The GPA is a universally recognised and utilised metric of academic performance that is considered to also measure a student’s potential for academic performance in the future. In this short communication we examine to what extent the GPA of the first grade of high school predicts performance in the later grades of high school, either generally (as classified in excellent student, strong student, weak student or very weak student) or more accurately (as indicated by the exact GPA in the next grade). We also put to the test the widely held notion that it might be best if core courses such as language and mathematics contributed more to the calculation of the GPA compared to secondary courses such as physical education or music. Our findings confirm the predictive properties of the GPA but strongly rebut the notion that a weighted GPA might achieve a better reflection of students’ potential. The study is based on the academic records of every student in Greece that progressed from first to third grade of high school in the 2016-2019 period. This data set contains records of more than 85,000 students, making it one of the most extensive studies ever conducted on the topic of the properties of the GPA.

High-fidelity patient simulation (HFPS) is widely used in professional training to enhance students’ competence in clinical management. Problem-solving (PS) and clinical reasoning (CR) skills are essential to developing students in professional competence in safe and effective care. These two skills should be initiated at the early training. However, little is known about the effects of HFPS on developing PS and CR skills in first year undergraduate students. Therefore, this pre- and post-experimental study aimed to investigate the effects of HFPS on development of PS and CR skills in first-year nursing students. The students were required to go through four sessions, preparation, pre-briefing and orientation, simulation role-playing, and debriefing, for the HFPS. The study utilized the Problem-Solving Inventory (PSI) and the Nurses Clinical Reasoning Scale (NCRS) to measure problem-solving and clinical reasoning abilities before and after HFPS. Bivariate analysis, one-sample t-test, and independent t-test were performed to evaluate the performance of the PS and CR skills at the two study periods. One hundred eighty-nine students were recruited, with a mean age of 20.56 years, and 73% were female students. The analytic results showed that the PSI, particularly in domains of Problem-Solving Confidence (PSC) (p<0.001) and overall PS (p<0.001), and the CR (p<0.001) had significant improvement after HFPS. The study concluded that HFPS is an effective innovative method to significantly improve students’ problem-solving and clinical reasoning abilities. Nurse educators play an important role in providing explicit learning instructions in a simulation guideline that directs and guides students to learn at each stage of HFPS. Students should take more initiative and engage in their learning through HFPS to enhance their competence in knowledge and higher intellectual skills for personal and professional developments.

In this study, we had investigated the use of high-pressure homogenization (HPH) as a novel pretreatment method for the extraction of sodium alginate (SA) from Laminaria japonica. Our results demonstrated that under optimal condition of 100 MPa HPH pressure, 4 cycles, pH 6.0, and 0.5% ethylene diaminetetra acetic acid tetrasodium salt (EDTA) concentration (w/v) for 3.0 hours, the extraction yield of HPH reached 34%, which was higher than that achieved by previous methods such as complex enzyme hydrolysis (CE), ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE), and complex enzyme-ultrasonic combined method (CE-UC). To further characterize the extracted SA, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using SEM, FTIR, MRS, NMR, XRD, TGA, and T-AOC assay. Our findings revealed the following: 1) HPH treatment significantly disrupted the structure of L. japonica cells and reduced their crystallinity to 76.27%, the lowest among all pretreatment samples; 2) the extracted SA had a greater tendency to form elastic gels; and 3) the antioxidant activity of HPH-extracted SA reached 0.02942 mgVceq∙mg-1, which was the highest among all tested methods. Based on these results, we concluded that HPH extraction not only increased the yield of SA but also enhanced its antioxidant activity.

Without doubt, the social and environmental business impact will become more important as the governments cannot take care about these problems. Thus, launching the EU Green deal rules, World Global Sustainable Development Goals, corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and strategies are part of this global commitment. Additionally, CSR is strongly connected to the exploration of (social) market awareness and technology development and application as it focusses on social, environmental and economic business impact. The main goal of the paper is to verify that contemporary greener CSR strategies are beneficiary activity for high-tech companies because of better competitive advantages acquisition through management of corporate reputation risk and patenting innovative technologies. The structure of the paper is the next: 1. Introduction – explanation the previous researches that explore the relation: CSR strategy – high-tech company competitiveness; 2. State of art – exploring the corporate reputation and patent rights as factors in CSR strategy; 3. Patent monopoly and CSR – research the connection between reputation risks of patents rights and CSR strategy; 4. Business performance and CSR reporting – briefly research methodology is presented as some results from Bulgarian companies; 5. Discussion and conclusions – summarizing a methodology for patent rights and reputation risk management for better CSR effects.

Although instructional feedback plays an essential role in regulating learning and improving performance, few studies have systematically investigated the needs of teachers and students for instructional feedback system or developed designs and experiments, especially at the high school level. To address this research need, the present study investigated the needs of selected students and teachers in a high school in Hubei Province, China, and designed and developed a diagnostic visual feedback system for an experimental study with 125 students from a 10th-grade biology class in the same high school. The results showed that this diagnostic visual feedback report improved student performance (ES=0.37) and that functions such as misconception location, knowledge diagnosis, and knowledge alert were well received by students. These findings have multiple implications for facilitating the design and development of diagnostic visual feedback system.

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element for human beings and Se supplementation is of great significance. In this paper, high selenized Gastrodia elata Blume Polysaccharides (SeGEP) were obtained through pre-sulfation before conducting the selenylation modification process, which owned a maximum Se content reach to 2.29%. UV, FT-IR, NMR, SEM, EDX, HPLC, size-exclusion chromatography and periodate oxidation analysis showed that the seleninic group had been successfully introduced into GEP with the substitution position at C-6 of glucose. Immunostimulating assays were conducted in vitro and in vivo on RAW 264.7 cells and cyclophosphamide (CTX)-induced mice model, respectively. The results showed that Se-GEP enhanced RAW264.7 cells proliferation, cell phagocytosis, and secretion of nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin (IL)-1β factors. In addition, Se-GEP enhanced the immunologic activity of CTX-treated mice by increasing the spleen and thymus indices, enhancing the phagocytic function, and activating both Th1 and Th2 lymphocytes. The current outcome also suggested that Se-GEP with covalently bonding Se group possessing increased safety and has a potential dietary selenium nutrient for improving human immunity.

Dicarbonyls are electrophiles able to generate the so-called advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). Human exposure occurs via ingestion (e.g., food), inhalation (e.g., electronic cigarettes) and dysregulation of endogenous metabolic pathways (e.g., glycolysis). Biological systems can prevent AGEs formation via enzymatic and nonenzymatic reactions. However, the continuous exposure to dicarbonyls may cause the depletion of endogenous substrates and the beginning of AGEs accumulation (i.e., carbonylation). Since this process has been associated with multiple disorders, several studies advocated the use of dicarbonyl binders as food preservatives or as drugs aimed at mitigating carbonylation damages. As reported for other toxicants (e.g., HNE, acrolein), the screening of selective and potent binders can be performed by measuring the residual amount of a selected dicarbonyl substrate, upon its incubation with candidate binders. Unfortunately, naturally occurring dicarbonyls are poorly responsive to many detectors (e.g., UV or MS). For this reason, most of the screening methods that have been reported to date relies on indirect quantification upon derivatization. However, this strategy can potentially lead to inaccurate results since the tested compounds can affect the derivatization yield. Therefore, we herein reported the use of benzylglyoxal (BGO) as a convenient, UV responsive, dicarboyl surrogate. By using BGO as a substrate, we setup an easy and cheap chromatographic assay for the direct measurement of the binding activity towards dicarbonyls, without derivatization. The method was qualified by assessing the binding ability of some known dicarbonyl binders, obtaining results consistent with literature.

This article investigates the potential for carbon reduction in urban parks in Shangqiu City using high-resolution remote sensing imagery. The aim is to guide modern urban carbon neutrality strategies. The carbon reduction potential is estimated based on the mitigation of the urban heat island effect by park greenery, which reduces energy consumption. The parks are regarded as cool island centers, and 100 cooling gradients are gradually formed outward until the temperature reaches that of impermeable urban surfaces. The energy saved by the parks in mitigating the heat island effect is statistically calculated as the carbon reduction potential of urban park greenery. Additionally, this article classifies the sample parks into different categories and selects 26 landscape metrics to analyze their relationship with carbon-saving potential and driving factors.

Increasing the loading density of nanoparticles on carbon support is essential for making Pt-alloy/C catalysts practical in H2-air fuel cells. The challenge lies in increasing the load-ing while suppressing the sintering of Pt-alloy nanoparticles. This work presents a 40% Pt-weighted sub-3 nm PtCo/C alloy catalysts via a simple incipient wetness impregnation method. By carefully optimizing the synthetic conditions such as Pt/Co ratios, calcination temperature and time, the size of supported PtCo alloy nanoparticles is successfully con-trolled below 3 nm, and a high electrochemical surface area achieves of 94 m2/g is achieved, which is 2.8 times of commercial PtCo/C-TKK catalysts. Demonstrated by elec-trochemical oxygen reduction reaction, PtCo/C alloy catalysts present an enhanced mass activity of 0.45 A/mg at 0.9 V vs. RHE, which is 1.7 times that of PtCo/C-TKK catalyst. Therefore, the developed PtCo/C alloy catalyst can potentially be a highly practical cata-lyst for H2-air fuel cells.

This paper presents a comprehensive study and the analysis of a topology of a no isolated DC-DC intituled Double Quadratic Boost converter with high static gain. This converter has the main advantage of high static gain and low voltage stress on its switches. The article will first present the theoretical analysis of the converter operating in an open loop. The objective of the work is the mathematical modeling and the control strategy of the converter, as well as the validation through closed-loop experimental results. Besides, we presented the practice test results to demonstrate the operation of the converter, such as the static gain experimental curve, the practice efficiency of the converter, and the control of the output voltage, as well as the capacitor voltage balance control. The authors designed a prototype for 1 kW, with a switching frequency of fs=50kHz, with FPGA-based command and modulation.

High-quality rice (Oryza sativa L.) is increasingly widely planted in China with the improvement of people's living standards and the achievement of rice breeding efforts in recent years. However, the agronomic and physiological performances of high-quality indica rice (HQIR) under different nitrogen(N) application conditions in southern China are little known. Two-year consecutive field experiments were conducted with two HQIR and two ordinary-quality indica rice (OQIR) varieties under moderate and high N application rates, with yield and yield components, biomass, N up-take, and their related traits investigated. We found that grain yields of HQIR were slightly de-creased, but grain yields of OQIR were significantly increased by 6.60%-8.88% under high N rate compared with moderate N rate in both years. Thereby, OQIR produced 8.34%-11.87% and 22.00%-22.50% higher grain yield than HQIR under moderate and high N rates, respectively. The different responses of grain yield to N application rates were mainly due to decreased grain set-ting rate in HQIR and increased spikelets m-2 in OQIR under high N rate. Furthermore, high N rate significantly reduced pre-anthesis AE and improved grain-leaf area ratio, while did not in-crease post-anthesis DM compared with moderate N rate in HQIR, which might result in carbon metabolic deterioration and imbalance of source-sink relationship and subsequently lower supply of carbohydrate to panicle. Our results suggest that a moderate N rate (165 kg N ha-1) is beneficial for HQIR varieties to balance the maximum grain yield and high quality in southern China

Many advanced reactor concept designs rely on high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel, enriched up to approximately 19.75% 235U by weight. Efforts are underway by the US government to increase HALEU production in the United States to meet anticipated needs. However, very little data exists for validation of computational models that include HALEU, beyond a few fresh fuel benchmark specifications in the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project. Nevertheless, there is other data with potential value available for developing into quality benchmarks for use in data and software validation efforts. This paper reviews the available evaluated HALEU fuel benchmarks and some of the potentially relevant benchmarks for fresh highly enriched uranium. It then introduces experimental data for HALEU fuel irradiated at Idaho National Laboratory, from relatively recent irradiation programs at the Advanced Test Reactor. Such data should be evaluated and, if valuable, collected into detailed benchmark specifications to meet the needs of HALEU-based reactor designers.

Co-doped SnO2 nanocrystals with tetragonal rutile-type (space group P42/mnm) structure have been investigated using in-situ high-pressure synchrotron angle dis-persive X-ray diffraction till 20.9 GPa at ambient temperature. The analysis of ex-perimental results based on Rietveld refinements suggest that rutile-type SnO2 un-dergoes a structural phase transition at 14.2 GPa to an orthorhombic CaCl2-type phase (space group Pnnm) with no coexistence during the phase transition. No further phase transition is observed till 20.9 GPa. The low-pressure and high-pressure phases are related via a group/subgroup relationship. However, as a discontinuous change in the unit-cell volume is detected at the phase transition, thus, the phase transition can be classified as first-order type. On decompression the transition is found to be re-versible. The results are compared with previous high-pressure studies on SnO2.

