedback in neuronal excitability improves stability in the short term, but not to the degree that is required. A hypothesis is presented here demonstrating how calibration of individual neurons - an activity which occurs only during sleep - can establish the balanced and highest possible excitability while also preserving stability in the CNS. One example of a possible mechanism is the observation of slow oscillations in EEGs made on birds and mammals during slow wave sleep. Calibration to a genetically determined level of excitability could take place in individual neurons during the slow oscillation, so that action potentials are generated during the oscillations “up-phase”. This can only take place offline, which explains the need for sleep. The hypothesis can explain phenomena such as the need for unconsciousness during sleep, with the disconnection of sensory stimuli, slow EEG oscillations, the relationship of sleep and epilepsy, age, the effects of sleep on neuronal firing rate and the effects of sleep deprivation and sleep homeostasis. This is with regard primarily to mammals, including humans, but also all other vertebrates.

This paper proposes a hybrid medium access control (MAC) protocol for wireless sensor network (WSN) data gathering, employing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The UAV sends a beacon frame periodically to inform sensor nodes regarding its presence. Afterward, each sensor node which receives beacon frame contends to send registration frame to the UAV. The UAV will transmit the second beacon frame to the registered nodes to notify their transmission schedule. The time-slot scheme is used for the transmission schedule. The transmission schedule of each sensor is determined based on their priority. Specifically, the priority of each sensor is determined during the registration process. Furthermore, the architecture of UAV-WSN data gathering system is introduced in this paper. Simulations are performed, showing that the proposed MAC protocol achieves fairness while enhancing network performance.

A new mathematical model is presented to study the effects of macrophages on the bone fracture healing process. The model consists of a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations that represents the interactions among classically and alternatively activated macrophages, mesenchymal stem cells, osteoblasts, and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. A qualitative analysis of the model is performed to determine the equilibria and their corresponding stability properties. Numerical simulations are also presented to support the theoretical results and to monitor the evolution of a broken bone for different types of fractures under various medical interventions. The model can be used to guide clinical experiments and to explore possible medical treatments that accelerate the bone fracture healing process either by surgical interventions or drug administrations.

In a two-year field trial, the effect of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) fertilization was investigated on grain yield, grain quality parameters, formation of acrylamide (AA), and the precursor free asparagine (Asn) in organically and conventionally produced winter wheat cultivars. In both production systems, different types, amounts, and temporal distributions of N were tested. While the effect of S fertilizer types and amounts on free Asn was only tested in the conventional farming system. Within both cropping systems, grain yield and baking quality were significantly influenced by N treatment while the effect on free Asn was only minor. Especially within the organic farming system, increasing N fertilization levels did not increase free Asn significantly. A slight trend of increasing free Asn levels with an intensified N supply was observed, especially in the presence of crude protein contents of 14% or higher. But only N amounts of 180 kg N ha⁻¹ or higher increased the probability of high free Asn contents considerably, while N supply below that amount led to free Asn values similar to the unfertilized controls. The results indicated that good baking quality can be achieved without significantly increasing free Asn levels. In addition, cultivars affected the levels of free Asn significantly. Compared to cv. “Bussard” and “Naturastar”, cv. “Capo” exhibited the lowest AA formation potential at an N supply of 180 kg N ha⁻¹ while simultaneously reaching a crude protein content > 15% (conventional) and > 12% (organic). Thus, it seems that cultivars differ in their ability to store and incorporate free Asn into proteins. Over all trials, a correlation of free Asn and AA was shown by R² = 0.77, while a relation of free Asn and protein was only R² = 0.36. Thus, lowering free Asn by adjusting N treatments should not necessarily affect baking quality. S nutrition within conventional farming did not change free Asn amount or crude protein significantly, probably due to the fact that soil was not sulfate-deficient. In summary, it was evident that free Asn amounts in wheat varied widely both within cultivars and between cropping systems. In order to clearly unravel genotypic differences and their interaction with environmental factors and especially N fertilization, further research is needed.

