Background/Objectives: Population aging is rapidly increasing, and the importance of preventive medicine has been stressed. Health checkup, diet, and exercise are of paramount importance. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a personalized dual-task intervention that combined exercise with cognitive tasks in improving physical and cognitive functions among independently living elderly individuals. Methods: Participants were aged >65 years who were mostly independent in their activities of daily living, divided into 2 groups. The group receiving the 20-min robot-assisted session was compared to the group receiving traditional functional restoration training. This randomized trial assessed the impact of this intervention on the 30-s chair stand test score and Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Japanese version score of the participants. Results: Both scores significantly improved in the intervention group, indicating enhanced lower-limb function and cognitive capabilities. Conclusions: These findings suggest that integrating cognitive tasks with physical exercise can be a potent strategy to improve overall well-being in the elderly, offering valuable insights for designing comprehensive preventive health programs tailored to this demographic.

This paper focuses on processing low oversampling echo data of staggered synthetic aperture radar (SAR). In staggered mode, the non-uniformly sampling and irregular loss of echo data cause azimuth ambiguity which severely degrades the imaging quality. To solve this problem, we propose a compressed sensing (CS) method in which the non-uniform fast Fourier transform (NUFFT) technique is adopted to obtain uniform azimuth spectrum, and the fast iterative shrinkage thresholding algorithm (FISTA) is utilized to efficiently reconstruct the ambiguity-free image from in-complete echo data. Simulation results demonstrate the proposed method can effectively suppress the azimuth ambiguity in the vicinity of targets.

Ambitious biodiversity goals to protect 30% or more of the Earth’s surface by 2030 (30x30) require strategic near-term targets. To define areas that must be protected to prevent the most likely and imminent extinctions, we propose Conservation Imperatives—16,825 unprotected sites harboring rare and threatened species and spanning ~164 Mha of the terrestrial realm. We estimate that protecting the Conservation Imperatives would cost approximately US$169 billion [90% probability: $146 — $228 billion]. Globally, 38% of the 16,825 sites are either adjacent to or within 2.5 km of an existing protected area, potentially reducing land acquisition and management costs. These sites should be prioritized for conservation action over the next five years as part of a broader strategy to expand the global protected area network. The expansion of global protected areas between 2018–2023 incorporated only 7% of sites harboring range-limited and threatened species, highlighting a renewed urgency to conserve these habitats. Permanently protecting only 0.74% of land found in the tropics, where Conservation Imperatives are concentrated, could prevent the majority of predicted near-term extinctions once adequately resourced. We estimate this cost to be US$29 billion to US$46 billion per year over the next five years. Multiple approaches will be required to meet long-term protection goals: providing rights and title to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) conserving traditional lands, government designation of new protected areas on federal and state lands, and land purchase or long-term leasing of privately held lands.

In 2007, the excavation of the M-30 ring road located in Madrid and the creation of a green corridor either side of the Manzanares river brought significant change to the metropolitan area. The corridor and linear park which it provided were designed to contribute to the regeneration of the fluvial ecosystem, establish links among residents on each side of the river and promote cultural and leisure activities. This paper provides a sustainability analysis of the excavation of the M-30 (involving the socio-economic and environmental impact) 14 years after its construction. In order to show such an impact, an analysis of the area both prior to the project and after completion, as well as a hypothetical solution that uses improved materials, has been performed. This entails use of the multi-criteria decision-making model named MIVES (initials in Spanish, modelo integrado de valor para una evaluación sostenible). The MIVES method is based on the application of value functions of sustainability indicators selected by socio-economic and environmental criteria, chosen by experts. Results from analysis showed that the excavation of the M-30 considerably improved the sustainability of the area (sustainable index 3.43 and 6.26 both before and after the excavation works). However, use of improved materials in contrast with the application of conventional materials slightly improved the sustainability of the work (Sustainability Index 6.26 and 6.74, respectively, of the conventional materials).