Large-scale land cover plays a crucial role in global resource monitoring and management, as well as research on sustainable development. However, the complexity of the mapping process, coupled with significant computational and data storage requirements, often leads to delays between data processing and product publication, creating challenges for dynamic monitoring of large-scale land cover. Therefore, improving the efficiency of each stage in large-scale land cover mapping and automating the mapping process is currently an urgent and critical issue that needs to be addressed. We propose a high-performance automated large-scale land cover mapping framework(HALF) that introduces high-performance computing technology to the field of land cover production. HALF optimizes key processes, such as automated sample point extraction, sample-remote sensing image matching, and large-scale classification result mosaic and update. We selected several 10°×10° regions globally and the research makes several significant contributions:(1)We design HALF for land cover mapping based on docker and CWL-Airflow, which solves the heterogeneity of models between complex processes in land cover mapping and simplifies the model deployment process. By introducing workflow organization, this method achieves a high degree of decoupling between the production models of each stage and the overall process, enhancing the scalability of the framework. (2)HALF propose an automatic sample points method that generates a large number of samples by overlaying and analyzing multiple prior products, thus saving the cost of manual sample selection. Using high-performance computing technology improved the computational efficiency of sample-image matching and feature extraction phase, with 10 times faster than traditional matching methods.(3)HALF propose a high-performance classification result mosaic method based on the idea of grid division. By quickly establishing the spatial relationship between the image and the product and performing parallel computing, the efficiency of the mosaicking in large areas is significantly improved. The average processing time for a single image is around 6.5 seconds.

The number of obese people worldwide is rising dramatically, with 51% of the global population expected to be obese or overweight by 2035. And it is usually involved in a variety of chronic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In the process of obesity, adipose tissue expands indefinitely, which induces metabolic dysfunction. Here, we confirm the role of succinate in the intervention of obesity. Through adding succinate to drinking water, high-fat diet induced obese mice were associated with the lower fat mass, and improved glucose tolerance and energy expenditure. These metabolic changes are accompanied by increased expression of lipolysis genes and decreased lipogenesis genes, especially in subcutaneous adipose tissue. In summary, supplement of succinate improves lipid deposition and metabolic health in obese mice.

Diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC) has been employed in the sulfide ore flotation process, due to its excellent collection performance. Herein, we investigated the interfacial adsorption behavior of DDTC on four mineral phases of high-sulfur residue — sulfur, pyrite, sphalerite and lead sulfate. The adsorption behavior — adsorption structure and energy and electron localization function cross section — of DDTC and H2O were explored using density function theory calculation. The result was helpful to construct a co-adsorption model of DDTC and H2O, which was validated by the pure minerals flotation operation and the characterization of fourier transform infrared spectra. The co-adsorption model indicated that the DDTC adsorption on the sulfur, sphalerite and lead sulfate was weak with physical bonding, while its adsorption on the pyrite was strong with chemical bonding. Practical bench-scale operation of high-sulfur residue flotation was performed, whose result was different from that obtained from the pure mineral flotation. To explain the difference, our developed model predictions and the mineral fugacity pattern analysis on the high-sulfur residue flotation were synergistically used. Overall, this work first proposed the co-adsorption model of DDTC and H2O and provided important insights into the interfacial adsorption in the high-sulfur residue flotation.

The emergence of various electronic devices and equipment such as electric vehicles and drones requires higher energy density energy storage devices. Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are considered as the most promising new generation energy storage system owing to high theoretical specific capacity and energy density. However, the severe shuttle behaviors of soluble lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) and the slow redox kinetics lead to low sulfur utilization and poor cycling stability, which seriously hinder the commercial application of LSBs. Therefore, various catalytic materials have been employed to solve these troublesome problems. High entropy materials (HEMs), as advanced materials, can provide unique surface and electronic structures that expose plentiful catalytic active sites, which opens new ideas for the regulation of LiPSs redox kinetics. Notwithstanding many instructive reviews in the land of LSBs, while this review aims to offer a complete and shrewd summary of the current progresses in HEMs-based LSBs, including in-depth interpretation of design principles and mechanistic electrocatalysis functions as well as pragmatic perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular prevention is less effective than expected due to the concern about polymedication of professionals and the lack of adherence of patients. Polypills are presented as a possible solution, increasing therapeutic adherence in the medium or long term and improving therapeutic results compared to the administration of drugs separately: they increase effectiveness and Adherence of patients to primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention programs, without increasing the cost of the intervention. OBJECTIVES: Study #Trigeria: to specify the combined prevalence of Atrial Fibrillation, Dyslipidemia and Hypertension and analyze the pharmacological prescription for these pathologies and the possible indications and advantages that would have the prescription of a polypill for these risk factors.METHODS: Observational analytical study on the pathological history in elderly institutionalized in nursing homes and analysis of prescribed oral medication.RESULTS: 169 people analyzed (79.3% women) from 4 nursing homes; 8.9% had a history of Atrial Fibrillation, Dyslipidemia and Arterial Hypertension; these had a higher prevalence of heart disease (42.9%) and Cerebral Vascular Accident (35.7%). Polymedication was present in 88.5%, with an average of 6.94 oral drugs prescribed; among those with the three pathological antecedents, the average number of oral medications was 8.60. Only 26.7% of those with all three factors were prescribed drugs to control them.DISCUSSION: There are high rates of polymedication in the sample and low rates of prescription of antiplatelet agents in people with Atrial Fibrillation (26.5%); the low prescription of statins and antihypertensives of the ACE inhibitor or ARB-II groups may be due to good control with non-pharmacological measures or by the use of other groups of drugs . A polypill holding the drugs that control the three factors studied could increase the prescription rate while simplifying the administration schedule and reducing polymedication by 23.25% improving prescription, increasing adherence and control of risk factors without increasing pharmaceutical expenditure.CONCLUSIONS: There is a low rate of prescription of antiplatelet agents among people with atrial fibrillation. Combination methods (polypills) can increase the suitability of prescriptions in people with polypathology, improving prescribing, simplifying administration and increasing adherence to pharmacological treatments.

Catalyst with high catalytic activity and good stability are desirable in the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose. Herein, Pt concave nanocubes with high-index facets (HIFs) supported by carbon black (Pt CNC/CB) are prepared through a hydrothermal method. The experimental results demonstrate that the peak current densities in different potential regions on the Pt CNC/CB anode are 0.22, 0.20, and 0.60 mA cm−2, respectively. The glucose oxidation reaction shows superior performances in basic and neutral conditions than in acid conditions. Better stability is achieved by Pt CNC/CB than Pt concave nanocubes (Pt CNCs). Abundant surface defects with low-coordinated atom numbers, such as the steps, kinks, and edges, are served as active sites in the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose. With the addition of carbon black, the catalytic activity can be improved by facilitating the full exposure of the active surface defects on the HIFs of Pt CNCs. Moreover, to address the aggregation of Pt CNCs, caused by the high surface energy of HIFs, the introduction of carbon material is an effective way to preserve the HIFs, and thus enhance the stability of the catalyst. Hence, the prepared Pt CNC/CB electrocatalyst has great potential to be applied in the electrooxidation of glucose.

Controlled deposition of CoCrFeNiMo0.2 high entropy alloy (HEA) micro-particles was achieved using laser induced forward transfer (LIFT). Ultra-short laser pulses, 230 fs of 515 nm wavelength, were tightly focused into ∼ 2.4 μm focal spots on the ∼50 nm thick plasma-sputtered films of CoCrFeNiMo0.2. The HTA films were transferred onto glass substrates by magnetron sputtering in vacuum (10−8 atm) from the thermal spray coated substrates. The absorption coefficient of CoCrFeNiMo0.2 α ≈ 6 × 105 cm−1 was determined at 600 nm wavelength. The real and imaginary parts of refractive index (n + iκ) of HEA were determined from reflectance and transmittance using nano-films.

Background: Primary central nervous system lymphomas (PCNSLs) are sensitive to chemotherapy. Standard treatment is high-dose methotrexate (MTX)-based chemotherapy. There are no reports of successful treatment of acute uric acid nephropathy with rasburicase after MTX administration in PCNSL. Case presentation: A 54-year-old man with a history of gout presented with character change and memory loss. MRI showed a large, enhancing mass spanning the bilateral frontal lobes and right temporal lobe. After endoscopic biopsy, MTX, procarbazine and vincristine (MPV) regimen was initiated for treatment of PCNSL. After initiation of chemotherapy, the patient suffered from a gout attack and blood examination revealed acute renal failure (ARF) and hyperuricemia. The considered causes of ARF included MTX toxicity and acute urid acid nephropathy. Since a good response to chemotherapy was observed, the latter was assumed. After improvement of renal function, MTX was resumed, initiating rasburicase for control of hyperuricemia. A complete response was obtained after induction chemotherapy. Hyperuricemia was controlled with rasburicase and renal function was preserved. Conclusions: Acute uric acid nephropathy should be considered when ARF occurs after initiation of MTX in PCNSL. For newly diagnosed PCNSL patients with large tumors or hyperuricemia, upfront usage of rasburicase should be considered to prevent it.

Spent batteries recycling is an important way to obtain low-cost graphite. Nevertheless, the obtaining of crystalline graphite with a rather low density of defects is required for many applications. In the present work, high-quality graphites have been obtained from different kinds of spent batteries. Black masses from spent alkaline batteries (batteries black masses, BBM), and lithium-ion batteries from smartphones (smartphone black masses, SBM) and electric and/or hybrid vehicles (lithium-ion black masses, LBM) were used as starting materials. A hydrometallurgical process was then used to obtain recycled graphites by acidic leaching. Different leaching conditions were used depending on the type of the initial black mass. The final solids were characterized by a wide set of complementary techniques.

Microcrystalline and near nanocrystalline AlCrFeCoNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) coatings were applied on Inconel 718 superalloy using air plasma spraying (APS) process. High-temperature oxidation behavior of the microcrystalline and near nanocrystalline AlCrFeCoNi HEA coated superalloy were examined at 110°C under the air atmosphere for 50 cycles under cyclic heating and cooling (1 h for each cycle). The oxidation kinetics of both nanocrystalline and microcrystalline coated superalloy was accordingly analyzed by weight change measurement. It was noticed that the uncoated and coated followed the parabolic rate law of the oxidation. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS), and elemental mapping techniques were used to analyze the oxidized coated and uncoated samples. In the HEA coated superalloy, Fe, Ni, Co, and Al were oxidized in the inter-splat region, whereas the splats which consist mainly of Ni and Cr remained unoxidized. Because of the formation of compact and adhesive thin NiO, CoO oxides, and spinels together with the Al2O3 oxide scale on the surface of the coating during oxidation, the developed nanocrystalline HEA coating shows better oxidation resistance than the microcrystalline HEA coating.

In recent years, excessive heat in the urban texture has become the main problem in the humid and calm wind city of Babolsar with high density, especially in high-rise areas. Therefore, in order to create comfort in this region, it is necessary to establish and continue the wind circulation in space with an environmentally compatible and optimal configuration. The study applies combination of literature, field measurement, experimental validation of CFD simulation output, and comparative analysis. After field measurement and validation of FLOW-3D simulation software (V11.2.2), the relationship between these parameters (height, the width of passages, enclosure between buildings, and buildings' orientation) will be studied which affects the wind’s velocity and direction. The factors of the buildings' orientation and enclosure based on the passages' width have opposite reactions in the direction of the prevailing wind especially from perpendicular side. In this study, two effective factors are on wind velocity: 1- The orientation of the buildings towards the wind flow by creating permeability 2- Reducing the enclosure by increasing the width of the passage's perpendicular to the wind flow (w '= 3w, E' = 0.33E). According to the theoretical and practical study, first, the creation of permeability in the body of the block and the separation of buildings instead of aggregation has been studied, and then reducing the confinement of streets perpendicular to the wind flow has been discussed as effective solutions to improve the wind velocity and circulation between the urban environment.

Among the many neglected underutilized species, tuberous Andean root crops like the ahipas (Pachyrhizus ahipa) constitute a promising alternative for increasing diversity in nutrient sources and food security at a regional level. In this study, we present the content of some functional compounds in tuberous roots from several ahipa accessions and the progenies of the interspecific hybrid X207 (P. ahipa × P. tuberosus). A significant objective was to determine protein and free amino acids in the roots to evaluate their food quality as protein supply. The interspecific hybrids have been found to possess the root quality to provide the crop with a higher dry matter content. The high dry matter content of the P. tuberosus Chuin materials is retained in the root quality of the hybrids. Food functional components like carbohydrates, organic acids, and proteins were determined in several ahipa accessions and a stable (non-segregating) progeny of the interspecific hybrid, X207. The X207 roots showed a significantly higher dry matter content and a lower content in soluble sugars, but no significant differences were found in starch content or organic acids compared to the ahipa accessions. About the root mineral contents, Fe and Mn concentrations in X207 were significantly raised compared to the average of ahipa accessions. Among the ahipa and the hybrid, no prominent differences in protein content or protein amino acids were found, being both partially defective in providing sufficient daily intake of some essential amino acids. Root weight, a central component of root yield, was significantly higher in X207, but thorough field studies are required to substantiate the hybrid’s superior yield performance..

The Indus basin is considered as the one with the highest dependence on snowmelt runoff in High Mountain Asia. The recent High Mountain Asia snow reanalysis enables to go beyond previous studies by evaluating both snowmelt and snow sublimation at the basin scale. Over 2000-2016, basin-average snowmelt is 101 11 Gt.a^-1 (121 ± 13 mm.a^-1), which represents about 25-30% of basin-average annual precipitation. Snow sublimation accounts for 11% of the mean annual snow ablation, but with a large spatial variability across the basin.