Due to the fact that irrigation networks are water and energy-hungry and that both resources are scarce, many strategies have been developed to reduce this consumption. Otherwise, solar energy sources have become a green alternative with lower energy costs and, as a consequence, lower environmental impacts. In this work, it is proposed a new methodology to select the scheduled program for irrigation which minimizes the number of photovoltaic solar panels to be installed and which better fits energy consumption (calculated for discrete potential combinations; using a programming software to assist) to available energy obtained by panels without any power conditioning unit. So, the irrigation hours available to satisfy the water demands are limited by sunlight, the schedule type of irrigation has to be rigid (rotation predetermined) and the pressure at any node has to be above the minimum pressure required by standards. A real case study has been performed.

Defensive behavior is a function of specific survival circuits, the “aversive brain system”, that are thought to be conserved across vertebrates, and involve threat detection and the organization of defensive responses to reduce or eliminate threat. In mammals, these circuits involve amygdalar and hypothalamic subnuclei and midbrain circuits. The increased interest in teleost fishes as model organisms in neuroscience created a demand to understand which brain circuits are involved in defensive behavior. Telencephalic and habenular circuits represent a “forebrain circuit” for threat processing and organization of responses, being important to mounting appropriate coping responses. Specific hypothalamic circuits organize neuroendocrine and neurovegetative outputs, but are the less well-studied in fish. A “midbrain circuit” is represented by projections to interneurons in the optic tectum which mediate fast escape responses via projections to the central gray and/or the brainstem escape network. Threatening stimuli (especially visual stimuli) can bypass the “high road” and directly activate this system, initiating escape responses. Increased attention to these circuits in an evolutionary framework is still needed.

The road pavement condition affects safety and comfort, traffic and travel times, vehicles operating cost and emission levels. In order to optimize the road pavement management and guarantee satisfactory mobility conditions for all the road users, the Pavement Management System (PMS) is an effective tool for the road manager. An effective PMS requires the availability of pavement distress data, the possibility of data maintenance and updating, in order to evaluate the best maintenance program. In the last decade, many researches have been focused on pavement distress detection, using a huge variety of technological solutions for both data collection and information extraction and qualification. This paper presents a literature review of data collection systems and processing approach aimed at the pavement condition evaluation. Both commercial solutions and research approaches have been included. The main goal is to draw a framework of the actual existing solutions, considering them from a different point of view in order to identify the most suitable for further research and technical improvement, also considering the automated and semi-automated emerging technologies. An important attempt is to evaluate the aptness of the data collection and extraction to the type of distress, considering the distress detection, classification and quantification phases of the procedure.

Anxiety disorders manifest in women more than in men by almost twofold. This narrative review aims to summarize the sex-related biological factors, which underpin anxiety, focusing on the interactions of sex and tryptophan/serotonin with anxiety.A literature search was conducted using Google Scholar, PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and EMBASE databases from inception until December 31, 2017. This review shows that sex may interact with many serotonin functions thereby modulating anxiety, including 5-HT1A and 5-HT2C receptors, 5-HT transporter and central 5-HT concentrations and metabolism. Sex-steroids modulate the expression of serotonin transporter genes, creating a difference in serotonin availability. Sex and estrous cycle phases lead to varying anxiety responses to tryptophan depletion. Testosterone, progesterone and estrogen are important factors in mediating sex differences in serotonin responses to anxiety-generating behavioral tests. At prenatal levels, there are sex-related differences in the reciprocal relationships between serotonin and the HPA-axis, which modulate anxiety-like behaviors. Activated immune-inflammatory pathways induce indoleamine-2,3-dioxynease (IDO) and the tryptophan catabolite (TRYCAT) pathway thereby increasing tryptophan degradation and increasing the production of TRYCATs including kynurenine and quinolinic acid, which may create an overall anxiogenic effect. The effects of immune activation on IDO are significantly more pronounced in women than men and therefore females may show increased levels of anxiogenic TRYCAT following immune challenge. Aberrations in the IDO-activated TRYCAT pathway are found in pregnant females and parturients and are associated with increased anxiety levels in the postnatal period. The results of this review underscore the necessity of studying the associations between serotonin and anxiety in both sexes taking into account the effects of immune activation on IDO and production of anxiogenic TRYCATs. Future anxiety research should focus on the interactions between serotonin/tryptophan and sex, sex hormones, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, the HPA axis and the immune system through production of anxiogenic TRYCATs.