Chemical substances such us CS-gas used in military operations are chemical compounds that present a series of peculiarities that affect the ecosystem by disrupting the ecological balance. This study evaluated the toxicological character of O-chlorobenzylidenemalonitrile (CBM), (substance present in CS-gas) on the algae Cholrella sp. and analyzed the toxicity limit and the response of the microorganism to the oxidative stress caused by this substance. In order to under-stand the toxicological mechanisms of CBM on algal culture, a series of parameters were analyzed such as: the cell growth curve, the average specific growth rate (µ), percent inhibition in yield(I%), dry cell weight (DCW), percent viability and productivity of algal biomass flocculation activity(FA), change in oxygen production. The content of chlorophyll pigments, was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) fluorescence spectroscopy and analysis of the surface structure of algal cells by SEM spectroscopy. This study aims to provide fundamental data for understanding the toxicity of CBM to aquatic organisms and provides a basis for assessing the potential for impact on aquatic ecosystems. The results obtained could be taken into account in the management of the decontamination of the affected areas.

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) with unique structures from marine animals show intriguing pharmacological activities and negligible biological risks, providing more options for us to explore safer agents. Swim bladder is a tonic food and folk medicine, and its GAGs show good anticoag-ulant activity. In this study, two GAGs SJG-1.0 and GMG-1.0 have been extracted and isolated from the swim bladder of Sphyraena jello and Gadus morhua. The physicochemical properties, pre-cise structural characteristics, and anticoagulant activities of these GAGs were determined. The analysis results of the SJG-1.0 and GMG-1.0 showed that they were chondroitin sulfate (CS)/dermatan sulfate (DS) hybrid chains with molecular weights of 109.32 kDa and 123.13 kDa, respectively. They were mainly composed of the repeating disaccharide unit of -{IdoA-α1,3-GalNAc4S-β1,4-}- (DS-A). The DS-B disaccharide unit of -{IdoA2S-α1,3-GalNAc4S-β1,4-}- also existed in both SJG-1.0 and GMG-1.0. SJG-1.0 had a higher proportion of CS-O disaccharide unit -{-GlcA-β1,3-GalNAc-β1,4-}-, while GMG-1.0 contained higher proportion of CS-E disaccha-ride unit -{-GlcA-β1,3-GalNAc4S6S-β1,4-}-. The disaccharide compositions of the GAGs varied in a species-specific manner. Anticoagulant activity assay revealed that both SJG-1.0 and GMG-1.0 had potent anticoagulant activity, which can significantly prolong activated partial thrombosis time. GMG-1.0 also can prolong the thrombin time. SJG-1.0 showed no intrinsic tenase inhibition ac-tivity, while GMG-1.0 can obviously inhibit intrinsic tenase with EC50 of 58 nM. Their significantly different anticoagulant activities may be due to their different disaccharide structural units and proportions. These findings suggested that the swim bladder CS/DS hybrid chains with well-defined structure may be safer anticoagulants with low bleeding risk.

The connexin gene family is the most prevalent gene that contributes to hearing loss. Connexins 26 and 30, encoded by GJB2 and GJB6 respectively, are the most abundant expressed connexins in the inner ear. Connexin 43 which is encoded by GJA1 appears to be widely expressed in various organs, including the heart, skin, brain, and inner ear. The mutations that arise in GJB2, GJB6 and GJA1 can all result in comprehensive or non-comprehensive genetic deafness in newborns. As it is predicted that connexins include at least 20 isoforms in humans, the biosynthesis, structural composition, and degradation of connexins must be precisely regulated so that the gap junctions can operate properly. Certain mutations result in connexins possessing a faulty subcellular localization, failing to transport to the cell membrane and preventing gap junction formation, ultimately leading to connexin dysfunction and hearing loss. In this review, we provide a discussion of the transport models for connexin 43, connexins 30 and 26, mutations affecting trafficking pathways of connexin 26, the existing controversies in trafficking pathways of connexins, and the molecules involved in connexin trafficking and their functions. This review can contribute to a new way of understanding the etiological principles of connexin mutations and finding therapeutic strategies for hereditary deafness.

