(1) Background: Considering the autoimmune nature with genetic predisposition of alopecia areata, and the immunomodulatory properties of some probiotics, the present study was conducted in patients with alopecia areata. (2) Method: A 24-weeks randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of an oral probiotic intake in severity of alopecia areata and the effect on skin and gut microbiota. 3) Results: The number of alopecia areata plaques decresed in 56% of patients in the probiotic group vs. 30% in the placebo group. Patients with improvement on the affected skin surface area, showed a results of 45% and 20% in probiotic and placebo groups, respectively. For "activity", "inactivity” and "regrowth", an improvement in 55%, 67% and 55% of patients was respectively observed in the probiotic group, compared to 50%, 40% and 30% in the placebo group. No changes were observed in the gut microbiota during the intervention period. Regarding skin microbiota, changes were detected in the probiotic group, with reductions in characteristic genera during the study. (4) Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first clinical trial assessing the efficacy of a probiotic in patients with alopecia areata. This probiotic mixture improves the course and modify the skin microbiota of these patients.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the most lethal type of cancer, it has the lowest 5-year survival rate among all other types of cancers. More than half of PC cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage due to PC’s insidious and non-specific symptoms. Surgery remains the most efficacious treatment option currently available, but only 10-20% of PC cases are resectable upon diagnosis. As of now, the sole biomarker approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA) for PC is carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9); however, its use is limited use for early diagnosis. An in-creasing number of studies have investigated a combination of biomarkers. Lately, there has been considerable interest in the application of a liquid biopsy, including the utilization of microRNAs (miRNAs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), and circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Screening for PC is indicated for high-risk patients; studies on new diagnostic models combined with biomarkers for early detection have also shown promising results for the ability of these models and biomarkers to aid clinicians in deciding on whether to start screening. This review seeks to provide a concise overview of the advancements in existing biomarkers and explore novel strategies for the early detection of PC.

Oncomelania Hupensis is the exclusive intermediary host of Schistosoma japonicum in China. The alteration of its habitat and population distribution directly affects the safety of millions of individuals residing in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), and the ecological stability. Therefore, it is crucial to analyse the influence of climate change on the distribution of O. Hupensis in order to achieve accurate control over its population. This study utilised the MaxENT model to forecast possible snail habitats by utilising snail distribution data obtained from historical literature. The subsequent outcomes were achieved: The primary ecological factors influencing the distribution of O. Hupensis are elevation, minimum temperature of coldest month, and precipitation of wettest month; Furthermore, future climate scenarios indicate a decrease in the distribution area and a northward shift of the distribution centre for O. hupensis; Specifically, those in the upstream will move northeast, while those in the midstream and downstream will move northwest; These changes in suitable habitat area, the average migration distance of distribution centers across different climate scenarios, time periods, and sub-basins within the YREB, resulting in uncertainty. This study offers theoretical justification for the prevention and control of O. hupensis along the YREB.

Addressing escalating energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas industry has driven extensive efforts in carbon capture and utilization (CCU), focusing on power plants and industrial facilities. Utilizing CO2 as a primary feedstock for industrial fuels and petrochemical materials offers a favorable alternative to sequestration, with byproducts substituting traditional chemical feedstocks. This comprehensive review explores the current landscape of CO2 capture technologies, examining opportunities, economic viability, and efficiency challenges. It provides a detailed analysis of various CO2 utilization methods and the combined process of capture and utilization. The review highlights primary obstacles in planning, production, and widespread implementation, emphasizing the need for strategic integration of materials research, process performance, and cost-effectiveness to advance new technologies.

Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic, which was brought on by the brand-new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has claimed a sizable number of lives. Despite the urgency, COVID-19 does not have any particular antiviral treatments at this time. As a result, scientists are concentrating on repurposing already existing antiviral medications or creating brand-new ones. The SARS-CoV-2 main protease, which is necessary for viral replication, has been identified as a possible target for a family of medicines called main protease inhibitors (MPIs). Studies of the major proteases from SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, which have remarkably similar structures and functions to SARS-CoV-2, have provided insight for the creation of MPIs. By analyzing the MPI trials for SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, this review sheds light on the possible therapeutic uses of MPIs for COVID-19. The review talks about how MPIs work, how effective they are against SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, and how safe they are. The paper also emphasizes current developments in the creation of MPIs for SARS-CoV-2, including as computational studies, in vitro and in vivo research, and clinical trials. According to the review, there is a lot of hope for MPIs in the treatment of COVID-19, and numerous medications are in the works. Although more research is needed to assess their safety and effectiveness in clinical settings, these medications may offer patients with COVID-19 a much-needed therapeutic option. The review also emphasizes the importance of ongoing research into the structure and function of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, as this information will be critical for the development of effective MPIs and other antiviral drugs in the future.

Among the many approaches to COVID-19 prevention, the possible role of diet has so far been somewhat marginal. Nutrition is very rich in substances with a potential beneficial effect on health and some of these could have an antiviral action or in any case be important in modulating the immune system and in defending cells from the oxidative stress associated with infection. This short review draws the attention on some components of Citrus fruits and especially of the orange (Citrus sinensis), well known for its vitamin content, but less for the function of its flavonoids. Among the latter, hesperidin has recently attracted the attention of researchers, because it binds to the key proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Several computational methods, independently applied by different researchers, showed that hesperidin has a low binding energy both with the coronavirus "spike" protein, and with the main protease that transforms the early proteins of the virus (pp1a and ppa1b) into the complex responsible for viral replication. The affinity of hesperidin for these proteins is comparable if not superior to that of common chemical antivirals. The preventive efficacy of vitamin C, at dosage attainable by diet, against viral infections is controversial, but recent reviews suggest that this substance may be useful in case of increased stress on the immune system. Finally, the reasons that suggest undertaking appropriate research on the Citrus fruits addition in the diet, as a complementary prevention and treatment of COVID-19, are discussed.

COVID-19 pandemic is a serious problem in the world today. The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 has important proteins used for its infection and development, namely the protease and spike glycoprotein. The RBD (Receptor Binding Domain) of spike glycoprotein (RBD-S) can bind to the ACE2 (Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2) receptor at the protease domain (PD) (PD-ACE2) of the host cell, thereby leading to a viral infection. This study aims to reveal the potential of compounds contained in Curcuma sp., Citrus sp., Alpinia galanga, and Caesalpinia sappan as anti SARS-CoV-2 through its binding to 3 protein receptors. The study was conducted by molecular docking using the MOE 2010 program (licensed from Faculty of Pharmacy UGM, Indonesia). The selected protein targets are RBD-S (PDB ID:6LXT), PD-ACE2 (PDB ID: 6VW1), and SARS-CoV-2 protease (PDB ID:6LU7). The affinities of bonds formed is represented as a docking score. The results show that hesperidin, one of the compounds in Citrus sp., has the lowest docking score for all three protein receptors representing the highest affinity to bind the receptors. Moreover, all of the citrus flavonoids possess good affinity to the respected receptors as well as curcumin, brazilin, and galangin, indicating that those compounds perform inhibitory potential for the viral infection and replication. In general, the results of this study indicate that Citrus sp. exhibit the best potential as an inhibitor to the development of the SARS-CoV-2, followed by galangal, sappan wood, and Curcuma sp. that can be consumed in daily life as prophylaxis of COVID-19.

Plain lakes play a crucial role in the hydrological cycle of a watershed, but their interactions with adjacent rivers and downstream water bodies can create complex river-lake relationships, often leading to frequent flooding disasters. Taking Poyang Lake as an example, this paper delves into its interaction with the Yangtze River, revealing the spatiotemporal patterns of flood propagation within the lake and its impact on surrounding flood control measures. The aim is to provide insights for flood management in similar environments worldwide. This study employs a comprehensive approach combining hydrological statistical analysis and two-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling, based on extensive hydrological, topographic, and socio-economic data. The results indicate that the annual maximum outflow from Poyang Lake is primarily controlled by floods within the watershed, while the highest annual lake water level is predominantly influenced by floods from the Yangtze River. The peak discharge typically reaches the lake outlet within 48 hours, with the peak water level taking slightly longer at 54 hours. However, water storage in the lake can shorten the time for the peak discharge to arrive. When converging with floods from the Yangtze River, the peak water level may be delayed by up to 10 days due to the top-supporting interaction. Furthermore, floods from the "Five Rivers" propagate differently within the lake, affecting various lake regions to differing degrees. Notably, floods from the Fu River cause the most significant rise in lake water level under the same flow rate. The top-supporting effect from the Yangtze River also significantly impacts the water surface slope of Poyang Lake. When the Yangtze River flood discharge far exceeds that of the "Five Rivers" (i.e., when the top-supporting intensity f value exceeds 4), the lake surface becomes as flat as a reservoir. During major floods in the watershed, the water level difference in the lake can increase dramatically, potentially creating a "dynamic storage capacity" of up to 840 million cubic meters.

: Background: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a crucial mediator of neuronal plasticity. Here, we investigated the effects of controlled normobaric hypoxia (NH) combined with physical inactivity on BDNF blood levels and executive functions. Methods: Twenty-five healthy adults (25.8±3.3 years, 15 female) were analyzed in a randomized, controlled cross-over study. Each intervention began with a 30 min resting phase under normoxia (NOR), followed by a 90 min continuation of NOR or NH (peripheral oxygen saturation [SpO₂] 85-80%). Serum and plasma samples were collected every 15 min. Heart rate and SpO₂ were continuously measured. Before and after each exposure, cognitive tests were performed and after 24 h another follow-up blood sample was taken. Results: NH decreased SpO₂ (p<.001, η_p²=.747) and increased heart rate (p=.006, η_p²=.116) significantly. The 30-min resting phase under NOR led to a significant BDNF reduction in serum (p <.001, η_p²=.581) and plasma (p <.001, η_p²=.362). Continuation of NOR further significantly reduced BDNF after another 45 min (p=.018) in serum and after 30 min (p=.040) and 90 min (p=.005) in plasma. There was no significant BDNF decline under NH. 24 h Follow-up examination showed a significant decline of serum BDNF, both after NH and NOR. Conclusion: Our results show that NH has the potential to counteract physical inactivity-induced BDNF decline. Therefore, our study emphasizes the need for a physically active lifestyle and its positive effects on BDNF. This study also demonstrates the need for a standardized protocol for future studies to determine BDNF in serum and plasma.

In this study, the analysis of the changes of SARS-CoV-2 Orf3a protein during pandemic is reported. Orf3a, a conserved protein in the Coronaviruses, is involved in virus replication and release. A software workflow able to carry out a quick, systematic and repeatable screening of the SARS-CoV-2 genome isolates to detect protein mutations, was utilized to scan 70,752 high-quality SARS-CoV-2 genomes available in GISAID databank at the end of August 2020. All ORF3a mutations in the virus genomes were grouped according to the collection date interval and over the entire data set. The considered intervals were start of collection-February, March, April, May, June, July and August 2020. The top five most frequent variants were examined within each collection interval. Overall, seventeen variants have been isolated. Ten of the seventeen mutant sites occur within the transmembrane (TM) domain of ORF3a and are in contact with the central pore or side tunnels. The other variant sites are in different places of the Orf3a structure. Within the entire sample, the five most frequent mutations are V13L, Q57H, Q57H+A99V, G196V and G252V. The same analysis identified 28 sites identically conserved in all the genome isolates. These sites are possibly involved in stabilization of monomer, dimer, tetramerization and interaction with other cellular components. The results here reported can be helpful to understand virus biology and to design new therapeutic strategies.

We use state-of-the-art computer-aided drug design (CADD) techniques to identify prospective inhibitors of the main protease enzyme, 3CLpro of the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19. From our screening of over one million compounds including approved drugs, investigational drugs, natural products, and organic compounds, and a rescreening protocol incorporating enzyme dynamics via ensemble docking, we have been able to identify a range of prospective 3CLpro inhibitors. Importantly, some of the identified compounds had previously been reported to exhibit inhibitory activities against the 3CLpro enzyme of the closely related SARS-CoV virus. The top- ranking compounds are characterized by the presence of multiple bi- and monocyclic rings, many of them being heterocycles and aromatic, which are flexibly linked allowing the ligands to adapt to the geometry of the 3CLpro substrate site and involve a high amount of functional groups enabling hydrogen bond formation with surrounding amino acid residues, including the catalytic dyad residues H41 and C145. Among the top binding compounds we identified several tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which include a bioflavonoid, the group of natural products that binds best to 3CLpro. Another class of compounds that decently binds to the SARS-CoV-2 main protease are steroid hormones, which thus may be endogenous inhibitors and might provide an explanation for the age-dependent severity of COVID-19. Many of the compounds identified by our work show a considerably stronger binding than found for reference compounds with in vitro demonstrated 3CLpro inhibition and anticoronavirus activity. The compounds determined in this work thus represent a good starting point for the design of inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 replication.