Tuning fork gyroscopes (TFGs) are promising for potential high-precision applications. This work proposes and experimentally demonstrates a novel high-Q dual mass tuning fork microelectro-mechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope utilizing three-dimensional (3D) packaging techniques. Except for two symmetrically-decoupled proof masses (PM) with synchronization structures, a symmetrically-decoupled lever structure is designed to force the antiparallel, antiphase drive-mode motion and basically eliminate the low-frequency spurious modes. The thermoelastic damping (TED) and anchor loss are greatly reduced by the linearly-coupled, momentum- and torque-balanced antiphase sense mode. Besides, a novel 3D packaging technique is used to realize high Q-factors. A composite substrate encapsulation cap, fabricated by through-silicon-via (TSV) and glass-in-silicon (GIS) reflow processes, is anodically bonded to the sensing structures at wafer scales. A self-developed control circuit is adopted to realize loop control and characterize gyro-scope performances. It is shown that a high-reliability electrical connection together with a high-air-impermeability package can be fulfilled with this 3D packaging technique. Furthermore, the Q-factors of the drive and sense modes reach up to 51947 and 49249, respectively. This TFG realizes a wide measurement range of ±1800° /s and a high resolution of 0.1° /s with a scale-factor nonlinearity 720 ppm after automatic mode-matching. Besides, the long-term zero-rate output (ZRO) drift can be effectively suppressed by temperature compensation, inducing a small angle random walk (ARW) of 0.923°/√h and a low bias instability (BI) of 9.270°/h.

The purpose of the present study was to compare heart rate (HR), blood lactate and training load between different CrossFit® workouts, with equalized total volume in men and women. The study included 23 individuals (13 men and 10 women) experienced in CrossFit® training, who performed two workouts with different training types (as many reps as possible - AMRAP and for time) but equalized volume. Measurements of lactate, HR and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were performed. The results showed that there was no HR interaction between workout time and sex (p = 0.822; η2 = 0.006] and between workout type and sex (p = 0.064, η2 = 0.803). HR significantly differed during each workout type (p <0.001, η2 = 0.621), but not between the two workout types (p = 0.552, η2 = 0.017). Lactate showed no difference between the workout types (p = 0.474, η2 = 0.768), although the training load was higher (p = 0.033, η2 = 0.199) in women when they performed AMRAP. Altogether, HR was not significantly different between training types or sex, while RPE, lactate and training load showed small differences depending on the group (women or men) or workout type (AMRAP or 'for time').

The contextual and risk perception of climate change plays a critical role in an individual’s decision-making process. It could also help people to respond appropriately to the consequences of global climate change and eventually take necessary adaptation actions. However, the perceptions of climate change are often gendered and vary among men and women. Therefore, this study explores different perceptions of climate change and its local adaptation options among ultra-poor vulnerable women, particularly in highly vulnerable flood-prone regions of Bangladesh. The research followed an empirical research methodology to collect primary and secondary information using qualitative and quantitative research tools. The study findings reveal that climate change perceptions at the individual level are relatively low (63%). Still, they have been observing significant changes in various climatic variables over the past 30 years. Moreover, this study identified some major adaptation options such as plinth raising (100%), livestock rearing (100%), homestead gardening (82%), seasonal migration (82%), and using indigenous knowledge (69%), and so on to tackle the adverse impacts of climate change-induced extreme events including flooding at the local level. For implementing these adaptation measures, the respondents spent a significant amount of financial resources from individual sources in the study area. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used in addition to the statistical analyses to understand any connections between the climate change perceptions and other variables associated with the community under study. The SEM result shows that climate change will be a long–term problem, which offers a strong predictor in this model, considering standardized regression weight β= 0.56. It means, despite inadequate knowledge on climate change of the respondent’s, climate change is occurring and becoming the worst factor limiting cultural, economic, and environmental development in the study area.

In this research paper, a high gain transformer less inverter modeling which is used for the smart grid technology or as the stand alone for home appliances is proposed. The proposed transformer less topology provides a higher voltage gain, low cost, small size and simple control stand alone transformer less inverter for home appliances. The above inverter is modeled by using software which is known as MATLAB/ Simulimk.

Plasma and serum are the most widely used blood-derived biofluids for metabolomics and lipidomics assays, but the isolation of these products from blood may introduce additional bias as indicated by the fact that many analytes that are present at high concentrations in blood cells cannot be measured and evaluated in those samples. Of particular concern, variable hemolysis during the pre-processing of blood products could compromise accurate and reproducible quantification. Compared with plasma or serum, whole blood may be a better alternative due to simplicity of processing. In this study, we provide a comprehensive method for quantification of the whole blood sphingolipidome and the concentrations were compared with those from plasma. Combining a single-phase extraction method with liquid-chromatography high resolution mass spectrometry (R=120, 000), assisted by alkaline hydrolysis, we were able to identify and simultaneously quantify more than 150 sphingolipids. Furthermore, most of sphingolipids remained stable after a freeze/thaw cycle. Whole blood contained a higher concentration of most sphingolipids than corresponding plasma. Moreover, individual variations in the levels of sphingolipids were lower for whole blood than plasma. These findings demonstrate that whole blood could be a better alternative to plasma, and potentially guide the evaluation of sphinglipidome for biomarker discovery.

Increasing the quality factor (Q) of an optical resonator device has been a research focus to be utilized in various applications. Higher Q-factor means light is confined in a longer time which will produce a shaper peak and higher transmission. In this paper, we introduce a novel technique to increase further the Q-factor of a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1D PhC) cavity device by using an end loop-mirror (ELM). The technique utilizes and recycles the light transmission from the conventional 1D PhC cavity design. The design has been proved to work by using the 2.5D FDTD simulation with Lumerical FDTD and MODE softwares. By using the ELM technique, the Q- factor of a 1D PhC design has been shown to have increased up to 79.53 % from the initial Q value without the ELM. This novel design technique can be combined with any high Q-factor and very high Q-factor designs to increase more the Q-factor value of a photonic crystal cavity devices or any other suitable optical resonator devices. The experimental result shows that the device is measurable by adding a Y-branch component to the one-port structure and able to get the high-Q result.

This paper presents an advanced microstructural analysis of the AlSiMg, Ti64 and N700 powders used for additive manufacturing. The internal microstructure of the regular and irregular powder grains were characterized down to atomic resolution by using scanning electron microscopy and high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy.The accretionary forms on top of the irregular AlSiMg powder grains exhibit a slightly coarse microstructure with a network of eutectic Si consisting of nano-crystallites, suggestinga slower cooling than the grain itself that contain a predominately amorphous Si network. A nm thin amorphous C layer on the surface of some Ti64 plasma atomized powder grains promoted the attachment of satellites and growth of envelopes. In case of gas atomized N700 powder grains, we identified thin oxide and carbon amorphous layers as well as metal segregations at the interface between the grain body and the accretionary forms.

The effect of rare earth Pr6O11 on the microstructure and mechanical properties of high-strength steel weld metal was investigated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and mechanical testing. Three different contents of Pr6O11 were added to the flux-cored wires. The results showed that the addition of 1% Pr6O11 can promote the refinement and spheroidization of inclusions, refine the grains, form acicular ferrites, and significantly improve the toughness of weld metal. The addition of Pr6O11 promoted the formation of rare earth composite inclusions and acicular ferrites in the weld metal, refined the lath microstructure, inhibited the formation of martensite and bainite. The crack formation mode changed from the boundary cracking of the bainite clusters caused by the surface shear stress to the surface shear stress-induced decohesion of inclusion. However, excessive addition of Pr6O11 will reduce the number of inclusion nucleation and deteriorate the mechanical properties. The wire No.2 with 1% Pr6O11 had the good comprehensive mechanical properties, and the corresponding values were 835MPa of tensile strength and 72 J of impact toughness. These findings suggest that the control of Pr6O11 can be an effective way to improve the impact toughness of weld metal.

The effect of Pr6O11 on the microstructure and mechanical properties of high-strength steel weld metal was investigated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and mechanical testing. Three different contents of Pr6O11 were added to the flux-cored wires. The results demonstrate that the addition of 1% Pr6O11 can promote the refinement and spheroidization of inclusions, refine the grains, form acicular ferrites in the weld metal, and significantly improve the toughness. The addition of Pr6O11 promoted the formation of rare earth composite inclusions and acicular ferrites in the weld metal, refined the lath microstructure, inhibited the formation of martensite and bainite. The crack formation mode changed from the boundary cracking of the bainite clusters caused by the surface shear stress to the surface shear stress-induced decohesion of inclusion. Excessive addition of Pr6O11 will reduce the number of inclusion nucleation and deteriorate the mechanical properties. The wire No.2 with 1% Pr6O11 had the good comprehensive mechanical properties.

Background: Caring for a loved one can be rewarding but also associated with substantial caregiver burden, developing mental outcomes and affecting happiness. Eventually, these physical and psychological disorders can lead to an imbalance of the autonomic nervous system. Meditation has been found to offer multiple benefits to relieve these disorders and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a four-week 16-hour presential meditation program on physiological and psychological parameters and vagal nerve activity in high-burden caregivers, comparing the results with those not receiving this program. Methods: A non-randomized repeated-measures controlled clinical trial was conducted, dividing participants between intervention and control groups by convenience allocation because random assignment was ethically inappropriate. Results: After the meditation program, the experimental group showed a significant reduction in anxiety levels (F= 24.92, p<0.001), a non-significant amelioration of depression levels (F= 1.75, p=0.19), and significantly improved heart rate variability (F= 8.40, p<0.05) and SDNN (F=15.59, p<0.05). Conclusions: Meditation can be a useful therapy to enhance the mental health and autonomic nervous system balance of informal caregivers, improving symptoms of physical and mental overload.

Marine renewable energy technologies have a great potential in supplying clean electricity to millions of people across the globe, if technical and economic conditions are in right. So far, ocean energy projects are commonly started by SMEs or educational institutions with limited budgets. Therefore, any effort to reduce expenses is of great value. One of the areas involving substantial expenses are the inevitable seabed inspection prior to deployment of marine renewable energy device. Detailed seabed inspections can also reduce the risk of associated with deployment of structures on uneven seabed, especially marine renewable energy devices with gravity foundations. By reducing the costs and risks of such surveys prior and during the installation phases, the feasibility of marine renewable energy projects can be more favoured and competitive. In this perspective, this study proposes a cost and time effective technique for seabed surveys. The proposed technique involves the use of high precision and inexpensive sonar systems and underwater optical cameras integrated into a versatile and compact subsea monitoring platform. It also involves simple and practical data acquisition and processing protocols that do not requires hi expertise for operation. The results obtained showed that high resolution bathymetric maps and detailed seabed inspections imagery can be acquired. This study concludes that a simple and inexpensive subsea monitoring platform comprising a multibeam, dual beam and video cameras can be effective for high resolution seabed inspection and bathymetric measurements for marine energy applications.

Pore Forming Toxins (PFTs), formed mainly by virulence factors of bacteria, belongs to Pore Forming Protein (PFP) family. Secreted as soluble monomers, they bind specific targets in membranes where their oligomerization and insertion place. Lysenin, a member of the PFTs, forms and oligomer after sphingomyelin binding, the so-called prepore, which become inserted forming a pore after a conformational change triggered by a pH decrease. In crowded conditions, oligomers tends to stay in prepore form because the prepore-to-pore transition is sterically blocked. In this study, we investigate the effect of calcium ions in those crowded conditions, finding that calcium act as a trigger for lysenin insertion. We localize the residues responsible for calcium sensitivity in a small α-helix. Our results are not only one of the few complete structural descriptions of prepore-to-pore transitions but the very first that involves a calcium triggering mechanism. The presence of glutamic or aspartic acids in the insertion domains could be an indication that calcium may be a general trigger for PFTs and more generally PFP.

High fat-diet (HFD) feeding is known to induce metabolic dysregulation, however less is known on its impact in promoting the hypercoagulable state. The current study aimed to evaluate platelet-monocyte aggregate (PMA) formation following short-term HFD feeding. This is particularly important for understanding the link between inflammation and the hypercoagulable state during the early onset of metabolic dysregulation. To explore such a hypothesis, mice were fed a HFD for 8 weeks, with body weights as well as insulin and blood glucose levels monitored on weekly basis during this period. Basal hematological measurements were determined and the levels of spontaneous peripheral blood PMAs were assessed using whole blood flow cytometry. The results showed that although there were no significant differences in body weights, mice on HFD displayed impaired glucose tolerance and markedly raised insulin levels. These metabolic abnormalities were accompanied by elevated baseline PMA levels as an indication of hypercoagulation. Importantly, it was evident that baseline levels of monocytes, measured using the CD14 monocyte marker were significantly decreased in HFD-fed mice when compared to controls. In summary, the current evidence shows that in addition to causing glucose intolerance, such as that identified in a prediabetic state, HFD-feeding can promote undesirable hypercoagulation, the major consequence implicated in the development of cardiovascular complications.