Over the last decades, the energy market around the world has reshaped due to accommodating the high penetration of renewable energy resources. Although renewable energy sources have brought various benefits, including low operation cost of wind and solar PV power plants, and reducing the environmental risks associated with the conventional power resources, they have imposed a wide range of difficulties in power system planning and operation. Naturally, classical optimal power flow (OPF) is a nonlinear problem. Integrating renewable energy resources with conventional thermal power generators escalates the difficulty of the OPF problem due to the uncertain and intermittent nature of these resources. To address the complexity associated with the process of the integration of renewable energy resources into the classical electric power systems, two probability distribution functions (Weibull and lognormal) are used to forecast the voltaic power output of wind and solar photovoltaic, respectively. Optimal power flow, including renewable energy, is formulated as a single-objective and multi-objective problem in which many objective functions are considered, such as minimizing the fuel cost, emission, real power loss, and voltage deviation. Real power generation, bus voltage, load tap changers ratios, and shunt compensators values are optimized under various power systems’ constraints. This paper aims to solve the OPF problem and examines the effect of renewable energy resources on the above-mentioned objective functions. A combined model of wind integrated IEEE 30-bus system, solar PV integrated IEEE 30-bus system, and hybrid wind and solar PV integrated IEEE 30-bus system are performed using the equilibrium optimizer technique (EO) and other five heuristic search methods. A comparison of simulation and statistical results of EO with other optimization techniques showed that EO is more effective and superior.

Background: Congestive heart failure is the inability to pump blood throughout the body which causes the walls to be unable to pump adequately. Purpose: This study aimed to ascertain the effect of a contrast bath with a 30 º elevation on the reduction of edema in congestive heart failure patients at Ulin General Hospital, Banjarmasin. Methods: The design of this study was quasi-experimental with an unequal control group design. The population is patients with congestive heart failure, and the sample used is successive sampling. 34 respondents were divided into two groups, 17 respondents in the intervention group and 17 in the control group. Results: The Mann-Whitney result value P = 0.027 (P < 0.05) represented a significant reduction in Bath contrast edema with 30º feet elevation in the intervention group and control group patients with congestive heart failure. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it is expected to be able to apply contrast showers with an elevation of 30 º in nursing services to reduce the degree of edema in congestive heart failure patients.

Futures markets are mainly used as a tool for price discovery and for risk management on the spot markets and enable diversification for international portfolio investments. With this study we aim (1) to investigate the causality relationship between futures markets and spot market and (2) to examine the causality relationship between futures markets and spot markets in different countries. We are interested in both the futures markets - spot market relations and the interactions between the markets at international level. For variables we used the the BIST30 spot index and BIST30 futures contract representing the Borsa Istanbul market and the Dow-Jones 30 index and Dow-Jones 30 futures contract, which are the most important indices representing the US markets. Daily closing price data for the period between 2nd January, 2009 and 18th June, 2018 were analyzed using correlation, unit root test, causality test and regression equations. The results of the study show that the futures markets continue their price discovery role for both the spot markets and futures markets and are influential on other futures and spot markets at international level. These findings are important for investors wanting to invest in Turkey and in similarly considered emerging market economies. It will help investors take informed decisions by providing them with a more efficient price estimations utilizing the futures markets.

Over the last decades, the energy market around the world has reshaped due to accommodating the high penetration of renewable energy resources. Although renewable energy sources have brought various benefits, including low operation cost of wind and solar PV power plants, and reducing the environmental risks associated with the conventional power resources, they have imposed a wide range of difficulties in power system planning and operation. Naturally, classical optimal power flow (OPF) is a nonlinear problem. Integrating renewable energy resources with conventional thermal power generators escalates the difficulty of the OPF problem due to the uncertain and intermittent nature of these resources. To address the complexity associated with the process of the integration of renewable energy resources into the classical electric power systems, two probability distribution functions (Weibull and lognormal) are used to forecast the voltaic power output of wind and solar photovoltaic, respectively. Optimal power flow, including renewable energy, is formulated as a single-objective and multi-objective problem in which many objective functions are considered, such as minimizing the fuel cost, emission, real power loss, and voltage deviation. Real power generation, bus 13 voltage, load tap changers ratios, and shunt compensators values are optimized under various power systems’ 14 constraints. This paper aims to solve the OPF problem and examines the effect of renewable energy resources 15 on the above-mentioned objective functions. A combined model of wind integrated IEEE 30-bus system, solar 16 PV integrated IEEE 30-bus system, and hybrid wind and solar PV integrated IEEE 30-bus system are performed 17 using the equilibrium optimizer technique (EO) and other five heuristic search methods. A comparison of 18 simulation and statistical results of EO with other optimization techniques showed that EO is more effective 19 and superior.

