Study design: Technical note. Objectives: To present a new technique of treatment for a patient with thoracolumbar focal kyphosis due to osteoporotic verte-bral fracture (OVFs). Background : OVFs are common among the elderly population. Following a severe wedged fracture, patients often experience low back pain and disruptions in activities of daily living. Reconstruction surgeries, such as corpectomy, are among the treatment options for this condition. However, corpectomy requires longer surgical times and involves a significant amount of blood loss. Materials and Methods : An 80-year-old woman presented to our hospital with severe low back pain and gait disturbance. She had experienced an L2 OVF six years prior. Although she had no neurological deficit, she could not walk more than 200m due to pain. Preoperative spinal radiographs revealed severe sagittal malalignment, with the L2 vertebra collapsed and focal kyphosis of L1-3 measuring 34 degrees. Results: The patient underwent anterior and posterior surgery in the right decubitus position using a C-arm free technique. The surgical time was 133 minutes with an estimated blood loss of 100 ml. Hyperlordotic cages were inserted in the upper and lower disc space via a lateral approach, while percutaneous pedicle screws (PPS) were inserted from a posterior approach. These procedures were performed simultaneously under navigation guidance only. Post-operative images showed excellent spinal alignment, with local kyphosis reduced from 34 to 14 degrees, and no major or severe complications occurred. At one-year follow-up, the patient was able to walk smoothly, with her visual analogue scale for low back pain improving from 73mm to 13mm, and her Oswestry Disability Index improving from 53.3% to 13.3%. Conclusions/Level of Evidence : The simultaneous use of hyperlordotic cages and PPS is an effective and innovative navigation technique that yields promising outcomes for thoracolumbar focal kyphosis resulting from OVFs. This approach not only reduces surgical time but also minimizes intraoperative blood loss. Level V.

Study design: Technical note. Objectives: To present a novel technique of treatment for patient with basilar invagination. Background : Basilar invagination (BI) is considered a congenital condition and can compress the cervicomedullary junction, causing neurologic deficit. Severe neurological deficit due to BI should be treated surgically. However, there is controversy regarding whether an anterior or posterior approach should be used. Anterior approach is optimal for decompression of cervicomedullary junction, but this approach has high complication rates. Posterior reduction has a high risk of occipital screws backout and/or instrument failure. Materials and Methods : A 15-year-old boy with severe myelopathy was referred to our hospital. He had neck pain, muscle weakness of bilateral upper limbs, gait disturbance appeared 3 months before he visited our hospital, he drops a cup several times recently. In the examination, he had hyperreflexia of upper and lower limbs and muscle weakness of bilateral arms (MMT 4), hypoesthesis was observed bilaterally below elbow and both legs. He also had clumsiness of bilateral hands, mild urinary and bowel incontinence, and spastic gait. His 10 second grip and release test was 16 in both hands. His grip power was 20 kg in right and 17 kg in left. Radiograms showed severe BI and spinal cord was severely compressed with odontoid process.. Results : The patinet underwent posterior surgery with C-arm free technique. All screws including occipital screws were inserted adequate position under navigation guidance. Reduction was achieved with skull rotation and distraction. A follow-up at one year we have these results : Manual muscle testing results and sensory function tests showed almost full recovery, bilateral arms (MMT 5) ,walking smoothly. Cervical Japanese orthopedic association score of the patient has improved from 9/17 to 16/17. Post-operative images showed an excellent spinal cord decompression, and no major or severe complications has occured . Conclusions/Level of Evidence : Basilar invagination with Klippel-Feil syndrome is relatively rare condition. Posterior approach and occipito-cervical fixation for BI treatment with navigation technique is a safe method to treat severe myelopaty with reducible odontoid. This novel navigation technique provides an excellent results for a patient with BI. Level V.