The use of motion capture has increased from last decade in a varied spectrum of applications like film special effects, controlling games and robots, rehabilitation system, animations etc. The current human motion capture techniques use markers, structured environment, and high resolution cameras in a dedicated environment. Because of rapid movement, elbow angle estimation is observed as the most difficult problem in human motion capture system. In this paper, we take elbow angle estimation as our research subject and propose a novel, markerless and cost-effective solution that uses RGB camera for estimating elbow angle in real time using part affinity field. We have recruited five (5) participants of (height, 168 ± 8 cm; mass, 61 ± 17 kg) to perform cup to mouth movement and at the same time measured the angle by both RGB camera and Microsoft Kinect. The experimental results illustrate that markerless and cost-effective RGB camera has a median RMS errors of 3.06° and 0.95° in sagittal and coronal plane respectively as compared to Microsoft Kinect.

This paper proposes a position control method for low cost EGR valve system in automotive application. Generally, position control system using in automotive application has many restrictions such as cost and space, the mechanical structure of actuator implies high friction and large difference between static friction and coulomb friction. This large friction difference occurs the vibrated position control result when the controller uses conventional linear controller such as P, PI. In this paper, low cost position control method which can apply under the condition of high difference friction mechanical system. Proposed method is verified by comparing conventional control result of experiments.

African trypanosomes are an early branch in eukaryotic evolution and developed a unique endomembrane system as an adaptation to their parasitic life style. The key virulence mechanism of many pathogens is successful immune evasion to enable survival within the host, which is a feature requiring both genetic events and membrane transport in African trypanosomes. Intracellular trafficking not only plays a role in immune evasion, but also in homeostasis of intracellular and extracellular compartments and interactions with the environment. Significantly, historical and recent work has unravelled some of the connections between these processes and highlighted how immune evasion mechanisms associated with adaptations in membrane trafficking may have, paradoxically, provided specific sensitivity to drugs. Here we explore these advances in understanding the membrane composition of the trypanosome plasma membrane and organelles and provide a perspective for how transport could be exploited for therapeutic purpose.

Increasing distributed generation and intermittency, along with the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, impose a serious challenge for the electric power supply security. Understanding the costs of interruption is vital in terms of enhancing the power system infrastructure and planning the distribution grid. On the other hand, customer rights and demand response techniques are further reasons to study the worth of power reliability. In this paper, the authors make use of directional distance function and shadow pricing method for a case study from Finland. The aim is to calculate the cost of one minute of power interruption from the distribution network operator perspective. The sample consists of 78 distribution network operators from Finland with cost and network information between 2013 and 2015.

Big Data warehouses are a new class of databases that largely use unstructured and volatile data for analytical purpose. Examples of this kind of data sources are those coming from the Web, such as social networks and blogs, or from sensor networks, where huge amounts of data may be available only for short intervals of time. In order to manage massive data sources, a strategy must be adopted to define multidimensional schemas in presence of fast-changing situations or even undefined business requirements. In the paper, we propose a design methodology that adopts agile and automatic approaches, in order to reduce the time necessary to integrate new data sources and to include new business requirements on the fly. The data are immediately available for analyses, since the underlying architecture is based on a virtual data warehouse that does not require the importing phase. Examples of application of the methodology are presented along the paper in order to show the validity of this approach compared to a traditional one.

The phonon modes in YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ and YBa_2-xLa_xCu₃O_7-δ systems have been systematically studied by Raman spectroscopy. The new phonon modes of 104 cm^-1, 94 cm^-1, and 89 cm^-1 were found in all these samples. A crude estimate about the wavenumber of the collective vibration of the stable CuO2 plane was given in this paper. The standard deviations of the new phonons in YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ and YBa_2-xLa_xCu₃O_7-δ systems were discussed. The results of the calculation indicated that the 104 cm^-1 mode probably stands the c-direction collective vibration of the stable CuO2 plane, the 94 cm^-1 mode stands the a-direction vibration, and the 89 cm^-1 mode stands b-direction vibration. The relevance between these phonons and the superconductivity was discussed. It is found that, as the T_c decreased, the 104 cm^-1 mode and the 94 cm^-1 mode softened, and the 89 cm^-1 mode hardened slightly.