This study examines the complex relation among environmental taxes, productive capacities, urbanization, and their collective effects on environmental quality in Africa, drawing on two decades of data from twenty African countries. It situates the study within the broader discourse on sustainable development and economic growth, emphasizing the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework to examine the relationship between economic development, characterized by urban expansion and increased productive capacities, and the adoption of environmental taxes amidst the continent’s diverse economic and environmental environments. Using advanced econometric techniques, including the Cross-Section Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model and the Dynamic Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (DCCEMG) estimator, the study addresses data challenges such as cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity. The results provide important insights into the dynamics of environmental quality in relation to economic and urban growth and the role of environmental taxation. The study proposes tailored policy strategies aimed at strengthening sustainable development initiatives in line with international agreements such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. These strategies advocate for a nuanced application of environmental taxes and the promotion of productive capacities to enhance environmental sustainability across the African continent.

The military taxonomy of class indices for chemical and biological warfare agents considers halogenated tear agents (CS) to be incapacitating causing local pain and discomfort with associated reflexe. The removal yield of the organic substances present in the water depends on the environmental conditions, on the chemical composition of the water and on the chemical substance dissolved in the water, which constitutes the substrate of the metabolic activities of the microorganisms that use these substances in the biochemical reactions of the cellular enzyme complexes. The two -CN groups in the malonic nitrile molecule are strongly electron-attracting and activate the CH2 group to which they are linked, and because of this, malononitrile has the role of a methylene component in condensation reactions with aldehydes or ketones. The results obtained after analyzing the degree of hydrolysis in the samples that contained the biological suspension indicated that no CBM metabolites were detected in any biological sample, regardless of the test concentration, analyzed 24 h after incubation. In the parallel samples, the aqueous solutions of CBM without biological treatment had metabolites in the samples., at 30 minutes the degree of hydrolysis is 0.21%, at 60 minutes, the degree of hydrolysis is 5.42%, after 90 minutes, the degree of hydrolysis is 6.19%, and after 24 hours. the degree of hydrolysis is 23.41%. Chemical substances in contact with microorganisms are used by them in the biochemical processes in which they are involved, the retention time and biodegradation capacity have led to an increased effect of the metabolism of toxic substances, in metabolic reactions, organic substances are the source of carbon and energy for biochemical processes. The tests performed indicate that the suspension of Chlorella sp. consumed the entire amount of CBM and metabolites from the analyzed samples The tests prove that the biological material can be used for the decontamination of the affected areas.

Objective: We determined, in stable ambulatory heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) subjects and matched controls, the capability of a novel blood based cardiac-specific cBIN1 Score (CS) to diagnose heart failure and prognosticate future hospitalization. Background: Heart failure (HF) poses a costly health care burden worldwide with rising prevalence. Abnormal calcium signaling is intrinsic to HF pathophysiology and correlates with reduced expression of a cardiac membrane scaffolding protein, cardiac bridging integrator 1 (cBIN1). We hypothesize that CS, a numerical score derived from plasma cBIN1 concentration, is a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of HF. Methods: Plasma cBIN1 is quantified by an ELISA test, and CS is calculated as the natural log of the normalized reciprocal of plasma cBIN1 concentration. We determined CS among 52 clinically stable individuals with HFpEF (LVEF ≥ 50%) (mean age 57 ± 15 years old, 63% men) and 104 age and sex matched volunteers with no known history of HF. We obtained plasma concentrations of NT-proBNP, a marker of volume status, as comparison. Baseline co-morbidities and one year longitudinal clinical information were obtained through electronic medical records. Results: Median CS is 0 (IQR -0.4 – 0.6) in the control cohort and is increased to 1.8 in the HFpEF cohort (IQR 1.5 – 2.3, p < 0.0001). For HFpEF diagnosis, CS has a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) of 0.94 (95% CI 0.95 – 0.99) and NT-proBNP of 0.89 (95% CI 0.83 – 0.95). Kaplan-Meier analysis of one year cardiovascular hospitalizations reveals that HFpEF patients with CS ≥ 1.8 have a hazard ratio (HR) of 4.0 (95% CI 1.4 – 11.2, p=0.009). Combining CS ≥ 1.8 with NT-proBNP ≥ 300 pg/mL, increases HR to 21.4 (95% CI 2.7 – 171.6, p=0.004). Conclusions: In a cohort of stable ambulatory HF patients with cardiomyopathies of multiple etiologies and preserved ejection fraction, a positive CS correlates with worsening myocardial health and predicts future hospitalization. CS, a marker of cardiac muscle health, provides a novel index to informing the management of stable ambulatory HF patients.