Sulfonated carbon was used as an efficient and reusable heterogeneous solid acid catalyst for the synthesis of biodiesel via esterification of oleic acid with methanol under high voltage conditions. Using an inexpensive and reusable catalyst, environmental benignity, excellent yields in short times, synthesis in atmospheric pressure and low temperature conditions are some of the important features of this protocol. In the final results were confirmed by GC.

The open source CFD code OpenFOAM has emerged as one of the most popular alternative to commercial CFD solvers. The recent version of OpenFOAM supports overlapping grids, so called Overset mesh. In this type of mesh, one or more sub-collection of control volumes (or cells) are allowed to overlap with other set of cells. This allows for great flexibility in modelling Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. Fluid mesh can be standard structured mesh of a rectangular/cuboidal/or cylindrical domain. The structure mesh can be generated separately by creating multiple layers around a given body. The overset mesh functionality allows for overlapping or immersing this structured mesh inside the fluid mesh and a relevant FSI or moving dynamics problems can be solved. The idea of overset mesh has been around since eighties but its support in OpenFOAM is very recent. Most CFD codes which support overset mesh have either been in-house or commercial CFD codes. OpenFOAM's support for overset is the first major open source code resource available for CFD problems. The aim of this research is to solve a classical benchmark airfoil problem using OpenFOAM overset mesh and compare the numerical results with experimental result. We report here flow simulations results around NACA 0018. The result obtained from overset mesh compares convincingly well with experimental results. Computations have been carried out for Reynolds numbers in the range of 10⁵ with angle of attack ranging from α= 5 degree to α= 30 degree with an interval of 5 degree. Turbulence is incorporated using k - ε turbulence model. This study helps developing confidence in using OpenFOAM overset support for more complicated flows and moving dynamics. This report is complemented with a brief description of finite volume discretization using overset mesh.

Currently the rapid growth of global economy has the competition among high-tech industries develop from regional to global, and the competition becomes fierce. In face of such fierce competition in global high-tech industry, it is realized that tangible assets could no longer be the differentiation basis, but intangible assets are regarded as the differentiation capital. An enterprise with sustainable innovation would dominate the world market and enhance the international competitiveness of domestic economy. When internal entrepreneurial culture is prevalent, an enterprise would naturally promote the innovation capability. Such a point of view also explains more popular of the innovative products or services of some enterprises than those with larger scales. Aiming at employees in high-tech industry in Guanxi Province, total 500 copies of questionnaire are randomly distributed, and 337 valid copies are retrieved, with the retrieval rate 67%. The research results reveal significantly positive correlations between 1.entrepreneurial culture and sustainable innovation capability, 2.sustainable innovation capability and patent, and 3.entrepreneurial culture and patent. According to the results, suggestions are proposed, expecting to explain how a high-tech business outperforms in the changeable digital era and acquires the sustainable innovation capability and patent to grasp the opportunity.

_{Superconducting foams of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_y$ (YBCO) are proposed as trapped field magnets or supermagnets. The foams with an open-porous structure are light-weight, mechanically strong and can be prepared in large sample sizes. The trapped field distributions were measured using a scanning Hall probe on various sides of an YBCO foam sample after field-cooling in a magnetic field of 0.5 T produced by a square Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet. The maximum trapped field (TF) measured is about 400 G (77 K) at the bottom of the sample. Several details of the TF distribution, the current flow and possible applicatons of such superconducting foam samples in space applications, e.g., as active elements in flux-pinning docking interfaces (FPDI) or as portable strong magnets to collect debris in space, are outlined.}

Geologists employ high-spatial-resolution (HR) remote sensing (RS) data for many diverse applications as they effectively reflect detailed geological information, enabling high-quality and efficient geological surveys. Applications of HR RS data to geological and related fields have grown recently. By analyzing these applications, we can better understand the results of previous studies and more effectively use the latest data and methods to efficiently extract key geological information. HR optical remote sensing data are widely used in geological hazard assessment, seismic monitoring, mineral exploitation, glacier monitoring, and mineral information extraction due to high accuracy and clear object features. Compared with optical satellite images, synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) images are stereoscopic and exhibit clear relief, strong performance, and good detection of terrain, landforms, and other information. SAR images have been applied to seismic mechanism research, volcanic monitoring, topographic deformation, and fault analysis. Furthermore, a multi-standard maturity analysis of the geological applications of HR images using literature from the Science Citation Index reveals that optical remote sensing data are superior to radar data for mining, geological disaster, lithologic, and volcanic applications, but inferior for earthquake, glacial, and fault applications. Therefore, geological remote sensing research needs to be truly multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary, ensuring more detailed and efficient surveys through cross-linking with other disciplines. Moreover, the recent application of deep learning technology to remote sensing data extraction has improved automatic processing and data analysis capabilities.

Intercropping significantly improves land use efficiency and soil fertility. This study examines the impact of three cultivation systems (monoculture sugarcane, peanut-sugarcane and soybean-sugarcane intercropping) on soil properties and diazotrophs. Sugarcane rhizosphere soil was sampled from the farmers’ field. Soil properties and nifH gene abundance were analyzed by high throughput sequencing. Moreover, a total of 436,458 nifH gene sequences were obtained and classified into the 3201 unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Maximum unique OTUs resulted with soybean-sugarcane intercropping (<375). The dominant groups across all cultivation were Alpha-proteobacteria and Beta-proteobacteria. On the basis of microbial community structure, intercropping systems were more diverse than monoculture sugarcane. In the genus level, Bradyrhizobium, Burkholderia, Pelomonas, and Sphingomonas were predominant in the intercropping systems. Moreover, diazotrophic bacterial communities of these cultivation systems were positively correlated to the soil pH and soil enzyme protease. Moreover, low available P recovered from intercropping system showed a strong correlation with higher nutrient uptake activity of soil microbes. Based on the results, our investigation concluded that intercropping system caused a positive effect on the growth of diazotrophic bacterial communities and it might boost the soil fertility and this kind of study helps to develop an eco-friendly technology for sustainable sugarcane production.

A critical discussion on the computation of the dispersion diagram in periodic one-dimensional guiding structures is carried out. In particular, an analysis is presented of the pros and cons of combined methods that make use of full-wave simulations done with commercial software packages with further analytical post-processing based on simplifications brought by an equivalent circuit model of the structure. Some of the most common methods reported in the literature are reviewed and their advantanges and limitations highlighted. Our discussion is complemented with several selected numerical examples in order to discuss the most relevant aspects that a potential user of these methods should be aware of. Special attention is paid to the relevant role played by the high-order coupling between the two halves of a symmetric unit cell of the periodic structure.

Novel high energy density materials N14 (1,6-dihydro-1,2,3,3a,4,5,5a,6,7,8,8a,9,10,10a-tetradecazapyrene) and N18 (1,2,2a,3,4,4a,5,6,6a,7,8,8a,9,10,10a,11,12a-octadecazacoronene) were designed, and their structures, detonation performance and stabilities were calculated employing density functional theory (DFT). Calculations reveals that they have a good balance between high energy and stability. Their energy gaps between LUMO and HOMO are all lower than that of TATB, while their impact sensitivity h_50% is estimated close to that of RDX. Concerning energy, detonation performance of the N14 (P = 43.6 GPa, D = 10040 m/s, Q = 2214 cal/g) and the N18 (P = 37.4 GPa, D = 9400 m/s, Q = 2114 cal/g) are comparable to CL-20.

Obesity and metabolic disorders can be risk factors for the onset and development of neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effects on dysmetabolism and neurodegeneration of a natural dietary supplement (NDS), containing Curcuma longa, silymarin, guggul, chlorogenic acid and inulin, on the brains of high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. A decreased expression of FACL-4, CerS-1 and CerS-4, reduced cholesterol concentration, increased IR expression and insulin signaling activation, were found in brains of NDS-treated HFD mice, suggesting that NDS is able to prevent brain lipid accumulation and central insulin resistance. In the brains of NDS-treated HFD mice, the levels of RNS, ROS and lipid peroxidation, the expression of p-ERK, H-Oxy, i-NOS, HSP60, NF-kB, GFAP, IL-1β, IL-6, and CD4 positive cell infiltration were lower than in untreated HFD mice, suggesting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of NDS. The decreased expression of p-ERK and GFAP in NDS-treated HFD mice was confirmed by immunofluorescence. Lastly, a lower number of apoptotic nuclei was found in cortical sections of NDS-treated HFD. All these data indicate that NDS exerts neuroprotective effects in HFD mice by reducing brain fat accumulation, oxidative stress and inflammation and improving brain insulin resistance.

Rockburst is a hazardous phenomenon in deep tunnels influenced by geological structural planes like faults, joints, and shear planes. Small-scale shear-plane-like structures have damaging impact on the boundaries of the tunnel, which accumulate high stresses. Such a shear plane was exposed in the side wall of the right headrace tunnel in the Neelum-Jehlum Hydropower Project. This project is constructed in the tectonically active Himalayas with high stress conditions. A shear plane combined with high stress conditions is very dangerous in deep excavations. The influence of a shear zone on rockburst occurrence near a tunnel is studied. The FLAC3D explicit code simulated the shear zone in the right tunnel, revealing that the stresses are concentrated near the shear zone, with no stress concentration in the left tunnel, which has neither shear zone nor rockburst. Rock mass was displaced near this shear zone even before excavation. Modeling results confirm that the side wall shear zone of the tunnel has a major influence on rockburst occurrence. A shear slip along this plane released huge amounts of energy, causing human fatalities and property damage. A numerical simulation validates the actual conditions and helps us understand the phenomenon of stress concentration near the shear zone and its impact during deep tunneling.

Fibrillin (FBN) is a plastid lipid-associated protein found in photosynthetic organisms from cyanobacteria to plants. In this study, 10 CsaFBN genes were identified in genomic DNA sequences of cucumber (Chinese long and Gy14) through database searches using the conserved domain of FBN and the 14 FBN genes of Arabidopsis. Phylogenetic analysis of CsaFBN protein sequences showed that there was no counterpart of Arabidopsis and rice FBN5 in the cucumber genome. FBN5 is essential for growth in Arabidopsis and rice; its absence in cucumber may be because of incomplete genome sequences or that another FBN carries out its functions. Among the 10 CsaFBN genes, CsaFBN1 and CsaFBN9 were the most divergent in terms of nucleotide sequences. Most of the CsaFBN genes were expressed in the leaf, stem, and fruit. CsaFBN4 showed the highest mRNA expression levels in various tissues, followed by CsaFBN6, CsaFBN1, and CsaFBN9. High-light stress combined with low temperature decreased photosynthetic efficiency and highly induced transcript levels of CsaFBN1, CsaFBN6, and CsaFBN11, which decreased after 24 h treatment. Transcript levels of the other seven genes were changed only slightly. This result suggests that CsaFBN1, CsaFBN6, and CsaFBN11 may be involved in photoprotection under high-light conditions at low temperature.

The effects of psychological pressure on perceiving the height of a jump bar just before starting a high jump run was investigated. University students (N = 14) training for a high jump event performed 15 trials (3 practice, 6 pressure, and 6 non-pressure) in counterbalanced order in their daily practice environment. The height of the bar was judged as significantly higher on pressure trials compared to non-pressure trials. A regression analysis indicated that participants who reported increased subjective perceived pressure tended to judge the bar to be higher. There was no significant difference between pressure and non-pressure trials for the performance index, defined as the success rate. This study provides the first evidence that environmental perceptions prior to executing a motor task under pressure may make performance of the task appear to be more difficult.

The article reveals distinctive features of the interaction between architectural and structural solutions for the design of tall buildings as well as spotlights the most distinctive cases of expression. In the contemporary world, interaction is turning into the antithesis of the formerly dominant utilitarian attitude and standardization of tall buildings architectural solutions. Meanwhile, the search for rational structural solutions leads to new possibilities of architectural expression. This necessitates the transformation of a structural solution and its adaptation to the need of a modern architect to be exceptional and noticed. Interaction covers the current as well as retrospective and perspective periods. SWOT analysis was used by the authors of the article to assess the interaction between architectural and structural solutions in tall buildings design, select the most important criteria that could be used searching for rational architectural and structural solutions in future by applying multi-criteria decision making methods.

Land surface temperature (LST) variations and anomalies associated with tectonic plate movements are common precursors to earthquakes. Spatially extended and dynamic linear zones of high temperature anomalies at the Earth's surface coinciding with faults in the Earth's crust can be used as a predictor of an approaching earthquake. LST contrast boundary concentration maps are proposed as an indicator for analyzing temperature changes before and after a series of earthquakes. The concentration of LST contrast boundaries is estimated from Landsat 8 data for the East Anatolian Fault zone in the vicinity of epicenters of the destructive earthquakes with magnitudes up to 7.8 Mw on the moment magnitude scale occurred in February 2023. A spatial relationship between earthquake epicenters and the maximum concentration of LST boundaries at azimuths of 0° and 90° was found to strengthen as the earthquake approaches and weaken after it. It was found that 92% of epicenters are located at up to 5 km distance from zones of maximum LST boundary concentration. The found regularity allows to conclude the possibility of using the proposed indicator as additional data for seismic hazard risk assessment.