Ship speeds extracted from AIS data vary with ice conditions. We extrapolated this variation with SAR data to a chart of expected icegoing speed. The study is for the Gulf of Bothnia in March 2013 and for ships with ice class 1A Super that are able to navigate without icbreaker assistance. The speed was normalized to 0-10 for each ship. As the matching between AIS and SAR was complicated by ice drift during the time gap, from hours to two days, we calculated a set of local SAR statistics over several scales. We used random tree regression to estimate the speed. The accuracy was quantified by mean squared error (MSE), and the fraction of estimates close to the actual speeds. These depended strongly on the route and the day. MSE varied from 0.4 to 2.7 units² for daily routes. 65 % of the estimates deviated less than one unit and 82 % less than 1.5 units from the AIS speeds. The estimated daily mean speeds were close to the observations. Largest speed decreases were provided by the estimator in a dampened form or not at all. This improved when ice chart thickness was included as one predictor.

This research presents alternative solutions for an Energy Efficiency Management System (EEMS) serving as a framework for optimizing the energy consumption algorithm and lowering energy consumption. First, a monitoring Wireless Sensor and Actuator Network (WSAN) is used for sensing, measuring, gathering data, and modeling all the dynamic disturbance parameters of the rooms in the building. Second, integrated software for metering and controlling the processes of digital data flow is used. Third, an alternative solution is proposed to reduce energy consumption. The primary benefits of this system are real-time monitoring; rapid, alternative solutions; and the ability to make a prudent decision on how to lower energy consumption. The system shows instant and accumulated solutions for short and long-term time planning. The solutions identified can be implemented in the same buildings under the same circumstances. The universities of Majmaah and Philadelphia have buildings with similar infrastructure. The system was applied to the buildings at Philadelphia University. The results were generalized to both universities. After implementation, the energy consumption of the EEMS using WSAN (based on the monitoring was reduced up to 23% when compared to that of the initial state.

A dogma is normally considered as a principle or a belief accepted as an indisputable truth by some individuals and/or groups. Theoretically there can be no dogmas in science, but it has been demonstrated that scientific thought operates by conceptual changes. A dogma therefore can be understood as a concept present at the heart of some contemporary research programmes that need to be altered to overcome paradigms. Here we argue that two ideas relating to emergence of the biological system research need to be re-evaluated. First, is the idea that research programmes about the emergence of the biological system are the same as those of the origin of cells. Cells are strikingly important biological entities, hard core concepts for the entire field of biology. The emergence of the biological system happened much earlier than the origin of cells and thus the First Universal Common Ancestor (FUCA) should be viewed as a great-grandfather to the Last Universal Cellular Ancestor (LUCA); i.e. the latter is the first cellular life form. Second, RNA-world theories are the focus of mainstream research programmes for the origin of life stricto sensu. In the RNA-world view, self-replication of nucleic acids is seen as one of the most relevant events in the pre-biotic world. Without denying the relevance of self-replication, we argue here that the most germane event which occurred in the pre-biotic world was the crosstalk between nucleic acids and peptides. When these two macromolecules started to interact, the singularity that aggregated the complexity required to produce life emerged. Thus, comprehension of the early origins of the translation machinery and the assembly of the genetic code is key. Therefore, the relevance of cell theory and self-replication should be re-evaluated as well as the concept of life itself.

Zero-Knowledge Proofs ZKP provide a reliable option to verify that a claim is true without giving detailed information other than the answer. A classical example is provided by the ZKP based in the Graph Isomorphism problem (GI), where a prover must convince the verifier that he knows an isomorphism between two isomorphic graphs without publishing the bijection. We design a novel ZKP exploiting the NP-hard problem of finding the algebraic ideal of a multivariate polynomial set, and consequently resistant to quantum computer attacks. Since this polynomial set is obtained considering instances of GI, we guarantee that the protocol is at least as secure as the GI based protocol.