Objective: We determined, in stable ambulatory heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) subjects and matched controls, the capability of a novel blood based cardiac-specific cBIN1 Score (CS), which assesses the health of cardiac muscle, to identify patients with known heart failure (HF) and to prognosticate future hospitalization. Background: Limited clinical tools are available in assessing cardiac muscle health in stable ambulatory patients. Cardiac bridging integrator 1 (cBIN1) is a cardiomyocyte t-tubule membrane scaffolding protein which regulates calcium signaling in cardiomyocytes, decreases in failing muscle, and is present in plasma in levels that correlate with cardiac content. We hypothesize that CS, a normalized index of plasma cBIN1 concentration, can function as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of HF. Methods: Plasma cBIN1 concentration is measured by an ELISA test, and CS is calculated as the natural log of the ratio of a constant population mean cBIN1 to measured cBIN1 concentration. We determined CS among 125 clinically stable individuals with HFrEF (LVEF ≤ 40%) (mean age 56 ± 10 years old, 79% men) and 125 age, sex matched volunteers with no known history of HF. We obtained plasma concentrations of NT-proBNP, a marker of volume status, as comparison. Baseline co-morbidities and 18-month longitudinal clinical information were obtained through electronic medical records. Results: CS follows a normal distribution with a median of 0 in the control population and median is significantly increased among HFrEF patients to 1.8 (IQR 1.4 – 2.1, p < 0.0001). CS diagnosed HFrEF with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) of 0.93 (AUC is 0.98 for NT-proBNP, and combined CS and NT-proBNP AUC is 0.99). Unlike NT-proBNP, CS does not correlate with body mass index (BMI) in either the control or HFrEF population (Pearson’s r = -0.15, p = 0.12; Pearson’s r = 0.003, p = 0.97, respectively). NT-proBNP significantly correlates with renal function (Pearson’s r = -0.37, p = 0.001), while CS also has no correlation (Pearson’s r = 0.03, p = 0.71). During an 18-month follow-up, a high CS ≥ 1.8 at the initial visit predicted future cardiovascular hospitalizations (38% vs. 21%, p = 0.04, hazard ratio 2.0). NT-proBNP did not predict future cardiovascular hospitalizations. Conclusions: Plasma cBIN1 based CS is insensitive to BMI and renal function and differentiates myocardial health between patients with HFrEF versus matched controls. An abnormally high CS reflected poor intrinsic myocardial health and can predict future 18-month cardiac hospitalization in stable ambulatory patients.

This paper considers the application of two selected algorithms (Cuckoo Search CS, Firefly Algorithm FA) to determine and maximize the reliability of a two complex system known from the literature. This system operates with resource constraints. In addition, several classical methods for determining the reliability of systems have been applied. Although the CS algorithm is known for its effectiveness as it uses the Lévy flight, for the presented optimization tasks the FA firefly algorithm in the considered parameter range proved to be more effective. The presented results broaden the existing discussion on the application of nature-inspired algorithms for solving RRAP (Reliability Redundancy Allocation Problem) problems. From this point of view, two described test scenarios can be considered as a suitable tool for validating other algorithms in RRAP problems. Not only the values of the criterion functions can be compared, but also other introduced parameters and statistical analyse of variance (ANOVA) with post-hoc RIR Tuckey test was discussed.