Temperature and pressure sensors currently encounter challenges such as slow response times, large sizes, and insufficient sensitivity. To address these issues, we developed tetraphenylethylene (TPE)-doped polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofiber membranes using electrospinning, with process parameters optimized through a convolutional neural network (CNN). We systematically analyzed the effects of PVDF concentration, spinning voltage, tip-to-collector distance, and flow rate on fiber morphology and diameter. The CNN model achieved high predictive accuracy, resulting in uniform and smooth nanofibers under optimal conditions. Incorporating TPE enhanced the hydrophobicity and mechanical properties of the nanofibers. Additionally, the fluorescent properties of the TPE-doped nanofibers remained stable under UV exposure and exhibited significant linear responses to temperature and pressure variations. The nanofibers demonstrated a temperature sensitivity of -0.976 gray value/°C and pressure sensitivity with an increase in fluorescence intensity from 537 a.u. to 649 a.u. under 600 g pressure. These findings highlight the potential of TPE-doped PVDF nanofiber membranes for advanced temperature and pressure sensing applications.

The thermal conditions of transitional (ranging from warm to cold) coldwater streams impact the ranges and resource availabilities for biota inhabiting these lotic systems. With ongoing climate change and increasing land modifications, thermal boundaries may shift, altering thermal transition zones and their biotic communities. The objective of this study was to investigate the condition of trout across three forks of the Whitewater River catchment and to investigate factors influencing fish community composition and distribution. Each fork was characterized into three separate sections: headwater (coolwater), middle (warmwater), and lower (coldwater). Springs were identified throughout each fork, with greatest concentrations in the lower sections of each fork. Using single-pass electrofishing, we sampled 61 sites across the three forks in the Whitewater River system (North = 21 sites, Middle = 19, South = 21), and catch statistics were used to calculate diversity, trout abundance, and trout condition. In general, diversity increased, and trout were healthier but less abundant in middle and headwater sections, whereas diversity decreased slightly, trout condition decreased, and trout abundance increased in lower reaches, with changes differing somewhat among forks. Canonical correlation analysis had strong significant correlations showing simpson diversity and condition increase going upstream with high non trout abundance and catch rates while trout catch rates and reach width decrease. The Whitewater River is a catchment exhibiting transitional temperature-pattern characteristics with generally low fish community diversity and trout conditions that range from thin, normal, and robust. Dominated by a changing landscape (agriculture) and intensifying climate change, we may begin to see stream temperatures increase along with species diversity. Understanding how spring temperature influences species composition and distribution can bring potential stressors to light increasing our understanding of thermal conditions and to help mitigate the negative impacts from land use and climate change.

The development requirements for reusable liquid rocket engines have set higher standards for the reliability design of turbopump structures. To address the issue of bearing failure in turbopumps under harsh conditions such as low temperature, high speed, heavy load, and repeated start-stop cycles, this paper proposes replacing ball bearings with thrust foil bearings. We used liquid nitrogen instead of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to simulate the ultralow temperature and low viscosity operating environment of turbopumps, evaluating the potential feasibility of using thrust foil bearings in this context. The numerical calculations primarily include the formulation of the foil deformation equations based on the link-spring model for the wavy foil and the thin plate finite element model for the top foil. These equations are solved by coupling the Reynolds lubrication equation, the fluid film thickness equation, and the foil deformation equations using the finite difference method, Newton-Raphson method, and finite element method. A detailed analysis is conducted on the effects of rotational speed, fluid film thickness, thrust disk inclination angle, and wavy foil interface friction coefficient on the static and dynamic characteristics of thrust foil bearings. The research findings provide guidance for the application of thrust foil bearings in liquid rocket turbopumps.

This study aims to uncover the chronology and production technologies of ancient bricks unearthed from various locations in Upper Assam, Northeast India. To achieve this goal, complementary spectroscopic techniques such as Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS), as well as Thermoluminescence (TL) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL/IRSL) dating have been applied. FTIR and XRD analyses revealed the presence of quartz, feldspar (microcline, orthoclase, albite), kaolinite, chlorite, cerussite, palygorskite, magnetite, hematite, and organic carbon. The mineralogical composition indicates two distinct groups with firing temperatures below 650°C and above ~800°C. These two groups could be the first indication of the presence of two civilizations or at least two different production technologies, involving different firing temperatures and kiln atmospheric conditions. Further, the SEM-EDS study suggests that both calcareous and non-calcareous clays were used in brick making, which have low and high refractory properties, respectively. The internal morphology of the samples shows the existence of micropores and microfractures, indicating the influence of higher temperature firing. Absolute dating techniques associate the two brick groups with different age ranges: a firing temperature above ~800°C indicates a superior technology corresponding to a production period between the 7th and 10th centuries CE. In contrast, a temperature below 650°C indicates a technologically less advanced group of people, with the age group dated between the 11th and 14th centuries CE.

Global warming caused by climate change is a challenge for dairy farming, especially in sub-Saharan countries. Under high temperature and relative humidity dairy cows suffer from heat stress. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects and relationship of heat stress (HS) measured by temperature-humidity index (THI) on physiological parameters and milk yield and composition of lactating Holstein Friesian crosses reared in the humid coastal region of Tanzania. A total of 29 lactating Holstein Friesian x Zebu crossbred dairy cattle with 50% (HF50) and 75% (HF75) Holstein Friesian blood levels in their second and third month of lactation were used. Breed composition of Holstein Friesian was determined based on animal recording system used at the Tanzania Livestock Research Institute (TALIRI), Tanga. Data collected included daily temperature, relative humidity, daily milk yield, and physiological parameters (core-body temperature, rectal temperature, respiration rate, and panting score). The THI was calculated using the equation of National Research Council [39]. The THI values were categorized into three classes i.e. low THI (76-78), moderate THI (79-81) and high THI (82-84). The effects of THI on physiological parameters and milk yield and composition were assessed. Also, the effects of genotype, parity, lactation month, and interaction of these parameters with THI i on milk yield, milk composition, and physiological parameters were investigated. The results indicate that THI and its interaction with genotypes, parity, and lactation month had highly significant effect on all the parameters. THI affected (P ˂ 0.05) average daily milk yield and milk fat %, protein %, lactose %, and solids – not – fat %. When THI increased from moderate to high values, average daily milk yield declined from 3.49 ± 0.04 to 3.43 ± 0.05 liters/day while fat % increased from 2.66 ± 0.05% to 3.04 ± 0.06% and protein decreased from 3.15 ± 0.02% to 3.13 ± 0.03%. No decline was observed on lactose % whilst solids – not – fat % declined from 8.56 ± 0.08% to 8.55 ± 0.10%, when the THI values increased from moderate to high. Also, THI affected (P˂0.05) physiological parameters. Core-body temperature (CBT), rectal temperature (RT), respiration rate (RR) and panting score (PS) increased from 35.60 ± 0.01 to 36.00 ± 0.01oC, 38.03 ± 0.02 to 38.3.30 ± 0.02oC, 62.53 ± 0.29 to 72.35 ± 0.28 breaths/min and 1.35 ± 0.01 to 1.47 ± 0.09, respectively, when THI increased from low to high. THI showed a low positive correlation with average daily milk yield and fat percentage whilst protein, lactose, and solids – not - fat percentages showed negative relationships with THI (P ≤ 0.05). The CBT, RT, RR, and PS showed positive relationships (P ≤ 0.05) with THI. These negative relationships indicate that there is an antagonistic correlation between sensitivity to HS and degree of production. It is concluded that the THI, genotype, parity, and lactation month, and their interactions with THI significantly affected milk yield, milk composition, and physiological parameters of lactating Holstein Friesian dairy crosses at THI thresholds ranging from 77 to 84.

In the present study we examine the relationship among sovereign yields, temperature and precipitation using a large monthly panel data set which consists of 20 eurozone members, over the period 1980M1 – 2023M4. To account for possible asymmetries along the distribution of the climate variables we assume a quadratic modelling specification and apply various mean panel estimation techniques of heterogeneous coefficients. At a next step, to consider possible nonlinearities in the distribution of the dependent variable (sovereign yields), we apply the quantile via moments methodology of Machado and Santos Silva (2019), which accounts for possible cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity. We contribute to the existing literature in two main ways. First, by applying a quantile methodology that provides a more in-depth analysis of the climate effects along the distribution of the sovereign yields, especially in the presence of non-normally distributed data. Second, we find that climate change, as proxied by higher temperatures or lower precipitation (drought), will increase the sovereign risk of all countries, but the magnitude of the impact will be higher for countries that are already characterized by higher sovereign risk levels and/or face extreme weather conditions (hotter countries and/or countries with low levels of precipitation).

The surface velocity of the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) is vital to assessing its stability and mass balance. Previous studies have shown that the AIS basin has a stable multi-year average surface velocity. However, spatiotemporal variations in the surface velocity of the AIS and the underlying physical mechanism remain poorly understood. This study combined offset tracking and DInSAR methods to extract the monthly average surface velocity of the AIS and obtained the inter-annual surface velocity from the ITS_LIVE product. An uneven spatial distribution in inter-annual variation of the surface velocity was observed between 2000–2022, although the magnitude of variation was small at less than 20.5 m/yr. The increase and decrease in surface velocity on the eastern and western-central sides of the AIS, respectively, could be attributed to the change in the thickness of the AIS. There was clear seasonal variation in monthly average surface velocity at the eastern side of the AIS between 2017–2021, which could be attributed to variations in the area and thickness of fast-ice and also to variations in ocean temperature. This study suggested that changes in fast-ice and ocean temperature are the main factors driving spatiotemporal variation in the surface velocity of the AIS.

Nonlocal theories are gaining prominence because they can solve problems which lead to unphysical conclusions in standard models. This study presents a novel fractional boundary element method (BEM) solution for nonlinear nonlocal thermoelastic problems of anisotropic fibrous polymer nanomaterials. This broad BEM solution combines two solutions: anisotropic fibrous polymer nanomaterials problem solution and nonlinear nonlocal thermoelasticity problem solution. The nonlinear nonlocal thermoelasticity problem solution divides the displacement field into complementary component and particular component. The overall displacement is generated using the boundary element technique, which is the solution to a Navier type problem, while the particular displacement is derived using local radial point. The New Modified Shift-Splitting (NMSS) approach, which reduces memory and processing time requirements, was used to solve linear systems created by BEM. Figures demonstrate the numerical findings, which show the effects of fractional and graded parameters on the thermal stresses of nonlinear nonlocal thermoelastic problems of anisotropic fibrous polymer nanomaterials. The numerical results indicate the consistency and efficiency of the proposed methodology.

Abstract: The YF3: (Eu3+, Nd3+) nanoparticles (orthorhombic phase, D ~ 130 nm)) were synthesized via the co-precipitation method with subsequent hydrothermal treatment and annealing. The Eu3+ τdecay linearly descends with the increase of temperature in the 80 - 320 K range. The τdecay (T) slope values of the annealed YF3: Eu3+ (2.5 and 5.0 mol. %) nanoparticles were the highest (110·10-4 and 67·10-4, μs/K in the whole 80 – 320 K range, respectively. Thus, these samples were chosen for further doping with Nd3+. The maximum Sa and Sr values based on the LIR (IEu/INd) function were 0.67 K-1 (at 80 K) and 0.86 %·K-1 (at 154 K), respectively. As it was mentioned above, the sin-gle-doped YF3: Eu3+ (2.5. %) nanoparticles showed the linearly decreasing τdecay (T) function (5D0 – 7F1 emission). The main idea of Nd3+ co-doping was to increase this slope value (as well as the sensitivity) by increasing the rate of τdecay (T) descent via the addition of one more tempera-ture-dependent channel of 5D0 excited state depopulation. Indeed, we managed to increase the slope (Sa) up to 180·10-4 K-1 at 80 K. This result is one of the highest compared to the world analogs.

Color centers in diamond and nanodiamonds can be utilized as quantum sensors for measuring various physical parameters, particularly magnetic and electric fields, as well as temperature. Due to its small size and possible surface functionalization, fluorescent nanodiamonds are attractive systems for biological and medical applications since they can be used for intracellular experiments. This review focuses on fluorescent nanodiamonds for thermometry with nanoscale spatial resolution for living systems. The current state of the art, possible further development, and potential limitations will be discussed here.

Heavy rains have created significant threats to human health and life. Floods and other natural disasters, which have a global impact annually, can be attributed to extended durations of intense precipitation. Accurate rainfall predictions are crucial in nations such as Bangladesh, where agriculture is the predominant occupation. The efficiency of machine learning (ML) methods is enhanced by the non-linearity of rainfall, surpassing the effectiveness of other alternative ways. Machine learning techniques show that individual classifiers exhibit worse accuracy than ensemble learning (EL) methodologies. Ensemble Learning techniques are utilized for rainfall prediction and estimating rainfall quantity and daily average temperature to enhance comprehension of the diverse Machine Learning algorithms. This research implements the machine learning techniques and ensemble-based classifier to predict the rainfall occurrence, along with the machine learning regressor models and ensemble-based regressor for the rainfall amount prediction and daily average temperature prediction, using Bangladesh Weather Dataset. The results of the machine learning and ensemble-based models are compared using the Accuracy and F1 score for rainfall occurrence prediction. In contrast, MAE and RMSE evaluation metrics are used for ensemble regressor and regression algorithms for the rainfall amount and daily average temperature prediction. With an accuracy of 83.41% and a recall of 78.17%, the Ensemble Classifier is the best at predicting when it will rain, but its precision of 51.16% stands in for the lowest. The Ensemble Regression model outperforms Linear Regression, Random Forest, and SVR in rainfall amount prediction, with the lowest MAE of 0.36 and RMSE of 0.90. The Ensemble Regression provides the most precise results for daily average temperature prediction with the lowest MAE 0.42 and RMSE 0.54 highlighting its superiority over the other regression models in forecasting temperature with less error. Ensemble approaches consistently lead task performance metrics.