This paper presents a methodology to design sensor fusion parameters using real performance indicators of navigation in UAVs based on PixHawk flight controller and peripherals. This methodology and the selected performance indicators allows to find the best parameters for the fusion system of a determined configuration of sensors and a predefined real mission. The selected real platform is described with stress on available sensors and data processing software, and the experimental methodology is proposed to characterize sensor data fusion output and determine the best choice of parameters using quality measurements of tracking output with performance metrics not requiring ground truth.

In the present work, a portable device system applied in the detection and classification of different metallic ions was proposed and developed, aiming at its application in the monitoring of hydrological systems like rivers, lakes and groundwater. Considering the system features, a portable colorimetric system was developed by using a multispectral optoelectronic sensor. All the technology of quantification and classification of metallic ions using Optoelectronic Multispectral sensors was fully integrated in the embedded hardware FPGA technology and software based on virtual Instrumentation (NI LabView ®). The system was used as a colorimeter by using the chromogen reagent of 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) as an indicator and the results obtained together with the signal processing and pattern analysis using the method of the linear discriminant analysis, allowed to obtain excellent results in detection and classification of Pb(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Cu(II), Fe(III) and Ni(II) ions, with almost the same level of performance in relation to those obtained from the UV-VIS spectrometers of high spectral resolution.

Background: Human Immnodeficiency virus (HIV) continues to take a heavy toll on the lives of many people with worst impact on health and wellbeing for the affected individuals in fragile states. The HIV situation in Somalia is not clearly known and experiences of the people living with HIV in this war-torn region unexpressed. This pilot qualitative study sought to explore the experiences of people living with diagnosed HIV in Mogadishu and their resilience in access to care and social support. Method: Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted in Somali in May 2013 among patients who were receiving Antiretroviral therapy (ART) from the HIV clinic in Mogadishu. Participants were recruited through drug dispensers at the HIV clinic in Benader Hospital. These were tape recorded, transcribed and translated for content analysis. Results: Three women and four men who were living with HIV shared the following narratives. Their perception was that they had either got HIV from their spouces or through health care contamination. They were very knowledgable about the realities of HIV, how the medication works, nutritional requirements and drug adherence. They were always willing to go an extra mile to secure a good life for themselves. However the external HIV stigma impacted their access to care. They faced challenges in their homes and at work which compelled them to seek support from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or close family members. This stigma often affected their disclosure to the wider community due to the uncertainity of the repercussions, leading to a life of extreme loneliness and financial difficulties. The participants’ coping mechansms included living together and starting their own NGO for support with very strong optimism about their prognosis. Conclusions: The people living with diagnosed HIV in Mogadishu are highly knowledgeable about HIV transmission, the realities of living with diagnosed HIV infection and efficacy of HIV treatment. Our small sample suggests adequate access to ART through NGOs. However, widespread HIV stigma limits HIV status disclosure to the families and communities which creates a risk of self isolation and ill health. But affected individuals have developed resilient mechanisms of managing the risks. They strive to remain employed for economic security, adhere to HIV treatment, engage in support groups and maintain utmost optimism about their prognosis.

This paper shows a method for pipeline leak detection using a transient-based method with MATLAB® functions. The simulation of a pipeline systems in the time domain are very complex. In the case of the dissipative model, transfer functions are hyperbolic Bessel functions. Simulating a pipeline system in the frequency domain using a dissipative model we could find an approximate transfer function with equal frequency domain response to in order get the pipeline system's time domain response. The method described in this paper can be used to detect, by comparison, to detect a leak in a pipeline system model.

Empirically based modeling is an essential aspect of design for a wave energy converter. These models are used in structural, mechanical and control design processes, as well as for performance prediction. The design of experiments and methods used to produce models from collected data have a strong impact on the quality of the model. This study considers the system identification and model validation process based on data collected from a wave tank test of a model-scale wave energy converter. Experimental design and data processing techniques based on general system identification procedures are discussed and compared with the practices often followed for wave tank testing. The general system identification processes are shown to have a number of advantages. The experimental data is then used to produce multiple models for the dynamics of the device. These models are validated and their performance is compared against one and other. While most models of wave energy converters use a formulation with wave elevation as an input, this study shows that a model using a hull pressure sensor to incorporate the wave excitation phenomenon has better accuracy.