Following the development and dissemination of new climate-smart agricultural technologies to farmers globally, there has been an increase in the number of socio-economic studies on the adoption of climate-smart integrated pests’ management (CS-IPM) technologies over the years. In this study, we review empirical evidence on adoption determinants of CS-IPM technologies and identify possible science-policy interfaces. Generally, our review shows that socioeconomic and institutional factors are influential in shaping CS-IPM adoption decisions of farmers. More specifically, income was found to positively influence the adoption of CS-IPM technologies while land size owned influences CS-IPM adoption negatively. Registered land tenure (registered secure rights) positively influences CS-IPM technologies’ adoption, implying that efficient land markets that enable competitive and fair distribution and access to land, more so by the vulnerable but efficient smallholder producers do indeed increase the adoption of CS-IPMs technologies. Social capital, achieved via farmers’ organizations is also central in fostering CS-IPM technologies’ adoption, just as markets reforms that minimize market failures regarding access to credit, labor, and agricultural information, which could indirectly hinder farmers’ use of CS-IPM practices. Functional extension systems that improve farmers’ awareness of CS-IPM do also improve CS-IPM technologies’ adoption. However, the adoption of CS-IPM technologies in Ghana and Benin is slow-paced because of factors like lack of access to farm inputs that facilitate uptake of these technologies, lack of credit facilities, and limited extension services among others. Interestingly, our review confirms that CS-IPM technologies do indeed reduce and minimize the intensity of pesticide usage and foster ecosystem (environmental and human) health. Therefore, this review unearths strategic determinants of CS-IPM adoption and makes fundamental guidance around climate-smart innovations transfer and environmental policies that should be prioritized to curb environmental pollution and ensure agricultural ecosystems’ sustainability.

As technology and multimedia production have advanced, there has been a significant rise in attacks on digital media, resulting in duplicated, fraudulent, and altered data and the infringement of copyright laws. This paper presents a robust and secure digital image watermarking technique that has been implemented in the spatial domain and exploits the erratic and chaotic behaviour of the powerful elementary cellular automata rule-30. The crucial characteristics of the watermarking system, i.e., imperceptibility, capacity, and robustness, have been perfectly balanced by the suggested blind watermarking technique. In this approach, prior to embedding, the grayscale watermark image is downsized to its two Most Significant Bits (MSBs). Then, the 2-MSBs watermark is encrypted using an ECA rule-30 so as to level up the security attribute of the system. Then, the host image is scrambled using ECA rule-30 to distribute the watermark pixels throughout the host image and thus achieve the highest robustness against geometrical attacks. Finally, the encrypted watermark data is embedded into the scrambled host image using the ECA rule-30-based embedding key. The proposed method performs better in terms of imperceptibility, capacity, and robustness when compared to several systems with similar competencies. The simulation's findings demonstrate strong imperceptibility as evaluated by the Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), which has an average value of 58.3735 dB and a high payload. The experimental outcomes, observed across a diverse range of standardized attack scenarios, unequivocally establish the ascendancy of the proposed algorithm over competing methodologies in the realm of image watermarking.

This paper provides an optimization strategy for flexible operation at the system level, so as to guide the real-time flexible ramping of the power grid. Firstly, the concept of regional power grid flexibility was clarified, and the ramping factor is proposed as a flexibility metric. On this basis, taking the output priority of each node as the objective function and considering constraints such as line flow, power balance, and system flexibility, a mathematical model for regional power grid transmitting flexible power externally is proposed. Compare with the traditional models, this model focuses more on flexibility rather than economy. The case analysis based on the improved IEEE 30-Bus System verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed strategy and its advantages over the traditional models.

Cameroon's national vaccination campaign was launched on April 12, 2021, amid a nationwide outbreak of COVID-19 with two types of vaccines. This study provides preliminary evidence of the level of coverage of the population and gives an early overview of the challenges, the achievements and the lessons learned. COVID-19 vaccine administration data were obtained from data of the Cameroon Ministry of Public Health. Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted. Thirty days after the introduction of COVID 19 vaccines, five percent of the target population was vaccinated. Women represented one third of the people vaccinated regardless of age and health conditions. Although AEFI reported were minor and scanty with both vaccines, the majority of the vaccinated did not come back for their second dose. There is a need to build confidence among eligible beneficiaries in order to expand the benefits of vaccination to control the current pandemic. The country is still far below the target which could be worrisome given that the uptake is slow and, the 391 200 doses of the AstraZeneca are going to expire in August 2021. This study offers insights into those early efforts as a contribution to significant discussions about upcoming approach to improve service delivery and uptake.