Ralstonia solanacearum is the pathogen responsible for Ralstonia solanacearum, which is soil-borne, infests plant conduits to cause disease.They are not easy to control and are harmful.Therefore the development of a controlled-release agent responsive to the pathogen's soil temperature and moisture conditions could aid in its control. Corn kernel powder is used as a carrier for Tetramycin biopesticide, with various compounds tested for bonding.They were then made by extrusion moulding.Temperature and wetness responsive components, including Pentaerythritol Tetrastearate, Pentaerythritol Tetraoleate, Polyethylene Glycol Stearate, and Polyethylene Glycol Monooleate,are compounded and coated onto Tetramycin cores to form an intermediate shell layer. Finally, Ethyl cellulose(EC)and Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose(HPMC) are dissolved and sprayed onto the outermost layer to complete the pellet's shell layer.After the evaluation of texture performance test,DSC analysis,TG test,temperature and humidity response performance test, as well as pellet cross-section SEM observation, field effectiveness test, etc., the preferred formulations were screened.The results showed that the preferred Core formulation:Corn kernel powder:Tetramycin aqueous:Xanthan gum mass ratio=13.5:23:2; Intermediate Shell layer:PETS: PETO: PEG400MO mass ratio=10:30:10; and Outer Shell layer: Ethyl cellulose (EC):Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) mass ratio=5:1.Under soil conditions of high incidence of Ralstonia solanacearum, i.e., sustained warmth (30-35℃) and high humidity (30% moisture content), the formulated pills showed a release rate of 95.18% to 96.24% over a period of 35 days. Moreover, they showed a stepwise cyclic release process under alternating warm and humid-dry and cold conditions.In field tests on tobacco, a relative preventive efficacy of 54.74% was achieved 106 days post-transplanting. Soil bacterial community structure analysis revealed a significant decrease (2.28-2.84 times) in the abundance of Solanaceae Raelia under Tetramycin pellet treatment compared to the control. Additionally, fungal community structure showed highter consistency initially across various soil depths, with diversity differences between soil layers reestablished later (106 days), while the predominant categories of bacteria and fungi remained unchanged.In this study, we successfully developed a nucleoshell-type slow-controlled release pill embedded with Tetramycin. This pill effectively responded to temperature and humidity changes, resulting in high efficacy in disease prevention.This development holds significant promise for effectively improving drug utilization and easing application challenges, offering broad prospects for Ralstonia solanacearum prevention and control in agriculture.

UV-digital printing belongs to the commonly used method for custom large-area substrate decoration. Despite low surface energy and adhesion, transparent polymer materials, such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC), represent an ideal substrate for such purposes. The diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge (DCSBD) in a novel compact configuration was used for substrate activation to improve ink adhesion to the polymer surface. This industrially applicable version of DCSBD was prepared, tested, and successfully implemented for the UV-digital printing process. Furthermore, wettability and surface free energy measurement, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force and scanning electron microscopy evaluated the surface chemistry and morphology changes. The changes in adhesion of the surface and of ink were analyzed by a peel-force and a crosscut test, respectively. A short plasma treatment (1-5 s) enhanced the substrate's properties of PMMA and PC while providing the pre-treatment suitable for further in-line UV-digital printing. Furthermore, we did not observe damage or significant change of roughness affecting the substrate's initial transparency.

Coral reefs are one of the most productive yet vulnerable ecosystems on Earth. An important step in understanding the functioning of coral communities is studying the environmental impact on the state of reefs. The present study aimed to assess the impacts of the water temperature, precipitation, wave action and population density on the seasonal bleaching, partial and complete mortality of shallow-water branching corals of Pocillopora verrucosa species complex. The present study was conducted at the Dam Bay research station (Nha Trang Bay) from 26 April 2020 to 2 April 2021. Throughout the study the percentage of bleached coral colonies varied from 1 to 41.5% with two peaks, in autumn (October) and spring (April). Rates of the development of partial mortality varied from 0 to 10%, with a pronounced peak in December. At the end of the experiment, the percentage of coral colonies suffering from partial mortality reached 47%. Only 4,5% of experimental colonies died by the end of the study. Analysis revealed that water temperature and partial mortality are the drivers of bleaching, while wave action, temperature and bleaching are the factors with a significant impact on partial mortality. In the present study, the main cause of coral death was the development of algal fouling at the sites of colony lesions, which gradually spread over the entire surface of the colony. We showed also that the impact of individual stress on mortality prevailed over the impact of seasonal bleaching and partial mortality events.

Abstract: In the past years, lithium-ion solid-state batteries demonstrated significant advancements regarding such properties as safety, long-term endurance, and energy density. The properties of these depend on solid-state electrolytes and especially ionic transport interfacial transport with cathode or anode materials. Solid-state electrolytes based on lithium halides offer new opportunities due to their unique features such as broad electrochemical stability window, high lithium-ion conductivity, and elasticity at close to melting point temperatures that help to improve lithium-ion transport at interfaces. A comparative study of lithium indium halide (Li3InCl6) electrolytes syn-thesized by a mechano-thermal method using different optimization parameters revealed a signif-icant effect of ball-milling time, temperature, and pressure on lithium-ion transport. Based on the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) data in the temperature range of 25-100 °C, the optimized Li3InCl6 electrolyte phase demonstrates high ionic conductivity reaching 0.98 mS cm−1 at room temperature. However, at 70 °C, phase transformation was observed leading to significant changes in the activation energy for lithium-ion transport. In-situ X-ray diffraction and in-situ/operando X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques confirmed the tempera-ture-dependent behavior of Li3InCl6 synthesized. These observations provide critical information for practical applications of solid-state electrolytes and nanocomposites based on Li3InCl6 within the broad temperature range for lithium-ion solid-state batteries with improved morphology, chemical interactions, and structural integrity.

Hafnium is a metal with rare properties, such as a low superconducting transition temperature slightly above 100 mK, which makes it attractive for a lot of applications, especially for design and fabrication of microcalorimeters with high energy resolution. In this paper we describe the results of fabrication and experimental investigation of superconducting properties of hafnium thin films in a dilution refrigerator. The considered Hf films, whose thickness is in the range from 60 to 115 nm, are deposited on substrates by electron beam evaporation. The combinations with thin layers of normal metals to decrease the critical temperature of superconducting hafnium films by proximity effect, are also considered. The critical temperature of the studied films varies from 56 to 302 mK. Also, significant increase of the critical temperature of some films over time was observed and investigated.

This study investigates the frequency dependence of the correlation or anticorrelation of ozone and temperature in the middle atmosphere. The anticorrelation of ozone and temperature plays a role for the expected recovery or superrecovery of upper stratospheric ozone in presence of manmade cooling of the middle atmosphere due to increasing carbon dioxide emissions. The correlation between lower stratospheric ozone and temperature indicates the dependence of lower stratospheric temperature trends on the ozone evolution in addition to greenhouse gas emissions. Ozone and temperature measurements of the microwave limb sounder (MLS) on the satellite Aura from 2004 to 2021 are utilized for Bern (46.95∘N, 7.44∘E) at middle latitudes and for the equator region. The time series are bandpass filtered for periods from 2 days to 5 years. The correlation coefficient depends on the period of the oscillation in temperature and ozone. The strongest correlation and anticorrelation are found for the annual oscillation. The anticorrelation between ozone and temperature in the upper stratosphere is about −0.7 at a period of 2 days and −0.99 at a period of one year. Thus, the temperature dependence of the ozone reaction rates also leads to an anticorrelation of ozone and temperature at short periods so that ozone can be considered as a tracer of planetary waves. At the equator, a dominant semiannual oscillation and an 11 year solar cycle are found for nighttime ozone in the upper mesosphere. The SAO in ozone and temperature show a strong correlation indicating a dynamical control of the ozone SAO in the upper mesosphere. The SAO in the equatorial nighttime values of ozone and temperature is due to a semiannual modulation of vertical advection by the diurnal tide.

Chronic heat stress (CHS) has been exerting great pressure on the poultry industry due to the global warming. CHS-induced negative impacts deeply change the physiology, metabolism, egg production and meat quality of ducks. To reduce the increasing economic loss, different environmental strategies have been adopted. Here, we comprehensively compared three rearing modes for Cherry-Valley ducks (CVds) mainly by changing the environmental temperature. Plus, the transcriptome analysis and physiological anatomy were implied to investigate the underlying molecular biology and pneumonocyte dynamics. It turns out that the CVds affected by CHS have poor growth performance and bad carcass traits. In addition, the irreversible damage caused by CHS in the lung tissue of CVds was observed. Furthermore, several potential genes related to CHS have been found, such as HSPA8, IGF1, FGFR1, ACSL3, ACSL6, NR1H3 and GAPDH. This study strongly indicates the severe injury of CHS from the high-temperature environment and points out one of the adopting directions for duck rearing.

In this paper, the quality change of scallop (Patinopecten yessoensis) in the process of anhydrous storage and transportation after cold-acclimation and induced dormancy was studied, and the regulation mechanism of quality degradation in the storage and transportation in the process of gradient chilling stress and drying exposure was further explored. The results show that while being transferred from anhydrous storage and transportation from hydrous storage and transportation, the breathing pattern of scallops were changed from aerobic to anaerobic. Their gill filaments were altered, and the apparent vitality was constantly declining, which was reflected by the edge shrinkage of pallium and the direct proportion between the edge reduction rate and the stimulus response period. After being in the anhydrous state for 4d, the AEC value dropped to 67.59%. At this time, if they were under hydration again, they would resume a nice growth state. By virtue of proteomics, it was revealed from the analysis that cold acclimation and dry exposure mainly led to changes in biological functions and pathways such as mitochondrial inner membrane and ATP hydrolysis activity. In addition, it can be seen from the functional annotation and enrichment analysis of the metabolite KEGG that cold acclimation promoted the purine metabolism of scallops, while dry exposure inhibited the metabolism of saturated fatty acids. Besides, in this study, the infrared sensing mode was used for the first time to record the heart rate changes of the scallops during circulation, which provides feasibility for the nondestructive vitality monitoring of Lamellibranchia.

As shown previously, a relation between the superconducting transition temperature and some characteristic distance in the crystal lattice holds, which enables the calculation of the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, based only on the knowledge of the electronic configuration and of some details of the crystallographic structure. This relation was found to apply for a large number of superconductors, including the high-temperature superconductors, the iron-based materials, alkali fullerides, metallic alloys, and element superconductors. When applying this scheme called Roeser-Huber formula to Moiré-type superconductivity, i.e., magic-angle twisted bi-layer graphene (tBLG) and bi-layer WSe2, we find that the calculated transition temperatures for tBLG are always higher than the available experimental data, e.g., for the magic angle 1.1∘, we find Tc≈ 4.2–6.7 K. Now, the question arises why the calculation produces larger Tc’s. Two possible scenarios may answer this question: (1) The given problem for experimentalists is the fact that for electric measurements always substrates/caps are required to arrange the electric contacts. When now discussing superconductivity in atomically thin objects, also these layers may play a role forming the Moiré patterns. The consequence of such substrate-induced super-Moiré patterns is that the resulting Moiré pattern always will show a larger cell size, and thus, a lower Tc of the final structure will result. (2) A correction factor to the Roeser-Huber formalism may be required to account for the low charge carrier density of the tBLG. Here, we test both scenarios and find that the introduction of a correction factor η enables a proper calculation of Tc, reproducing the experimental data. We find that η depends exponentially on the value of Tc.

Ce-promoted NiMgAl mixed-oxide (NiCex-C, x = 0, 1,5,10) catalysts were prepared from the quaternary hydrotalcite precursors for CO2 hydrogenation to methane. By engineering the Ce contents, NiCe5-C showed its prior catalytic performance in low-temperature CO2 hydrogenation, being about 3 times higher than that of Ce-free NiCe0-C catalyst (TOF of NiCe5-C and NiCe0-C: 1.19 h-1 vs 0.39 h-1 @ 250 oC). With extensive characterization, it was found that Ce dopants promoted the reduction of NiO by adjusting the interaction between Ni and Mg(Ce)AlOx support. The higest ratio of surface Ni0/(Ni2+Ni0) was obtained over NiCe5-C. Meanwhile, the surface basicity was tailored with Ce dopants. The strongest medium-strength basicity and highest capacity of CO2 adsorption was achieved on NiCe5-C with 5wt% Ce content. The TOF tests indicated a good correlation with medium-strength basicity over the NiCex-C samples. The results showed that the high medium-strength and Ce-promoted surface Ni0 species endows the enhanced low-temperature catalytic performance in CO2 hydrogenation to methane.