Natural Gas (NG) processing is a prominent industrial separation process. Among the available techniques, the innovative membrane process shows potential for efficient removal of impurities, including carbon dioxide (CO₂). This study focuses on utilizing breakthroughs in membrane separation to drive sustainable CO₂ extraction from natural gas. Through comprehensive research and analysis, we explore the effectiveness and feasibility of membrane-based systems in removing CO₂ impurities from NG, thus promoting greener and more sustainable industrial practices. Our findings underscore the transformative nature of membrane separation technology, presenting new possibilities for a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable approach to CO₂ extraction from natural gas.Natural Gas (NG) processing utilizes various techniques for impurity removal, with the membrane process emerging as a promising option for efficient carbon dioxide (CO₂) extraction. This research proposes the integration of a simple mathematical model into ASPEN HYSYS to design a membrane system for CO₂/CH₄ separation. The study also investigates parameter sensitivities by altering operating conditions, such as feed composition and pressure, as well as membrane properties, including selectivity. By analyzing these variables, we aim to optimize the performance and efficiency of the membrane system, facilitating the sustainable extraction of CO₂ from NG. The findings contribute to advancing the design and operation of membrane-based processes for CO₂ separation, paving the way for greener and more sustainable industrial practices. In addition, this study explores various configurations for optimizing the design of the membrane system, including single-stage with and without recycling as well as double-stage configurations. The investigation demonstrates that methane recovery can be enhanced through the recycling of the permeate stream and by implementing a double stage membrane system. These findings highlight the potential for improving the efficiency and performance of the membrane system, enabling higher methane recovery rates. By considering different configurations, this research contributes to the development of more effective and sustainable CO₂ extraction processes from natural gas.

Airborne wind energy (AWE) systems use tethered flying devices to harvest higher-altitude winds to produce electricity. For a successful deployment of these systems, it is crucial to understand how the public perceives them. If public concerns about the technology are not taken seriously, implementation could be delayed or, in some cases, prevented, resulting in increased costs for project developers and a lower contribution of the sector to renewable energy targets. This literature review assessed the current state of knowledge on public responses to AWE. An exhaustive literature search led to the identification of 40 relevant publications that were reviewed. The literature assumed that the safety, visibility, acoustic emissions, ecological impacts, and the siting of AWE systems shape public responses to the technology. The reviewed literature views people’s responses to AWE very optimistically but lacks scientific evidence to back up its claims. It seems to overlook that the influence of AWE’s characteristics (e.g., visibility) on public responses will also depend on a range of situational and psychological factors (e.g., people’s general attitude towards AWE, the public’s trust in project developers). Therefore, empirical social scientific research is needed to increase the field’s understanding of public responses to AWE and thereby facilitate deployment.

Driving simulators are widely used for understanding human-machine interaction, driver behavior and in driver training. The effectiveness of simulators in these process depends largely on their ability to generate realistic motion cues. Though the conventional filter-based motion cueing strategies have provided reasonable results, these methods suffer from poor workspace management. To address this issue, linear MPC-based strategies have been applied in the past. However, since the kinematics of the motion platform itself is non-linear and the required motion varies with the driving conditions, this approach tends to produce sub-optimal results. This paper presents a nonlinear MPC-based algorithm which incorporates the nonlinear kinematics of the Stewart platform within the MPC algorithm in order to increase the cueing fidelity and utilize maximum workspace. Further, adaptive weights-based tuning is used to smoothen the movement of the platform towards its physical limits. Full-track simulations were carried out and performance indicators were defined to objectively compare the response of the proposed algorithm with classical washout filter and linear MPC-based algorithms. The results indicate a better reference tracking with lower root mean square error and higher shape correlation for the proposed algorithm. Lastly, the effect of the adaptive weights-based tuning was also observed in the form of smoother actuator movements and better workspace utilization.

In Mexico there is a deficit in the production of pine resin, because it depends on natural forests. Therefore, it is necessary to select provenances and phenotypes of potential species such as P. oocarpa. The objective was to determine the difference between provenances and the variation of resin components and quality, as well as the effect of geographic and climatic factors. Resin from five provenances was collected from southern Mexico. The percentage of rosin, turpentine and water was obtained, as well as the acidity and saponification index. P. oocarpa resin had 80.94 % rosin, 7.7 % turpentine and 11.49 % water. The saponification and acidity index was 125.47 and 117.49 mg KOH.g_1, respectively. All variables showed differences (p≤ 0.0001) between provenances. The provenance contributed between 6.44 and 11.71 % to the total variance, the error contributed between 88.29 and 93.56 %. Geographic and climatic variables only had an effect on the percentage of turpentine; the correlation was negative with altitude and longitude, but positive with temperature and precipitation. The results allow defining seed collection sites for resin plantations and orienting the selection for a P. oocarpa improvement program.

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

Reasonable allocation of production plans and saving the overall electricity cost are crucial for large manufacturing conglomerates, which is an effective way for conglomerates to realize open-source and cost-saving. This paper develops an optimization model of off-site industrial production scheduling for enterprises in response to the problems of high electricity costs due to the irrational allocation of production schedules on the demand side of China's electric power and the difficulty of promoting industrial and commercial distributed photovoltaic (PV) projects in China. The model makes full use of the conditions of different PV resources and different electricity prices in different places to optimize the scheduling of industrial production in different places. The model is embedded with two sub-models of the electricity price prediction model and distributed photovoltaic kWh cost model to complete the model parameters, in which the electricity price prediction model utilizes the LSTM neural network. The integrated model is then solved by the particle swarm algorithm. To verify the effectiveness of the model in solving the problem of off-site production scheduling on the demand side of electricity, the research team researched two off-site pharmaceutical factories belonging to the same large pharmaceutical company. Finally, the research data were substituted into the model for solving, and it was concluded that the optimization model could significantly reduce the cost of electricity consumption of the enterprise by about 7.9 %.

Globalization, knowledge economy, information technology advancements, and the rise of learning societies contribute to the concept of a learning city. The study examines the economic indicators of Yazd city, Iran, in the context of learning city development. A descriptive-analytical approach with a survey method and cluster sampling was employed. Data analysis involved Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test, single-sample T-test, simple linear regression, and Kendall's W test. The normality test confirmed data normality. The T-test indicated that experts perceived the current state of most variables in Yazd as undesirable. Regression analysis revealed a significant positive association between the economic index and independent variables. Kendall's W test prioritized areas based on economic indicators, with the top 7 and bottom 5 areas identified for focused interventions. The study emphasizes the need to prioritize areas within Yazd based on their economic indicators. This prioritization informs strategies for enhancing social and legal aspects of Yazd's transformation into a learning city. Further research should explore effective methods to cultivate a full-fledged learning environment in the city.

The European Union Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC; WFD) aims to achieve a good ecological and chemical status of all bodies of surface water by 2027. The development of an integrated guidance on surface water chemical monitoring (e.g. WFD Guidance Document No. 7/19) has been transferred into national German law (Ordinance for the Protection of Surface Waters, OGewV). For the majority of compounds, this act requires a monthly sampling frequency to assess the chemical water quality status of a surface water body. To evaluate the representativeness of the sampling strategy under the OGewV, high-frequency online monitoring data is investigated under different sampling scenarios and compared with current, monthly grab sampling strategy. About 23 million data points were analyzed for this study, three chemical parameters (dissolved oxygen, nitrate-nitrogen, chloride concentration) and discharge data were selected from four catchment of different sizes ranging from 51391 km² to 84 km² (Elbe, Vereinigte Mulde, Neiße and two stations at Lockwitzbach). In this paper we proposed short-term online-monitoring (STOM) as a sampling alternative. STOM considers the placement of online sensors over a limited duration and return interval. In general we: (I) compare the results of conventional grab sampling with STOM, (II) investigate the different performance of STOM and grab sampling using discharge data as proxy for analyzing event-mobilized pollutants and (III) investigate the related uncertainties and costs of both sampling methods. Results show, that STOM outperforms grab sampling for parameters where minimum/maximum concentrations are required by law as the probability to catch a single extreme value is higher with STOM. Furthermore, parameters showing a pronounced diurnal pattern, like dissolved oxygen, are also captured considerably better. The performance of STOM showed no substantial improvements for parameters with small concentration variability, as nitrogen-nitrate The analysis of discharge events as a proxy parameter for event-mobilized pollutants proved that the probability of capturing samples during events is significantly increased by STOM.

As with many of the non-deterministic search algorithms, particularly those are analogous to complex biological systems, there are a number of inherent difficulties, and the Bees Algorithm (BA) is no exception. Basic versions and variations of the BA have their own drawbacks. Some of these drawbacks are a large number of parameters to be set, lack of methodology for parameter setting and computational complexity. This paper describes a Grouped version of the Bees Algorithm (GBA) addressing these issues. Unlike its conventional version, in this algorithm bees are grouped to search different sites with different neighbourhood sizes rather than just discovering two types of sites, namely elite and selected. Following a description of the GBA, the results gained for 12 benchmark functions are presented and compared with those of the basic BA, enhanced BA, standard BA and modified BA to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm. Compared to the conventional implementations of the BA, the proposed version requires setting of fewer parameters, while producing the optimum solutions much faster.

Lactic acid production from lactose by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum AC 11S was studied. The influence of initial substrate concentration was investigated, and optimal pH and temperature were determined. An unstructured mathematical model was developed comprising equations for bacterial growth, substrate consumption, and product formation. The model was solved with different terms for specific growth rates considering substrate and/or product inhibition. The best bacterial growth and lactic acid production were achieved at pH = 6.5 and 30 oC. Production of lactic acid was mainly growth-associated and at substrate concentration over 15 g/L a considerable product inhibition was observed. The parameters of different models were determined and compared. While the modified Gompertz equation gave the best fit for biomass growth, a variant of the logistic equation including a term for product inhibition described in the best way the entire set of equations comprising bacterial growth, substrate consumption, and product formation at different initial substrate concentrations.

This study aimed to evaluate the discrepancies between genetic and visual coat color assignment in the Sarcidano Horse and to elucidate potential reasons. Individual DNA from 90 Sarcidano Horses was used for genetic assignment of coat color to explore the correspondence with individual forms containing phenotypical traits. The MC1R exon 1 and ASIP exon 3 have been genotyped and sequenced to obtain a picture of the coat color distribution in this breed. Surprisingly, once we compared the genetic results with the individual forms reporting the phenotypic data for each subject, a certain degree of non-correspondence between the phenotypic and genetic data in relation to coat color emerged. From the genetic analysis, Chestnuts (n = 58) resulted the most common Sarcidano Horse (n = 58), followed by a quite large number of Blacks (n = 28) and a very small number of Bays (n = 4), whereas phenotypic distribution resulted in 38 Chestnuts, 40 Bays, only 2 Blacks, and 10 Grays (without the possibility of recognizing the true color they carried). Chestnut resulted a very representative coat color, while many horses that visually identified as Bays were genetically Blacks. This discrepancy, that could be due to a variety of individual and external factors, including age, time of year, living situation and dietary condition, suggesting the importance of accurate coat color identification to ensure adequate features registration and reliable prediction of offspring’s coat color.

Cancer-specific monoclonal antibodies (CasMabs) that recognize cancer-specific antigens with in vivo antitumor efficacy are innovative therapeutic strategies for minimizing the adverse effects. We previously established a cancer-specific anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)monoclonal antibody (mAb), H₂Mab-250/H₂CasMab-2. In flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry, H₂Mab-250 reacted with HER2-positive breast cancer cells but did not show the reactivity to normal epithelial cells. In contrast, a clinically approved anti-HER2 mAb, trastuzumab, strongly recognizes both breast cancer and normal epithelial cells in flow cytometry. The human IgG₁ version of H₂Mab-250 (H₂Mab-250-hG₁) possesses compatible in vivo antitumor effects against breast cancer xenografts with trastuzumab despite the lower affinity and effector activation than trastuzumab in vitro. This study compared the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (CDC) between H₂Mab-250-hG₁ and trastuzumab. Both H₂Mab-250-hG₁ and trastuzumab showed ADCC activity against CHO/HER2 and breast cancer cell lines (BT-474 and SK-BR-3) in the presence of human natural killer cells. Some tendency was observed that trastuzumab showed a more significant ADCC effect compared to H₂Mab-250-hG₁. Importantly, H₂Mab-250-hG₁ exhibited superior CDC activity in these cells compared to trastuzumab. Similar results were obtained in mouse IgG_2a types of both H₂Mab-250 and trastuzumab. These results suggest the different contributions of ADCC and CDC activities to the antitumor effects of H₂Mab-250-hG₁ and trastuzumab and indicate the future direction for the clinical development of H₂Mab-250-hG₁ against HER2-positive tumors.

The volume of fluid (VOF) method is a popular technique for the direct numerical simulations of flows involving immiscible fluids. A discrete volume fraction field evolving in time represents the interface, in particular, to compute its geometric properties. The height function method (HF) is based on the volume fraction field, and its estimate of the interface curvature converges with second-order accuracy with grid refinement. Data-driven methods have been recently proposed as an alternative to computing the curvature, with particular consideration for a well-balanced input data set generation and symmetry preservation. In the present work, a two-layer feed-forward neural network is trained on an input data set generated from the height function data instead of the volume fraction field. The symmetries for rotations, reflections, and the anti-symmetry for the phase swapping have been considered to reduce the number of input parameters. The neural network, establishing a correlation between curvature and height function values, can efficiently predict the local interface curvature. We compare the trained neural network to the standard Height Function method to assess its performance and robustness.

This paper presents two control design strategies for voltage regulation in a single inductor dual output (SIDO) DC-DC Buck converter system. Based on a nominal multiple input multiple output (MIMO) plant model and performance requirements, both an LQR and a decoupled PI control laws are designed to control the power converter system, under parametric uncertainties such as voltage source variation, CPL power variation, and load resistance variation. Therefore, the SIDO converter can cascade operating, which may cause the undesired effects of voltage oscillation and reduce the system's stability margin. The control performance was assessed under both uncertainties resistive loading and power variation of a constant power load (CPL). A SIDO DC-DC Buck converter board has been developed for experimental tests. The experimental results show that the LQR strategy, compared to the PI strategy, presented a robust performance in the presence of parametric uncertainties in the resistive loads being, however, sensitive to uncertainties due to the presence of CPL loads.