The gap junction-coupled astroglial network plays a central role in the regulation of neuronal activity and synchronization, but its involvement in the pathogenesis of neuronal diseases is not yet understood. Here we present the current state of knowledge about the impact of impaired glial coupling in the development and progression of epilepsy and discuss whether astrocytes represent alternative therapeutic targets. We focus mainly on temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), which is the most common form of epilepsy in adults, characterized by high therapy resistance. Functional data from TLE patients and corresponding experimental models point to a complete loss of astrocytic coupling, but preservation of the gap junction forming proteins connexin43 (Cx43) and connexin30 (Cx30) in hippocampal sclerosis. Several studies further indicate that astrocyte uncoupling represents a causal event in the initiation of TLE, as it occurs very early in epileptogenesis, clearly preceding dysfunctional changes in neurons. However, more research is needed to fully understand the role of gap junction channels in epilepsy and to develop safe and effective therapeutic strategies targeting astrocytes.

Fresh water springs are unique natural resources in Florida, currently under threat from increasing groundwater pumping and pollution resulting from a variety of sources. This paper estimates current recreation benefits from visiting springs using the travel cost method and elicits residents’ willingness to contribute for springs restoration using the contingent valuation method. It further compares the performance of count data models correcting for endogenous stratification and truncation, and finds that the annual consumer surplus per person per trip is between $20 and $43. Furthermore, visitors are willing to contribute $12 to $14 per person per trip for springs restoration without reducing trip demand.

The enormous growth in the penetration of electric vehicles (EVs), has laid the path to advancements in the charging infrastructure. Connectivity between charging stations is an essential prerequisite for future EV adoption to alleviate users’ “range anxiety”. The existing charging stations fail to adopt power provision allocation and scheduling management. To improve the existing charging infrastructure data based on real-time information and availability of reserves at charging stations could be uploaded to the users to help them locate the nearest charging station for an EV. This research article focuses on an a interactive user application developed through SQL and PHP platform to allocate the charging slots based on estimated battery parameters, which uses data communication with charging stations to receive the slot availability information. The proposed server-based real-time forecast charging infrastructure avoids waiting times and its scheduling management efficiently prevents the EV from halting on road due to battery drain out. The proposed model is implemented using a low-cost microcontroller and the system etiquette tested.

The 70/30 copper–nickel alloy is mainly used in critical parts with more demanding conditions in marine settings. There is a need for innovative methods that offer fast production and cost-effectiveness to supplement current copper–nickel alloy manufacturing processes. In this study, we employ wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) to fabricate the 70/30 copper–nickel alloy. The as-built microstructure is characterized by columnar grains with prominent dendrites and chemical segregation in the inter-dendritic area. The aspect ratio of the columnar grain increases with increasing travel speed (TS) at the same wire feed speed (WFS). This is in contrast to an equiaxed grain structure with a more random orientation of conventional sample. The sample built with a WFS of 8 m/min, TS of 1000 mm/min, and a track distance of 3.85 mm exhibits superior corrosion properties in the 3.5 wt% NaCl solution compared to the conventional one, as evidenced by a higher film resistance and breakdown potential, along with a lower passive current density of the WAAM sample. The corrosion morphology reveals the critical roles played by the nickel element unevenly distributed between the dendrite core and inter-dendritic area.

Bonding agents (BA) are key compounding ingredients for the correct formulation of composite solid rocket propellants (CSRP). In particular, the addition of BA is essential to achieve suitable mechanical properties of CSRP in terms of adequate tensile strength and elongation at break. It is shown that the polarity of each conventional BA as well as new potential BA can be measured through the Reichardt’s ET(30) polarity scale. Using this criteria it was possible to find a substitute for MAPO (tris-(methylaziridinyl)-phosphine oxide), a conventional BA with the drawback of high toxicity and high reactivity, with TTPT (tris-(pyrrolidine)-phosphine oxide), a completely safe and effective BA. In this work, many other potential BA were evaluated through the Reichardt’s ET(30) polarity scale but only a selection of the potential BA were effectively tested in a standard CSRP. Particular interesting was the evaluation of TTPT vs MAPO showing the ability of the former BA to match the mechanical properties of the latter BA.