To study the anti-cracking performance of cast-in-place concrete inner shaft lining structure under the combined effects of temperature and constraint, this paper first developed a novel temperature stress test machine suitable for the shape of the inner shaft lining structure and with adjustable endpoint constraint, providing specialized experimental equipment for subsequent cast-in-place concrete inner shaft lining temperature stress simulation experiments. Then, this paper preliminarily studied the temperature, strain, and stress changes of the cast-in-place inner shaft lining under the condition of 100% endpoint constraint by simulating the internal hydration heating and cooling process of the cast-in-place inner shaft lining and using the temperature stress test machine to accurately control the endpoint constraint conditions of the inner shaft lining scaled model.

The main goal of this work is to develop a novel boundary element method (BEM) model for analyzing ultrasonic wave propaga-tion in three-temperature anisotropic viscoelastic porous media. Because of strong nonlinearity of ultrasonic wave propagation in three-temperature porous media problems, the analytical or numerical solutions to the problems under consideration are always challenging, necessitating the development of new computational techniques. As a result, we use a new BEM model to solve such problems. A time stepping procedure based on the linear multistep method is obtained after solving the discretized boundary in-tegral equation with the quadrature rule. The calculation of a double integral is required to obtain fundamental solutions, but this increases the total BEM computation time. Our proposed BEM technique is used to solve the current problem and improve the formulation efficiency. The numerical results are graphed to demonstrate the effects of viscosity and anisotropy on the nonlinear ultrasonic stress waves in three-temperature porous media. The validity, accuracy, and efficiency in the proposed methodology were demonstrated by comparing obtained results to the corresponding solution obtained from finite difference method (FDM).

Selective Paste Intrusion (SPI) is an additive manufacturing (AM) process in which thin layers of aggregates are selectively bonded by cement paste only where the structure is to be produced. In this way, concrete elements with complex geometries and structures can be created. Reinforcement is required to increase the flexural strength of the concrete elements and, thus, enable their applicability in practice. Integrating the reinforcement is a difficult task, particularly in the case of SPI due to the layer-wise printing method. Especially with respect to possible complex structures, the production of the reinforcement needs to be adapted to SPI, thereby offering a high degree of freedom. One concept for a reinforcement integration is combining the two additive manufacturing processes SPI and Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM). However, since the two processes serve different fields of application, their compatibility is not necessarily given. Ongoing investigations show that the temperatures caused by WAAM adversely affect both, the cement paste rheology required for sufficient paste penetration into the particle bed and the overall concrete strength. This paper provides an overview of ongoing research focusing on different cooling strategies and their effects on the compressive strength of SPI-printed concrete parts.

As shown previously, a relation between the superconducting transition temperature and some characteristic distance in the crystal lattice holds, which enables the calculation of the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, based only on the knowledge of the electronic configuration and of some details of the crystallographic structure. This relation was found to apply for a large number of superconductors, including the high-temperature superconductors, the iron-based materials, alkali fullerides, metallic alloys, and element superconductors. When applying this scheme called Roeser-Huber formula to Moiré-type superconductivity, i.e., magic-angle twisted bi-layer graphene (tBLG) and bi-layer WSe2, we find that the calculated transition temperatures for tBLG are always higher than the available experimental data, e.g., for the magic angle 1.1∘, we find Tc≈ 4.2–6.7 K. Now, the question arises why the calculation produces larger Tc’s. Two possible scenarios may answer this question: (1) The given problem for experimentalists is the fact that for electric measurements always substrates/caps are required to arrange the electric contacts. When now discussing superconductivity in atomically thin objects, also these layers may play a role forming the Moiré patterns. The consequence of such substrate-induced super-Moiré patterns is that the resulting Moiré pattern always will show a larger cell size, and thus, a lower Tc of the final structure will result. (2) A correction factor to the Roeser-Huber formalism may be required to account for the low charge carrier density of the tBLG. Here, we test both scenarios and find that the introduction of a correction factor η enables a proper calculation of Tc, reproducing the experimental data. We find that η depends exponentially on the value of Tc.

This paper presents a calibration and thermal compensation method that aims to minimize cost and processing time while maintaining high accuracy. First, the number of positions to perform the calibration procedure is optimized, and then, based on this optimized calibration number, thermal compensation is performed, which is necessary for environments with large temperature variations, since calibration parameters change at different temperatures. The calibration procedures and algorithms were experimentally validated on marketed accelerometers. Based on the optimized calibration method, the calibrated results have been obtained nearly 100 times improvement. Thermal drift calibration experiments on the triaxial accelerometer show that the thermal compensation scheme in this paper can effectively reduce drift in the temperature range of -40°C to 60°C. The temperature drifts of x- and y-axes are reduced from -13.2 and 11.8 mg to -0.9 and -1.1 mg, respectively. The z-axis temperature drift is reduced from -17.9 to 1.8 mg. We have conducted various experiments on the proposed calibration method and demonstrated its capacity to calibrate the sensor frame error model (SFEM) parameters. Therefore, the MEMS sensors calibrated in this paper have certain engineering application values for tilt measurement.

Glass fibers slowly dissolve and age when exposed to water molecules. Such a phenomenon also occurs when glass fibers are inside fiber-reinforced composites protected by the matrix. This en-vironmental aging results in the deterioration of the mechanical properties of the composite. In structural applications, GFRPs are continuously exposed to water environments for decades (typically design lifetime is around 25 years or even more). During their lifetime, these materials are affected by various temperatures, pH acidity levels, mechanical loads, and the synergy of these factors. The rate of the degradation process depends on the nature of glass, sizing, fiber orientation, and environmental factors such as acidity, temperature, and mechanical stress. In this work, degradation of typical industrial grade R-glass fibers, when inside an epoxy fiber-reinforced composite, is studied experimentally and computationally. A Dissolving Cylinder Zero-Order Kinetic (DCZOK) model was applied and could describe the long-term dissolution of glass composites, considering the influence of fiber orientation (hoop vs transverse), pH (1.7, 4.0, 5.7, 7.0, and 10.0), and temperature (20, 40, 60, and 80 °C). The limitations of the DCZOK model and effects of sizing protection, accumulation of degradation products inside the composite, and water availability were discussed. Experimentally dissolution was measured using ICP-MS. Like for the fibers, for GFRPs also, the temperature showed an Arrhenius-type influence on the ki-netics, increasing the rate of dissolution exponentially with increasing temperature. Similar to fibers, GFRPs showed a hyperbolic dependence on pH. The model was able to capture all of these effects, and the limitations were addressed.

Oxide semiconductors are conventionally being used as sensing materials in gas sensors, limiting the detection of gases at room temperature (RT). In this work, a hybrid of copper oxide (CuO) with functionalized graphene (rGO) is proposed to achieve gas sensing at RT. The combination of high surface area and presence of many functional groups in CuO/rGO hybrid material makes it highly sensitive for gas absorption and desorption. To prepare the hybrid material, a copper oxide suspension synthesized using copper acetate precursor is added to the graphene oxide solution during its reduction using ascorbic acid. Material properties of CuO/rGO hybrid and its drop-casted thin films are investigated using Raman, FTIR, SEM, TEM, and four-point probe measurement systems. We find that the hybrid material is enriched with oxygen functional groups (OFGs) and defective sites along with electrical conductivity (~1.5 kΩ/□). The fabricated QCM (quartz crystal microbalance) sensor with a thin layer of CuO/rGO hybrid, demonstrates a high sensing response which is twice the response of the rGO-based sensor for CO₂ gas at RT. We believe that the CuO/rGO hybrid can be highly suitable for existing and future gas sensors used for domestic and industrial safety.

The construction field uses up over one-third of the global energy consumption and contribute to 40% of CO2 emissions according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the 2020 annual reporter of United Nation, Goal 11 (Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable) which discusses sustainable, safe and efficient buildings. Therefore, Morocco has a commitment to this program by publishing the law 47-09 of energy efficiency. This work aims to study the energy efficiency of two types of building, a conventional and a natural building. Conventional building is constructed using concrete, while the natural one uses sand clay and straws. As for the technique of making the natural building, it perpetually follows the same approach accustomed in rural zones of Atlas Mountains in Morocco. In this research we also simulate, temperature and humidity variation inside these buildings using TRNSYS software. Sketch Up software was employed to design these houses. The weather database is used for a typical meteorological year (TMY). In the case of natural building, many building configurations were simulated: roof insulation, floor insulation, different types of glazing and sun protection. What's more, the thermal comfort is revealed to be more conspicuous in the case of natural building.

Low night temperature (LNT) can be a practical and economical target in tomato breeding programs in terms of energy saving in greenhouses. This study was conducted to investigate the physiological responses to LNT using four tomato accessions of cherry and large fruit types with LNT tolerance and sensitivity grown in two greenhouses with night temperature set-points of 10 and 15°C for heating. LNT significantly reduced plant height regardless of fruit types and LNT tolerance. The number of flowers were significantly reduced in 10°C in cherry but not in large fruit types. Fruit set in 10°C was significantly lower in LNT sensitive accessions than tolerant ones regardless of fruit types, which was due to abnormal flower morphology in 10°C. Proline accumulation patterns between 10 and 15°C significantly differed between fruit types as well as between LNT tolerant and sensitive accessions. Chlorophyll content in 10 °C was significantly higher at later growth stages in LNT tolerant accessions than sensitive ones in both fruit types. No clear difference in photosynthetic parameters was observed between fruit types or tolerance and sensitive accessions except for photosynthetic rate, which was significantly lower in tolerant than sensitive accessions during early growing period. These results suggest that different tomato fruit types may have different mechanisms for LNT tolerance.

The rearing temperature of the immature stages can have a significant impact on the life-history traits and the ability of adult mosquitoes to transmit diseases. This review assessed published evidence of the effects of temperature on the immature stages, life-history traits, insecticide susceptibility, and expression of enzymes in the adult Anopheles mosquito. Original articles published through 31 March 2021 were systematically retrieved from Scopus, Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, ProQuest and Web of Science databases. After applying eligibility criteria, 29 studies were included. The review revealed that immature stages of Anopheles arabiensis were more tolerant (in terms of survival) to a higher temperature than An. funestus and An. quadriannulatus. Higher temperatures resulted in smaller larval size and decreased hatching and pupation time. The development rate and survival of Anopheles stephensi were significantly reduced at a higher temperature than a lower temperature. Increasing temperatures decreased the longevity, body size, length of the gonotrophic cycle and fecundity of Anopheles mosquitoes. Anopheles mosquitoes exposed at 18° or 30 °C had a higher risk of dying compared to those exposed at 25 °C. Increasing temperature also significantly increased NOS expression and decreased insecticide toxicity. Both extreme low and high temperatures affect Anopheles mosquito development and survival. Climate change could have diverse effects on Anopheles mosquitoes. There seems to be inconclusive evidence of the effects of temperature on the development and survival of Anopheles species, and more studies are needed to clarify this relationship.

Season plays a key role in the development of outdoor spaces for pedestrians in hot humid cities. This research studies the influence of seasonal variations on pedestrian thermal comfort on the pedestrian level by means of meteorology and field observations of selected footpaths in the major tourist area of Malacca. This experiment was carried out on selected clear calm days indicative of each season during the development of a research project, and hourly meteorological transects from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and questioned 200 respondents on their thermal awareness, comfort, and preferences were conducted. Adaptation, thermal comfort vote, thermal preference, age, season and hour of the day were significant non-meteorological factors, apart from meteorological information. The findings of analyzes showed that the thermal experience and expectation existed and in different seasons people changed perceptions for the outside thermal environment. Almost 80% local tourist and 55 % international tourist was accepted Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) range affected by the local climate and thermal adaptation. The subjective thermal sensation on physiological equivalent temperature generated an acceptable physiological equivalent temperature of 32.6°C to 36.8°C based on the seasonal variations for Malacca tourist zone in Malaysia. These findings shed light on the optimal design of outdoor spaces for increasing the utilization rate. The seasonal variation must be taken into account so that the outdoor landscape design provides more opportunities for different seasons to communicate with the atmosphere and so enhance thermal comfort and utilization.

The primary purpose of the study was the determination of the spatial day-to-day variability of extreme temperatures in Poland and the dependency of large temperature changes on atmospheric circulation in accordance with the Grosswetterlagen (GWL) classification. The goal was implemented based on data from 1966 to 2015, made available by the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management – National Research Institute. Day-to-day changes in maximum and minimum temperatures were designated with a rate of ≥ 6 °C (large) and with a rate of ≥ 12 °C (very large) and their spatial distribution was presented. Finally, the analysis of the dependency of considerable temperature changes on atmospheric circulation in accordance with the Grosswetterlagen (GWL) classification was conducted. The obtained results showed that in Poland in the period 1966-2015 the number of large changes in both Tmax and Tmin slightly increased, although the fluctuations show spatial variability. Large changes in Tmax occur more frequently in spring, and in Tmin in winter. Large changes in Tmax and Tmin are mainly recorded during cyclonic circulation, however, the anticyclonic circulation types favour especially large decreases in Tmin.

We describe a novel machine that uses the greater-than-100% efficiency of air/ground-source heat pumps to recursively generate electricity via steam-powered generators, taking thermal energy from the ambient environment to convert into electrical power. The invention of a machines that generate clean power at low costs will be fundamental to the future of electricity. We estimate efficiency and calculate minimum efficiencies for unknown parts to consider the applicability of this machine to the real world.

