Dietary guidance to recommend food patterns to deliver nutrients has been well accepted for the past century. Foods to deliver essential nutrients and energy are needed across the life cycle and are dependent upon local industries and accepted cultural practices to deliver essential nutrients to prevent nutrient deficiency diseases. Since the 1980s, dietary guidelines to prevent chronic diseases have relied on epidemiological research to predict what dietary patterns are linked to reduced risk of chronic disease or links to health outcomes. Dietary guidelines have been broad, typically recommending avoiding “too much sugar”, “too much saturated fat”, and “too much sodium”. Efforts to fine tune these recommendations have met with limited scientific data to support more specific recommendations across the life cycle. Consumers have become skeptical of dietary guidelines as media coverage of new studies is often in conflict with accepted nutrition dogma. We discuss whether we really have a science-based databank to support dietary guidelines, based on a scientific session at the 10th International Conference on Nutrition and Growth.

Phytochemicals from Hedera helix L. lead to extracts with good biological properties which are beneficial to human health and can be used to protect plants against different diseases. The aim of this research was to find the most suitable extraction method and the most favorable parameters for different bioactive compounds extraction from ivy leaves. Different extraction methods, namely microwave assisted extraction (MAE), ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE), and conventional heating extraction (CHE), were used. The most suitable method for saponins extraction is MAE with an extraction efficiency of 58%, while for carbohydrates and polyphenols the best results were achieved by UAE with an extraction efficiency of 61.7% and 63.5%, respectively. The antioxidant activity (AA) of the extracts was also determined. The highest AA was obtained by UAE (368.98±9.01 µmol TR/gDM). Better results were achieved at 50 °C for 10 min of extraction, using 80% ethanol in water as solvent. In order to evaluate their in vitro cytotoxicity, the extracts richest in bioactive compounds were tested on NCTC fibroblasts. Their influence on the DNA content of RAW 264.7 murine macrophages was also tested. Until 200 µg/mL, the extracts obtained by UAE and MAE were cytocompatible with NCTC fibroblasts at 48 h of treatment.

In article 16 of the United Nations Convention (UN), or the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which is usually called the Convention on the Rights of the Child, outlines the right of every child to privacy and protection against violations of privacy related to the home. , family, communication, and their good name. Children's privacy, especially when it comes to personal data, requires strict boundaries. Current digital developments influence children's parenting and thinking patterns with potential negative impacts. Children can be targets of abuse in the digital world. Children's personal data is often used until they become independent. This research, using normative legal methods, aims to analyze regulations related to the protection of children's personal data in the digital era. Therefore, updates are needed in the laws and regulations governing children's personal data to safeguard their privacy rights in accordance with the UNCRC.

In this work we present a versatile, rapid, and low-cost manufacturing technique to develop bioceramic scaffolds that could enhance bone tissue regeneration via microwave preparation using a commercial microwave oven. The scaffolds were prepared combining hydroxyapatite and water glass (sodium trisilicate solution), foamed by using a microwaves oven and then characterized by means of SEM-EDS, mechanical properties, infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), density and stability test in water. Furthermore, in vitro tests were performed to verify the affinity of osteoclast cells versus the so prepared scaffold. The morphology of the samples showed interconnected pores suitable for promoting tissue regeneration and vascularization while specific mechanical properties were preserved. The physicochemical characterization and the in vitro tests presented promising results for bone regenerative applications.

This work presents the possibility of using a synthetic membrane for pretracing mucosal penetration studies. The permeability of two types of membranes, porcine oral mucosa and a synthetic Nuclepore membrane, to water was compared. Moreover, the water permeability of membranes modified with waterproofing formulations was measured to study their ability to protect against the penetration of viruses, toxins, etc. A very good correlation was obtained between the transmucosal water loss (TMWL) values of the artificial membrane and the mucosa. These results support the possible use of this synthetic membrane in the screening of the water permeability of formulations. In addition, studies of the permeation of different actives, drugs and biocides through the two membranes were carried out, and these results were compared with their skin permeation data. The synthetic membrane does not seem to discern between compounds in terms of permeability, which could be due to the lack of lipids in the composition of this synthetic membrane. Therefore, Nuclepore alone cannot be used as a model for the release of actives. Additionally, the permeation of caffeine through intact or modified membranes incorporating waterproofing formulations was also studied. In this case, similar permeation profiles through the synthetic membrane and mucosa were found. The results from these assays should lend support to the use of this synthetic membrane when screening formulations to be applied in oral penetration studies.

In recent years the study of the teacher-student relationship in the teaching-learning processes in physical education has had great emphasis. Previous studies have shown that the use of the Spectrum of teaching Styles can enhance intrinsic motivation, enjoyment, adherence to physical activity and physical activity levels in children and adolescents. The present study aims to assess if a physical education (PE) intervention based on the variations in teaching styles, with reference to production ones, can also have positive effects on physical fitness. The sample involved 4 primary school classes (n = 124 children, mean age = 8-10 years) recruited from the SBAM (Health, Wellness, Food Education and Movement at School) Project in Apulia, Southern Italy. Classes were randomly assigned to Experimental Group (EG) and Control Group (CG). EG followed a 5months experimental intervention based on the variation of teaching styles, while CG performed regular PE lessons. Physical fitness test was assessed with Standing Long Jump (SLJ), Medicine Ball Throw 1kg (MBT), and 20m sprint (20m), while two validated questionnaires were used to evaluate physical self-perception (PSP) and enjoyment. A 2x2 (intervention group x time) ANOVA was carried out to assess significant difference and interaction effect pre (t0) and post (t1) intervention protocol. Data analysis showed a significant improvement of physical fitness in both EG and CG, while PSP and enjoyment increased only in EG. Moreover, significant interaction (p<. 05) effects were found for 20m sprint, PSP and Enjoyment with low effect size (η2 ~. 20). The results of the present study highlight the effectiveness of a PE intervention based on the variation of teaching styles in improving physical fitness, self-perception, and enjoyment. Moreover, the use of production teaching styles significantly impacts self-perception and enjoyment, that are important mediating factors for guarantee better adherence to physical activity.

To address the deficiency of existing relation extraction models in effectively extracting relational triplets pertaining to railway traffic knowledge in Tibet, this paper constructs a Tibet Railway Traffic text dataset and provides an enhanced relation extraction model. The proposed model incorporates subject feature enhancement and relational attention mechanisms. It leverages a pre-trained model as the embedding layer to obtain vector representations of text. Subsequently, the subject is extracted and its semantic information is augmented using an LSTM neural network. Furthermore, during object extraction, the multi-head attention mechanism enables the model to prioritize relations associated with the aforementioned features. Finally, objects are extracted based on the subjects and relations. The proposed method has been comprehensively evaluated on multiple datasets, including the Tibet Railway Traffic text dataset and two public datasets. The results on the Tibet dataset achieves an F1-score of 93.3\%, surpassing the baseline model CasRel by 0.8\%, indicating a superior applicability of the proposed model. On the other hand, the model achieves F1-scores of 91.1\% and 92.6\% on two public datasets, NYT and WebNLG, respectively, outperforming the baseline CasRel by 1.5\% and 0.8\%, which highlights the good generalization ability of the proposed model.

This study aimed to analyze areas of concern and support of the Austrian general population two years into the COVID-19 pandemic. A representative sample (N = 1,031) of the Austrian general population was surveyed online between April 19 and 26, 2022. A qualitative study design was used to explore the factors of most considerable current concern (question 1) and the most important sources of support (question 2). The responses to the two open-ended questions were evaluated using conventional content analysis and categories were formed according to the frequency of the answers. The analysis revealed that inflation and finances (30% of participants) and the war in Ukraine (22%) were the greatest sources of concern, followed by mental health (10%), and physical health (10%). Factors such as social contacts within and outside the family were mentioned most frequently as sources of support (36% of participants), followed by recreational activities (23%) and attitudes and abilities (22%). Compared to data collected at the end of the first year of the pandemic (between December 23, 2020, and January 4, 2021), concerns about one's financial situation was now mentioned more frequently (30,4% vs. 8,5%). On the other hand, different types of pandemic-related concerns were less often mentioned. Social contacts and recreation were mentioned as the most important sources of support at both time points (46% and 36% of the participants). Results suggest that the economic concerns are lagging behind the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. In addition, the impending war in Ukraine seems to have a relevant impact on mental health in Austria. Further nuanced qualitative research, particularly involving vulnerable groups like low-income individuals and the unemployed, is crucial.

Rikenella microfusus is an essential intestinal probiotic with great potential. The latest research shows that its imbalance in the intestinal flora is related to the occurrence of various diseases, such as intestinal diseases, immune diseases, and metabolic diseases. Rikenella may be a target or biomarker for some diseases, providing a new possibility for preventing and treating these diseas-es by monitoring and changing the abundance of Rikenella in the intestine. However, the current detection methods have disadvantages such as long detection time, complicated operation, and high cost, which seriously limit the possibility of clinical application of this new treatment method. Therefore, developing rapid and low-cost detection methods has become an urgent problem to be solved. In this study, we used Rikenella as the target bacterium, meanwhile including five other prominent gut bacteria Akkermansia muciniphila, Allobaculum stercoricanis, Blautia producta, Rose-buria intestinalis and Parabacteroides distasonis as control organisms. The aptamer library R.m-R13 was evolved with high specificity and strong affinity (Kd = 9.597 nM) in an iterative Cell-SELEX process after 13 rounds of selection. R. microfusus can efficiently be discriminated from other major gut bacteria in complex mixtures in different analysis techniques including fluorescence micros-copy or fluorometric suspension assays and even in human stool samples. These preliminary re-sults open new avenues towards the development of aptamer-based microbiome bio-sensing ap-plications for fast and reliable R. microfusus monitoring.

Background Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a widely recognized cardiovascular disease that is considered the leading cause of death worldwide, affecting people on a global scale. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), which involves procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stenting, plays an important role in opening blocked arteries and minimizing damage to the cardiac muscle. While the use of drug-eluting stents (DESs) has significantly reduced the occurrence of coronary restenosis, the problem of in-stent restenosis (ISR) continues to pose a significant clinical challenge. Gaining a deeper understanding of the clinical predictors associated with ISR is vital for early detection and appropriate treatment. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the clinical predictors of ISR specifically in Taiwanese patients. Methods We conducted a single-center, retrospective case-control study, enrolling 517 CAD patients undergoing previous coronary stenting and stable angina with positive stress test or acute coronary syndrome (ACS) during follow-up between January 2019 and December 2022 at National Taiwan University Hospital. The patients were categorized into two groups: the ISR group, consisting of individuals who received drug-coated balloon (DCB) treatment (n=177), and the non-ISR group, comprising patients who did not receive DCB treatment (n=340). To gather relevant data, we meticulously reviewed the medical records and analyzed the findings from coronary angiography to assess the clinical characteristics of the patients. Results Patients with three-vessel disease (3VD) exhibited a higher prevalence of underlying diseases and were more likely to be taking aspirin and clopidogrel. Moreover, our analysis revealed that age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00 - 1.04, p = 0.037) and the presence of 3VD (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03 - 4.46, p = 0.039) were significantly associated with an increased risk of coronary ISR. Conclusions Older age and 3VD were the independent predictors of coronary ISR in CAD patients receiving coronary stent implantation.

In an increasingly interconnected world, the internationalization of languages plays a pivotal role in shaping global linguistic landscapes. This qualitative study delves into the intriguing realm of Cebuano, a language with a rich cultural heritage and a vibrant community of speakers. Through a meticulous exploration of language variation, adaptation, and policy dynamics, the researcher unravels the complex interplay between Cebuano and the global linguistic tapestry. Drawing upon a comprehensive literature review and qualitative research, including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, this paper illuminates the nuanced manifestations of Cebuano beyond its traditional borders and sheds light on its presence in diverse international settings. The findings reveal the intricate dance of language and identity, offering insights into the processes of language maintenance, shift, and revitalization. As the researcher navigates the multifaceted dimensions of Cebuano's internationalization, not only is its global significance unraveled, but also the intricate connections between language, culture, and human experience are investigated. This study not only contributes to the scholarly discourse on language dynamics but also raises compelling questions about the preservation of linguistic diversity, the power of language in shaping identities, and the role of language in fostering intercultural understanding. By embracing the kaleidoscope of Cebuano's global journey, this paper invites readers to contemplate the broader implications for language diversity, communication, and cultural preservation in an increasingly interconnected world.

Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) is a deleterious pathogen which causes widespread Sugarcane mosaic disease (SCMD) and is classified in the genus Potyvirus (Potyviridae), disseminated by the aphid vector. RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated antiviral innate immunity is a key biological process and antiviral defence system to interfere with viral genomes for controlling plant pathogens. The current study aims to analyze sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L. and Saccharum spp.) locus-derived microRNAs (sof-miRNAs/ssp-miRNAs) with predicted potential for targeting the SCMV +ssRNA-encoded mRNAs, using ‘five algorithms’ approach. The ultimate goal in this research is to mobilize the in silico endogenous predicted sof-miRNAs/ssp-miRNAs to trigger RNAi catalytic pathway experimentally and generate sugarcane cultivars for evaluating potential antiviral resistance monitoring capability and capacity for SCMV. Experimentally validated mature sugarcane (S. officinarum, 2n = 8X = 80) and (S. spp., 2n = 100-120) sof-miRNAs/ssp-miRNAs (n = 28) were acquired for alignment with the SCMV genome. Of the 28 targeting mature locus-derived sof-miRNAs/ssp-miRNAs investigated, one sugarcane miRNA homolog, sof-miR159c, was concluded to localize potential binding site at genomic nucleotide site 3847 targeting CI ORF of SCMV. In order to validate target prediction accuracy, whether the sugarcane sof-miRNA/ssp-miRNA might bind predicted SCMV mRNA target(s), we created an integrated Circos plot. Genome-wide in-silico-predicted miRNA-mediated target gene regulatory network validated interactions that warrant in vivo analysis. The current work provides valuable evidence and biological material for generating SCMV-resistant sugarcane varieties.

Proso millet starch (PMS) as an unconventional and underutilized cereal starch is becoming increasingly popular worldwide due to its health-promoting properties. This review summarizes research progress in the isolation, characterization, modification, and applications of PMS. PMS can be isolated from proso millet grains by acidic, alkaline, or enzymatic extraction. PMS exhibits typical A-type polymorphic diffraction patterns and shows polygonal and spherical granular structures with a granule size of 0.3-17 µm. PMS is modified by chemical, physical, and biological methods. The native and modified PMS are analyzed for swelling power, solubility, pasting properties, thermal properties, retrogradation, freeze-thaw stability, and in vitro digestibility. The improved physicochemical, structural, and functional properties and digestibility of modified PMS are discussed in terms of their suitability for specific applications. The potential applications of native and modified PMS in food and non-food products are presented. Future prospects for research and commercial use of PMS in the food industry are also highlighted.

This literature review was aimed to collect investigations on the in vivo evidences for bacteria associated to fermented dairy foods to behave as probiotics with beneficial effects in the prevention and treatment of various diseases. All main bacterial groups commonly present in high numbers in fermented milks or cheeses were taken into account, namely starter lactic acid bacteria (SLAB) Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and lactis, L. helveticus, Lactococcus lactis, Strepto-coccus thermophilus, non starter LAB (NSLAB) Lacticaseibacillus spp., Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, dairy propionibacteria and other less frequently encountered species. Only studies regarding strains of proven dairy origin were considered. Studies in animal models and clinical studies showed that dairy bacteria ameliorate symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), mucositis, metabolic syndrome, aging and oxidative stress, cancer, bone diseases, atopic dermatitis, allergies, infections and damages caused by pollutants, mild stress and depression. Immunomodulation and changes in the intestinal microbiota were the mechanisms most often involved in the observed effects. The results of the studies considered indicated that milk and dairy products are a rich source of beneficial bacteria that should be further exploited to the advantage of human and animal health.

The carriage of Candida albicans in children's oral cavities is associated with a higher risk for early childhood caries, so controlling this fungus in early life is essential for preventing caries. In a prospective cohort of 41 mothers and their children from 0-2 years of age, this study addressed 4 main objectives: 1) Evaluate in vitro the antifungal agent susceptibility of oral Candida isolates from the mother-child cohort, 2) Compare Candida susceptibility between isolates from the mothers and children; 3) Assess longitudinal changes in the susceptibility of the isolates collected between 0-2 years; and 4) Detect mutations in C. albicans antifungal resistance genes. Susceptibility to antifungal medications was tested by in vitro broth microdilution and expressed as minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). C. albicans clinical isolates were sequenced by whole genome sequencing, and the genes related to antifungal resistance, ERG3, ERG11, CDR1, CDR2, MDR1, and FKS1, were assessed. Four Candida spp (n=126) were isolated: C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, C. dubliniensis, and C. lusitaniae. Caspofungin was the most active drug for oral Candida, followed by fluconazole and nystatin. Two missense mutations in the CDR2 gene were shared among C. albicans isolates resistant to nystatin. Most of the children’s C. albicans isolates had MIC values similar to those from their mothers, and 70% remained stable to antifungal medications from 0-2 years. For caspofungin, 29% of the children’s isolates showed an increase in MIC values from 0-2 years. Results of the longitudinal cohort indicated that clinically used oral nystatin was ineffective in reducing the carriage of C. albicans in children; novel antifungal regimens in infants are needed for better oral yeast control.

Acemella oleracea is known as toothache plant belongs to the family of Asteraceae. It is treated as a medicinal remedy like tuberculosis, illness, cough, rheumatism, and illness. This study was concentrated on the antioxidant, cytotoxic, antimicrobial & thrombolytic activities of methanol extract of Acmella oleracea leaves using in vitro model. The antioxidant activity was estimated as trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity utilizing the DPPH and reducing power tests. The plant extract was tested for its cytotoxic action using a brine shrimp lethality bioassay, thrombolytic activity using clot disruption, and antibacterial activity using a disc diffusion assay technique against four distinct gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. IC₅₀ value of standard ascorbic acid for DPPH was 7.8µg/ml and the IC50 of the methanol extract of Acmella oleracea leaves was 198.34µg/ml that was moderate effect at all compare with ascorbic acid. Thrombolytic assay of Streptokinase as a positive control showed 88.49% where the extract shows 18.69% lytic activity shows the assay. In this study, the sample of LC₅₀ results of cytotoxicity assay was 1.431 µg/mL which can be treated as less activity. Moreover, the extracts showed low to moderate antibacterial activity against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial stains (zone of inhibition-10-26 mm). Vibrio Mimicus bacteria stains exhibited the highest level of activity, with a range of 23 for the diameter of the growth inhibition zone. The current review shows leaf extracts of Acmella oleracea may be used as a source of antioxidant and thrombolytic activity, as well as a significant source of antibacterial and anticancer substances. Further research is required to evaluate in-vivo the pharmacological activity of Acmella oleracea leaves in order to identify the essential metabolites and potential mechanisms.

Background: Malaria remains a serious public health concern worldwide, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions, and the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in children especially among those aged under five in developing countries. Malaria can be fatal if not promptly and accurately diagnosed, especially in children.This study was carried out to determine the level of malaria infection and its associated risk factors among febrile children.Methods: Blood samples were collected and analyzed from two- hundred (200) systematically selected febrile children aged 1-10 years old. assay of samples collected were carried out using standard methods.data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. Results: Results obtained from study subjects shows that, of the eighty-seven (87) infected subjects, 34 (39.1%) were aged 1-5 years, while 52 (59.8%) were within the range of 6 years and above.severity of infection showed 48 (55.2%) with scanty parasitic infection while 25 (28.7%) showed moderate infection, and 13 (14.9%) showed heavy infection.The association of age and level of parasitemia showed that 34 (58.8% ) subjects below 5 years, recorded scanty malaria compared to 14.7% with severe malaria within the age range.Considering gender, of the 33 infected female subjects, 45.5% had scanty malaria, 36.4% showed moderate malaria, while 18.2% had severe malaria, compared to the males subjects.Conclusion: This study reveals the prevalence of malaria infection with some level of severity among children at our study location.The need for prompt diagnosis and improved access to all malaria interventions becomes relevant,with a special focus on the high risk group.

Kubernetes (K8s) defines standardized APIs for container-based cluster orchestration so it becomes possible for application managers to deploy their applications in a unified manner across different cloud providers. A practical problem is however feature incompatibility between different K8s vendors, who offer commercial K8s products based on the open-source K8s distribution. A large number of documented features in this open-source distribution are optional features that are turned off by default, but can be activated by setting specific combinations of parameters and plug-in components in configuration manifests for the K8s control plane and worker node agents. However, none of these configuration manifests are standardized, giving K8s vendors the freedom to hide the manifests behind a single, more restricted, and proprietary customization interface. Therefore some optional K8s features cannot be activated consistently across K8s vendors and applications that require these features cannot be run on those vendors. In this paper we present a unified, vendor-agnostic feature management approach that bypasses the proprietary customization interface of K8s vendors in order to consistently activate optional K8s features across a federation of clusters hosted by different Kubernetes vendors. We describe vendor-agnostic reconfiguration tactics that are already applied in industry and cover a wide range of optional K8s features. Based on these tactics, we design and implement an autonomic controller for declarative feature compatibility management across a cluster federation. We found that the features configured through our vendor-agnostic approach have no impact on application performance when compared with a cluster where the features are configured using the configuration manifests of the open-source K8s distribution. Moreover, the maximum time to complete reconfiguration of a single feature is within 100 seconds, which is 6 times faster than using proprietary customization interfaces of mainstream K8s vendors such as Google Kubernetes Engine. However, there is a non-negligible disruption to running applications when performing the reconfiguration; this disruption impact does not appear using the proprietary customization methods of the K8s vendors. Therefore, our approach is best applied in the following three use cases: (i) when starting up new K8s clusters, (ii) when optional K8s features of existing clusters must be activated as quickly as possibly and temporary disruption to running applications can be tolerated or (iii) when proprietary customization interfaces do not allow to activate the desired optional feature.

In electric circuits, energy is delivered by electromagnetic fields through the space, as suggested by Kraus and Carver. They provide insights by showing electric/magnetic fields and Poynting vector directions around a DC circuit. In this work, the energy flow mechanism by Kraus and Carver is further studied theoretically for arbitrary terminal potentials of a DC power source.

Normal function of placental extravillous trophoblasts (EVTs), which are responsible for uteroplacental vascular remodeling, is critical for adequate delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the developing fetus and normal fetal programming. Proliferation and invasion of spiral arteries by EVTs depends upon adequate levels of folate. Multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1), which is an efflux transporter, is known to remove folate from these cells. We hypothesized that palmitic acid increases MRP1-mediated folate removal from EVTs, thereby interfering with EVTs’ role in early placental vascular remodeling. HTR-8/SVneo and Swan-71 cells, first trimester human EVTs, were grown in the absence or presence of 0.5 mM and 0.7 mM palmitic acid, respectively, for 72 h. Palmitic acid increased ABCC1 gene expression and MRP1 protein expression in both cell lines. The rate of folate efflux from the cells into the media increased with a decrease in migration and invasion functions in the cultured cells. Treatment with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) prevented the palmitic acid mediated upregulation of MRP1 and restored invasion and migration in the EVTs. Finally, in an ABCC1 knockout subline of Swan-71 cells, there was a significant increase in invasion and migration functions. The novel finding in this study that palmitic acid increases MRP1-mediated folate efflux provides a missing link that helps to explain how maternal consumption of saturated fatty acids compromises the in-utero environment.

Weaving technology can convert two-dimensional structures such as ribbons into three-dimensional structures by specific connections. However, most of the 3D structures fabricated by conventional weaving methods using straight ribbons have some topological defects. In order to obtain smoother continuous 3D surface structures, Baek et al. proposed a novel weaving method using naturally curved (in-plane) ribbons to fabricated three-dimensional curved structures and using this method to weave new spherical weave structures that are closer to perfect spheres. We believe that this new spherical weave structure with smooth geometric properties must correspond to new mechanical properties. To this end, we investigated the buckling characteristics of different types of spherical weave structures by the combination of test and finite element method. The results of calculations and experiments show that the failure mode of the spherical weave structure under vertical loading can be divided into two stages: a flat contact region forms between the spherical weave structure and the rigid plate and inward dimple of ribbons. The spherical weave structures using naturally curved (in-plane) ribbon weaving have better buckling stability than those woven with straight ribbons. The vertical buckling load of spherical weave structures using naturally curved ribbon increases with the width and thickness of the ribbon. In addition, this paper combines test, theoretical and finite element analysis to propose the buckling load equation and buckling correction factor equation for the new spherical weave structure under vertical compression load.