The weighted K-nearest neighbors (WKNN) algorithm has been widely used in indoor fingerprint localization, which utilizes fingerprint distance (FD) of pairwise positions to discriminate the physical distance (PD) between them. However, due to the varied states of different wireless access points (APs), their contribution to FD discrimination capability varies. In our study, we analyzed several critical causes that affect APs’ contribution, including AP’s health state, the distance, and the direction between APs and position pairs. Inspired by these insights, a threshold was set for all sample RSS to eliminate the impact of abnormal APs on FD, and a correction quantity for each RSS was provided by the distance between APs and sample positions to reduce the strong signal influence on FD. Furthermore, a priority weight was designed by RSS differences (RSSD) to further optimize FD’s capability to discriminate PD. Integrating the above policies, a new indoor fingerprint localization technique is redefined, referred to FD’s discrimination capability improvement WKNN (FDDC-WKNN), which is suitable for indoor scenes with a large number of APs that are not uniformly managed. Our simulation results show that the correlation and consistency between FD and PD are well improved, with strong correlation increasing from 0 to 76% and high consistency increasing from 26% to 99%, which confirms that the proposed policies can greatly enhance FD’s discrimination capabilities to PD, and we also found that abnormal APs can cause significant impact on FDs’ discrimination Capability. Further, by implementing the FDDC-WKNN algorithm in experiments, we obtained the optimal K value in both the simulation scene and real library scene, under which the average localization errors have been reduced from 2.2732m to 1.2183m and from 3.4295m to 2.2068m, respectively. In addition, compared to not using the FDDC-WKNN, the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the localization errors curve converged faster and the errors fluctuation is smaller, which demonstrate FDDC-WKNN having stronger robustness and more stable localization performance to the state of APs in indoor environments.

The presented work is aimed at studying the gas transport characteristics of polymeric hollow-fibre gas separation membranes. Such materials as: polysulfone (PSF), polyphenylene oxide (PFO), polyetherimide (PEI), polyetherimide with polyimide (PEI+PI) were studied on the example of air mixture separation. The values of the permeances of pure gases O2 and N2 and the mixed permeances of oxygen and nitrogen during air separation were obtained. Mathematical models of the gas separation process built on the basis of these values show significant discrepancies. To obtain a gas mixture with 95 mol.% nitrogen from air, taking into account the mixture permeance, 15.8% more PSF membrane area is required than taking into account the permeance of pure gases. For a PPO membrane this value is 13.9%, for PEI 19.8% less area is required, and for PEI+PI 15.9% less. In the design of industrial or semi-industrial membrane installations, such discrepancies can lead to significant errors, including technical and economic ones.

In this paper, a buck DC-DC converter with the proposed twin frequency control scheme (TFCS) and accurate load current sensing (ALCS) have been designed and implemented with 0.18µm CMOS technology for a supply voltage ranging from 2.0-3.0V which is compatible with state-of-the-art batteries (NiCd/NiMH: 1.1-2V, Li-Ion: 2.5-4.2V). The proposed converter yields a peak efficiency of about 92.7% with a load current of 30mA. Furthermore, it only occupies a silicon area of 1.3mm2. The proposed buck converter is dedicated for smartphone applications whereby it spends most of its time in idle, low load conditions.

A novel electrophoretic technique to improve the sensing capabilities of charged particles in solution is presented. The proposed technique may improve the ability of metasurfaces to sense charged particles in solution by forcing them to preferentially sediment within metasurface regions of greatest sensitivity. Such a technique may be useful in various sensing applications, such as in biological, polymer, or environmental sciences, where low concentration particles in solution are of interest. The electrophoretic technique was simulated and experimentally tested using latex nanoparticles in solution. The results suggest that, using this technique, one may theoretically increase the particle density within the metasurface regions of greatest sensitivity by nearly 1900% in comparison to random sedimentation due to evaporation. Such an increase in particle density within the regions of greatest sensitivity may facilitate more precise material property measurements and enhance identification and detection capabilities of metasurfaces to low concentration particles in solution. It was experimentally verified that the electrophoretic technique enabled the preferential gathering of latex nanoparticles within the most sensitive metasurface regions, resulting in 900% - 1700% enhancements in metasurface sensing capabilities.