The promoter of the RECEPTOR-LIKE CYTOPLASMIC KINASE VI_A2 gene contains nine binding sites for the REPLUMLESS transcription factor. In agreement, the expression of the kinase gene was strongly downregulated in the rpl-4 mutant. Comparing phenotypes of loss-of-function mutants, it was revealed that both genes are involved in stem growth, phyllotaxis, organization of the vascular tissues, and the replum, highlighting potential functional interactions. Expression of the RLCKVI_A2 gene from the constitutive 35S promoter could not complement the rpl-4 phenotypes, but exhibited a dominant positive effect on stem growth and affected vascular differentiation and organization. The results also indicated that the number of vascular bundles is independently regulated from stem thickness. Although our study cannot demonstrate the direct link between the RPL and RLVKVI_A2 genes, it highlights the significance of the proper developmental regulation of the RLCKVI_A2 promoter for balanced stem development.

In the history, architects, engineers or artists traditionally visualized architectural, urban planning, urban design, or landscape design projects with physical models in a smaller scale to represent their ideas. The biggest problems of traditional materialistic models are the long production time and limitation of mobility. Thanks to advancements in digital technology, 3D models can now be generated easily from 2D blueprints using computer software. However, eventually the digitalized approach could not replace the whole industry of making physical models, because of a lack of stereoscopic 3D imaging of space and structures. In this study, we discuss two points: the normal procedure of visualizing 3D models in urbanism and architecture design projects; and proposal of the stereographic hologram visualization for 3D models created with CHIMERA hologram printer as a new approach to solve all the problems in spatial projects visualization of both digitalized and physical models. The experiment's results indicate that tabletop holograms' visualization quality can potentially replace traditional methods in the near future. Moreover, the input data for this method can be seamlessly integrated into current architectural and urban design workflows, making holograms a promising approach for 3D immersive content in this field.

Mining wastes generate a high environmental impact, and population exposure to metals and metalloids. Phytoremediation is a technology that uses plants to remediate polluted sites, one of its limitations is seed germination in soil with high content of metals and metalloids. B. dactyloides is a native specie from semiarid regions, while C. dactylon is an introduced specie, both are tolerant to drought and low temperatures. Owing, the objective of this research was to evaluate the germination of both species, exposed to a multi-polluted soil with As, Cd, Pb and Zn of a mining site, pondering different pH conditions (from 5.0 to 9.0). The study considered 4 repetitions by type of seed and soil pH. B. dactyloides showed higher germination percentage (83%) with pH 7.8; while the greater germination of C. dactylon was 34 % at pH 6.0. In the soil at pH 5, the germination in both species was not reached, owing that metals are more bioavailable in an acid environment. C. dactylon is less tolerant to As, Cd, Pb and Zn, so it is considered not effective for phytoremediation process. B. dactyloides has a high phytoremediation potential for multi-polluted sites, but further experiments are needed.

The subject of the conducted study was focused on the development of new type of technical blends reinforced with natural fillers. The study was divided into two parts, where in the firsts stage of the research unmodified POM was reinforced with different types of natural fillers: cellulose, wood flour and husk particles. In order to select the type of filler intended for further modification, the mechanical characteristics was assessed. The 20% wood flour (WF) filler system was selected as the reinforcement. The second stage of research involved the use of combination of polyoxymethylene POM and poly(lactic acid) PLA. POM/PLA blend (ratio 50/50 %) were modified with elastomeric compound (EBA) and chain extender as reactive compatibilized (CE). The microscopic analysis revealed that for POM/PLA system the filler-matrix interface is characterized by better wettability, which might suggest higher adhesion. The mechanical performance revealed that for POM/PLA-based composites the properties were very close to the results for POM-WF composites; however, there is still large difference in thermal resistance in favor of POM-based materials. The increase in thermomechanical properties for POM/PLA composites occurs after heat treatment. The increasing crystallinity of the PLA phase allows for an significant increase of the head deflection temperature (HDT), even above 125 °C.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a severe and invariably fatal disease affecting both domestic and wild felines with limited effective therapeutic options available. By considering the significant immunomodulatory effects of vitamin E observed in both animal and human models under physiological and pathological conditions, we have provided a full in-silico investigation of vitamin E and related compounds and their effect on the crystal structure of feline infectious peritonitis virus 3C-like protease (FIPV-3CLpro). This work revealed the β-tocotrienol and δ-tocotrienol analogues as inhibitor candidates for this protein, suggesting their potential as possible drug compounds against FIP or their supplementary use with current medicines against this disease.

Tori are bony growths in the mouth caused in general by genetic and environmental factors. Oral tori may grow over time and interfere with oral hygiene, speech, mastication and the application of dentures. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and patterns of torus mandibularis and torus palatinus according age and gender among patients attending the Diamond Dental Hospital in Tirana. Methodology. A case-series study conducted at DDH from February 1-30 April 2024. Written consent was taken from each participant and the questionnaire comprises some variables. The patients were examined intraoral only by one examiner and were taken photos from participants having positive findings. Results. The prevalence of oral tori in Albania was very high 48.4% and the peak incidence was 18-29 age group (54.2%). The most common type was TM 39.3%. The most prevalent form for TP was flat (71.4%) and for TM was solitary bilateral (47.9%). Conclusions. The prevalence of oral tori was found to be very high and not related to gender or bruxism. Dental professionals should be aware of the high occurrence of oral tori and their importance in dental practice. Nevertheless, further assessment of the prevalence of tori in a larger sample is required.

This paper proposes an enhanced Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol by incorporating a Three-Dimensional Angular Momentum Representation (3D AMR) to address vulnerabilities inherent in traditional two-dimensional polarization states-based systems. The 3D AMR method expands the state space, potentially increasing security against sophisticated quantum attacks. We present a theoretical and computational framework that transitions from the conventional two-dimensional polarization to a three-dimensional angular momentum space, which inherently increases the complexity and security of the quantum states used in QKD.

The wide metabolic diversity of microalgae, their fast growth rates, and cost-effective production make these organisms highly promising resources for a variety of biotechnological applications, addressing critical needs in industry, agriculture, and medicine. The utilization of microalgae in consortia with bacteria is proving to be valuable in different biotechnological fields, including treating various types of wastewaters, producing biofertilizers, and extracting various products from their biomass. Monoculture of the microalgae Chlamydomonas has been a prominent research model for many years, extensively utilized in studying photosynthesis, sulfur and phosphorus metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, respiration, and flagella synthesis, among others. Recent re-search has increasingly recognized the potential of Chlamydomonas-bacteria consortia as a bio-technological tool for various applications. Bioremediation of wastewater using Chlamydomonas, and its bacterial consortia presents significant potential for the sustainable reduction of contam-inants, while also facilitating resource recovery and valorization of microalgal biomass. Using Chlamydomonas and its bacterial consortia as biofertilizers can offers several benefits, such as en-hancing crop yield, protecting crops, maintaining soil fertility and stability, aiding in CO2 miti-gation, and contributing to sustainable agriculture practices. Chlamydomonas-bacterial consortia play a significant role in the production of high-value products, particularly in biofuel and en-hancing H2 production. This review aims to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the po-tential of Chlamydomonas monoculture and its bacterial consortia, identifying current applications, and proposing new research and development directions to maximize its potential.

Bridges enable communications and transportation of goods nationally and internationally, underpinning economic and social activities, thus they are pylons of our prosperity and mobility. Bridges worldwide are constantly subjected to physical wear, ageing, deterioration, hazards, environmental influences, and increased loading. Loss of performance and functionality of bridge structures would have a crucial impact on overall infrastructural resilience and would cause significant negative economic and social consequences. Monitoring their behaviour for different loading conditions relies on accurate estimations of the stress-strain state of various critical components and remaining capacities. These activities are of high importance for better planning lifespan prolongation, that is the extension of their service life and prevention of unforeseen collapses, in line with sustainability principles of well-informed maintenance. In many cases, access to the structure is limited or even impossible, which causes the need for the deployment of remote and contactless methods. One such innovative technique, which has recently attracted attention in scientific and practical applications is the digital image correlation (DIC). DIC is a contactless approach applicable for long-term measurements, which enables obtaining the full field of strains and deformations. Although the DIC approach has been widely used in world engineering practice for monitoring bridges and has proved to be a reliable and accurate method, there is a lack of systematic integral review on previous practical applications, revealing limitations and perspectives. This is the main motivation and novelty of this study, which will describe selected case studies, in which DIC was used on real full-scale bridge structures and propose improvements for the method.

The persistent security challenges in Industry 4.0 due to resource-constrained IoT devices necessitate innovative solutions. Addressing this, a study introduces the ASCON algorithm for lightweight Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data, enhancing confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity within IoT limitations. By integrating Digital Twins, the framework emphasizes the need for robust security in Industry 4.0, with ASCON ensuring secure data transmission, bolstering system resilience against cyber threats. Practical validation using MQTT protocol confirms ASCON’s efficacy over AES-GCM, highlighting its potential for enhanced security in Industry 4.0. Future research should focus on optimizing ASCON for microprocessors and developing secure remote access tailored to resource-constrained devices, ensuring adaptability in the digital era

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive, invasive, and growth-factor-independent grade IV glioma. Survival following the diagnosis is generally poor, with a median survival of approximately 15 months, and it is considered the most aggressive and lethal central nervous system tumor. Conventional treatments based on surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy only delay progression, and death is inevitable. Malignant glioma cells are resistant to traditional therapies, potentially due to a subpopulation of glioma stem cells that are invasive and capable of rapid regrowth. Methods: Systematic retrieval of information was performed on PubMed. Specified keywords were used in PubMed and the articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals were associated with brain GBM cancer, sodium iodide symporter (NIS). Additionally, the words 'radionuclide therapy', 'radioiodine', 'iodine-131', 'molecular imaging', 'gene therapy', and 'translational imaging' were used. Other keywords such as ‘glioblastoma', 'targeted', 'theranostic', 'symporter', 'virus', 'solid tumor', 'combined therapy', 'pituitary', or 'plasmid' were also used in appropriate literature databases and search engines. 19 articles were found in this search on Mesenchymal Stem Cell Sodium Iodide Symporter and GBM. \ These articles were from the years 2000 to 2024. Appropriate studies were isolated, and important information from each of them was understood and entered into a database from which the information was used in this article. Results: For as long as they express functional NIS, mesenchymal stem cells systemically repress T and B cells; however, after that, they are largely replaced by mesenchymal stem cells generated from embryonic stem cells that are functionally competent. As a result of their natural capacity to identify malignancies, MSC are employed as tumor therapy vehicles. Because MSCs may be transplanted in several methods, they have been proposed as ideal vehicles for NIS gene transfer. Conclusion: Non-invasive imaging-based detection of glioma stem cells presents an alternate means to monitor the tumor and diagnose and evaluate recurrence. The sodium iodine symporter gene is a specific gene in a variety of human thyroid disease that functions to move iodine into the cell. In recent years, an increasing number of studies related to the sodium iodide symporter gene have been reported in a variety of tumors and as therapeutic vectors for imaging and therapy. Gene therapy and nuclear medicine therapy for GBM provide a new direction.

The steady rheological behavior of suspensions of solid particles thickened by cellulose nanocrystals is investigated. Two different types and sizes of particles are used in the preparation of suspensions, namely TG hollow spheres of Sauter mean diameter of 69 µm and Solospheres S-32 of Sauter mean diameter of 14 µm. The nanocrystal concentration varies from 0 to 3.5 wt% and the particle concentration varies from 0 to 57.2 vol%. The influence of salt (NaCl) concentration and pH on the rheology of suspensions is also investigated. The suspensions generally exhibit shear-thinning behavior. The degree of shear-thinning is stronger in suspensions of smaller size particles. The experimental viscosity data are adequately described by a power-law model. The variations of power-law parameters (consistency index and flow behavior index) under different conditions are determined and discussed in detail.

Advanced air treatment systems have the potential to reduce airborne infection risk, improve indoor air quality (IAQ) and reduce energy consumption, but few studies reported practical implementation and performance. PlasmaShield®, an advanced multi-modal HVAC-integrated system was directly compared with a standard MERV-13 system in a post-surgical pediatric healthcare setting. The evaluation entailed monitoring of multi-size airborne particles, bioaerosols and key IAQ parameters. Measurements were made of outside air, recovery room supply air and air in the occupied space for 3 days prior to, and after, installation of the PlasmaShield system. Compared with the existing arrangement, very significant reductions in particle number concentrations were observed in the occupied space, especially with virus-like submicron particles. Significant reductions in airborne culturable bacteria and fungi were observed in the supply air, with more modest reductions in the occupied space. In the case of virus-like particles, there was an 8-fold improvement in equivalent clean air, suggesting a 5-fold infection risk reduction for long range exposure. The data suggest multiple benefits of airborne particle and biaerosol reduction, with applications beyond healthcare. Long term studies are recommended to confirm the combined IAQ, health and energy benefits.