Listeria ivanovii and L. monocytogenes, are the only pathogenic species of the genus Listeria and share many virulence factors and mechanisms of pathogenicity. L. ivanovii shows host tropism towards small ruminants and rodents and much lower virulence for humans compared to L. monocytogenes. However, severe infections caused by L. ivanovii, resulting in bacteremia, abortion and stillbirth, occasionally occurred in immunocompromised persons and in pregnant women, while in immunocompetent hosts L. ivanovii can cause gastroenteritis. In this review the updated knowledge on virulence aspects and distribution of L. ivanovii in the environment and in food are summarized. Recent research on its virulence characters at genome level gave indications on how pathogenicity evolved in this bacterial species. As for L. monocytogenes, L. ivanovii infections occur after the ingestion of contaminated food, so an overview of reports regarding its distribution in the food products was carried out to obtain indications on the categories of foods exposed to contamination by L. ivanovii. It was found that a wide variety of food products can be a source of this microorganism and that, like L. monocytogenes, L. ivanovii is able to persist in the food production environment. Studies on its ability to grow in enrichment and isolation media suggested that its occurrence in nature might be underestimated. Moreover, virulence varies among strains for differences in virulence character regulation, presence/absence of genetic regions and the possible instability of a Listeria pathogenicity genomic island, LIPI-2, which is unique to L. ivanovii. We can conclude that L. ivanovii, as a possible pathogen for animals and humans, requires more focused investigations regarding its occurrence in the environment and in food and on intra-species variability of pathogenic potential.

The social vulnerability approach (SV) has set up that social inequalities and disadvantages have gone beyond monetary poverty in the last years, since the process is built at different scales. In its objectives, the SV multidimensional measurement is contemplated as a priority tool to monitor the compliance of the first goal – eliminate poverty in all its forms. Therefore, the objective of this research is to calculate the SV of the fishing communities of the Gulf of Ulloa (GU), Mexico by macro-markers to subsequently contrast them with field micro-data, and finally perform a behavior scenario, considering the current public policies restrictive to fishing in such areas. The results showed significant differences depending on the type of information used, obtaining a contingency coefficient of 83.42%, which indicates that the calculus depends strongly on the data used and suggesting that macro-data may be masking the true SV values in the area, in such a way they could be severely underestimated. Even though the context at micro-scale is not the only one, SV should be calculated to analyze the fishing communities since coastal fishery represents almost the total livelihood of the inhabitants. Nevertheless, these communities confront numerous local and global threats, and these pressures on SV put their livelihoods, well-being, food security and traditional lifestyle at risk. Therefore, the role of researching human dimensions and governance is not only basic but also urgent to turn to sustainable socioeconomic management.

We present here a five hours experimentation of a didactical path about the electromagnetic induction addressed to students of the last year of an Italian scientific high school and oriented to better understand the physical origin of the induced electromotive force. The expression of the induced electromotive force as the sum of the term linked to the time variation of the magnetic field and of the motional one has been obtained in a detailed way, still suitable for presentation at high school. Many examples have been proposed to the students in order to clarify the conceptual physical knots. The students’ responses to a 6-questions multiple choice questionnaire have been analyzed. It emerged that our approach is concretely feasible although we find the well-known difficulties in calculating flux and circulation of a vector field. Furthermore, it emerged that an integral approach to the problem masks the understanding of the nature of the forces acting locally on the charges. Hence our proposal of a “redefinition” of the induced electric field in terms of the magnetic vector potential is also presented.

Weaving is an ancient and effective structural forming technique characterized by the ability to convert two-dimensional ribbons to three-dimensional structures. However, most 3D structures woven from straight ribbons have topological defects. Baek et al. proposed a method to weave smoother continuous 3D surface structures using naturally curved (in-plane) ribbons, obtained a new surface structure with relatively continuous variation of Gaussian curvature, and analyzed its geometric properties. We believe that this new 3D surface structure with smooth geometric properties must correspond to new mechanical properties. To this end, we investigated a 3D surface structure using naturally curved (in-plane) ribbon weaving, and the results of calculations and experiments show that such structures have better buckling stability than those woven with straight ribbons. It is observed that the number of ribbons influences the buckling behavior of different types of woven structures.

The goal of this paper is to review the relevant literature on autism questionnaires, models, analytic tools, and subgrouping, focusing on the opportunities and limitations. We examined how the size and nature of the database and the number and type of parameters measured determine the use of analytic tools and the expected type of results. To support our position about the examined aspects, we rely on various parts of the reviewed articles. We emphasize that the individual results in each article can only be interpreted in the light of the methods that brought about the conclusions. The reviewed literature suggests a heterogeneous palette in autism subtypes instead of distinct, well-characterized subgroups, or a single-dimensional continuous spectrum.

Stemming from the Bulgarian case study developed within a European research project (ECHOES, Horizon 2020), the paper discusses the links between: (a) the urgent need to operationalize EU energy transition policy in the housing domain; (b) the complexity of factors influencing the policy implementation in different contexts – geographical, economic, and technical but also social and cultural; and (c) the important role of the urban level in policy implementation. Under the specific spatial planning context of Bulgaria, the local collective energy-related decision-making in the housing field evolves through the interaction – formal (at the municipal level of governance) and informal (individuals, households and homeowners’ associations taking decisions on self-organization and collective action). The authors claim that interdisciplinary context-sensitive research would contribute to a better understanding for the ongoing energy-related decision-making processes at the local level and would enable the development and implementation of effective and efficient policy instruments in support of energy transition in the housing sector in Europe.

Considering the ever-increasing role of rare-earth elements (REE) in the modern hi-tech field, their effective use has a tremendous significance, although the production process is inevitably linked to the large volumes of industrial ammonia effluents and heavy metal wastes. In the process of metallurgical separation of metals, the emission of large volumes of noxious gases and radioactive substances is inevitable. Lean technogenic raw material processing is sensible under the condition of the development of non-waste technology. The lack of competent regulations governing the disposal of waste containing REE has an impact on adjacent territories, accumulating in water bodies and, as a result, in the human body. Such an impact cannot pass without a trace, however, the ambiguity of opinions in the scientific community regarding the toxic effects of REE on living organisms determines the relevance of a more detailed study of this issue. The paper presents experimental and theoretical results of studies of ion flotation in the aqueous solutions containing ytterbium cations and a surfactant as a collector - sodium dodecyl sulphate (NaDS).

In the present paper, the so-called Einstein’s causality is scrutinized and proven to be an illusion, a sort of mathematical fallacy. Causality as a well-established universal principle was and is absolutely valid for subluminal, luminal and superluminal signals under any natural and/or artificial circumstances. It is also shown that conceptually special relativity theory (SRT) is inapplicable to superluminality of physical phenomena since SRThas the light speed in vacuum as an upper limiting speed in its own proper domain of applications, and also because SRT is crucially based on the concept of inertial reference frames (IRFs) which are related to each other by Lorentz transformations, that is why the relative velocity of any two IRFs must be smaller than light speed.

Human displacement is on the rise globally, and the increase in the burden of tuberculosis (TB) is also attributed to migrations worldwide. A significant number of such displacement occur in regions with considerably higher areas of TB burden. Displacements may delay in TB diagnosis and treatment, which possibly will lead to TB transmission among healthy individuals. In this study, we assessed the association of existing determinants after a protracted internal displacement of people with the delay in TB diagnosis and treatment outcomes. A cross-sectional study was conducted on internally displaced TB patients registered at selected health facilities in three urban districts of Pakistan from March 2019 to February 2020. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression model was used to assess the delay in diagnosis and treatment outcomes. IDPs with delay in initiation of treatment beyond 30 days were at high possibility of unsuccessful TB treatment outcomes (adjusted odds ratio AOR,2.60; 95% CI 1.06-6.40). Analysis of factors that affect health seeker behavior and timely treatment showed a significant association (p<0.05) in-between age group 55-65 years (AOR, 2.66; 95% CI 1.00-7.07), female patients (AOR, 2.42; 95% CI 1.21-4.81), visited non-formal health provider (AOR, 8.81; 95% CI 3.99-19.46), self-medication (AOR, 2.72; 95 % CI 1.37-5.37), poor knowledge of TB (AOR, 11.39; 95% CI 3.31-39.1), and perceived stigma (AOR, 8.81; 95% CI 3.99-19.4). Prolong delay in treatment was associated with unfavorable treatment outcomes among IDPs, more specifically. As migrants and IDPs are more likely to experience an interruption in care due to overall exclusion from social and health care services. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the barriers in providing public health care services, particularly in preventing and treating TB.

A semi-structured interview (SSI) is one of the essential tools in conduction qualitative research. This essay draws upon the pros and cons of applying semi-structured interviews (SSI) in the qualitative research method. Moreover, the challenges of SSI during the coronavirus pandemic are critically discussed to provide plausible recommendations.

People living in areas of significant seismic risk seldom undertake sufficient preparations to safeguard their family. This is most problematic in remote communities such as those along the Dead Sea Fault, Israel, where self-reliance is a key factor in coping with disasters. To facilitate individual and familial involvement in earthquake preparedness in remote areas, we designed a tool for self-assessment of risk and preparedness. The personalized risk assessment is based on national hazard and building standards, and on personal input regarding structure characteristics. The risk and preparedness evaluations enhance awareness and provide immediate feedback to help users improve familial preparedness. Spatial analysis of the data collected is used to form high-resolution maps that expose specific challenges for emergency response. A study conducted in the town of Mitzpe Ramon exposed neighborhoods with relatively high risk of damage and low preparedness. Integrating these results with seasonal stress-factors such as peak tourism and extreme weather, provides new and important insights on the ability of the local community and emergency forces to cope with multi-hazard situations. Analysis of the heterogeneous distribution of expected hardship within a community should be implemented world-wide to improve risk mitigation.

The research aims to discover the natural occurrence of patulin (PAT) in selected citrus fruits from the central cities of Punjab and Pakistan's Northern cities. Total 2970 samples of twelve citrus fruits; kinnow, orange, grapefruits, bitter orange, mausami, red blood, pineapple, sweet orange, rough lime, sweet lime, kagzi lime and lemon were examined using liquid chromatography fitted with UV detector. The limit of detection (LOD) and quantification limit was 0.04 and 0.12 µg/kg, respectively. The results have shown that 56% of samples of citrus fruits from Punjab's central cities, Pakistan, were discovered to be infected from PAT. The elevated amounts of PAT ranging from 0.04 to 1150 µg/kg were found in citrus fruit samples from Multan cities. Furthermore, 31.7% of samples of citrus fruits from Northern cities of Pakistan were discovered to be infected with PAT, and the elevated amounts were found ranging from 0.04-320 µg/kg from Swat city. About 22.1% of samples of citrus fruits have levels of PAT greater than the suggested limits established by the European Union (EU). PAT's dietary intake levels ranged from 0.10-1.11 µg/kg bw/day from the central cities of Punjab, Pakistan, and 0.13-1.93 µg/kg bw/day were documented from Northern cities of Pakistan.

The research aims to discover the natural occurrence of patulin (PAT) in selected citrus fruits from the central cities of Punjab and Pakistan's Northern cities. Total 2970 samples of twelve citrus fruits; kinnow, orange, grapefruits, bitter orange, mausami, red blood, pineapple, sweet orange, rough lime, sweet lime, kagzi lime and lemon were examined using liquid chromatography fitted with UV detector. The limit of detection (LOD) and quantification limit was 0.04 and 0.12 µg/kg, respectively. The results have shown that 56% of samples of citrus fruits from Punjab's central cities, Pakistan, were discovered to be infected from PAT. The elevated amounts of PAT ranging from 0.04 to 1150 µg/kg were found in citrus fruit samples from Multan cities. Furthermore, 31.7% of samples of citrus fruits from Northern cities of Pakistan were discovered to be infected with PAT, and the elevated amounts were found ranging from 0.04-320 µg/kg from Swat city. About 22.1% of samples of citrus fruits have levels of PAT greater than the suggested limits established by the European Union (EU). PAT's dietary intake levels ranged from 0.10-1.11 µg/kg bw/day from the central cities of Punjab, Pakistan, and 0.13-1.93 µg/kg bw/day were documented from Northern cities of Pakistan

The estrogen hormone receptor (ER) mediated gene expression mainly regulate the development and physiology of primary and secondary reproductive system alongside bone-forming, metabolism and behaviour. Over-expressed ER is associated with several pathological conditions and play a key role in breast cancer occurrence, progression and metastasis. Hibiscus sabdariffa L. or roselle is a rich source of naturally occurring polyphenolic compounds including anthocyanins and reportedly have strong estrogenic activity. To validate these findings, we have investigated the estrogen receptor binding affinity and safety of some previously recorded polyphenols using a suite of computational methods. Our investigation showed the estrogen-receptor binding potential of Pelargonidin, Delphinidin, Cyanidin, and Hibiscetin are more efficient than popular breast cancer drugs, Tamoxifen and Raloxifene, with favourable toxicological parameters and low half maximal inhibitory concentration. This is the first report to investigate the phytochemical basis of estrogenic activity of Hibiscus sabdariffa L.