Data scarcity is a significant challenge in the field of Machine Learning (ML), as data collection can be expensive, time-consuming, and difficult, particularly in developing countries. This challenge is exaggerated on the need to use dataset for livestock disease predictions for early intervention and surveillance. To address this challenge, this paper presents a data synthesis method that has been used to accurately generate new data samples from few real-world data. With much data available to train the ML models, overfitting is eliminated. We present the use of Generative Adversarial Networks mainly the Conditional Tabular Generative Adversarial Network to synthesize categorical data for training machine learning models for prediction of the Pestes des Petits Ruminants (PPR) disease. The results showed that training score became 0.89 and the cross-validation score was 0.87 after synthesized data was used with Random Forest algorithm. The resulting dataset can be used to support the prediction and surveillance of the Pestes des Petits Ruminants (PPR) disease. The proposed method can also be applied to any domain with categorical data, and has the potential to improve the performance of machine learning models with increased data availability.

Frosty pod rot, caused by Moniliophthora roreri, is the most damaging disease of cacao in Latin America. However, to better comprehend its epidemiology, we must understand its dissemination and proliferation. Still, we ignore how loads of M. roreri spores fluctuate across growing seasons since we lack a reliable technique to quantify M. roreri spores in the fields. Therefore, we developed a method that uses a spore trap to capture M. roreri spores and qPCR to quantify them. This study demonstrated that this technique could quantify 3.9 x104 M. roreri spores with a 95 % confidence level. However, it could not differentiate between M. roreri and its close relative, M. perniciosa. Despite this limitation, we could detect and quantify Moniliophthora spores from environmental samples taken from a cacao field. This technique can help the phytopathologist address studies more accurately in disseminating cacao pathogens.

Tri-dimensional (3D) cell aggregates or spheroids are considered to be closer to physiological conditions than traditional 2D cell culture. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) assembling in spheroids have increased the survival of transplanted cells. The regulation of the biological processes that maintain crucial physiological reactions of MSCs is closely related to the functioning of ion channels. The pattern of expression, role and regulatory mechanisms of ion channels could be significantly different in 3D compared to 2D culture, and, thus, needed to be properly analyzed on the level of ionic currents. We developed a specific approach that allowed us to register, for the first time, endogenous ion channels in endometrial MSCs (eMSCs) assembled in spheroids. Particularly, using the single-channel patch-clamp technique, we have recorded the activity of ion channels and observed their functional interplay in mechanosensitive clusters. Our experimental protocol could be applied for identification and studying of ion channels in 3D cell cultures.

In this work, we investigate the ability of a data assimilation technique and space-borne observations to quantify and monitor changes in nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions over North-Western Greece for the summers of 2018 and 2019. In this region, four lignite-burning power plants are located. The data assimilation technique, based on the Ensemble Kalman Filter method, is employed to combine space-borne atmospheric observations from the high spatial resolution Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P) Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) and simulations using the LOTOS-EUROS Chemical Transport model. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service-Regional European emissions (CAMS-REG, version 4.2) inventory based on year 2015 is used as the a priori in the simulations. Surface measurements of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from air quality stations operating in the region are compared with the model surface NO2 output using either the a priori (base run) or the a posteriori (assimilated run) NOx emissions. The high biases found between the in situ NO2 measurements and the base run surface NO2 decrease in the assimilated run in most cases. The bias in the station near the largest power plant decreases to 2.0 μg/m3 (2.83 μg/m3) from 10.5 μg/m3 (8.46 μg/m3) in 2019 (2018 respectively). Concerning the estimated annual a posteriori NOx emissions it was found that, for the pixels hosting the two largest power plants, the assimilated run results in emissions decreased by ~40-50% for 2018 compared to 2015, whereas a larger decrease, of ~70% for both power plants, was found for 2019, after assimilating the space-born observations. For the same power plants, the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) reports decreased emissions in 2018 and 2019 compared to 2015 (-35% and -38% in 2018, -62% and -72% in 2019), in good agreement with the estimated emissions. We further compare the a posteriori emissions to the reported energy production of the power plants during the summer of 2018 and 2019. Mean decreases of about -35% and-63% in NOx emissions are estimated for the two larger power plants in summer of 2018 and 2019, respectively, which are supported by similar decreases in the reported energy production of the power plants (~-30% and -70%, respectively).

Fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy, used particularly in developing countries. There are insufficient fossil fuels and their availability is gradually declining. This leads to a steady increase in prices. Renewable energy is clean, cost-effective and limitless. The considerable population growth and industrial growth have made the construction of solar power plants essential in developing countries. The study used Boolean logical-AHP techniques to select a suitable site for solar power in Duhok Governorate. The result indicated that 68.5% of the area in the governorate of Duhok is available for solar power station construction, especially the most appropriate zone which has 132.2 sq. km and can provide more than 8000 megawatts of solar energy. Most of the appropriate areas are in the south and southwest regions of the governorate, located mostly in the districts of Bardarash, Shekhan and Semel, situated between the major cities of Mosul, Erbil and Duhok. These locations can supply a significant amount of clean, renewable energy for these areas.

In Thailand, the topic of medical ethics and laws related to medical professions has been one part of the national competency assessment criteria. The objective of this article was to design legal issues into the medical curriculum and to share experiences of creative legal study. Legal contents were inserted into 10 subjects and taught for year 1 to year 6 medical students. Students were divided into multi-groups or received individual tasks and then, shared their knowledge and idea for solving legal problems. The results showed they could interpret and create novel ideas for legal and ethical reconstruction, including the topic of the principle of laws, criminal laws, civil and commercial laws, public health laws, organ donation/transplantation, end of life decisions, and legal liability for the medical profession. Finally, the creative legal study can be used as a novel approach to support creativity among medical students.

Hardened air void analysis provides essential information of concrete freeze-thaw durability based on the size and spacing of air voids in the material. As the physical freeze-thaw experiment is time-consuming and costly, the characteristics of concrete air voids are often deemed as a proxy of the freeze-thaw performance. This analysis is typically done by measuring the 2D air void intersections on polished samples, but the current interpretation of the 2D void characters does not accurately represent the actual void structure in 3D. To solve this problem, a 2D-to-3D unfolding technique has been proposed in the field of stereology. However, the unfolding analysis is known to be sensitive to several factors, such as void population and size along with a binning scheme, where improper unfolding can considerably bias the prediction of the actual concrete void system. This study investigates the optimal strategy of conducting the unfolding analysis for concrete. The investigation is carried out on both idealized void systems to interrogate the influence of the critical factors individually, and real concrete samples with varying levels of air entrainment to assess the concrete-specific impacts. The concrete void system is studied based on a stereological model emulating the intersected 3D air voids on the surface of polished concrete. The results highlight that, for unfolding concrete voids, logarithmic binning scheme is far more accurate to linear binning. The low unfolding error of the concrete samples indicates that the proposed methodology enables an accurate restoration of 3D void size distribution.

Rice wheat cropping system prevailed in more than fifty percent areas of rice belt of central and upper Punjab. In this area yield of wheat is curtailed every year due to late harvesting of rice crop. In addition to this, lack of machinery for direct sowing of wheat into combine harvested rice is a major limitation for timely wheat sowing due to presence of heavy straw load dropped by the combine harvester. A field experiment was planned and executed during two consecutive years 2017-18 and 2018-19 at Agronomic Research Station Farooqabad to evaluate the various stubble management techniques for the sowing of wheat in a rice-wheat cropping system. The Experiment consist of four treatments Happy seeder (Zero tillage), conventional sowing without burning of rice stubble, Rotavator two times, and Conventional sowing with the burning of rice stubble. The trail was arranged as a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications having a net plot size of 8 m x 20 m. The Treatments have significant effects on Plant height, Number of productive tillers, 1000- grain weight, and grain yield. Maximum plant height (94.74 and 94.25 cm), numbers of productive tillers/m2 (324.00 and 322.25), 1000-grain weight (36.35 and 36.20 g), grain yield (3780 and 3613 kg/ha), and benefit-cost ratio (2.54 and 2.43) were recorded from the treatment happy seeder (Zero tillage) during both years respectively. It is concluded that the sowing of wheat with a happy seeder (Zero tillage) is an appropriate technique in the rice-wheat cropping system by protecting the environment and soil health from the burning of rice stubbles.