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

Introduction – Gender influences the presentation and progression of various diseases. Studies regarding the impact of gender on the course and outcome of HIV demonstrate conflicting data. Studies may be biased due to socioeconomic status differences between females and males and uneven gender representation, among other factors. In order to minimize the effect of non-biological elements this study cohort compares HIV males and females with similar ethnicity and social class in 2 Israeli AIDS centers. Methods –the study is a retrospective study. The cohort consists 334 females and 223 males diagnosed with HIV during the years 2000-2015. All patients were immigrants from Ethiopia who acquired HIV heterosexually and had a similar socioeconomic status. Data regarding demographics, clinical status, virological (viral load; VL), immunological (CD4) and treatment modalities were collected for each patient. Results - At the time of HIV diagnosis, males were older (43.2 ±13.2 vs. 35.4±11.95 years; p

This paper presents a new discrete counterpart of the mixture exponential distribution by utilizing the survival discretization method. The moment-generating function and associated moment measures are discussed. The distribution’s hazard rate function can assume increasing or decreasing forms, making it adaptable for diverse fields requiring count data modelling. The paper explores four distinct parameter estimation methods and assesses their performance through Monte Carlo simulations. The applicability of this distribution extends to time series analysis, particularly within the framework of the first-order integer-valued autoregressive process. Additionally, the paper explores quality control applications, addressing serial dependence challenges in count data encountered in production and market management. The performance of two distinct control charts, the cumulative sum chart and the exponentially weighted moving average chart, is evaluated for their effectiveness in detecting shifts in the process means under various models. A bivariate Markov chain approach is used to estimate the average run lengths of these charts, offering valuable insights for implementation. Design recommendations for achieving robustness in-control chart applications are provided. The effectiveness of the proposed models and charts is illustrated using a real data, demonstrating their practical superiority.

Assessing dietary inadequacies can contribute to understanding the nutritional vulnerabilities of a country. This study aimed to investigate nutrient intakes and micronutrient inadequacies in the Brazilian adult population, with an interest in different age subgroups. Cross-sectional study with 1812 individuals aged 19 to 65 years from a population-based study with a representative sample of Brazilian adults. Dietary intake was assessed by two 24-hour food recalls, and the probabilities of inadequate intake were estimated using the Dietary Reference Intake targets. Adequate macronutrient intake was over 99% for proteins, 84.7% for carbohydrates, and 80.7% for total fats. There was a high probability of inadequacy (above 90%) for vitamins D and E, but vitamin D inadequacy was very similar between sexes. In contrast, vitamin E was more likely to be inadequately consumed among women. A high probability of inadequacy (above 85%) of calcium and magnesium was found in the population, regardless of age group. Except for iron, the probability of inadequacy of other minerals increased with age. The results showed a relevant proportion of nutrient inadequacies, with those most at risk being women and older individuals, helping with better targeting and monitoring of public health policies that address nutritional problems in the population.

This paper presents a comprehensive simulation study of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in a fabricated production environment for toy car assembly. This paper uses Petri Nets for modeling and the General Petri Net Simulator (GPenSIM) for model implementation on MATLAB and simulation. The primary focus of this research is to analyze the operational efficiency of AGVs under varying conditions, particularly examining the impact of battery charge reduction rates and the strategic placement of charging stations within the production line. By employing Colored Petri Nets (CPN) within GPenSIM, we have developed a detailed and dynamic model that captures the intricate movements and interactions of AGVs in a simulated manufacturing setting. By presenting an approach to simulating AGVs in a production environment, this paper specifically focuses on two critical operational parameters: the battery charge reduction rate of AGVs and the number of charging stations available in the production line. Unlike previous studies that have primarily concentrated on general path planning or bottleneck detection in manufacturing systems, this paper delves into the intricate balance between AGV operational efficiency and the logistical constraints imposed by battery life and charging infrastructure.

Hubble diagrams are examined for SN1a supernovae in the redshift range z = 0.01–1.3 and for gamma ray bursts in the range z = 0.034–8.1. It is shown that in the low redshift range, the Hubble diagram shows an innate equivocality between the ΛCDM and the tired light model. This means that the strong agreement between the z/µ data, calculated with the parameters of the ΛCDM model, and the experimentally measured z/µ values cannot be considered as definite evidence for the expansion hypothesis. The exponential function , which is characteristic of the tired light redshift mechanism, fits the data with similarly high accuracy. Hence, on the premise of low redshift data, a decision for or against either model is completely arbitrary. The Hubble diagram for high redshift gamma ray bursts shows poor agreement with the ΛCDM model, but concurs with the exponential energy decay following from the tired light redshift hypothesis.

Intense climate change and rapid urbanization have increased the risk of urban flooding, seriously affecting urban economic and social stability. Enhancing the urban flood resilience (UFR) has required a new solution to cope with urban flood disasters. In this study, taking Yingtan city as an example, a system of indicators for evaluating UFR was constructed, with 17 representative indicators, comprising three subsystems: socio-economic, ecological and infrastructural. A hybrid (FAHP-EWM)-TOPSIS model was applied, to develop an index-based measurement to compare and evaluate UFR, and Gray Relational Analysis (GRA) was used to discover the main factors affecting UFR. In addition, the natural discontinuous method was innovatively used to divide the UFR grade interval into levels, and the grade change was evaluated based on the TOPSIS method. The results showed that (1) from 2010 to 2022, the UFR in Yingtan City increased by 80.69%, and the factors affecting UFR are highly correlated with urban infrastructure development. However, the ecological resilience in the subsystem showed a fluctuating downward trend, because of the influence of the surface area of lakes and rivers. (2) The grades of UFR for Yingtan City increased from Level III (2010 and 2016) to Level IV (2022), with local financial expenditures and the age structure of the population being the main factors currently limiting the development of UFR. The study provides a theoretical basis for the construction of an indicator system for assessing the UFR of Yingtan and proposes practical improvement directions for UFR.

This paper introduces a new adaptation of the enthalpic lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) tailored to simulate the intricate dynamics of conjugate heat transfer in non-homogeneous media, showcasing considerable potential for enhancing heat exchanger designs. This approach expands upon the conventional enthalpic LBM framework by seamlessly incorporating tailored source terms, enabling precise representation of local and transient variations in the medium’s thermophysical properties. The resulting LBM model comprehensively captures the energy conservation equation, with exceptions made only for flow compressibility and viscous dissipation, thereby significantly augmenting its versatility in analyzing heat exchanger configurations. Verification tests, comprising assessments of both transient and steady-state solutions, unequivocally validate the accuracy of the proposed model, further bolstering its reliability for analyzing heat exchange processes within intricate heat exchanger geometries. To demonstrate its efficacy, simulations of conjugate heat transfer processes involving fluid natural convection within structured cavities were performed, imposing both Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions to emulate scenarios encountered in practical heat exchanger operations. The findings yield compelling insights, particularly in the transient regime, revealing the beneficial impact of structured cavities on enhancing heat transfer processes. These insights inform potential design optimizations for heat exchangers. The results emphasize the potential of the modified enthalpic LBM approach to elucidate complex heat transfer phenomena in non-homogeneous media and structured geometries, offering valuable implications for heat exchanger engineering and optimization.

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter jejuni, a leading cause of gastroenteritis worldwide, presents a significant public health challenge requiring vigilant surveillance and disease control. This study aimed to characterize C. jejuni strains isolated in Romania from 2017-2020, focusing on genetic diversity, virulence, and antibiotic resistance determinants. The isolates underwent phenotypical testing, PCR, and antibiotic resistance assessment using Disc Diffusion Kirby–Bauer for ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, erythromycin, and tetracycline. Genetic analysis identified resistance and virulence genes, point mutations, and performed sequence typing (7-gene MLST) to determine genetic relatedness. Results indicated substitutions at position 86 in the amino acid sequence or position 257 in the nucleotide sequence of the gyrA gene in 47 fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates. Additionally, mutations in the rRNA23S gene at positions 2074 and 2075, associated with macrolide resistance, were found in 12 of the 66 isolates. Allelic profiles generated 38 sequence types (STs), including three new STs not present in the reference database. The sequence data analysis revealed a genetically diverse C. jejuni population with a weak clonal structure. This study provides crucial insights into the genetic diversity and antibiotic resistance of C. jejuni strains in Romania, highlighting the need for ongoing surveillance and control measures.

We present a very computationally light and fast approximation algorithm and then verify it with genetic algorithm and simulated annealing. We show that our algorithm is on par with GA and SA in terms of output produced while having a tightly bounded time complexity. Our algorithm works best when there is a strong positive correlation between the reliability of a component and its cost. We present two algorithms with the same essence. One of them is system cost bounded and the other is target reliability bounded. Our proposed algorithm works on a subsystem level redundancy instead of component level redundancy.

This Article demonstrates how an eigendecomposition problem is inputted into a quantum circuit, how gates are applied in the quantum circuit, and how the output measurements are the correct eigenvalues. This process is known as quantum phase estimation (QPE). A quantum harmonic oscillator example, a foundational quantum physical chemistry problem, is demonstrated within the context of QPE. A particle in a box example, another quantum physical chemistry problem, may be solved by QPE with a caveat. These examples are of the limiting cases of diagonal matrices. Future advances in taking matrix inverses for solving linear sets of equations or finding ground state energies in the Schrödinger equation will use the principles implemented in this Article.

Introduction: Differentiated service delivery (DSD) models for antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV are being scaled up in the expectation that they will improve the quality and efficiency of treatment delivery and reduce costs while maintaining at least equivalent clinical outcomes. Even this minimum requirement of equivalent clinical outcomes is poorly documented for most models and settings, however. We reviewed the recent literature on DSD models to describe what is known about clinical outcomes. Methods: We conducted a rapid systematic review of peer-reviewed publications in PubMed, Embase, and the Web of Science and major international conference abstracts that reported outcomes of DSD models for the provision of ART in sub-Saharan Africa from January 1, 2016 to September 12, 2019. Sources reporting standard clinical HIV treatment metrics, primarily retention in care and viral load suppression, were reviewed and categorized by DSD model and source quality assessed. Results and Discussion: Twenty-nine papers and abstracts describing 37 DSD models and reporting 52 discrete outcomes met search inclusion criteria. Of the 37 models, 7 (19%) were facility-based individual models, 12 (32%) out-of-facility based individual models, 5 (14%) client-led groups, and 13 (35%) healthcare worker-led groups. Retention was reported for 73% of the models and viral suppression for 57%. Where a comparison with conventional care was provided, retention in most DSD models was within 5% of that for conventional care; where no comparison was provided, retention generally exceeded 80%. For viral suppression, all those with a comparison to conventional care reported a small increase in suppression in the DSD model; reported suppression exceeded 90% in 11/21 models. Analysis was limited by the extensive heterogeneity of study designs, outcomes, models, and populations. Most sources did not provide comparisons with conventional care, and metrics for assessing outcomes varied widely and were in many cases poorly defined. Conclusion: Existing evidence on the clinical outcomes of DSD models for HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa is limited in both quantity and quality but suggests that retention in care and viral suppression are roughly equivalent to those in conventional models of care.

Background: So far, vaccination has been considered the most crucial defense against viral infection, including SARS-CoV-2. Numerous reports have demonstrated the effectiveness of the above vaccines in oncology patients. It has also been proven that, apart from vaccinations and oncological therapy, the course of the cancer process itself influences the magnitude of the humoral response, especially in people after infection with SARS-CoV-2. Objective: This study aimed to answer the question about the impact of the cancer process on the humoral response in oncological patients vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 infection and in patients after COVID-19. Material and methods: 1,668 people were observed. Over two years, 5,082 SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM antibody samples were determined. The concentration of antibodies was assessed in three groups of oncological patients: those undergoing anticancer therapy after contracting COVID-19 and those after vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results: The obtained results indicate a naturally more significant humoral response in oncological patients who have not been vaccinated and have not undergone anticancer therapy, such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or surgical intervention. The above observation applies to patients with breast, lung, and colon cancer, although the response varies significantly depending on the type of cancer. Summary: The size of the humoral response and the presence of specific antibodies directed against the SARS-CoV-2, IgM, and IgG, in response to the supply of the vaccine antigen or assessed after COVID-19, is an indicator of adequate immune protection against reinfection. This study highlights for the first time the phenomenon of increased humoral response in response to a viral infection in patients with certain types of cancer that are assumed to be sensitive to oncological therapy, the initiation of which, according to generally accepted principles, was blocked by infection with the SARS-CoV-2. The phenomenon we observe seems to confirm the presence of a "natural" defence potential in a cancer patient's body, in this case, directed against infection with a viral pathogen. A "stronger" antiviral response also seems to explain the asymptomatic course of SARS-CoV-2 infection in some of the above patients. It remains an open question to what extent the SARS-CoV-2 infection weakened the "natural" potential of the anticancer response in these patients.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major medical health burden and leading cause of chronic liver disease and cancer worldwide. More than 58 million people are chronically infected with HCV, with 1.5 million new infections occurring each year. An effective HCV vaccine is a major public health and medical need as recognized by the World Health Organization. However, due to the high variability of the virus and its ability to escape the immune response, HCV rapidly accumulates mutations making a vaccine a formidable challenge. An effective vaccine must elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) in a consistent fashion. After decades of studies from basic research through clinical development, the antigen of choice is considered to be the E1E2 envelope glycoprotein due to conserved, broadly neutralizing antigenic domains located in the constituent subunits of E1, E2, and the E1E2 heterodimeric complex itself. The challenge has been elicitation of robust humoral and cellular responses leading to broad virus neutralization due to the relatively low immunogenicity of this antigen. In view of this challenge, structure-based vaccine design approaches to stabilize key antigenic domains have been hampered due to the lack of E1E2 atomic-level resolution structures to guide them. Another challenge has been development of a delivery platform in which a multivalent form of the antigen can be presented in order to elicit a more robust anti-HCV immune response. Recent nanoparticle vaccines are gaining prominence in the field due to their ability to facilitate a controlled multivalent presentation and trafficking to lymph nodes, where they can interact with both the cellular and humoral components of the immune system. This review focuses on recent advances in understanding the E1E2 heterodimeric structure to facilitate a rational design approach and the potential for development of a multivalent nanoparticle-based HCV E1E2 vaccine. Both aspects are considered important in the development of an effective HCV vaccine that can effectively address viral diversity and escape.