Learning systems have been very focused on creating models that are capable of obtaining the best results in error metrics. Recently, the focus has shifted to improvement in order to interpret and explain their results. The need for interpretation is greater when these models are used to support decision making. In some areas this becomes an indispensable requirement, such as in medicine. This paper focuses on the prediction of cardiovascular disease by analyzing the well-known Statlog (Heart) Data Set from the UCI’s Automated Learning Repository. This study will analyze the cost of making predictions easier to interpret by reducing the number of features that explain the classification of health status versus the cost in accuracy. It will be analyzed on a large set of classification techniques and performance metrics. Demonstrating that it is possible to make explainable and reliable models that have a good commitment to predictive performance.

As the number of infections and deaths caused by the recent COVID-19 pandemic is increasing dramatically day-by-day, scientists are rushing towards developing possible counter-measures to fight the deadly virus, SARS-CoV-2. Although many efforts have already been put forward for designing and developing potential vaccines, however, most of them are proved to possess negative consequences. Therefore, in this study, the methods of immunoinformatics were exploited to design novel epitope-based subunit vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2, targeting four essential proteins of the virus i.e., spike glycoprotein, nucleocapsid phosphoprotein, membrane glycoprotein, and envelope protein. The highly antigenic, non-allergenic, non-toxic, non-human homolog and 100% conserved (across other isolates from different regions of the world) epitopes were used for constructing the vaccine. In total, fourteen CTL epitopes and eighteen HTL epitopes were used to construct the vaccine. Thereafter, several in silico validations i.e., the molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation (including the RMSF and RMSD studies), and immune simulation studies were also performed which predicted that the designed vaccine should be quite safe, effective, and stable within the biological environment. Finally, in silico cloning and codon adaptation studies were also conducted to design an effective mass production strategy of the vaccine. However, more in vivo and in vitro studies are required on the predicted vaccine to finally validate its safety and efficacy.

Aims: In late December 2019, early reports predicted the onset of a potential Coronavirus outbreak in china, given the estimate of a reproduction number for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Because of high ability of transmission and widespread prevalence, the mortality of COVID-19 infection is growing fast worldwide. Absent of an anti-COVID-19 has put scientists on the urge to repurpose already approved therapeutics or to find new active compounds against coronavirus. Here in this study, a set of computational approaches were performed in order to repurpose antivirals for dual inhibition of the frontier proteases involved in virus replication, papain-like protease (PLpro; corresponding to nsp3) and a main protease (Mpro), 3C‑like protease (3CLpro; corresponding to nsp5). Materials and Methods: In this regard, a rational virtual screening procedure including exhaustive docking techniques was performed for a database of 160 antiviral agents over 3CLpro and PLpro active sites of SARS-CoV-2. The compounds binding energies and interaction modes over 3CLpro and PLpro active sites were analyzed and ranked with the aid of free Gibbs binding energy. The most potent compounds, based on our filtering process, are then proposed as dual inhibitors of SARSC-CoV-2 proteases. Key findings: Accordingly, seven antiviral agents including two FDA approved (Nelfinavir, Valaganciclovir) and five investigational compounds (Merimepodib, Inarigivir, Remdesivir, Taribavirine and TAS106-106) are proposed as potential dual inhibitors of the enzymes necessary for RNA replication in which Remdesivir as well as Inagrivir have the highest binding affinity for both of the active sites. Significance: The mentioned drug proposed to inhibit both PLpro and 3CLpro enzymes with the aim of finding dual inhibitors of SARSC-CoV-2 proteases.

The rates of production of secondary metabolites obtained by employing conventional plant breeding may be low for practical purposes. Thus, innovative approaches for increasing their rates of production are being developed. Here, we propose the use of elicited suspension plant cultured cells (PSCC) with cyclodextrins (CDs) as an alternative method for the production of bioactive compounds from Bryophyllum species. For the purpose, we analyzed the effects of methyl--cyclodextrin and 2-hydroxypropyl--cyclodextrin on cell culture growth and on the intra- and extracellular production of phenols and flavonoids. Results clearly show that CDs enhance the biosynthesis of polyphenols by PSCC favoring their accumulation outside the cells. CDs shift the homeostatic equilibrium by complexing extracellular phenolics, causing stress in cells that respond by increasing the production of intracellular phenolics. We also analyzed the radical scavenging activity of the culture medium extracts against DPPH• radical, which increased with respect to the control samples (no added CDs). Our results suggest that both the increase in the production of polyphenols and their radical scavenging activity are a consequence of their inclusion in the CD cavities. Overall, based on our findings, CDs can be employed as hosts for increasing the production of polyphenols from Bryophyllum species.

Lily–belong to the genus Lilium is one of the top cut flowers worldwide. Production and propagation of bulblets in vitro is an important approach for high-volume production, but not proved satisfactory. Hence, the aim of this study was to describe and compare the performances of morphological characteristics of the lily bulb in vivo produced by in vitro and conventional culture method and compare the production timelines in vitro vs conventional culture method. In results, it seems clear that in vitro re-culture of lily bulblet was able to be sustained and maintained its growth and so, ontogenic development after their performance in soil. Our results demonstrate that in the conventional pathway, the course of bulblet growth to bulb and ontogenic development took 3–4 growing seasons to reach the adult flowering phase. On the other hand, along with the re-culture in vitro, the course of bulb growth and ontogenic development took 1–2 growing seasons to reach the adult flowering phase because of the increasing initial bulb size and advancement of ontogenic development. Other than bulblet production through bulb scale explant, this study represents the first report on the method of in vitro bulb production of lily through re-culture by in vitro pathway with a comparison of the timelines and ontogenic development obtained from in vitro versus conventional pathway.

Much remains to be understood for delayed ultraweak photon emission (UPE) from organism in association with oxidative burst following external perturbation, a phenomenon that has been experimented for over three decades. Delayed UPE often decays hyperbolically; yet, it is not uncommon to have delayed UPE that reveals first-order kinetic patterns characterized by single-exponential, double exponential, or multi-exponential changes. Some delayed UPEs also presented transient patterns that are characteristic of second-order responses. A soliton-based photon-storage model has addressed the hyperbolic decaying pattern of delayed UPE; however, there are questions outstanding regarding modeling other non-hyperbolic kinetics as well as the large range of temporal scales of delayed UPE that can vary from 8.5 microseconds to many hours. This work proposes an alternative, phenomenological model-framework for interpreting the various kinetic patterns of delayed UPE following stress. The delayed UPE is considered to be governed by two sequential phases: a stress-transfer phase that transforms the external stress to photo-genesis for emitting photons, and a photon-diffusion phase that transmits the photons emitted by the photo-genesis to the surface of organism for being detected as delayed UPE. Time-resolved photon diffusion analysis reveals that any delayed UPE in organism with a delay time >100ns cannot be addressed by the inherent temporal spread that realistic tissue scattering will cause. A slow stress-transfer phase is thus required to explain the delay time-scales of delayed UPE at a minimum of 8.5 µs as reported experimentally. The stress-transfer phase is hypothesized to carry the following types of responses: single or multiple 1st-order low-pass, single 2nd-order low-pass with various damping factors, and single 2nd-order band-pass with various damping factors. A single 1st–order low-pass response with a time-varying kinetic rate is also analyzed. The responses of these modeled pathways to bolus and step inputs demonstrate that a kinetic pattern other than the exact single-exponential one may have multiple causes.

Magnesium (Mg)-based biomaterials are promising candidates for bone and tissue regeneration. Alloying and surface modifications provide effective strategies for optimizing and tailoring their degradation kinetics. Nethertheless, biocompatibility analyses of Mg-based materials are challenging due to its special degradation mechanism with continous hydrogen release. In this context, the hydrogen release and the related (micro-) milieu conditions pretend to strictly follow in vitro standards based on ISO 10993-5/-12. Thus, special adaptions for the testing of Mg materials are necessary, which have been described in a previous study from our group. Based on these adaptions, further developments of a test procedure allowing rapid and effective in vitro cytocompatibility analyses of Mg-based materials based on ISO 10993-5/-12 are necessary. The following study introduces a new two-step test scheme for rapid and effective testing of Mg. Specimens with different surface characteristcis were produced by means of plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) using silicate-based and phosphate-based electrolytes. The test samples were evaluated for corrosion behavior, cytocompatibility and their mechanical and ostogenic properties. Thereby, two PEO ceramics could be identified for further in vivo evaluations.

Analyzed the literature devoted to the changes in the expression of the RAS proteins of cancer cells. A brief review of protein expression dynamics PAC in malignant tumors and the possible role of epigenetic mechanisms in these processes. Through research epigenetic mechanisms state for cancer have been developed principally new techniques for their correction, based on the use of selective regulators systems covalent modification-histone proteins (for example, deacetylase inhibitor) and microRNA synthesis technologies. Literature data show promising pharmacological correction epigenetic modification of chromatin in the treatment of cancer.

The microstructure of Al-5Fe-1.5Er alloy was characterized and analyzed by using XRD, SEM, TEM and EDS. The effect of microstructure on the behavior of crack initiation and propagation was investigated by in situ tensile testing. Results show that the microstructure consists of α-Al matrix, Al₃Fe, Al₄Er, eutectic phase Al₃Fe + Al₄Er, while the 1.5 wt.% Er was added in Al-5Fe alloy. The twin structure of the Al₃Fe phase was observed, and the twin plane is {001}. Moreover, a continuous concave and convex interface structure of the Al₄Er has been found. Al₃Fe is in the form of a sheet with a clear gap inside.In situ tensile tests of the alloy at room temperature show that the crack initiation occured mainly in the Al₃Fe phase, and that the crack propagation modes include intergranular and transgranular expansion. Crack transgranular expansion is due to the strong binding ability between Al₄Er phases and surrounding organization, and the continuous concave and convex interface structure of the Al₄Er provides a significant meshing effect on the matrix and eutectic structure.

The aim of this study was to gather preliminary data about the potential inhibitory effects and contributions of live foods used from 3 to 32 days after hatching (DAH) in routine feeding protocols on protease activities of meagre, Argyrosomus regius (Asso 1801) larvae, using in vitro techniques. Enriched rotifer, Artemia nauplii and Artemia metanauplii were tested in the present study. The highest values of protease activities of meagre larvae at 7 DAH in 2013 and 2014 years were established. The lowest values at 15 DAH in 2013 and at 20 DAH in 2014 were observed. Protease activities of enriched rotifer, Artemia nauplii, and Artemia metanauplii were 21.76±0.31, 36.00±1.48–29.33±0.93, and 416.44±19.7–403.53±11.85 U/mg protein, respectively (p< 0.05). The highest inhibitions of live foods were observed at 7 DAH. The positive contributions of live food Artemia metanauplii’s on protease activities of meagre larvae were significant (p< 0.05). The inhibitory effects and positive contributions of live foods on survival and growth rates of meagre larvae, should be taken into account in meagre and other marine fish larvae’s future studies. Cysteine protease activities of Artemia sp. should be investigated to provide the higher growth and survival ratio from the feeding protocols used in marine fish larvae.

Aflatoxins in feeds cause great health hazards to animals and in advance, to human. Potential of crude clays designated AC, KC, CC and MC and ashes VA and RA were evaluated for their capacity to adsorb aflatoxins B₁ (AFB₁), B₂ (AFB₂), G₁ (AFG₁) and G₂ (AFG₂) relative to a commercial binder Mycobinder^R (Evonik Industries AG) using in-vitro technique. On average, CC, VA, KC, MC, AC, RA and Mycobind^R adsorbed 39.9%, 51.3%, 61.5%, 62.0%, 72.6%, 84.7% and 98.1% of the total aflatoxins in buffered solution, respectively. The capacity of AC and RA was statistically (p<0.05) better in binding aflatoxins next to Mycobind^R. Capacity of the TBM and Mycobind^R to bind aflatoxins, seemed to follow the trend of their cation exchange capacity (CEC). The CEC (meq/100g) of CC, MC, KC, VA, AC, RA and Mycobind^R were 7.0, 15.4, 18.8, 25.4, 27.2, 27.2 and 38.9, respectively. On average 96.3%, 42.7%, 80.8% and 32.1% of AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 were adsorbed, respectively. Binding capacity of the clays and ashes relative to Mycobind^R was about 100% for AC and RA, 50% for KC, MC and VA and 33.3% for CC. The AC and RA seem to be promising resources in binding aflatoxins in solution.

During the last decades, the production systems have developed different strategies to increase their competitiveness in the global market. In a manufacturing and services systems, Lean Manufacturing has been consolidated through the correct implementation of its tools. The present paper presents a case study developed in a Food Packer company where a Simulation Model was considered as an alternative to reduce the waste time generated by the poor distribution of operations and transportation areas for a product within the factory. As a matter of fact, the company has detected problems on the layout distribution that prevents to fulfill the market demand. In addition, the principal aim was to create a simulation model to test different hypothetical scenarios and alternative designs for the layout distribution without modifying its facilities. Moreover, the implemented methodology was based on classical models of simulation projects and a compendium of the manufacturing systems optimization by simulation process used during the last ten years. Also, a mathematic model supported by the Promodel ® simulation software was developed considering the company characteristics; along with the model development, it was possible to compare the production system performance from the percentage of used locations, the percentage of resources utilization, the number of finished products, and the level of Work in Process (WIP). Finally, the verification and validation stages were performed before running the scenarios in the real production area. The results generated by the implementation of the project represent an increase of 68% in the production capacity and a reduction of 5% in the WIP. In addition, both outcomes are associated with the resources management, which were reassigned to other production areas.