This investigation introduces an efficient method for assessing the reliability of semi-rigid steel frame connections in existing buildings, explicitly targeting the Top Angle and Seat Pad (TA-SP) semi-rigid connection commonly used in Australian cities' high-rise buildings. The moment capacity of these connections was examined through parameter power model testing, meticulously considering the bending, shear, and prying forces actions to determine the weakest elements in the connection system. A plastic hinge model was applied to ensure computational efficiency and accuracy in assessing the connections' ultimate strength. Comparatively, the finite element (F.E) method M−θ curves were introduced to scrutinise the nonlinear behaviour of the connection, providing validation for the predicted analytical approach. Further emphasis was placed on identifying the reliability of the weakest elements in the connection system, employing the First-Order and Second-Order Reliability Methods models to estimate their reliability index. The correlation between the model's failure probability and a percentile error was also explored, utilising Monte Carlo simulation reference for refined validation. Novel formulas and methodologies were introduced to compute the locked-chain-series system reliability, which accounts for the inherent material and geometric variability. The findings highlight the critical significance of the weakest element in determining the overall reliability of the existing TA-SP connection.

This paper introduces a structured design for an effective power-sharing technique among converter-interfaced distributed generation (DG) units within a microgrid that operates without a synchronous generator. The proposed power-sharing technique leverages the battery energy storage system (BESS) to promptly respond to network changes. The real power output of each commercial distributed energy resources (CDER) unit is governed by a frequency-droop characteristic and a complementary frequency restoration strategy. Deloading techniques are employed by solar and wind power generators to enhance response during power supply or demand disturbances. To ensure microgrid stability, small-signal analysis is conducted for controller design, including the determination of stability margins. Initial tuning of the power-sharing technique parameters is achieved using the Ziegler-Nichols Method, followed by further optimization through a meta-heuristical algorithm to enhance the response time of energy sources. The proposed power-sharing technique's performance is evaluated on a benchmark medium voltage network using industry-standard commercial software. The test results demonstrate the precise and rapid power-sharing capabilities among DGs facilitated by the proposed technique, highlighting its effectiveness in dynamic microgrid environments.

There is an increased interest in the district-scale energy transition within interdisciplinary research community. Agent-based modelling presents a suitable approach to address variety of questions related to policies, technologies, processes, and the different stakeholder roles that can foster such transition. This state-of-the-art review focuses on the application of agent-based modelling for exploring policy interventions that facilitate the decarbonisation (i.e., energy transition) of districts and neighbourhoods while considering stakeholders’ social characteristics and interactions. We systematically select and analyse peer-reviewed literature and discuss the key modelling aspects, such as model purpose, agents and decision-making logic, spatial and temporal aspects, and empirical grounding. The analysis reveals that the most established agent-based models’ focus on innovation diffusion (e.g., adoption of solar panels) and dissemination of energy-saving behaviour among a group of buildings in urban areas. We see a considerable gap in exploring the decisions and interactions of agents other than residential households, such as commercial and even industrial energy consumers (and prosumers). Moreover, measures such as building retrofits and conversion to district energy systems involve many stakeholders and complex interactions between them that up to now have hardly been represented in the agent-based modelling environment.

The mind-body problem is the central issue in both of philosophy and life science for several centuries. To date, there is still no conclusive theory to interpret the relation between the mind and the body, even just the mind alone. Here, we promote a novel model, a derived mathematic equation called the entropic system equation, to describe the innate characters of the mind and the mechanism of the mind-body coupling phenomenon. As the semi-open thermodynamic systems far from equilibrium, the living organisms could be logically considered as an entropic system. In the living organisms or the entropic systems, there also are three essential existing elements including mass, energy and information, in which the mind and the body are hypothetically coupled by free energy and entropic force.