In the present work, an innovative range of foams, based on flax gum-filled epoxy resin was developed, reinforced or not by flax fibers. Foams and composites with different gum and epoxy resin contents were produced and characterized for mechanical and thermal performances. To enhance the organic flax gum filler's cross-linking, we exploited the oxidized components' reactivity with the amine hardener (isophorone diamine). We compared the materials obtained with those derived from the native components. Flax gum and fibers were primarily characterized by chemical analysis, NMR, and FTIR to evaluate the mild oxidation of native materials. The formation of chemical bonds between oxidized polymer chains, epoxy resin, and hardener has been evidenced by FTIR, and the materials were then studied by SEM, X-ray computed micro-tomography (CT), and submitted to mechanical and thermal tests. The relevance of oxidation treatment was highlighted, through a significant increase in density and mechanical performances (+36% and +81%, respectively for the 100% flax gum material). The positive effect of flax fibers on homogeneity evidenced through micro-CT analysis was also clearly addressed. This set of promising results paves the way for future development of fully flax-based insulation composite materials.

Recent research on fractional order control laws has introduced the fractional calculus concept into the field of control engineering. As described herein, we apply fractional order LQR control to a current-controlled attractive-force type magnetic levitation system, which is a strongly nonlinear and unstable system, to investigate its control performance through experimentation. First, to design the controller, a current-controlled attractive-force type magnetic levitation system expressed as an integer-order system is extended to a fractional order system expressed using fractional order derivatives. Then target value tracking control of levitated objects is achieved by adding states, described by the integrals of the deviation between the output and the target value, to the extended system. Next, a fractional order LQR controller is designed for the extended system. For state-feedback control such as fractional order servo LQR control, which requires information of all states, a fractional order state-observer is configured to estimate fractional order states. Simulation results demonstrate that fractional order servo LQR control can achieve equilibrium point stabilization and enable target-value tracking. Finally, to verify the fractional order servo LQR control effectiveness, experiments using the designed fractional order servo LQR control law are done with comparison to conventional integer-order servo LQR control.

Abstract: Physicians, physical therapists, and occupational therapists have traditionally assessed hand motor function in hemiplegic patients but often struggle to evaluate complex hand move-ments. To address this issue, in 2019, we developed Fahrenheit, a device and algorithm that uses infrared camera image processing to estimate hand paralysis. However, due to Fahrenheit's de-pendency on specialized equipment, we conceived a simpler solution: developing a smartphone app that integrates MediaPipe. The objective of this study was to measure hand movements in stroke patients using both MediaPipe and Fahrenheit and to assess their criterion-related validity. The analysis revealed moderate-to-high correlations between the two methods. Consistent results were also observed in the peak angle and velocity comparisons across severity stages. Because Fahrenheit determines finger recovery status based on these measures, it has the potential to transfer this function to MediaPipe. This study highlighted the potential use of MediaPipe in pa-ralysis estimation applications.

Reducing carbon emissions is a major ways to achieving green development and sustainability for China’s future. This paper elaborates the detailed feature of China's carbon flow for 2013 with the carbon flow chart and gives changing characteristics of China's CO₂ flow from the viewpoint of sector and energy during 2000 and 2013. The results show that (1) during 2000 to 2013, China's CO₂ emissions with the approximately growth portion of 9% annually, while the CO₂ intensity of China diminishes at different rates. (2) The CO₂ emissions from secondary industry are prominent from the perspective of four main sectors accounting for 83.5%. The manufacturing play an important part in the secondary industry with 45%. In which the "smelting and pressing of metal" takes up a large percentage as about 50% in manufacturing. (3) The CO₂ emissions produced by coal consumption is keep dominant in energy-related emissions with a contribution of 65%, while it will decrease in the future. (4) From the aspect of sector, the CO₂ emissions mainly come from the "electricity and heating" sector and the "smelting and pressing of metals" sub-sector. While it is essential and urgent to propose concrete recommendations for CO₂ emissions mitigation. Firstly, the progression of creative technology is inevitable and undeniable. Secondly, the government should make different CO₂ emissions reduction policies among different sectors. For example, the process emission plays an important role in "non-metallic mineral" while in "smelting and manufacturing of metals" it is energy. Thirdly, the country can change the energy structure and promote renewable energy for powering by wind or other low-carbon energy. Besides it, the coke oven gas can be a feasible substitution. Finally, policy maker should be aware of the emissions from residents have been growing in a fast rate. It is effective to involve the public in the activity of energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction such as reducing the times of personal transportation.

To estimate the recreational value provided by the Foy’s Lake annually using the most applicable model for on-site data is the main objective of this study. Adhere to the objective of this study; Individual Travel Cost Method (ITCM) has been applied and Zero Truncated Poisson Regression Model has been found plausible among other models to estimate consumer surplus. Based on the findings of the study, an estimate of the consumer surplus or recreational benefits per trip per visitor can be recommended as BDT 5,875 or US $ 73.44 and counting the consumer surplus per trip per visitor, the annual recreational value (total consumer surplus) provided by the lake is found to be BDT 321 million or US $ 40.2 million.

Background and objectives: The correlation of cardiac troponin I with early in-hospital outcomes in acute myocardial infarction is not well established. This study aims to assess the role of troponin I in predicting in-hospital outcomes and early left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Patients and methods: In a prospective study, 116 patients (74males and 42 females), with STEMI who had been admitted to the Coronary CareUnit from March 2015 to September 2015 were enrolled. Patients were divided according to the level of troponin I on admission into 3 groups (low, medium and high elevation). Results: The mean age (+ SD) of the patients was 60+11.4 years. The troponin level of 66.2% of males was high compared with 52.4% of females (p=0.002). The incidence of acute pulmonary edema (21.1%), cardiogenic shock (7%) and early left ventricular systolic dysfunction (49.3%) was significantly higher among patients with high troponin level compared with (0%, 0% and 16%, respectively) among patients with low troponin level. All deaths and cardiac arrest were of high troponin level. Conclusions: High admission troponin I in STEMI permits early identification of patients at increased risk of major cardiac complications and death.

We attempted to understand the cervical cancer patient samples through Whole Exome Sequencing. We derived the variants from raw reads via our in-house benchmarked pipeline and validated the variants by IGV. This is the first cervical cancer exome data from the Indian cohort. Background: Cervical cancer (CC) is caused mainly by persistent infections of high-risk HPV, reduced parity, and factors like a decrease in average socioeconomic levels. We keep this because no cervical cancer exome data is available from the Indian cohort. Methods: The CC patient clinical samples were initially subjected to preparation using Qiagen DNA extraction, quantified, and the library preparation using the Agilent target enrichment system. Further, exome capture by Illumina platform (100X), quality check, alignment, and variant calling followed by the downstream analysis and finally visualized by IGV. Results: We observed a large number of SNVs or mutations from an Indian perspective, such as KMT2C, OR4M1, PDPR2P, EPHB1, FAS, OPCML, MGST1, C1QTNF9, HS6ST3, OR4K2, PRPSAP2, KCNJ12, FIGNL1, SFXN1, BAGE2, ARVCF, NAMPT variants of significance, unknown significance and possibly significant are reported. Conclusion: For the first time, KMT2C is observed as a novel potent mutation and pathogenic, showing the variant position at (7:152265091, T>A, SNV 62478356) from the Indian context in CC. Further, we visualized and validated the mutations using the Integrative Genomic Viewer (IGV) browser. Finally, we discuss the inherent challenges through KMT2C mutations.

S100 proteins are multifunctional calcium-binding proteins of vertebrates that act intracellularly, extracellularly, or both, and are engaged in the progression of many socially significant diseases. Their extracellular action is typically mediated by the recognition of specific receptor proteins. Besides, recent studies indicate the ability of some S100 proteins to affect cytokine signaling through direct interaction with cytokines. S100P was shown to be the S100 protein most actively involved in interactions with some of four-helical cytokines. To assess selectivity of S100P protein binding to four-helical cytokines, we have probed interaction of Ca2+-bound recombinant human S100P with a panel of 32 four-helical human cytokines covering all structural families of this fold, using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. 22 cytokines from all families of four-helical cytokines are S100P binders with the equilibrium dissociation constants, Kd, ranging from 1 nM to 3 µM (below the Kd value for the S100P complex with the V domain of its conventional receptor, receptor for advanced glycation end products, RAGE). Molecular docking and mutagenesis studies revealed the presence in the S100P molecule of a cytokine-binding site, which overlaps with the RAGE-binding site. Since S100 binding to four-helical cytokines inhibits their signaling in some cases, the revealed ability of S100P protein to interact with ca 71% of the four-helical cytokines indicates that S100P may serve as a poorly selective inhibitor of their action.

Consumption of raw and mild processed seafood, in the context of modern western world eating trends, is recognized as a major driver for human fish-borne infections. However, these zoonoses and their unfamiliar risks remain neglected and underappreciated among European diagnosticians. In contemporary Europe anisakiosis is one of the most important fish-borne zoonoses. It is caused by ingesting nematode parasites of the family Anisakidae. The case described herein, is an intestinal and ectopic form of anisakiosis, causing symptoms of subacute abdomen and masquerading as an intraperitoneal malignancy. It is the first anisakiosis case reported in Greece, affecting a young patient who had been repeatedly exposed to the parasite by consuming homemade raw fish. Right hemicolectomy, omentectomy and excision of a descending colon nodule were uneventfully performed. The pathology report confirmed granulomatous tissue with eosinophilic infiltration and parasites that were morphologically and molecularly identified as Anisakis spp. Although challenging, obtaining an accurate diagnosis of anisakiosis can prevent unnecessary surgery. However, in rare cases, extra-gastrointestinal migration of larvae can cause severe damages with practically unknown risks, posing a diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma. In such clinical case scenario, surgical exploration can decisively contribute to a definitive diagnosis and early identification of intraabdominal complications necessitating surgical intervention.

Background: The efficacy of local therapies for lung cancer patients with postoperative oligo-recurrence has been reported. However, whether local therapies should be chosen over molecular targeted therapies for oligo-recurrence patients with driver mutations remains controversial. We hence aimed to investigate the optimal initial treatment strategy for oligo-recurrence in lung cancer patients with driver mutations. Methods: Among 2,152 patients with lung adenocarcinoma who underwent surgical resection at our institute between 2008 and 2020, 66 patients with driver mutations who experienced cancer oligo-recurrence after surgery, and were treated with local or molecularly targeted therapy as an initial therapy after recurrence were evaluated. Oligo-recurrence was characterized by the presence of 1 to 3 recurrent lesions. These patients were investigated focusing on their post-recurrence therapies and prognoses. Results: The median follow-up period was 71 months. Local and molecular targeted therapies were administered to 41 and 25 patients, respectively. The number of recurrence lesions tended to be lower in the initial local therapy group than in the molecular targeted therapy group. In the initial local therapy group, 23 patients (56%) subsequently received molecular targeted therapies. The time from recurrence to the initiation of molecular targeted therapy was significantly longer in the local therapy group than in the molecular targeted therapy group (p &lt; 0.001). There was no significant difference in post-recurrence overall survival (hazard ratio, 1.429; 95% confidence interval, 0.701–2.912; log-rank, p = 0.324), and post-recurrence progression-free survival (hazard ratio, 0.799; 95% confidence interval, 0.459–1.390; log-rank, p = 0.426) in the initial local ablative therapy group compared with the initial molecular targeted therapy group. Conclusions: Local therapies as a first-line treatment did not show statistically significant differences in post-recurrence survival or progression-free survival compared with molecular targeted therapies. However, local therapies as an initial treatment should be considered preferably, as it can cure the recurrence and can delay the start of administration of molecular-targeted therapies.

Trend patterns of melanoma skin in Serbia from 1999 to 2020 *Rancic K. Natasa 1,2, Tiodorovic B. Danica 1,4, Ilic V. Mirko 2, Biljana N. Kocic 1,2, Maksimovic S. Natasa 3, Ilija D. Kocic 4, Dusan P. Miljkovic 4, Otasevic A. Suzana 1,2 Introduction. Melanoma of the skin represents about 1% of all skin cancers and it causes nearly 80% of skin cancer deaths. Due to its increasing incidence, particularly in the most developed countries it represents a great challenge for primary prevention. Objective. To explore patterns and analyze incidence trends of melanoma in Central Serbia from 1999 to 2020. Materials and Methods. Descriptive study was done and data were obtained from the Population-based Cancer Registry of Serbia. The joinpoint regression analysis was done to assess the incidence trend of the melanoma skin: the annual percent change (APC) along with its 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated. Results. A total number of 9952 new melanoma cases were registered melanoma (5204 in males and 4748 in females) during the observed period. Males represented 52.3% of all patients, with male to female ratio of incidence 2.09:1. A non significant increasing trend of incidence in males from 1999 to 2013 with APC of 2.53% (95%CI: from -18.2 to 21.9, p=1) and significantly increasing trend from 2013 to 2020 with the APC of 11.29 % (95%CI: from 1.4 to 5.8, p<0.001) was established. An incidence trend in females has stabilized in the whole studied period, with APC of 0.42% (95%CI: from -3.3 to 6.8, p=0.1). Melanoma of the skin was not common before the age of 30. Out of all cases and about of 76% new cases were diagnosed in persons ≥ 50 years of age. Conclusion. The incidence trend of new melanoma cases significantly increase in the whole population from 1999 to 2020. The significant increasing of incidence trend in males and stabilization of incidence trend in females was established. Males had significantlly higher incidence rates than femalesand over of 76% new melanoma cases were diagnosed in persons above 50 years of age.