In this present study, 3-pentadecyl-phenol was selected as a modifier to prepare a foamable phenolic resin with excellent performance, which was successfully prepared by in-situ modification. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR, ¹³C-NMR) were used to test and characterize the molecular structure of the modified resin. The results showed that 3-pentadecyl-phenol successfully modified the molecular structure of phenolic resin with a reduction in resin gel time. The effect of changing the added amount of 3-pentadecyl-phenol on the mechanical properties, microstructure and flame retardancy of the modified foam was investigated. The results showed that when the amount of added 3-pentadecyl-phenol was 15% of the total amount of phenol, this resulted in the best toughness of the modified foam, which could be increased to 300% compared to the bending deflection of the unmodified phenolic foam. The cell structure showed that the modified phenolic foam formed a more regular and dense network structure and the closed cell ratio was high. Furthermore, the compressive strength, bending strength, and limited oxygen index were improved, while the water absorption rate was lowered. However, the foam density could be kept below 40 mg/cm³, which does not affect the load.

New approaches to collect in-situ data are needed to complement the high spatial (10~m) and temporal (5-day) resolution of Copernicus Sentinel satellite observations. Making sense of Sentinel observations requires high quality and timely in-situ data for training and validation. Classical ground truth collection is expensive, lacks scale, fails to exploit opportunities for automation, and is prone to sampling error. Here we evaluate the potential contribution of opportunistically exploiting crowd-sourced street-level imagery to collect massive high-quality in-situ data in the context of crop monitoring. This study assesses this potential by answering two questions: 1) what is the spatial availability of these images across the European Union (EU)? and 2) can these images be transformed to useful data? To answer the first question, we evaluated the EU availability of street-level images on Mapillary - the largest open-access platform for such images - against the Land Use and land Cover Area frame Survey (LUCAS) 2018, a systematic surveyed sampling of 337031 points. For 37.78% of the LUCAS points a crowd-sourced image is available within a 2-km buffer, with a mean distance of 816.11 m. We estimate that 9.44% of the EU territory has a crowd-sourced image within 300-m from a LUCAS point, illustrating the huge potential of crowd-sourcing as a complementary sampling tool. After artificial and built up (63.14%), and inland water (43.67%) land cover classes, arable land has the highest availability at 40.78%. To answer the second question, we focus on identifying crops at parcel level using all 13.6 million Mapillary images collected in the Netherlands. Only 1.9% of the contributors generated 75.15% of the images. A procedure was developed to select and harvest the pictures potentially best suited to identify crops using the geometries of 785710 Dutch parcels and the pictures' meta-data such as camera orientation and focal length. Availability of crowd-sourced imagery looking at parcels was assessed for 8 different crop groups with the 2017 parcel level declarations. Parcel revisits during the growing season allowed to track crop growth. Examples illustrate the capacity to recognize crops and their phenological development on crowd-sourced street-level imagery. Consecutive images taken during the same capture track allow selecting the image with the best unobstructed view. In the future, dedicated crop capture tasks can improve image quality and expand coverage in rural areas.

Hybrid inorganic-polymer nanocomposites can be employed in diverse applications due to the potential combination of desired properties from both the organic and inorganic components. The use of novel bottom-up in situ synthesis methods for the fabrication of these nanocomposites is advantageous compared to top-down ex situ mixing methods, as it offers increased control over the structure and properties of the material. In this review, the focus will be on the application of the sol-gel process for the synthesis of inorganic oxide nanoparticles in epoxy and polysiloxane matrices. The effect of the synthesis conditions and the reactants used on the inorganic structures formed, the interactions between the polymer chains and the inorganic nanoparticles, and the resulting properties of the nanocomposites are appraised from several studies over the last two decades. Lastly, alternative in situ techniques and the applications of various polymer-inorganic oxide nanocomposites are briefly discussed.

This paper employs the two-step procedure developed by Cheung and Ng (1996) to analyze the causality-in-mean and causality-in-variance between the housing and stock markets of the UK. The empirical findings make two key contributions. First, although previous studies have indicated a one-way causal relation from the housing market to the stock market in the UK, this paper discovered a two-way causal relation between them. Second, a causality-in-variance as well as a causality-in-mean was detected from the housing market to the stock market.

Migraine is a common condition that affects children as they develop into adults. Transition of care from pediatric to adult care has becoming an increasingly popular topic in the medical literature. It has been suggested that discussions between patients, their families and providers should be initiated as early as age 13. Patients who are un or underprepared have poorer outcomes due to increased morbidity and worsening of their medical condition. Many children continue to have migraine into adulthood and if efforts are taken to ensure patients receive appropriate transfer of care, the results can significantly decrease the economic burden of this disease.

The value of QuantiFERON in the diagnosis of tuberculosis and in the monitoring of the response to anti-tuberculosis treatment is unclear. The aims of this study were to evaluate the accuracy of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) test in the diagnosis of tuberculosis and in the monitoring of the response to anti-tuberculosis treatment in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Between January 2013 and December 2015, 128 cases with active PTB and 128 controls with no mycobacterial infection, matched by age (within 3 years) and by the week that they visited Tainan Chest Hospital, were enrolled in the study. Serial testing by QFT-GIT at baseline and after 2 and 6 months of treatment was performed. At these time points, a comparison of the performance of QFT-GIT with that of sputum culture status among study subjects was conducted. Compared to baseline, 116 (87.2%) cases showed a decreased response, whereas 17 (12.8%) showed persistent or stronger interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) responses at 2 months. Their IFN-γ responses declined significantly from baseline to 2 months (median, 6.32 vs. 4.12; P < 0.005). The sensitivity values of the QFT-GIT test for the detection of pulmonary tuberculosis at cut-off points of 0.35 IU/ml, 0.20 IU/ml, and 0.10 IU/ml were 74.4%, 78.2%, and 80.5%, respectively. The specificity values at cut-off points of 0.35 IU/ml, 0.20 IU/ml, and 0.10 IU/ml were 66.2%, 63.9%, and 57.1%, respectively. Our results support the QFT-GIT assay as a potential tool for diagnosing tuberculosis and for monitoring the efficacy of anti-tuberculosis treatment.

The building envelope has the most significant contribution in the reduction of the building energy consumption. Application of new, alternative and improved materials and systems has an important impact on the buildings performances. This paper is focused on the thermal transmittance, as an indicator of the thermal conductance of the construction element. It includes comparisons of the U-values, calculated by software, with those measured in situ on three representative façade walls. The walls have been constructed with the new wall system Fragmat NZ-1, a new product in Macedonian buildings. This research provides basic information on the thermal transmittance of the system. The results of the analysis show that the in situ measuring is a useful tool in validation of the precision of analytically calculated values, since it was difficult to obtain precise results from the analytical calculations only, especially when the layers are with non-uniform thickness.

The classical propositional calculus (zero-order logic, classical propositional logic), is the most fundamental two-valued logical system. In this paper we present a proof of inconsistency of the classical propositional calculus. Then, we get right away the conclusion that the metatheory of the classical propositional calculus is inconsistent.

Heterogeneous distribution of delivery or treatment modalities within the tumor mass is a crucial limiting factor for a vast range of theranostic applications. Understanding the interactions between a nanomaterial and the tumor microenvironment will help to overcome challenges associated with tumor heterogeneity as well as the clinical translation of nanotheranostic materials. This study aims to evaluate the influence of protein surface adsorption on gold nanoparticle (GNP) biodistribution using high resolution Computed Tomography (CT) preclinical imaging in C57BL/6 mice harboring Lewis Lung Carcinoma (LLC) tumors. LLC provides a valuable model for study due to its highly heterogenous nature which makes drug delivery to the tumor challenging. By controlling the adsorption of proteins on the GNP surface, we hypothesize that we can influence the intratumoral distribution pattern and particle retention. We performed an in vitro study to evaluate the uptake of GNPs by LLC cells and an in vivo study to assess and quantify the GNP biodistribution by injecting concentrated GNPs citrate stabilized or passivated with Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) intratumorally into LLC solid tumors. Quantitative CT and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) results both confirm the presence of particles in the tumor 9 days post-injection (n=8 mice/group). Significant difference is highlighted between citrate-GNP and BSA-GNP groups (**p < 0.005, Tukey’s multiple comparisons test), confirming the protein corona of GNPs modifies intratumoral distribution and retention of the particles. In conclusion, our investigations show that the surface passivation of GNPs influences the mechanism of cellular uptake and intratumoral distribution in vivo highlighting the spatial heterogeneity of the solid tumor.

The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors are the main drugs for symptomatic treatment of neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. A recently designed, synthesized and tested hybrid compound between the AChE inhibitor galantamine (GAL) and the antioxidant polyphenol curcumin (CU) showed high AChE inhibition in vitro. Here, we describe tests for acute and short-term toxicity in mice as well as antioxidant tests on brain homogenates measured the levels of malondialdehide (MDA) and glutathione (GSH). Haematological and serum biochemical analyses were also performed. In the acute toxicity tests, the novel AChE inhibitor given orally in mice showed LD50 of 49 mg/kg. The short-term administration of 2.5 and 5 mg/kg did not show toxicity. In the ex vivo tests, the GAL-CU hybrid performed better than GAL and CU themselves. In a dose of 5 mg/kg, it demonstrates 25% reduction in AChE activity, 28% and 73% increase in the levels of MDA and GSH, respectively. No significant changes in blood biochemical data were observed. The GAL-CU hybrid is a novel non-toxic AChE inhibitor with high antioxidant activity which makes it a perspective multitarget drug candidate for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

The existence of semantic inaccuracy §2 articles by A. Einstein “On the electrodynamics of moving bodies”, illustrating the principle of the relativity of simultaneity. In a sentence “The observers co-moving with the moving rod would thus find that the two clocks do not run synchronously while the observers in the system at rest would declare them synchronous”, the preposition “not” must be moved and placed before the word “synchronous”, at the end of the sentence. The criterion for synchronism of the clocks on the rod is the time it takes for the beam to travel from clock A to clock B and back, and for observers on the rod it will be the same both when the rod is at rest and when the rod is moving. Otherwise, observers on the rod would have had at their disposal an experiment that would allow them to determine whether the rod is moving or at rest, which contradicts the first postulate of the Special Theory of Relativity. The inaccuracy is found unchanged in modern editions in English and Russian, and can become a source of difficulties when teaching the basics of the Special Theory of Relativity based on primary sources, as well as make it difficult to understand the author’s logic when studying independently. Nobel laureate R. Feynman, having expanded and modified A. Einstein's thought experiment, eliminated the inaccuracy described in the article.

Since its initial development in the 1970’s by Phil Burke and his collaborators, the R-matrix theory and associated computer codes have become the de facto approach for the calculation of accurate data for general electron-atom/ion/molecule collision and photoionization processes. The use of a non-orthonormal set of orbitals based on B-splines, now called the B-spline R-matrix (BSR) approach, was pioneered by Zatsarinny. It has considerably extended the flexibility of the approach and improved particularly the treatment of complex many-electron atomic and ionic targets, for which accurate data are needed in many modelling applications for processes involving low-temperature plasmas. Both the original R-matrix approach and the BSR method have been extended to the interaction of short, intense electromagnetic (EM) radiation with atoms and molecules. Here we provide an overview of the theoretical tools that were required to facilitate the extension of the theory to the time domain. As an example of a practical application, we show results for two-photon ionization of argon by intense short-pulse extreme ultraviolet radiation

In recent years, transformer-based models have gained prominence in multivariate long-term time series forecasting (LTSF), demonstrating significant advancements despite facing challenges such as high computational demands, difficulty in capturing temporal dynamics, and managing long-term dependencies. The emergence of LTSF-Linear, with its straightforward linear architecture, has notably outperformed transformer-based counterparts, prompting a reevaluation of the transformer's utility in time series forecasting. In response, this paper presents an adaptation of a recent architecture termed extended LSTM (xLSTM) for LTSF. xLSTM incorporates exponential gating and a revised memory structure with higher capacity that has good potential for LTSF. Our adopted architecture for LTSF termed as xLSTMTime surpasses current approaches. We compare xLSTMTime's performance against various state-of-the-art models across multiple real-world datasets, demonstrating superior forecasting capabilities. Our findings suggest that refined recurrent architectures can offer competitive alternatives to transformer-based models in LTSF tasks, potentially redefining the landscape of time series forecasting.