After a survey on polymer plasticization theories and conventional criteria to evaluate polymer-plasticizer compatibility through the solubility parameter, an attempt to create a polymer-plasticizers polarity scale through solvatochromic dyes has been made. Since the Reichardt’s ET(30) dye is insoluble in rubber hydrocarbon polymers like polyisoprene, polybutadiene and styrene-butadiene copolymers and is not also useful for the evaluation of the hydrocarbons and ester plasticizers, the Nile Red solvatochromic dye was instead used extensively and successfully for this class of compounds. A total of 53 different compounds were evaluated with the Nile Red dye and wherever possible also with the ET(33) Reichardt’s dye. A very good correlation was then found between the Nile Red scale E(NR) and the Reichardt’s ET(30) scale for this class of compounds focusing on diene rubbers and their typical hydrocarbons and new esters plasticizers. Furthermore, the E(NR) scale shows also a reasonable correlation with the total solubility parameter calculated according to the Van Krevelen method. Based on the above results, some conclusion was made about the compatibility between the diene rubbers and the conventional plasticizers as well as some new and green plasticizer proposed for the rubber compounds.

This study aimed to explore the feasibility of using airborne acoustic emission in laser beam butt welding for the development of an automated classification system based on neural networks. The focus was on monitoring the formation of joint gaps during the welding process. To simulate various sizes of butt joint gaps, controlled welding experiments were conducted, and the emitted acoustic signals were captured using audible to ultrasonic microphones. To implement an automated monitoring system, a method based on short-time Fourier transformation was developed to extract audio features, and a convolutional neural network architecture with data augmentation was utilized. The results demonstrated that this non-destructive and non-invasive approach was highly effective in detecting joint gap formations, achieving an accuracy of 98%. Furthermore, the system exhibited promising potential for low latency monitoring of the welding process. The classification accuracy for various gap sizes reached up to 90%, providing valuable insights for characterizing and categorizing joint gaps accurately. Additionally, increasing the quantity of training data with quality annotations could potentially improve the classifier model's performance further. This suggests that there is room for future enhancements in the study.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of Retrieval-Augmented Gen- 14 eration (RAG) technology with open-source Large Language Models (LLMs). For this purpose, a 15 web-based application named PaSSER that integrates RAG with three models - Mistral:7b, 16 Llama2:7b: Orca2:7b, is developed. In its development various technologies are used, including 17 Blockchain for managing and storing assessment results of built-in testing modules. PaSSER em- 18 ploys a set of evaluation metrics for LLMs’ performance - METEOR, ROUGE, BLEU, Perplexity, 19 Cosine similarity, Pearson correlation, and F1 score. The specialized knowledge base is in the smart 20 agriculture domain. As an illustration, the paper presents results and analysis of two tests. First one 21 is assessing the performance of LLMs across different hardware configurations, the other is deter- 22 mining the model that delivers most accurate and contextually relevant responses within the RAG. 23 The paper also discusses the integration of blockchain technology with LLMs to manage and store 24 assessment results within a blockchain environment. The tests revealed that Mistral:7b demon- 25 strates the best results across most of the evaluated metrics. The discussion section comments on 26 technical and hardware considerations that affect the performance of LLMs. Future development 27 will focus in leveraging new larger pre-trained open-source LLMs, exploring different finetuning 28 approaches, and further integration with Blockchain and IPFS.

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant spike RBD epitopes in complex with spike (S) -protein D614G mutations now predominate globally and increase infectivity by assembling more functional S proteins into the virion. On average, homeopathic medicine contains less than one molecule per dose on average. Single variable SphericalHarmonicY, LaguerreL, WhittakerM, SphericalBesselJ, LegendreP, LegendreQ, LaguerreL, ChebyshevT, and Hypergeometric1F1 Functions pFqarise in connection with the power series solution of the Schrodinger equation or in the summation of perturbation expansions in quantum mechanics. A quantum interpretation of the homeopathic method is presented here through a novel algebraic topology approach to supersymmetry and symmetry breaking in quantum fields and quantum gravity theory with the aim of developing a wide range of physical-based drug design applications in a Small Molecule Quantized Water Memory Network suggesting that the Hidden Black Hole Paradox of Information Loss might be solved under suitable conditions.