Advances in sequencing technologies and bioinformatics have greatly enhanced our knowledge of virus biodiversity. Currently, viromes of haematophagous invertebrates, such as mosquitoes and ixodid ticks, are actively studied. Tabanidae (Diptera) is a widespread family, with members mostly known for their persistent haematophagous behavior. They transmit viral, bacterial and other pathogens, both biologically and mechanically. However, tabanid viromes remain severely understudied. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing to describe the viromes of several species of Hybomitra, Tabanus, Chrysops, and Haematopota genera, which were collected in Russia. We assembled 14 full coding genomes of the novel viruses, 4 partial coding genomes, as well as several fragmented viral sequences, which presumably belong to another 12 new viruses. All the discovered viruses were tested on their ability to replicate in the mammalian porcine embryo kidney (PEK), tick HAE/CTVM8, and mosquito C6/36 cell lines. In total, 16 viruses were detected in at least one cell culture after three passages (for PEK and C6/36) or 3 weeks of persistence in HAE/CTVM8. However, in the majority of cases, qPCR showed a decline in virus load over time. Nevertheless, four viruses were detected after six passages.

Neuraminidase (NA)-based immunity could reduce the harmful impact of novel antigenic variants of influenza viruses. Detection of neuraminidase-inhibiting (NI) antibodies in parallel with anti-hemagglutinin (HA) antibodies may enhance research of immunogenicity and duration of antibody response to influenza vaccines. To assess anti-NA antibodies after vaccination with seasonal inactivated influenza vaccines, we used the enzyme-linked lectin assay, and anti-HA antibodies were detected in hemagglutination inhibition assay. The dynamics of anti-NA antibody response differed depending on the virus subtype: antibodies to A/H3N2 virus neuraminidase increased later than antibodies to A/H1N1pdm09 subtype neuraminidase, and persisted longer. In contrast to HA antibodies, the fold increase in antibody titers to NA after vaccination poorly depended on the preexisting level. At the same time, NA antibody level after vaccination directly correlated with titers before vaccination. Difference was found in response to NA antigen between split and subunit adjuvanted vaccines and in NA functional activity in the vaccine formulations.

Recently, there has been remarkable progress in the development of smart textiles, especially knitted strain sensors, to achieve reliable sensor signals. Stable and reliable electro-mechanical properties of sensors are essential for using textile-based sensors in medical applications. How-ever, challenges associated with significant hysteresis and low gauge factor (GF) values remain for using strain sensors for motion capture. To evaluate these issues, a comprehensive investiga-tion of the cyclic electro-mechanical properties of weft-knitted strain sensors was conducted in the present study to develop a drift-free elastic strain sensor with a robust sensor signal for mo-tion capture for medical devices. Several variables were considered in the study, including the variation of the basic knit pattern, the incorporation of the electrically conductive yarn, and the size of the strain sensor. The effectiveness and feasibility of the developed knitted strain sensors are demonstrated through experimental evaluation, by determining the gauge factor, its non-linearity, hysteresis and drift. The developed knitted piezoresistive strain sensors have a GF of 2.4, a calculated drift of 50 %, 12,5 % hysteresis, and 0.3 % nonlinearity in parts.

Inflammatory activation within the brain was linked to a decrease in cognitive abilities, however the molecular mechanisms implicated in the development of inflammatory-related cognitive dysfunction and its prevention are poorly understood. This study compared responses of hippocampal transcriptomes 3 months after the striatal infusion of lipopolysaccharide, alone (LPS; 30 µg) resulting in memory loss, or with dexamethasone (DEX; 5 mg/kg intraperitoneal) pretreatment, which abolished the long-term LPS-induced memory impairment. After LPS alone, a significant elevation in the expression of immunity/inflammatory-linked genes, including chemokine (Cxcl13), cytokines (Il1b, Tnfsf13b), and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II members (Cd74, RT1-Ba, RT1-Bb, RT1-Da, RT1-Db1) was revealed. DEX pretreatment did not change expression of these genes, but significantly affected expression of genes encoding ion channels, primarily calcium and potassium channels, regulators of glutamate (Slc1a2, Grm5, Grin2a) and GABA (Gabrr2, Gabrb2) neurotransmission which enriched in such GO biological processes as “Regulation of transmembrane transport”, “Cognition”, “Learning”, “Neurogenesis”, and “Nervous system development”. Taken together, the data suggest that: (1) pretreatment with DEX did not markedly affect LPS-induced prolonged inflammatory response; (2) DEX pretreatment can affect processes associated with glutamatergic signaling and nervous system development, possibly involved by that in the recovery of memory impairment induced by LPS

Three-layer structures based on various multi-component films of III–V semiconductors heavily doped with Fe were grown by pulsed laser sputtering of InSb, GaSb, InAs, GaAs and Fe solid targets. The structures comprising InAsSb:Fe, InGaSb:Fe and InSb:Fe layers with Fe concentrations up to 24 at. % separated by GaAs spacers were deposited on (001) i-GaAs substrates at 200ºC. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the structures have a rather high crystalline quality and do not contain secondary-phase inclusions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy investigations revealed significant diffusion of Ga atoms from the GaAs regions into the InAsSb:Fe layers, which has led to the formation of an InGaAsSb:Fe compound with a Ga content up to 20 at. %. It has been found that the ferromagnetic properties of the InAsSb:Fe magnetic semiconductor improve with increasing Sb:As ratio. It has been concluded that the indirect ferromagnetic exchange interaction between Fe atoms occurs predominantly via Sb atoms.

Graphene is a two-dimensional nanostructured material with intrinsic properties that show promising performance in various applications, including electronics, renewable energy, medicine, mechanical enforcement and others. This study reports a bottom-up approach for the conversion of cyclohexane into graphene nanoflakes, which were then deposited onto fiberglass using a non-thermal generator. The composite was characterized using transmission electron microscopy, which revealed the formation of stacked few-layer graphene with a partially disordered structure and a d-spacing of 0.358 nm between the layers. X-ray diffraction confirmed the observations from the TEM images. SEM images showed the agglomeration of carbonaceous material onto the fiberglass, which experienced some delamination due to the synthesis method. Raman spectroscopy indicated that the obtained graphene exhibited a predominance of defects in its structure. Additionally, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) analyses revealed the formation of graphene layers with varying levels of porosity.

In this study, we designed a functional neuro-cardiac model to help us examine the role of neuronal regulation and confirm the importance of neural innervation techniques for cardiac tissue regeneration. A three-dimensional (3D) bioprinted neuro-cardiac scaffold composed of a mixture of gelatin-alginate and alginate-genipin-fibrin hydrogels was developed with a 2:1 ratio of AC16 cardiomyocytes (CMs) and retinoic acid differentiated SH-SY5Y neuronal cells (NCs) respectively. A unique semi-3D bioprinting approach was adopted where the CMs were mixed in the cardiac bioink and printed using an anisotropic accordion design to mimic the physiological tissue architecture in vivo. The voids in this 3D structure were methodically filled in using a NCs-gel mixture and cross-linked. Confocal fluorescent imaging using Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP-2) antibodies for labeling NCs, and the MyoD1 antibody for CMs revealed functional coupling between the two cell types in the final cross-linked structure. This data confirmed the development of a physiologically functional neuro-cardiac model that can be used to study neuro-cardiac modulation under physiological and pathological conditions.

In this article, the biocatalytic oxidation of ethanol into acetaldehyde was studied using a catalase entrapped within monolithic polyampholyte cryogel, p(APTAC-co-AMPS), derived from an anionic monomer, 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid sodium salt (AMPS), and a cationic monomer, (3-acrylamidopropyl) trimethylammonium chloride (APTAC) as catalyst. Macroporous polyampholyte cryogels containing various amounts of catalase were synthesized in situ under cryo-polymerization conditions at a molar ratio of monomers [APTAC]:[AMPS] = 75:25 mol.% in the presence of 10 mol.% cross-linking agent, N,N-methylenebisacrylamide (MBAA). The conversion of ethanol into acetaldehyde in good-to-high yields was observed in flow-through and batch type reactors under optimal conditions: at T = 10-20 C, pH = 7.1, [C2H5OH]:[H2O2] = 50:50 vol.%. According to SEM image the pore sizes of p(AMPS-co-APTAC) cryogel vary from 15 to 55 μm. The catalytic activity of catalase entrapped within monolithic polyampholyte cryogel in the conversion of ethanol into acetaldehyde was evaluated through the determination of such kinetic parameters as Michaelis constant (Km), the maximum enzymatic rate (Vmax), activation energy (Ea), turnover number (TON) and turnover frequency (TOF). The catalase encapsulated within monolithic polyampholyte cryogel exhibits a high conversion of ethanol into acetaldehyde. The advantages and disadvantages of flow-through and batch type reactors were highlighted.

Peripheral blood is an available source of adult stem cells for both fundamental research and clinical use. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) contain a number of different multipotent populations of progenitor cells and possess a potential to differentiate into various types of cells under appropriate conditions. We have evaluated a regenerative potential of PBMCs embedded into fibrin matrix (FM) in a model of pig spinal cord injury. The distribution of transplanted PBMCs in the injured spinal cord was previously evaluated, which demonstrated the ability of these cells to penetrate into deep layers of the spinal cord and to concentrate mainly in the grey matter. The pilot study conducted demonstrated that the tissue structure could be improved and the conduction along posterior columns of the spinal cord could be partially recovered in animals in the setting of FM+РВМCs application. The multiplex analysis of blood serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) showed the cytokine imbalance to occur without significantly shifting towards pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory cytokine cascades in the setting therapy provided.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a leading form of human cardiovascular disease and commonly associated with systemic hypertension. Unique evolved adaptations in giraffe myocardia may be a natural animal model of resistance to HFpEF. In humans, pressure-overload induced left ventricular thickening (PLVT) impairs diastolic relaxation, elevates left atrial pressures and may progress to heart failure with symptoms including exercise intolerance. In healthy giraffe, the left ventricle thickens as developmental neck lengthening widens the vertical distance between the heart and head increasing pressures needed to maintain constant brain perfusion. Yet, diastolic relaxation and exercise capacity are unimpaired, a critical adaptation for prey species such as giraffe. The proximate mechanisms underlying this unique cardiovascular physiology are not yet characterized. Developmental PLVT in giraffe emerges as a species-specific evolved adaptation which offers a roadmap for identifying innovations in therapeutic and prevention strategies for HFpEF.

Proteins are the primary effectors of function in biology, and thus complete knowledge of their structure and properties is fundamental to deciphering function in basic and translational research. The chemical diversity of proteins is expressed in their many proteoforms, which result from combinations of genetic polymorphisms, RNA splice variants and post-translational modifications. This knowledge is foundational for the biological complexes and networks that control biology, yet remains largely unknown. We propose here an ambitious initiative to define the human proteome; that is to generate a definitive reference set of the proteoforms produced from the genome. Several examples of the power and importance of proteoform-level knowledge in disease-based research are presented, along with a call for improved technologies in a two-pronged strategy to accomplish the Human Proteoform Project.

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused an acute reduction in world supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) due to increased demand. To combat the impending shortage of equipment including N95 masks, the George Washington University Hospital (GWUH) developed a 3D printed reusable N95 comparable respirator that can be used with multiple filtration units. We evaluated several candidate prototype respirator models, 3D printer filaments, and filtration units detailed here. Our most recent working model was based on a respirator found on an open source maker website and was developed with PLA (printer filament), a removable cap, a removable filtration unit consisting of two layers of MERV 16 sandwiched between MERV 13, and removable elastic bands to secure the mask. Our candidate mask passed our own suction test protocol to evaluate leakage and passed a qualitative Bitrix N95 fit test at employee health at GWUH. Further efforts are directed at improving the current model for seal against face, comfort, and sizing. The 3D model is available upon request and in the supplement of this paper. We welcome collaboration with other institutions and suggest other facilities consider mask fit for their own population when exploring this concept.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an incurable hematological malignancy. To treat the disease successfully, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. One of these strategies can be the use of neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonists (e.g., aprepitant), because the substance P (SP)/NK-1R system is involved in cancer progression, including AML. AML patients show an up-regulation of the NK-1R mRNA expression; human AML cell lines show immunoreactivity for both SP and the NK-1R (it is overexpressed: the truncated isoform is more expressed than the full-length form) and, via this receptor, SP and NK-1R antagonists (aprepitant, in a concentration-dependent manner) respectively exert a proliferative action or an antileukemic effect (apoptotic mechanisms are triggered by promoting oxidative stress via mitochondrial Ca++ overload). Aprepitant inhibits the formation of AML cell colonies and, in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs, is more effective in inducing cytotoxic effects and AML cell growth blockade. NK-1R antagonists also exert an antinociceptive effect in myeloid leukemia-induced bone pain. The antitumor effect of aprepitant is diminished when the NF-κB pathway is overactivated and the damage induced by aprepitant in cancer cells is higher than that exerted in non-cancer cells. Thus, the SP/NK-1R system is involved in AML and aprepitant is a promising antitumor strategy against this hematological malignancy. In this review, the involvement of this system in solid and non-solid tumors (in particular in AML) is up-dated and the use of aprepitant as an anti-leukemic strategy for the treatment of AML is also mentioned (a dose of aprepitant (> 20 mg/kg/day) for a period of time according to the response to treatment is suggested).