We consider a system of two coupled parallel queues, queue 1 and queue 2, with infinite waiting rooms. The time setting is discrete. In either queue, the service of a customer requires exactly one discrete time slot. Arrivals of new customers occur independently from slot to slot, but the numbers of arrivals of both types within a slot may be mutually interdependent. Their joint probability generating function (pgf) is indicated as A(z1, z2) and characterizes the whole model. It is well-known that, in general, determining the steady-state joint probability mass function (pmf) u(m, n), m, n ≥ 0 or the corresponding joint pgf U(z1, z2) of the system contents (i.e., numbers of customers present) in both queues is a formidable task. Only in a number of isolated cases, for very specific choices of the arrival pgf A(z1, z2), explicit results are known in the literature. In this paper, we identify a multiparameter, generic class of arrival pgfs A(z1, z2), for which we can explicitly determine the system-content pgf U(z1, z2). We find that, for arrival pgfs of this class, U(z1, z2) has a denominator which is a product, say r1(z1)r2(z2) of two univariate functions. This property allows a straightforward inversion of U(z1, z2), resulting in a pmf u(m, n) which can be expressed as a finite linear combination of bivariate geometric terms. We also observe that our generic model encompasses most of the previously known results as special cases.

Finite-time control theory has been widely used as a mathematical tool to design robust controllers. By manipulating the finite-time convergence proof of this theory, we developed a new control design appropriately tuned for the finite-time control of the chaotic logistics system. In our experimental setup, the logistic equation is programmed into a PIC microcontroller, and a part of the controller was conceived using analog electronics. Because the system to be controlled is in the discrete-time domain, and the finite-time stability proof is stated in the continuous-time representation, our finite-time control approach is a good example for designing control algorithms in both time domain schemes. Hence, our experimental results support our main contribution. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is the signal format used to translate digital signals into continuous-time fields.

In this work, we introduce a new and generalized concept (herein referred to as Caputo fractional delta derivative and Caputo fractional delta dini derivative of order $\alpha\in(0,1)$) for Caputo fractional derivatives on an arbitrary time domain $\mathbb{T}$ which is a closed subset of $\mathbb{R}$. Combining the continuous and discrete time domains, we create a unified framework for stability analysis on time scales. Comparison results and stability criteria for the considered Caputo fractional dynamic equations are presented based on a new definition for Caputo fractional delta derivative of a Lyapunov function, contributing to the broader understanding of fractional calculus on time scales. The work also incorporates an illustrative example to demonstrate the relevance, effectiveness and applicability of the established stability results over that of the integer order.

The enhanced multi-objective symbolic discretization for time series (eMODiTS) method employs a flexible discretization scheme using different value cuts for each non-equal time interval, which requires a computational cost for evaluating each objective function. Therefore, surrogate models were implemented to minimize this disadvantage. Nevertheless, each solution found by eMODiTS is a different-sized vector, so the surrogate model must be able to handle data sets under this characteristic. Consequently, this work's contribution lies in analyzing the surrogate models' implementation on the time series discretization, where each potential scheme is a real-number different-sized vector. For this reason, the surrogate model proposed was k-nearest Neighbors for regression with Dynamic Time Warping as a distance measure. Results suggest our proposal finds a suitable approximation to the final eMODiTS solutions with a functions evaluation reduction rate between 15% and 95%. However, according to Pareto front performance measures, the proposal Pareto front is competitive compared to the eMODiTS Pareto front, reaching an average Generational Distance (GD) between 0.0447 and 0.0536. Moreover, the average Hypervolume Ratio (HVR) ranges between 0.334 and 0.3891. Finally, our proposal compared against SAX-based methods presents a similar behavior regarding classification tasks and statistical tests.

This paper is based on the concept of absolute airspace and its local absolute stationary reference system proposed by the author, on the premise of abandoning space concept and the relativity principle of relativity theory, It is proposed that general relativity and special relativity can be unified into Simple and practical a space-time transformation theory which fully includes other basic physical principles of relativity. And the unified and simple expression of the time transformation effect is proved and deduced. By comparing with the theoretical derivation and checking calculation of Hafele-Keating experiment in an ideal state, It is proved that the expression of time transformation effect proposed in this paper is completely correct. Compared with the theory of relativity, the calculation is simpler and more accurate. The paper also puts forward two checking prediction of physical cases about the time transformation effect, which are left for the capable competent unit or individual to verify in practice.

Phytophthora cinnamomi is a devastating soil-borne plant pathogen. The primary source of P. cinnamomi infection is the soil, where the pathogen can persist for long periods. Effective prevention and management of this pathogen in tree crops require an early and reliable detection method. In this study, we develop a simple, fast, reliable, and sensitive method based on real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) for P. cinnamomi detection and quantification directly in plant or soil samples. Primers were developed targeting the nuclear single-copy ras-related protein gene Ypt1, suitable for Phytophthora-specific PCR. The specificity of the assay was confirmed by testing it against genomic DNA from 50 isolates across 8 different Phytophthora clades, including very similar P. parvispora. The efficiency and reliability of the qPCR protocol were evaluated on challenging environmental samples, such as plant tissue of different host trees (walnut, chestnut, oak) and naturally infected soils in walnut orchards. The main outcome was the development of a qPCR method for the specific identification and quantification of P. cinnamomi in natural soil samples. Additionally, this study established a systematic and repeatable soil sampling method and developed an efficient soil DNA extraction technique to apply the developed qPCR in naturally infested soils of walnut orchards.

This work simulates the performance of lithium batteries for electric vehicles under different charge and discharge rates. The simulation is based on similarity factors for power, voltage and current, reproducing the real operation conditions of an electric vehicle at the model scale. Most current driving modes have been analysed corresponding to discharge rates from 0.1C to 0.37C. The simulation has also been applied to determine charging time using charge power in real conditions, from 6.1 kW to 18.3 kW (0.1 C to 0.3C). Driving conditions are obtained using equations for vehicle motion including all forces. Tests have been run under two configurations, continuous and alternate current circuits, to reproduce the two types of engines that electric vehicles use. The simulation shows very good agreement in charge and discharge processes, average deviation of 3% related to real conditions, and 1.6% between them, which proves the validity of the simulation process.

Turbidity stands as a crucial indicator for assessing water quality, and while turbidity sensors exist their high cost prohibit their extensive use. In this paper, we introduce an innovative turbidity sensor, and it is the first low-cost turbidity sensor which is designed specifically for long-term stormwater in-field monitoring. Its low cost ($23.50 USD), enables the implementation of high spatial resolution monitoring schemes. The sensor design is available under open hardware and open-source licences, and the 3D-printed sensor housing is free to modify based on different monitoring purposes and ambient conditions. The sensor was tested both in the laboratory and in the field. The laboratory results show a strong linear relationship (R2 > 0.99) between the sensor readings and the commercial hand-held turbidimeter (Thermo Scientific AQ4500) results of the solution. In the field, the low-cost sensor measurements were statistically significantly correlated (p < 0.01) to a standard high-cost commercial turbidity sensor (GreenSpan TS-1000). Biofouling and drifting issues were also analysed after the sensors were deployed in the field for more than 6 months, showing both biofouling and drift occur during monitoring. Nonetheless, in terms of maintenance requirements, the low-cost sensor exhibited similar needs compared to the Green-Span sensor.

Special and general relativity (SR/GR) describe nature “subjectively”, that is, from the perspectives of observers. Despite the Lorentz covariance of SR, the general covariance of GR, and all coordinate-free formulations, the perspective of each observer in SR/GR is egocentric. Even if we put all these perspectives together, we will not craft a “holistic view of nature” (view that is simultaneous for all observers) because there is no absolute time in SR/GR. I show: In Euclidean relativity (ER), there is a relative 4D vector “flow of proper time” and absolute cosmic time. ER describes nature “objectively”, that is, a holistic view of nature is provided. Each object’s (!) proper space d₁, d₂, d₃ and proper time τ span an absolute 4D Euclidean spacetime (ES), where d₁, d₂, d₃ and d₄ = cτ are treated the same. An observer’s reality is created by projecting ES orthogonally to his proper space and to his proper time. These projections are relative. ER compares to an “advanced heliocentric model”, in which the planets revolve around the sun without the sun being the center of the universe. The model requires the imagination of being “beyond” (outside of) the universe. In a similar way, ES is a master reality beyond each observer’s reality. Equipped with this holistic view, ER solves several mysteries (such as time, time’s arrow, the Hubble constant tension, entanglement). ER also declares some concepts of today’s physics obsolete (such as dark energy, non-locality). Since the laws of physics apply to an observer’s reality only, I do not derive any field equations in ES. This finish may be disappointing, but it is fine because none of my solved mysteries requires field equations.

The process of establishing secure communication between devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) can be approached by using a One-time-Pad (OTP) protocol. We propose using a known secure multiparty sum protocol for generating a One-time-Pad key using true (physical) random numbers in each device (party). We implemented the proposal using ZeroC-Ice, a middleware for distributed computing. The protocol security properties were analyzed under the assumptions of the Dolev-Yao threat model.

Landsat and Sentinel-2 acquisitions are among the most widely used medium-resolution optical data adopted for terrestrial vegetation applications, such as land cover and land use mapping, vegetation condition and phenology monitoring, and disturbance and change mapping. When combined, both data archives provide over 40 years, and counting, of continuous and consistent observations. Although the spatio-temporal availability of both data archives is well-known at the scene level, information on the actual availability of cloud-, snow-, and shade-free observations at the pixel level is lacking and should be explored individually for each study to correctly parametrize subsequent analyses. However, data exploration is time and resource consuming, thus is rarely performed a-priori. Consequently, the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of usable data is often inadequately accounted for in the analysis design, risking ill-advised selection of algorithms and hypotheses, and thus inferior quality of final results. Here we present precomputed data on the daily 1982‑2023 availability of usable Landsat and Sentinel-2 acquisitions across the globe, sampled at a pixel-level in a regular 0.18°-point grid. The dataset comprises separate Landsat- and Sentinel‑2‑specific data records, and is accompanied by a pixel-specific growing season information to facilitate data exploration. The dataset was derived based on freely available 1982-2023 Landsat surface reflectance (Collection 2) and Sentinel-2 top-of-the-atmosphere reflectance (pre‑Collection-1 and Collection-1) scenes from 2015 through 2023, following the methodology developed in the recent study on data availability over Europe [1]. Growing season information was derived based on 2001‑2019 time series of the yearly 500 m MODIS land cover dynamics product (MCD12Q2; Collection 6) [1]. As such, the dataset presents a unique overview of the spatio-temporal availability of usable daily Landsat and Sentinel-2 data at the global scale, hence offering much needed a-priori information aiding identification of appropriate methods and challenges for terrestrial vegetation analyses at local to global scale.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a viral disease of cattle and water buffalo characterized by cutaneous nodules, biphasic fever and lymphadenitis. LSD is endemic in Africa and Middle East but in recent years has spread in different Asian countries. Drop of animal productions, vaccination campaign, surveillance costs and trade restrictions have significant impact on the economy of affected countries. The disease is well characterized in cattle while little is known in buffaloes and no experimental studies have been conducted in this species. Six buffaloes and two cattle were inoculated with an Albanian LSD virus (LSDV) field strain. Over a period of 42 days animals were clinically monitored and sampled for serological and virological analysis. Only two buffaloes showed clinical sign, fever, skin nodules and lymphadenitis. All samples tested in real time PCR (blood, swabs, biopsies and organ) gave negative results. Three buffaloes seroconverted at day 39 and 42 post-inoculation, detected by ELISA, but all sera were negative in serum neutralization test. Cattle showed more severe clinical signs. Moreover, viraemia and virus shedding were proven by positive PCR results and antibodies were detected by both ELISA and serum neutralization test. These findings demonstrated the limited susceptibility of buffaloes compared to cattle once experimental infected with LSDV. Further studies are needed to investigate the epidemiological role of the buffaloes.