A galvalume corrugated sheet was utilized as formwork for a reinforced concrete beam in flexure. A numerical model was validated to the experimentally obtained data, and further adopted to simulate the behavior of this composite structure under elevated temperatures. The properties and constitutive stress-strain data of the basic materials were obtained from experiments, and superimposed into the finite element model. The study concluded that the load carrying capacity of the member decreased as a direct function on temperature increase, and the cracking moment was very sensitive to the temperature fluctuation. The elevated temperatures also altered the failure mode.

This empirical study investigates large urban park cooling effects on the thermal comfort of occupants in the vicinity of the main central park, located in Madrid, Spain. Data were gathered during hot summer days, using mobile observations and a questionnaire. The results showed that the cooling effect of this urban park of 140 ha area at a distance of 150 m is able to reduce temperature by an average of 0.63°C and 1.28°C for distances of 380 m and of 665 meters from the park. Moreover, the degree of the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) index at a distance of 150 meters from the park is on average 2°C PET and 2.3°C PET less compared to distances of 380 m and 665 m, respectively. Considering distance from the park, the correlation between occupant Perceived Thermal Comfort (PTC) and PET is inverse. That is, augmenting the distance from park increases PET, while the extent of PTC reduces accordingly. The correlation between these two factors at the nearest and furthest distances from the park is meaningful (P-value <0/05). The results also showed that large-scale urban parks generally play a significant part in creating a cognitive state of high-perceived thermal comfort spaces for residents.

Temperature field is an essential attribute of metal additive manufacturing in view of its bearings on the prediction, control, and optimization of residual stress, part distortion, fatigue, balling effect, etc. This work provides an analytical physics-based approach to investigate the effect of scan strategy parameters including time delay between two irradiations and hatching space on thermal material properties and melt pool geometry. This approach is performed through the analysis of the distribution of material properties and temperature profile in three-dimensional space. The moving point heat source approach is used to predict the temperature field. To predict the temperature field during the additive manufacturing process some important phenomena are considered. 1) Due to the high magnitude of temperature in the presence of the laser, the temperature gradient is usually high which has a crucial influence on thermal material properties. Consequently, the thermal material properties of stainless steel grade 316L are considered to be temperature-dependent. 2) Due to the repeated heating and cooling, part usually undergoes several melting and solidification cycles. This physical phenomenon is considered by modifying the heat capacity using the latent heat of melting. 3) The multi-layer aspect of metal AM process is considered by incorporating the temperature history from the previous layer since the interaction of the successive layers has an impact on heat transfer mechanisms. 4) Effect of heat affected zone on thermal material properties is considered by the superposition of material properties in regions where the temperature fields of two consecutive irradiations have an overlap since the consecutive irradiations change the behavior of the material properties. The goals are to 1) investigate the effects of temperature-sensitive material properties and constant material properties on the temperature field. 2) Study the behavior of thermal material properties under different scan strategies. 3) Study the importance of considering the effect of heat affected zone on thermal material through the prediction of melt pool geometry. 4) Investigate the effect of hatching space on melt pool geometry. This work is purely employed physics-based analytical models to predict the behavior of material properties and temperature field under different process conditions, and no finite element modeling is used.

Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is an invasive species that has modified ecosystem functioning in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta), California, USA. Studies in lakes and rivers have shown that water hyacinth alters water quality. In tidal systems, such as the Delta, water moves back and forth through the water hyacinth patch so water quality directly outside the patch in either direction is likely to be impacted. In this study, we asked whether the presence or treatment of water hyacinth with herbicides resulted in changes in water quality in this tidal system. We combined existing datasets that were originally collected for permit compliance and long-term regional monitoring into a dataset that we analyzed with a before-after control-impact (BACI) framework. This approach allowed us to describe effects of presence and treatment of water hyacinth, while accounting for seasonal patterns in water quality. We found that although effects of treatment were not detectable when compared with water immediately upstream, dissolved oxygen and turbidity became more similar to regional water quality averages after treatment. Temperature became less similar to the regional average after treatment, but the magnitude of the change was small. Taken together, these results suggest that tidal hydrology exports the effects of water hyacinth upstream, just as river flow is known to transport the effects downstream, creating a buffer of altered water chemistry around patches. It also suggests that although water hyacinth has an effect on dissolved oxygen and turbidity, these parameters recover to regional averages after treatment.

Surface urban heat island (SUHI) depicts the deteriorating thermal environment in high-density cities and local climate zone (LCZ) classification provides a universal protocol for SUHI identification. In this study, taking the central urbanized area of Guangzhou in the humid subtropical region of China as the study area, the maps or images of LCZ, land surface temperature (LST), SUHI and urban design factors were achieved by using Landsat satellite data, GIS database and a series of retrieval and classification algorithms, and the urban design factors influencing SUHI were investigated based on 625 samples of LCZs. The results show that in the summer daytime under the clear sky condition, the LST varied greatly from 26 °C to 40 °C and the SUHI changed in a wide range of -6 °C to 8 °C in the LCZs of the study area. Seven and five urban design factors influencing the summer daytime SUHI were identified for the two dominant LCZ of LCZs 1-5 (LCZ 1 to LCZ 5) and the mixed LCZ (containing at least three types of LCZs), respectively. The summer daytime SUHI prediction models were obtained by using the step-wise multiple linear regression, with the performance of R2 of 0.697, RMSE of 1.21 °C, and the d value of 0.81 for the model of LCZs 1-5, and the values of 0.666, 1.66 °C, and 0.76 for the model of the mixed LCZ, indicating that the models can predict the changes of SUHI with LCZs to a large and satisfactory extent. This study presents a methodology to efficiently achieve a large sample of SUHI and urban design factors of LCZs in the largely urbanized cities, and provides information beneficial to the urban designs and regenerations in the humid subtropical region.

The research carried out concerned the laboratory assessment of the applicability of the Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) as a practical tool for assessing the risk of desiccation for selected wetland habitats: transition mires and quaking bogs as well as alkaline fens. The analysis was carried out on 3 soil samples with a vegetation cover (with the dimensions of 40×40×30 cm) collected during the full vegetation season for each mentioned habitat, with a characteristic species composition. Experimental research was carried out between 17^th May 2018 and 19^th June 2018. Thermal, RGB and multispectral images, chlorophyll content, volumetric soil moisture, air temperature and relative humidity measurements were taken for each sample every two days. The obtained results clearly indicate the dependence between CWSI and plant condition parameters in the first phase of desiccation. At the same time, as a result of the observations taken, thresholds have been set, indicating different desiccation phases.

Ultra Low Temperature Process (ULTP) involve the material cooling in temperatures close to the liquid nitrogen (-196 °C), which is different from the cold-treatment (CT) made in temperatures close to -80 °C. ULTP treatments could raise the tool steel wear resistance through microstructural change that occurs on the material, enhancing, that way, the tools and dies lifetime. To investigate the impact on the wear resistance of tool steel AISI D2, micro abrasive wear tests were carried out and an analysis based on the Archard’s law was considered, evaluating specimen mass loss by laser interferometry. Micro hardness tests, X-ray diffractometry, scanning and optical microscopy and quantitative evaluation of carbides with image analysis were carried out aiming material characterization. Micro-scale abrasion tests shown a wear coefficient k about 1.73E-7 e 2.61E-7 mm3/N.mm to the specimens that received the ULTP phase and 3.12E-7 mm3/N.mm to the conventional thermal treatment, representing a wear resistance increase of 16.3 – 44.5% to cryogenically treated specimens. The results demonstrated a micro hardness improvement, ranging from 0.9 - 4.7% for the cryogenically treated specimens, when compared to the bulk material. This effect is related, mainly, to the retained austenite transformation in martensite and to the increase in the amount of fine secondary carbides dispersed in the martensitic matrixes of cryogenically treated specimens with ULTP. The best wear resistance improvements, on micro-scale, were achieved when the ULTP step is performed immediately after tempering.

In this paper a novel type of a highly sensitive gas sensor device based on the surface photovoltage effect is described. The developed surface photovoltage gas sensor is based on a reverse Kelvin probe approach. As the active gas sensing electrode the porous ZnO nanostructured thin films are used deposited by the direct current (DC) reactive magnetron sputtering method exhibiting the nanocoral surface morphology combined with an evident surface nonstoichiometry related to the unintentional surface carbon and water vapor contaminations. Among others, the demonstrated SPV gas sensor device exhibits a high sensitivity of 1 ppm to NO₂ with a signal to noise ratio of about 50 and a fast response time of several seconds under the room temperature conditions.

Present work has systematically investigated the evolution of dispersoid and elevated-temperature properties including the strength and creep resistance during the various multi-step heat treatments in Al-Mn-Mg 3004 alloys. Results show that only α-Al(MnFe)Si dispersoid is observed in the studied temperature range (up to 625°C) and it coarsens with increasing temperature to 500°C but dissolves at 625°C. The evolution of elevated-temperature strength and creep resistance is greatly related to the temperature of each step during the multi-step heat treatments. Generally, lower temperature at the first-step heat treatment leads to higher properties while the properties decrease with increasing temperature of last-step heat treatment. Suitable models have been introduced to explain the evolution of strength and the creep threshold stress at elevated-temperature during the various heat treatments.

We present a distributed optical-fiber temperature sensor with enhanced sensitivity based on an Al-coated fiber using the Rayleigh backscattering spectra (RBS) shift in optical frequency-domain reflectometry (OFDR). The Al-coated sensing fiber with a higher thermal expansion coefficient compared to silica produces a strain-coupled shift in the RBS under an increase in temperature. This effect leads to an enhanced temperature sensitivity of the distributed measurement scheme. Our results revealed that the temperature sensitivity obtained using the Al-coated fiber in OFDR was ~56% higher relative to that of a single-mode fiber. Moreover, the minimum measurable temperature recorded was 1 °C with a spatial resolution of 5 cm.

The feasibility of using full ion kinetics, instead of gyrokinetics, in simulating low-frequency Ion-Temperature-Gradient (ITG) instabilities in tokamaks has recently been demonstrated by Sturdevant et al. [Physics of Plasmas 24, 081207 (2017)]. In that work, a variational integrator was developed to integrate the full orbits of ions in toroidal geometry, which proved to be accurate in capturing both the short-time scale cyclotron motion and long time scale drift motion. The present work extends that work in three aspects. First, we implement a relatively simple full orbit integrator, the Boris integrator, and demonstrate that the accuracy of this integrator is also sufficient for simulation of ITG instabilities. Second, the equilibrium magnetic configuration is extended to general toroidal configuration specified numerically, enabling simulation of realistic equilibria reconstructed from tokamak experiments. Third, we extend that work to the nonlinear regime and investigate the nonlinear saturation of ITG instabilities. To verify the new numerical implementation of the orbit integrator and magnetic configuration, the linear electrostatic ITG frequency and growth rate are compared with those given in Sturdevant's work and good agreement is found.

Analysis of 49 strains of F. langsethiae originating from northern Europe (Russia, Finland, Sweden, UK, Norway, and Latvia) revealed the presence of spontaneous auxotrophic mutants that reflect natural intraspecific diversity. Our investigations detected that 49.0% of F. langsethiae strains were auxotrophic mutants for biotin, and 8.2% of the strains required thiamine as a growth factor. They failed to grow on vitamin-free media. For both prototrophic and auxotrophic strains, no growth defect was observed in rich organic media. Without essential vitamins, a significant reduction in the growth of the auxotrophic strains results in a decrease of the formation of T-2 toxin and diacetoxyscirpenol. In addition, all analysed F. langsethiae strains were distinguished into two subgroups based on PCR product sizes. According to our results, 26 and 23 strains of F. langsethiae belong to subgroups I and II respectively. We determined that the deletion in the IGS region of the rDNA of F. langsethiae belonging to subgroup II is linked with temperature sensitivity and causes a decrease in strain growth at 30 °C. Four thiamine auxotrophic strains were found in subgroup I, while 21 biotin auxotrophic strains were detected in subgroups II. To the best of our knowledge, the spontaneous mutations in F. langsethiae observed in the present work have not been previously reported.

Today electricity is distributed to the individual users via physical Copper connections. From the power stations, the energy is transported through transmission lines where the electricity, sinusoidally modulated at a fixed frequency of about 50 Hz, is raised up to a voltage in a range approximately variating between 30, and 110 kV. When electrons, aligned at this voltage, pass through the transmission lines, they cause coherent vibrations, sometimes even audible in the acoustic frequencies. In the spectrum of movements to which electric cables are subjected, there are also unexpected and sporadic movements caused by winds and rain. The problem of carrying out persistent, precise and spatially distributed monitoring of transmission line health is to use a large number of sensors physically distributed everywhere and somehow transmit the results to a control station. The use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data could be a viable solution of persistent and wide-area high-voltage vibration monitoring. In this paper we produce a comprehensive survey on how to monitor both movements in terms of vibrational displacement, due to weathering, and those due to electricity transmission, normally fixed at about 50 Hz. The results demonstrate the technical feasibility of an operational use of SAR for these purposes in the very short term. This would allow the possibility of monitoring malfunctions such as black-outs or other frequency anomalies.