Introduction: The escalating morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs associated with invasive candidiasis pose significant challenges in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Conventional diagnostic methods fall short in effectiveness, while various risk factors exacerbate the prevalence of these infections. This study introduces a novel model that amalgamates the Candida Score with key predictors to enhance the specificity and applicability of mortality risk assessments for pediatric patients with fungemia. Methods: This retrospective cohort study aimed to develop an integrated model for estimating mortality risk in children with fungemia in PICUs. We constructed and evaluated multiple predictive models using the Candida Score and other relevant clinical and laboratory variables. The discriminative abilities of the models were assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: The study cohort comprised 85 pediatric patients admitted between 2016 and 2020, with a median age of 6 months and a male predominance of 62.4%. The mortality rate was 45.9%. Candida albicans was the most prevalent causative agent, accounting for 37.55% of fungemia cases. Multivariable Logistic regression revealed the duration of mechanical ventilation, and the Candida Score were significant predictors of mortality. Each additional day of ventilation increased mortality odds by 11.5% (OR = 1.115, 95% CI: 1.025-1.212, p = 0.011), while a higher Candida Score more than doubled the odds (OR = 2.205, 95% CI: 1.359-3.578, p = 0.001).The Random Forest predictive model demonstrated superior discriminative performance, with an AUC of 0.838 (95% CI: 0.738-0.917), outperforming Gradient Boosting and Logistic Regression models, which had AUCs of 0.7759 (95% CI: 0.667-0.877) and 0.7085 (95% CI: 0.589-0.813), respectively. Although the internal validation yielded satisfactory results, external validation is warranted. Conclusion: This study presents an innovative approach for accurately assessing the risk of mortality due to fungemia in PICU patients by integrating the Candida Score with critical predictors. The Random Forest model emerged as the most effective predictive tool due to its exceptional discriminative ability.

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an intensive care unit (ICU) round checklist, FAST HUGS BID (Feeding, Analgesia, Sedation, Thromboembolic prophylaxis, Head-of-bed elevation, Ulcer prophylaxis, Glycemic control, Spontaneous breathing trial, Bowel regimen, Indwelling catheter removal, and De-escalation of antibiotics) in improving clinical outcomes for patients with severe trauma. Patients admitted to our trauma ICU between 2016 and 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. We divided the participants into two groups: before (before-FD, 2016-2017) and after (after-FD, 2019-2020) the checklist's implementation. We compared patient characteristics and clinical outcomes, including ICU and hospital length of stay (LOS) and in-hospital mortality. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan–Meier curves and multivariable logistic regression models, and multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify independent factors associated with ICU and hospital LOS. Compared with the before-FD group, the after-FD group had significantly lower in-hospital mortality and complication rates, shorter ICU and hospital LOS, and reduced duration of mechanical ventilation. revealed that the checklist's implementation was a significant independent factor in reducing ICU and hospital LOS and in-hospital mortality. In this before/after study, we observed that the FAST HUGS BID checklist implementation was associated with decreased ICU and hospital LOS and in-hospital mortality.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 subvariant BA.2.86, also known as Pirola, has raised concerns about its transmissibility, virulence, and immune escape. The aim of this letter is to address the current evidence on the origin, spread, and characteristics of Pirola, and discuss its implications for public health and vaccine development. The need for enhanced surveillance, genomic sequencing, and epidemiological studies to monitor the evolution and impact of Pirola and other SARS-CoV-2 variants are highlighted in this letter along with the importance of global cooperation and coordination to prevent and control future outbreaks of this novel coronavirus strain.

The MAPK signaling pathway with BRAF mutations has been shown to drive the pathogenesis of 40-60% of melanomas. Inhibitors of this pathway's BRAF and MEK components are currently used to treat these malignancies. However, responses to these treatments are not always successful. Therefore, identifying noninvasive biomarkers to predict treatment responses is essential for personalized medicine of melanoma patients. Using noninvasive 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS), we previously showed that BRAF inhibition reduces lactate and alanine tumor levels at early stages of effective therapy and could be construed as metabolic imaging biomarkers for drug response. The present work aimed to demonstrate if these metabolic changes and those assessed by 31P MRS are also found in preclinical human melanoma models treated with MEK inhibitors. Apart from 1H and 31P MRS, additional supporting in vitro biochemical analyses are described. Our results indicate significant early metabolic correlations with response levels to MEK inhibition in the melanoma models and are consistent with our previous study of BRAF inhibition. Given these results, our study supports the potential clinical utility of noninvasive MRS to objectively image metabolic biomarkers for early predicting melanoma response to MEK inhibition.

Keywords: Endodontic microsurgery; Root canal treatment; Isthmus preparation; Short-term outcomes

Reverse engineering is applied to identify optimum polymerization conditions for the synthesis of polymer with pre-defined properties. The proposed approach uses multi-objective optimization (MOO) and provides multiple candidate polymerization procedures to reach the targeted polymer property. The objectives for optimization include maximal similarity of molar mass distributions (MMD) compared to the target MMD, minimal reaction time, and maximal monomer conversion. The method is tested for vinyl acetate radical polymerizations and can be adopted to other monomers. The data for the optimization procedure is generated by an in-house developed kinetic Monte-Carlo (kMC) simulator for a selected recipe search space. The proposed reverse engineering algorithm comprises several steps: kMC simulations for the selected recipe search space to derive initial data, performing MOO for a targeted MMD, and identification of the Pareto optimal space. The last step uses a weighted sum optimization function to calculate the weighted score of each candidate polymerization conditions. To decrease the execution time clustering of the search space based on MMDs is applied. The performance of the proposed approach was tested for various target MMDs. The suggested MOO-based reverse engineering provides multiple recipe candidates depending on competing objectives.

Non-destructive testing has many advantages, such as the ability to obtain a large number of data without destroying existing structures. However, the reliability of the estimation accuracy and the limited range of applicable targets remains an issue. This study proposes to a novel pin penetration test method to determine the early age compressive strength of concrete before demolding. The timing of demolding and initial curing are determined according to the strength development of concrete. Therefore, it is important to determine the compressive strength at the early age before demolding at the actual construction site. The applicability of this strength estimation methodology at actual construction is investigated. Small test holes (12 mm in diameter) are prepared on the mold surface in real construction sites and mock-up specimens in advance. The pin is penetrated into these test holes to obtain the relationship between the compressive strength and the penetration depth. As a result, it is confirmed that the pin penetration test method is suitable to measure the early age compressive strength at actual construction site. This allows the benchmark values for compressive strength, necessary to avoid early frost damage, to be directly verified on the concrete structural members at the construction site. For instance, the compressive strengths of greater than 5 MPa and 10 MPa can be confirmed by the penetration depths benchmark values of 8.0 mm and 6.7mm or less, respectively.

The aim of this prospective, randomized, clinical study was to evaluate the use of the pleth variability index (PVi) to guide the rate of intra-operative fluid therapy as compared with a traditional fixed fluid rate approach in ASA 1-2 dogs undergoing surgery. Twenty-seven dogs meet the inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned to conventional fluid management group (CFM, n = 12) or PVi-guided group (PVi, n = 15). The CFM group received a fixed rate of 5 ml kg-1 h-1 of crystalloid solution, while in the PVi group the rate was continuously adjusted based on PVi: PVi &lt; 14% = 3 ml kg-1 h-1; 14% ≤ PVi ≥ 20% = ml kg-1 h-1; PVi &gt; 20% = 15 ml kg-1 h-1. Hypotension (MAP &lt; 65 mmHg) was managed in CFM with maximum two fluid boluses (5 ml kg-1 in 10 minutes) and in case of no response dobutamine (1-3 mcg kg-1 min-1) was administered. In the PVi group treatment of hypotension was similar except when PVi &gt; 14% when dobutamine was directly initiated. The total fluid amount was significantly lower in PVI group (0.056 ± 0.027 ml kg-1 min-1) vs. CFM group (0.132 ± 0.115 ml kg-1 min-1), and hypotension incidence was lower (p = 0.023) in PVi group (0%) vs. CFM group (41%). Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was significantly higher during surgery in the PVi group. Dobutamine was never administered in both groups. Preliminary data suggest that PVi may be considered a potential target to guide fluid therapy in dogs; larger studies are needed, especially in cases of cardiovascular instability.

The NW-SE trending dextral strike-slip faults on the north side of the Tian Shan play an important role in accommodating the crustal shortening, which mainly includes the Karatau fault, Talas-Fergana fault, Dzhalair-Naiman fault, Aktas fault, Dzhungarian fault (also named Bolokenu-Aqikekuduk fault) and Chingiz fault. The classic viewpoint is that the strike-slip fault is the adjustment product caused by the difference of the crustal shortening from west to east. Another viewpoint attributes the dextral strike-slip fault to large-scale sinistral shearing. The Alakol Lake Fault is situated along the northern margin of the Dzhungarian Gate, stretching for roughly 150 km from Lake Ebinur to Lake Alakol. Our team utilized aerial photographs, Satellite Stereo-imagery, and field observation to map the distribution of the Alakol Lake fault. Our findings provided evidence supporting the assertion that the fault is a dextral strike-slip fault. In reference to its spatial distribution, Lake Alakol is situated in a pull-apart basin that lies between two major dextral strike-slip fault lines: the Chingiz and Dzhungarian faults. The Alakol Lake Fault serves as a connecting point for these two faults, resulting in the formation of a mega NW-SE dextral strike-slip fault zone. According to our analysis of the dating samples taken from the alluvial fan, as well as our measurement of the displacement of the riser and gully, it appears that the Alakol Lake fault has a dextral strike-slip rate of 0.8-1.5mm/yr. The strike-slip rate of the Alakol Lake fault is comparatively higher than that of the Chingiz fault in the northern region (~0.7 mm/yr), but slower than that of the Dzhungarian fault in the southern (3.2-5 mm/yr). The Chingiz-Alakol-Dzhungarian fault zone shows a gradual decrease in deformation towards the interior of the Kazakhstan platform. We contend that the rate of deformation observed is better explained by the crustal shortening adjustment model, rather than the large-scale sinistral shearing model.

Electrostatic endothelial cell seeding has evolved as an exceptional technique to improve the efficiency of cell seeding in terms of frequency of attached cells and the amount of cell adhesion for the treatment of vascular diseases. In the recent times, both untreated and superhydrophilic thin film nitinol (TFN) have exhibited strong prospect as substrates for creation of small-diameter endovascular grafts due to their hallmark properties of superelasticity, ultra low-profile character, grown hemocompatible oxide layer with the presence of a uniform endothelial layer on the surface. The purpose of the current study is to understand the effects of endothelial cell seeding parameters (i.e., applied voltage, incubation time, substrate chemistry and cell suspension solution) to investigate the cell seeding phenomenon and to improve the cell adhesion and growth on the TFN surface under electrostatic transplantation. Both parallel plate and cylindrical capacitor models were used along with the Taguchi Design of Experiment (DOE) methods to design in vitro test parameters. A novel in vitro system for cylindrical capacitor model was created using a micro flow pump, micro incubation system, and silicone tubings. The augmented endothelialization on thin film nitinol was developed to determine the effect of cell seeding and deployed in a 6 Fr intravascular catheter setup. Cell viability along with morphology and proliferation of adhered cells were evaluated using fluorescent and scanning electron microscopy. Our results demonstrated that the maximum number of cells attached on STFN in the catheter was observed in 5V with the 2 hr exposure of in the cell culture medium (CCM) solution. The condition showed 5V voltage with 0.68×10-6 µC electrostatic charge and 5.11 V·mm-1 electric field. Our findings have first demonstrated that the electrostatic endothelialization on the superhydrophilic thin film nitinol endograft within the catheter prior to the endovascular procedure could enhance the biocompatibility for low-profile endovascular applications.

Anderson-Fabry disease is a rare X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by deficient or absent activity of the enzyme alfa-galactosidase A. This defect enzyme leads to accumulation of glycolipids, primarily globotriaosylceramide (Gb3), in the vascular endothelium of several organs, including the skin, kidneys, nervous system, and heart. The characteristic early clinical features of Fabry disease include acroparaesthesia, angiokeratoma, heat intolerance, hypohidrosis, cornea verticillata and gastrointestinal symptoms. Later complications occur with the disease progression and include progressive renal failure, hypertrofic cardiomyopathy, cerebrovascular disease and reduced life expectancy. Anderson Fabry disease is therefore a disabling and systemic disease which requires a timely diagnosis. The purpose of our study is to define sweat glands morphological abnormalities in children and adolescents with Fabry disease with minimal symptoms and in patients affected by variants of Fabry disease in which biopsy is essential, to establish a baseline morphological diagnosis of the disease before to undergo to kidney or endomyocardial biopsy or when the classical approach is not possible because of some complications, with minimal discomfort for patients.

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a risk factor for severe COVID-19. This study explores the potential influence of gut hormone receptor and immune response gene expression on COVID-19 outcomes in MAFLD patients. Methods: We investigated gene expression levels of AHR, FFAR2, FXR, and TGR5 in patients with MAFLD and COVID-19 compared to controls. We examined associations between gene expression and clinical outcomes. Results: COVID-19 patients displayed altered AHR expression, potentially impacting immune response and recovery. Downregulated AHR in MAFLD patients correlated with increased coagulation parameters. Elevated FFAR2 expression in MAFLD linked to specific immune cell populations and hospital stay duration. Significantly lower FXR expression was observed in both MAFLD and severe COVID-19. Conclusion: Our findings suggest potential modulatory roles for AHR, FFAR2, and FXR in COVID-19 and MAFLD.