We review our theory of interdependence applied to autonomous human-machine teams, with which we have made several generalizations based on theory that have led to new discoveries, compared to social science which is struggling to break free of its validation crisis, but also has no generalizations to new discoveries with human teams, let alone to human-machine teams. In this invited article, based around the stability of a team, of our discoveries, we review the uncertainty between a team's structure and its performance, our first finding. We generalize that finding to deception, vulnerability, innovation and fittedness. From there, our next generalization is to the quantum likeness of interdependence and quantum mechanics; we move on to Shannon holes, knowledge, and conclude with the value of debate and the need for boundaries to contain debate, to reduce interference, and to protect states of interdependence. After the introduction, we extend our model in Section 2 to energy and time, and we close with a brief review of innovation and future plans.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) provides crucial data on monthly and annual fuel consumption for electricity generation. This data covers significant fuels such as coal, petroleum liquids, petroleum coke, and natural gas. Fuel consumption patterns are highly dynamic, influenced by diverse factors. Understanding these fluctuations is essential for effective energy planning and decision-making. This study outlines a comprehensive analysis of fuel consumption trends in electricity generation. Utilizing advanced statistical methods, including time series analysis and autocorrelation, our objective is to uncover intricate patterns and dependencies within the data. This paper aims to forecast fuel consumption trend for electricity generation using data from 2015 to 2022. Several time-series forecasting models, including all four benchmark methods (Mean, Naïve, Drift, and seasonal Naïve), Seasonal and Trend Decomposition using Loess (STL), Exponential Smoothing (ETS), and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) methods, have been applied. The best-performing models are determined based on Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) values. For Natural Gas (NG) consumption, the ETS model achieves the lowest RMSE of 20,687.46. STL demonstrates the best performance for coal consumption with an RMSE of 5,936.203. The seasonal Naïve (SNaïve) model outperforms others for petroleum coke forecasting, yielding an RMSE of 99.49. Surprisingly, the Mean method has the lowest RMSE of 287.34 for petroleum liquids, but the ARIMA model is reliable for its ability to capture complex patterns. Residual plots are analyzed to assess the models' performance against statistical parameters. Accurate fuel consumption forecasting is very important for effective energy planning and policymaking. The findings from the study help policymakers strategically allocate resources, plan infrastructure development and support economic growth.

Soil nitrite (NO2‒) is an important reactive intermediate in many nitrogen transformation processes, but it is unstable under acidic conditions. Canonical extraction method of soil NO2‒ with potassium chloride (KCl) solution greatly underestimates its concentration. In order to reflect the concentration more accurately, we optimized the extraction method of soil NO2‒ in this study. Moreover, soil ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3‒) were also systematically investigated to achieve efficient extraction of soil inorganic nitrogen. The results showed that un-buffered KCl significantly underestimated soil NO2‒ concentration compared to DIW. The highest recovery of NO2‒ was obtained by extracting with DIW at 10 min of oscillation for three soils. Compared with DIW, the concentration of NH4+ and NO3‒ in soil extracted from KCl solution increased significantly. Furthermore, the soil inorganic nitrogen content of extracts stored at 4°C for one day were closer to directly measurements of fresh samples than the other storage methods. Overall, the recommend analysis method for soil NO2‒ was extracted by DIW, oscillated for 10 min, and filtered by a 0.45 µm filter, and soil NH4+ and NO3‒ were extracted with KCl solution and oscillated for 30 min. The extract should be stored at 4°C and analyzed within 24 hours.

Penrose’s singularity from 1965 predicted that in the center of the black hole space-time curvature is infinite and consequently gravity force there is infinite. In 2014 NASA measured universal space has Euclidean shape. This means that stellar objects cannot curve universal space and that the space-time singularity model has no physical existence. In the center of black holes energy density of superfluid space is so low that the electromagnetic properties of space are changed. This causes electromagnetic forces between the nucleus and orbiting electrons to become unstable. In the center of a black hole, atoms are falling apart into elementary particles. Black holes are rejuvenating systems of the universe, they transform old matter into fresh energy in the form of elementary particles. Astrophysical jets are the outcome of this process.

Background and objectives: Although intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) has been shown to be effective in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) only a small proportion of stroke patients receive this drug. Low administration rate is mainly due to delayed presentation of patients to the emergency department (ED) or lack of a stroke team/unit in most of the hospitals. So, the aim of this study is to analyze ED time targets and the rate of rt-PA intravenous administration after the initial admission of patients with AIS in an ED from a traditional healthcare center (without a neurologist or stroke team/unit). Methods: To analyze which factors, influence administration of rt-PA we split the general sample (n=202) in two groups: group No rt-PA (n=137) and group rt-PA (n=65) based on performing or no intravenous thrombolysis. Results: Analyzing ED time targets for all sample we found that the median onset-to-ED door time was 180 minutes (IQR, 120-217.5 minutes), door-to-physician time was 4 minutes (IQR, 3-7 minutes), door-to-CT time was 52 minutes (IQR, 48-55 minutes), and door-in-door-out time was 61 minutes (IQR, 59-65 minutes). ED time targets such as door-to physician time (p=0.245), door-to-CT time (p=0.219), door-to-door-out time (p=0.24), or NIHSS at admission to Neurology department (p=0.405), or NIHSS after 24 h (p=0.9) did not have a statistically significant effect on administration or no rt-PA treatment in patients included in our study. Only highest Door-to-CT time was statistically significantly correlated with death outcome. Conclusion: In our study, rt-PA administration rate was higher than expected. Statistically significant correlation between ED time targets was found between lower Onset-to-ED door time with administration of rt-PA treatment (p<0.001) and between highest Door-to-CT time and death outcome.

As a new type of gear, bevoloid gears have the advantages of compensating axial error, smooth transmission, and eliminating turning error, and they are widely used in applications requiring high transmission accuracy and stability. However, research on calculating the time-varying mesh stiffness of bevoloid gears is still limited, and there is an urgent need to propose a method that can calculate the stiffness of bevoloid gears quickly and accurately. This paper first establishes the bevoloid gear tooth profile expressions, then assumes a pair of bevoloid gears meshing with the same rack and derives the contact line equations of parallel axis bevoloid gear pairs, and analyze the contact process of bevoloid gears. We propose an analytical algorithm that uses the slicing method to calculate the stiffness of helical gears, straight bevoloid gears, and helical bevoloid gears, change the parameters of helical bevoloid gears respectively, and analyze the influence of different parameters on stiffness. Finally, the finite element method is used to verify the analytical method, and the correctness of the analytical calculation results is verified, and the errors are analyzed.

Discussing quantum theory foundations, von Neumann noted that the measurement process should not be regarded in terms of a temporal evolution. A reason for his claim is insurmountability of the gap between reversible and irreversible processes. The time operator formalism that goes beyond such a gap is adequate framework for elaboration of the measurement problem. It considers signals to be stochastic processes, whether they correspond to variables or distribution densities. Signal processing like that utilizes statistical properties to perform its tasks, which is the definition of statistical signal processing. A hierarchy of the measurement process is indicated by crossing between states and devices, which implies an evolution in the temporal domain. The concept has generalized to an open system by the use of duality in frame theory.

Persons with stroke-induced aphasia (PWAs) are often impaired in tense/time reference (TR) production. It is not clear, however, whether PWAs’ impaired TR production is due to TR-related encoding or retrieval deficits. This study aims at disentangling TR-related encoding deficits from TR-related retrieval deficits in aphasia. Two sentence completion tasks (SCTs) tapping production of past and future reference were administered to eight Greek-speaking PWAs, eight Russian-speaking PWAs, six Italian-speaking PWAs, seven English-speaking PWAs and four groups of language-, age- and education-matched healthy controls. SCT 1 tapped TR-related encoding processes and TR-related retrieval processes to a similar extent. SCT 2 predominantly tapped TR-related retrieval processes. All four control groups performed at ceiling. Three Greek-speaking PWAs, one Russian-speaking PWA, three Italian-speaking PWAs and two English-speaking PWAs showed between-task dissociations. A double dissociation emerged, as some Greek-, Russian- and English-speaking PWAs performed better on SCT 1 than on SCT 2, whereas other Greek- and Italian-speaking PWAs performed worse on SCT 1 than on SCT 2. It will be shown that the experimental design employed here has the potential to disentangle TR-related encoding deficits from TR-related retrieval deficits, as both PWAs with selective TR-related encoding deficits and PWAs with selective TR-related retrieval deficits were identified.

This paper aims to discuss the relationship between financial development and inflation in Kenya using time series data between 1973 and 2021. The short- and long-run impact of financial development on inflation remains an important issue in the empirical and theoretical literature especially for country specific, but has yet to receive significant research consideration. For this purpose, the paper uses an ARDL analysis method, which is considered an advanced analytical model. Empirical findings confirmed that financial development has a significant long-run impact on inflation in Kenya. On the contrary, results confirmed that there is no significant short-run effect of financial development on inflation. In addition, there is significant long-run and short-run negative relationship between interest rate and inflation. The results indicate significant long-run Granger and ARDL causality from financial development to inflation. The main policy implications of the empirical results of this paper suggest supervision of financial sector must be directed in a way that would stimulate a stable and a moderate inflation rate. In particular, both financial institution and government should enhance the infrastructures of the financial market and promote the utilisation of financial services.

Recently, we demonstrated the validity of anomalous numbers law, known as Newcomb-Benford´s law, at the mammalian neuromuscular transmission, considering different extracellular calcium concentrations . The present work continues to examine how alterations in extracellular solution modulate the first digit law in the context of the spontaneous release of acetylcholine from the neuromuscular junction. We investigated if the intervals of miniature potentials collected at the neuromuscular junction obey the law in a hyperkalemic environment. The analysis showed that the interval between the miniature potentials at high potassium concentrations follows Newcomb-Benford´s law. Also, our data allowed us to uncover a conformity fluctuation as a function of the number of intervals of the miniature potentials. Finally, we discuss the biophysical implications of the present findings.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is one of the important medicinal and aromatic plants. Light intensity is an indispensable factor for plants due to its effect on photosynthesis and physiological processes. Here, we investigated the impact of light intensities and harvesting times on the photosynthesis of green and purple basil. The experiment involved subjecting the plants to three different sunlight levels for 12 days: complete – 100%, 50%, and 30% sunlight. In addition, we scrutinize the harvesting time. The highest levels of photosynthetic and protective pigments were detected under full sunlight conditions in the purple basil harvested at noon. The highest levels of soluble and storage carbohydrates were recorded in the purple basil grown under full sunlight and harvested in the early morning. In contrast, their lowest levels were obtained in plants grown under 30% sunlight and harvested at noon time. Under all light treatments, the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (FV/FM) was detected at 4 a.m. in both basil varieties; it decreased at noon and increased again at 5 p.m. Non-Photochemical Quenching (NPQ) got most elevated in the green variety under all light intensities at noon. However the highest NPQ was detected in the purple variety at 8 a.m. The NPQ was lowest in both basil varieties during the early morning and afternoon. Full sunlight at noon caused temporary photoinhibition and reduced car-bohydrates while enhancing pigment concentration and photo-protective mechanisms in basil plants.

This paper introduces a novel approach to addressing the challenge of accurately timing short distance runs, a critical aspect in the assessment of athletic performance. Electronic photoelectric barriers, although recognized for their dependability and accuracy, have remained largely inaccessible to non-professional athletes and smaller sport clubs due to their high costs. A comprehensive review of existing timing systems reveals that claimed accuracies beyond 30 milliseconds lack experimental validation across most available systems.To bridge this gap, a mobile, camera-based timing system is proposed, capitalizing on consumer-grade electronics and smartphones to provide an affordable and easily accessible alternative. By leveraging readily available hardware components, the construction of the proposed system is detailed, ensuring its cost-effectiveness and simplicity. Experiments involving track and field athletes demonstrate the proficiency of the proposed system in accurately timing short distance sprints. Comparative assessments against a professional photoelectric cells timing system reveal a remarkable accuracy of 62 milliseconds, firmly establishing the reliability and effectiveness of the proposed system. This finding places the camera-based approach on par with existing commercial systems, thereby offering non-professional athletes and smaller sport clubs an affordable means to achieve accurate timing.In an effort to foster further research and development, open access to the device's schematics and software is provided. This accessibility encourages collaboration and innovation in the pursuit of enhanced performance assessment tools for athletes.

In this paper, a novel strategy is adopted in a degradation model to affect the implied lifetime distribution. The multiplicative degradation model is utilized as a postulate in the model. It will be established that the implied lifetime distribution forms a classical mixture model. In this mixture model, time-to-failure is lying with some probabilities between two first passage times of the degradation process to reach two specified levels. Stochastic comparisons in the model under a change in the probabilities are studied. Several examples are provided to highlight the applicability of the results in the cases when typical degradation models are candidate.

Bond Properties were performed on Ag-2.35Au-0.7Pd-0.2Pt-0.1Cu alloy wire with a diameter of 25 µm under different process parameters. Effects of electrical flaming off (EFO) current and EFO time on deformability of the free air ball (FAB) were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as the effects of ultrasonic power and bonding force on the bond characteristic. The experimental results showed that, FAB grows from a preheated tip to a small ball, a regular ball and finally to a golf ball with increasing either the EFO current or the EFO time, and the FAB presented optimal shape at 25 mA and 650 μs. Moreover, a nonlinear relationship between FAB diameter and EFO time is obtained at the EFO current of 25 mA, which could be expressed by a cubic equation. Further, at a constant bonding force, as the ultrasonic power increased, the mashed ball diameter grew larger and larger, the capillary hole imprint became more and more obvious, and the tail width also increased larger and larger, and vice versa. The optimal ultrasonic power and bonding force are 70 mW and of 45 gf for ball bond and 90 mW and 75 gf for wedge bond, respectively. Finally, for all the bonded wire samples prepared under optimal process parameters, no ball and wedge bond lifts happened after destructive pull test, and full intermetallic compound coverage with perfect morphology occurred on the bond pad after ball shear test, which meant that the bonded wire samples have high bond strength, and hence improved the reliability of microelectronic products.

Several sun models suggest the radioactive balance where the concentration of greenhouse gases and the albedo effect are related to the Earth's surface temperature. There is a considerable increment of greenhouse gases due to anthropogenic activities. Climate change correlates with this alteration in the atmosphere and an increase in surface temperature. Efficient forecasting of climate change and its impacts of 1.5°C global warming above pre-industrial levels could be helpful to respond to the threat of c.c. and develop sustainably. Many studies have predicted the temperature change in the coming years. The global community has to create a model that can realize good predictions to ensure the best way to deal with the warming. Thus, we propose a finite-time thermodynamic (FTT) approach in the present work. The FTT can solve problems such as the faint young sun paradox. In addition, we use different machine learning models to evaluate our method and compare the experimental prediction and results.

With the growing popularity of smartphones, user identification has become an essential component of maintaining security and privacy. This study investigates how smartphone accelerometer data can be used to identify users, and it makes recommendations for the ideal application parts. Accelerometer data from the HMOG public dataset was used to train deep learning, conventional classifiers, and voting classifiers, which were then utilized to identify users. To enhance performance, feature selection and pre-processing techniques were researched. The results show that RFE feature selection outperforms other approaches and that LSTM followed by XGBoost has the best identification performance as indicated by a relatively large number of machine learning performance measures. The proposed identification system nevertheless performed well and outperformed existing methods, which were principally created and tested on the same HMOG public smartphone dataset, even with a larger number of users. Further work would be necessary for such an application to reach its full potential, though.

Misuse of measurement units and orientations leads to errors in scientific applications, Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), and IoT C/C++ programs. Standard type system are inadequate in preventing such errors. Although dimensional and orientational analysis in physics can manually detect these errors in equations, analyzing complex code with intricate physical computations is impractical. To overcome this challenge, we propose an advanced type system that incorporates units and orientations as integral components within a specialized type library. Our enhanced type system automatically detects potential errors during compile time by representing physical quantities as types and utilizing dimensional analysis, orientational analysis, and metaprogramming techniques. Our improved type system enables formal verification of C++ software, successfully verifying programs with extensive codebases. We also employ it for runtime verification of dynamic linking and pointer operations in C++ programs. The integration of compile-time verification, dimensional analysis, orientational analysis, and advanced type system enhances the robustness and accuracy of scientific applications, CPS, and IoT C/C++ programs. By leveraging these approaches, we ensure precise calculations and prevent errors related to measurement units and orientations, resulting in substantial improvements in reliability and accuracy.

We derive a quantum speed limit for unitary evolution for the case of mixed quantum states using the stronger uncertainty relation for mixed quantum states. This bound can be optimized over different choices of Hermitian operators for a better bound. We illustrate this with some examples and show its better performance with respect to three existing bounds for mixed quantum states.

This paper is concerned with the optimal linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) control problem for discrete time-varying system with multiple input delays and multiplicative noises. The main contributions are two-fold. Firstly, when the state variables can be observed exactly, we obtain a necessary and suffcient condition for the multiple-delays system in terms of the non-homogeneous relationship between the state and costate, which is the solution to the coupled forward and backward stochastic difference equations. Secondly, when the state variables are partially observed, we derive a suboptimal linear output feedback controller for the discrete-time system based on the obtained results of the optimal LQG control. Numerical examples are shown to illustrate the proposed algorithm.

Modern computational biology makes widespread use of mathematical models of biological systems, in particular systems of ordinary differential equations, as well as models of dynamic systems described in other formalisms, such as agent-based models. Parameters are numerical values of quantities reflecting certain properties of a modeled system and affecting model solu-tions. At the same time, depending on parameter values, different dynamic regimes - stationary, oscillatory, established as a result of transient modes of various types - can be implemented in the system. Predicting changes in the solution dynamics type depending on changes of model parameters is an important scientific task. Nevertheless, this problem does not have an analytical solution for all formalisms in a general case. The routinely used method of performing a series of computa-tional experiments, i.e. solving a series of direct problems with various sets of parameters fol-lowed by expert analysis of solution plots is labor-intensive with a large number of parameters and a decreasing step of the parametric grid. In this regard, the development of methods allow-ing to obtain and analyze information on a set of computational experiments in an aggregate form is relevant. This work is devoted to developing a method for visualization and classification of various dy-namic regimes of a model using a composition of the dynamic time warping (DTW-algorithm) and principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) methods. This method allows to obtain a qualitative visualisation of the results of the set of solutions of a mathematical model and to carry out the correspondence between the values of the model parameters and the type of dynamic regimes of its solutions. This method has been tested on the Lotka-Volterra model and artificial sets of var-ious dynamics

This paper applies a new artificial intelligence architecture, the Temporal Fusion Transformer (TFT), for the joint GDP forecasting of 25 OECD countries at different time horizons. This new attention-based architecture offers significant advantages over other deep learning methods. First, results are interpretable since the impact of each explanatory variable on each forecast can be calculated. Second, it allows to visualize persistent temporal patterns and to identify significant events and different regimes. Third, it provides quantile regressions and permits to train the model on multiple time series from different distributions. Results suggest that TFTs outperform regression models, especially in periods of turbulence such as the COVID-19 shock. Interesting economic interpretations are obtained depending on whether the country is domestic demand-led or export-led growth. In essence, TFT is revealed as a new tool that artificial intelligence provides to economists and policy makers, with enormous prospects for the future.

Respiratory rate is an important biomarker that indicates changes in the clinical condition of critically ill patients, so a surveillance tool that can accurately monitor the changing respiratory rate in real time is needed. Through investigating various pairs of machine learning models, we proposed new machine learning model for real-time respiratory rate estimation using photoplethysmogram. New photoplethysmogram-driven respiratory rate dataset(StMary) was collected from surgical intensive care unit of a tertiary referral hospital, using photoplethysmogram signal collector. For 50patients and 50healthy volunteers, 2-minute photoplethysmogram was collected for each subject twice. To evaluate the respiratory rate of subject, it was inputted into the deep neural network model we built, and dataset was splitted into training, validation, testing dataset, then 4-fold cross validation was exploited. Our deep neural network model trained with StMary and two public datasets(BIDMC and CapnoBase) individually, or selectively merged dataset had shown a low error rate in respiration rate measurements. Our model trained with StMary showed low mean absolute error score(1.0273±0.8965), and trained with 3 datasets(CapnoBase, BIDMC and StMary) showed a lower error rate(1.7359±1.6724) than the model trained with CapnoBase and BIDMC(1.9480±1.6751). We could verify the performance of model evaluating respiratory rate from photoplethysmogram, and our dataset could contribute as the clinical research data that supports artificial intelligence models evaluating respiratory rate and surveillance tools to test whether their monitoring function works properly.

Positive invariant set is an important concept of dynamic systems. The purpose of this paper is to study the sufficient and necessary conditions that the set of ellipsoids and the Lorenz cone are positive invariant sets of discrete time systems. By means of nonlinear programming and induced norm, the problem of positive invariance is formulated as an optimization problem, and the equivalent dual form optimization is also presented using the dual optimization method. Our results provide more alternative methods for determining the positive invariance of quadratic form convex sets from the point of view of optimization and dual optimization. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated by numerical examples.

By shifting eating hours from daytime to nighttime, Ramadan intermittent fasting (RIF) illustrates how religious beliefs influence human dietary behavior and subsequent anthropometric and metabolic measures. This study aimed to investigate socioeconomic characteristics and examine how observing RIF affects dietary intake, anthropometric indices, and metabolic markers in healthy premenopausal (PRE-M) and post-menopausal (POST-M) Saudi women. Before starting the study, the authors hypothesized that the RIF improves some nutritional aspects and health in respondents, but not after breaking the fast.. The study includes 62 women (31 PRE-M, 21-43 years, and 31 POST-M, 44-68 years). A structured questionnaire was used to collect socioeconomic data. Physical activity, anthropometric, dietary, and biochemical assessments were undertaken before RIF and at the end of the third week of Ramadan fasting month. Socioeconomic data varied among respondents. Observing RIF was associated with significantly (at either p ≤ 0.01 or p ≤ 0.05) lower intake of calories, macronutrients, minerals (except for Na), and vitamins than before RIF for both groups. In terms of body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) for PRE-M, the percentage of overweight decreased significantly (p≤0.01) while obesity remained unchanged. In contrast, for POST-M, the percentage of overweight increased significantly (p≤0.05), but obesity decreased after RIF. Both groups' waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), body fat (BF), and fat mass (FM) decreased after RIF. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglycerides (TG), and blood pressure (SBP, DBP) were generally maintained at acceptable normal levels in most responders before and after RIF. However, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was significantly decreased during RIF than before, especially for POST-M. Age, occupation, and monthly income were the most important factors influencing women’s nutritional status and body fat. In conclusion, observing RIF by PRE- and POST-M Saudi women was associated with significant improvements in variable health indicators, with a few exceptions, particularly POST-M, and may help lower risk factors for chronic diseases.

Since the early 1990s, the European (ESA) and Italian (ASI) space agencies have managed and distributed a huge amount of satellite-recorded SAR data to the research community and private industries. Moreover, the availability of advanced cloud computing services implementing different multi-temporal SAR interferometry techniques allows the generation of deformation time series from massive SAR images. We exploit the information provided by a large PS dataset to determine the temporal trend of ground deformation and the relative deformation rate with millimetric accuracy to analyse the spatial and temporal distribution of land subsidence induced by water pumping from a deep confined aquifer in the Northern Valle Umbra Basin (Central Italy), exploiting 24 years of Permanent Scatterers – Interferometric SAR data archives. The SAR images were acquired between 1992 and 2016 by satellite ERS1/2, ENVISAT and Sentinel 1 ESA missions, and the COSMO-SkyMed ASI mission). We observe ground velocities and deformation geometries between 1992 and 2016, with displacements of more than 70 cm and velocities of up to 55 mm/yr and the results suggest that the shape and position of the surface ground displacement are controlled by the fault activity hidden under the valley deposits.

In the present study, a simple approximation expression is given for the relationship between the period and amplitude of a simple pendulum under magnetic action. The analytical solution presented for the given problem. Two numerical quadrature methods Simpson's and Boole's method were utilized to demonstrate a new approximation of the problem. The results of the numerical quadrature have been compared to the exact solution. Absolute and relative mistakes of the problem have been presented. The Matlab program 2013R has created a numerical method that is used to analyze the outcome, It has been determined that the comparison's outcomes attest to the method's suitability and correctness. Moreover, the results show that numerical solution is suitable for the problem.

The notion of oriented set is the basic elementary concept of the theory of changeable sets. The main motivation for the introduction of changeable sets was the sixth Hilbert problem, that is, the problem of mathematically rigorous formulation of the fundamentals of theoretical physics. In the present paper the necessary and sufficient condition of the existence of one-point time on an oriented set is established. From the intuitive point of view, one-point time is the time associated with the evolution of a system consisting of only one object (for example, from one material point). Namely, it is proven that the one-point time exists on the oriented set if and only if this oriented set is a quasi-chain. Also, using the obtained result, the problem of describing all possible images of linearly ordered sets is solved. This problem naturally arises in the theory of ordered sets.

This article presents the implementation of a model to estimate the future price of commodities in the Brazilian market from time series of short-term technical evaluation. For this, data from two databases were used, one referring to the foreign market (opening values, maximum, minimum, closing, closing adjustment and volume) and the other, from the Brazilian market (the price of the day), considering commodities, sugar, cotton, corn, soybean and wheat. Subsequently, the technical indicators were calculated from the TA-Lib technical analysis library. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was applied, records with low correlation were removed, and then the database was consolidated. From the pre-processed data, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) recurrent neural networks were used to perform data prediction at the one and three day interval. These models were evaluated using the mean square error (MSE), obtaining results between 0.00010 and 0.00037 on test data one day ahead, and from 0.00017 to 0.00042 three days ahead. However, based on the results obtained, it was observed that the developed model obtained a promising forecasting performance for all the commodities evaluated. As a main contribution, there is the consolidation of databases that can be used in future scientific research. Furthermore, based on its interpretation, it can assist in decision making regarding the buying and selling of commodities to increase financial gains.