Camouflage is a natural or artificially process to prevent an object from being detected while camouflage breaking is a countering process for the identification of the concealed object. We report that a perfectly camouflaged object in a two-dimensional scene can be retrieved and detected with stereo-vision assisted three-dimensional (3D) imaging perceived with stereopsis. The analysis is based on binocular energy model applied to general 3D settings. We show that a perfectly concealed object with random noise background can be retrieved with vision’s stereoacuity to resolve the hidden structures. The theoretical analysis is further tested and demonstrated with distant natural images taken by a drone-camera, processed with a computer and displayed in an autostereoscopy. The recovered imaging is presented with removal of the background interference to demonstrate the general applicability for camouflage breaking with stereo imaging and sensing.

The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) protocol stands as a cornerstone in modern aviation surveillance and Aircraft Traffic Control systems, integral to the NextGen project initiated by the US Department of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2005. ADS-B utilizes data links to autonomously broadcast Aircraft navigational and identification information to augment air transportation system capacity and safety. However, concerns regarding the protocol's security persist, particularly as its adoption expands. The unencrypted nature of transmitted aircraft data and the absence of robust authentication mechanisms render the protocol susceptible to exploitation by malicious actors. In this study, we comprehensively reviewed existing research in the field, identifying a crucial gap necessitating a holistic survey. Prior surveys have predominantly focused on specific aspects, such as vulnerabilities, attacks, or critiques of existing solutions. Our survey addresses this gap by thoroughly exploring the aviation system, providing readers with a nuanced understanding of ADS-B security. Utilizing a detailed SWOT analysis diagram, our paper delves into the vulnerabilities inherent in the ADS-B protocol outlines potential threats and scrutinizes various attack scenarios. We systematically categorize and analyze existing security solutions, considering cost-effectiveness, scalability, implementation complexity, and coverage against diverse attack vectors. Furthermore, we critically evaluate these solutions, elucidate ADS-B security requirements, discuss current challenges, and propose future research directions. This survey serves as a comprehensive resource for researchers and practitioners alike, shedding light on the multifaceted landscape of ADS-B security and paving the way for enhanced aviation system resilience in the face of evolving cybersecurity threats.

Robotic-assisted hip and knee arthroplasty represents significant advancements in orthopedic surgery. Artificial intelligence (AI) - driven chatbots, such ChatGP, plays a significant role in healthcare education. This study aims to evaluate the quality of responses provided by ChatGPT to the top 20 questions concerning robotic-assisted hip and knee arthroplasty.We have asked ChatGPT to select the top 20 questions on Google concerning robotic hip and knee arthroplasty and to provide a detailed answer to each of them. The accuracy of the information provided were examined by three orthopedic surgeons with scientific and clinical experience in hip and knee replacement surgery. The accuracy was assessed through a 5-point Likert scale (from 1 – completely incorrect to 5 – correct); the completeness through a 4-point Likert scale (from 0 – comprehensiveness not assessable for completely incorrect answers to 3 – exhaustive information) on two different occasions to ensure the consistency of the assessment. Our analysis reveals that ChatGPT provides a relatively high degree of accuracy, moreover the explanations can be considered satisfy, especially for factual questions. The findings suggest that ChatGPT can serve as a valuable initial resource for general information on robotic hip and knee arthroplasty but the integration with human expertise remains essential.

Breast cancer poses a global health challenge, yet the influence of ethnicity on the tumor microenvironment (TME) remains understudied. In this investigation, we examined immune cell infiltration in 230 breast cancer samples, emphasizing diverse ethnic populations. Leveraging tissue microarrays (TMAs) and core samples, we applied multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) to dissect immune cell subtypes across TME regions. Our analysis revealed distinct immune cell distribution patterns, particularly enriched in aggressive molecular subtypes triple-negative and HER2-positive tumors. We observed significant correlations between immune cell abundance and key clinicopathological parameters, including tumor size, lymph node involvement, and patient overall survival. Notably, immune cell location within different TME regions showed varying correlations with clinicopathologic parameters. Additionally, ethnicities exhibited diverse distributions of cells, with certain ethnicities showing higher abundance compared to others. In TMA samples, patients of Chinese and Caribbean origin displayed significantly lower numbers of B cells, TAMs, and FOXP3-positive cells. These findings highlight the intricate interplay between immune cells and breast cancer progression, with implications for personalized treatment strategies. Moving forward, integrating advanced imaging techniques, and exploring immune cell heterogeneity in diverse ethnic cohorts can uncover novel immune signatures and guide tailored immunotherapeutic interventions, ultimately improving breast cancer management.

The menace of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections among low- and middle-income countries with no access to free HPV vaccine is a public health concern. HPV is one of the most common Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in Nigeria with high-risk HPV-16 and 18 genotypes. In this study, we explored the predictors of self-reported HPV infections and HPV genital warts infection among a population of students, non-academic staff, and academic staff of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) university located in Lapai, Nigeria. We also assessed their knowledge about HPV infections and genotypes, and sexual behaviors. An online cross-sectional study was conducted by setting up a structured questionnaire on google form and it was distributed to the University community via Facebook and other social media platforms of the university. The form captured questions on HPV infection, knowledge about HPV infection and genotypes, as well as sexual health of the participants. All variables were described using frequencies and percentage distribution, chi-squared test statistics was used to explore the association between HPV infection (medical records of HPV infection) and the participants’ profile, and logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the factors associated with HPV genital warts infection among the population. This study reveals those participants between the ages of 26 – 40 years (81.3%) and those currently not in a union (26.4%) who have self-reported having HPV-16 and -18 genotypes. Also, participants between 26 – 40 years of age (OR: 0.45, 95%CI: 0.22 – 0.89) reported to be carriers of HPV genital warts. Therefore, this study reveals the factors associated with HPV infection and genital warts peculiar to IBB university students and staff. Hence, we suggest the need for HPV awareness programs and free HPV vaccine availability at IBB university.

Preventing the rebound of black and odorous water bodies is critical for improving the ecological environment of water bodies. This study investigated the effect and mechanism of in-situ improvement of sediment microenvironment by nitrate in tailwater of wastewater treatment plants combined with aerobic denitrifying bacteria under low-DO regulation (TailN+CFM+LDO). On the 60th day of remediation, the dissolved oxygen and oxidation-reduction potential in the overlying water increased to 5.6 mg/L and 300 mV, respectively, the acid volatile sulfide in the sediment decreased by 70.4%, and the organic matter in the sediment was reduced by 62.7%, in which the HFOM was degraded from 105 g/kg to 56 g/kg, and the potential risk of water reverting to black and odorous conditions significantly decreased. Amplicon sequencing analysis revealed that the relative abundance of electroactive bacteria Thiobacillus and Pseudomonas with denitrification capacity was found to be significantly higher in the TailN+CFM+LDO group than in the other remediation groups. Functional prediction of 16S sequencing results indicated that both the quantity and activity of critical microbial enzymes involved in nitrification and denitrification processes could enhance in the TailN+CFM+LDO group. These results improved our understanding of the improvement of the sediment microenvironment and could thus facilitate its application.

3D cell cultures have improved the evaluation of drugs for cancer therapy, due to their high similarity to solid tumors. In melanoma, autophagy appears to show a dual role depending on the progression of the disease. p62 protein has been proposed for the evaluation of autophagic flux since its expression is an indicator of the state of autophagy. Pentoxifylline (PTX) and Norcantharidin (NCTD) are drugs that have been shown to have anticancer effects in various types of cancer. In this work, B16F1 mouse melanoma cell line was used, from which two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cultures and three-dimensional (3D) organoids were carried out using the hanging drop technique. The expression of p62 was determined by western blot and immunofluorescences. Our results indicate that pentoxifylline reduces p62 expression in both types of culture. While Norcantharidin increases its expression in 3D cultures at 24 h. Therefore, these drugs could have a potential therapeutic use for the regulation of autophagy in melanoma, depending on the state of evolution of the disease.

Objectives Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has high infectivity in humans, attributed to the strong affinity of its spike (S) protein to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Here, we analyzed the structural similarity of the S protein between SARS-CoV-2 and other SARS-related coronaviruses (CoVs). Methods We performed multiple alignment analysis of nine amino acid sequences of CoV S proteins from NCBI with MAFFT web-based software, followed by phylogeny analysis. Three-dimensional structure modeling was performed by SWISS-MODEL. We calculated the template modeling score between the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 and that of other SARS-related CoVs. Results The S1 domain of the unclassified CoV RaTG13 (the host of which is the intermediate horseshoe bat) was structurally very similar to that of SARS-CoV-2, implying that RaTG13 could be the origin of SARS-CoV-2. In addition, the folding property of the entire S protein was nearly the same between SARS-CoV-2 and RaTG13 after the PRRA amino acid insertion was removed from SARS-CoV-2. Conclusions RaTG13 could have a high binding affinity to ACE2, similar to SARS-CoV-2, and it is therefore highly likely to infect other animals. Therefore, massive research and monitoring of CoVs in animals is necessary to prevent future COVID-19-like disasters.

This study optimizes the placement and farm layout of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) using a neural fuzzy network, an advanced machine learning system, and meta-heuristic algorithms. The methodology introduces a novel approach to enhance turbine efficiency and overall farm performance. The objective is to determine the optimal configuration of vertical axis wind turbines using a neural-fuzzy system and meta-heuristic optimizers. Turbine efficiency and power generation rates are assessed through three-dimensional numerical simulations based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. This innovative design, featuring straight blades with bevel-angle vortex generators, represents a significant advancement over traditional straight-blade VAWTs. Comparative analyses demonstrate that the oblique configuration exhibits higher average output moment and power. A novel concept integrates the strengths of Darrieus VAWTs, enhancing efficiency through vortex generator integration. Simulation results are validated with empirical data, confirming the superior aerodynamic efficiency and increased power generation of the oblique configuration. Inspired by the optimal group movements of birds, this study recommends adopting the oblique arrangement for improved wind turbine performance.

At present, magnetic selection of genetically modified cells is mainly performed with surface markers naturally expressed by cells such as LNGFR, CD4 and H-2Kk. The disadvantage of such markers is the possibility of their undesired and poorly predictable expression by unmodified cells before or after cell manipulation, which makes it essential to develop new surface markers that would not have such a drawback. Earlier, modified CD52 surface protein variants with embedded HA and FLAG epitope tags (CD52/FLAG and CD52/HA) were developed by the group of Dr. Mazurov for selection of CRISPR-modified cells using FACS. In the current study, we tested whether these markers can be used for magnetic selection of transduced cells. For this purpose, appropriate constructs were created in MigR1-based bicistronic retroviral vectors containing EGFP and DsRedExpress2 as fluorescent reporters. Cytometric analysis of the transduced NIH 3T3 cell populations after magnetic selection evaluated the efficiency of isolation and purity of the obtained populations, as well as the change in the median fluorescence intensity (MFI). The results of this study demonstrate that the surface markers CD52/FLAG and CD52/HA can be effectively used for magnetic cell selection, and their efficiencies are comparable to that of the commonly used LNGFR marker. At the same time, the significant advantage of these markers is the absence of HA and FLAG epitope sequences in cellular proteins, which rules out spurious co-isolation of negative cells.

The genetic bases of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) have been comprehensively studied, which is not the case for atypical cases not classified into these diagnoses. In the present study, we aim to contribute to the molecular understanding of the development of non-AD and non-FTD dementia by surveying rare pathogenic variants. The analysis was performed on 91 patients, the DNA samples of which were pooled and then subjected to whole exome sequencing. Among detected variants two are rare pathogenic and show significant difference in frequency between the analyzed pool and gnomAD Bulgarian control exomes. The rs373478202, G&gt;T, B9D1 variant, most likely present in heterozygous state; is causative for the autosomal recessive ciliopathy- Joubert syndrome, which involves specific CNS malformation. The rs148918985, C&gt;T, ASS1 variant leads to arginosuccinate enzyme deficiency and in compound heterozygosity with other rare pathogenic variant detected in the same gene causes the late-onset form of citrullinemia type I. This disorder causes high ammonia levels, which can lead to cerebral dysfunction. In conclusion, the detected rare pathogenic variants suggest that, in certain cases, the development of non-AD and non-FTD dementia can be mediated by structural alterations in neuronal cilia or by hyperammoniemia.

Reducing waiting times is crucial for ports to be efficient and competitive. Important causes of waiting times are cascading interactions between realistic hydrodynamics, accessibility policies, vessel-priority rules, and detailed berth availability. The main challenges are determining the cause of waiting and finding rational solutions to reduce waiting time. In this study, we focus on the role of the design depth of a channel on the waiting times. We quantify the performance of channel depth for a representative fleet rather than the common approach of a single normative design vessel. It relies on a mesoscale agent-based discrete-event model that can take processed Automatic Identification System and hydrodynamic data as its main input. The presented method’s validity is assessed by hindcasting one year of observed anchorage area laytimes for a liquid bulk terminal in the Port of Rotterdam. The hindcast demonstrates that the method predicts the causes of 73.4% of the non-excessive laytimes of vessels, thereby correctly modelling 60.7% of the vessels-of-call. Following a recent deepening of the access channel, cascading waiting times due to tidal restrictions were found to be limited. Nonetheless, the importance of our approach is demonstrated by testing alternative maintained bed level designs, revealing the method’s potential to support rational decision-making in coastal zones.