In this paper, a solenoid based linearly movable armature system is designed using robust control theory in order to improve the performance of the system. Reference track method is the best performance analysis for position control systems. Among the robust controllers, H infinity mixed-sensitivity and Mixed H 2 /H∞ with Regional Pole Placement Controllers are used to improve the performance of the system. Comparison of the proposed controllers for tracking a reference displacement signals (step and sine wave) and a promising simulation result have been obtained.

A novel coronavirus, named 2019-nCoV, is responsible for current epidemic outbreaks in China and also other countries that cause acute pneumonia that was primarily linked to a seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, China. To control and prevent the existing epidemic outbreaks of coronavirus in China, a precise and easy disinfection/sterilization technique is important to disinfect/sterilize the mass-level peoples and their ambient environments (e.g. atmospheric air/aerosols). Among the disinfection techniques, control fire/flame (CF) could be applied. Large-size CF (LSCF) can be generated by using gas burner, gas cylinder that used in restaurant, coals, kerosene (petroleum), dried straws, dried woods) at entry and exit points of big gathering locations (e.g. hospital, airport, rail stations, seaports, apartments, streets/roads, etc. Additionally, small-size CF (SSCF) can be produced by using gas burner of kitchen, electric heater, kindle or waste papers at individual home and ward/room at hospital. Individual person can be soaked/immersed their hands and their belongings nearby CF for a moment, likely followed sterilization during quantification of the number of bacteria in experimental observation, that can rapidly sterilize the person perfectly. Correspondingly, the ambient air/aerosols moved towards CF due to water evaporation by fire that subsequently refresh all ambient air/aerosols by killing all viruses. Such CF could certainly reach the temperature higher than 56 degree C that could effectively disinfect/sterilize/kill the coronavirus. Therefore, CF could be effectively applied to control and prevent the epidemic outbreaks of coronavirus across China and worldwide.

Few switching transitions in high power and medium voltage application of Power converters are desirable. The selective harmonics elimination (SHE) pulse width modulation offers a better quality waveform with lower switching transitions and hence lower switching losses. The SHE is a pre-programmed modulation technique where certain amounts of lower order harmonics are removed and fundamental voltage is controlled. After Fourier analysis of output waveform, a set of nonlinear transcendental equations is obtained which exhibits, multiple, unique or no solution in different range of modulation index (MI). In this paper, an iterative method based on the Jacobian estimate is proposed to solve a highly non-linear set of SHE equations. The proposed technique is easy in implementation and can solve a large number of such equations as computation of the Jacobian matrix in the subsequent iteration is estimated from the previous values. Moreover, the proposed method also removes the singularity problem, especially for large SHE equations. High accuracy in the initial guess is also not essential for this method and can converge to the solution with any random initial guess. The computational and simulation results are given to validate the concept. The hardware result is provided to confirm the computational and simulation results.

Oil and gas pipeline vandalism is a recurrent problem in oil rich zones of Nigeria and its West African neighbors and remains a challenge for multinationals to set ahead control measures to avert possible damages to operations both in infrastructure and business profit margins. In this paper, an integrative systems model comprising of a machine intelligence technique called Hierarchical Temporal Memory (HTM) and a sequence learning neural network called the Online-Sequential Extreme Learning Machine (OS-ELM) is proposed for monitoring and prediction of pipeline pressure data. The system models the continual prediction of pipeline oil/gas pressure signals useful for secure monitoring and control to avert acts of vandalism in oil and gas installations. The HTM uses a spatial pooler operated in temporal aggregated fashion and is defined as HTM-SP. The OS-ELM technique uses an explicit hierarchical training scheme so that the best cost estimates may be found after a stipulated number of trial runs. We study the performance of three OS-ELM neural activations: the sigmoid (sig), sinusoidal (sin) and radial basis function (rbf) activations. The results indicate improvement factors of 1.297, 1.297 and 1.300 of the HTM-SP over the OS-ELM sigmoid, sinusoidal and radial basis activations respectively.

Background. This is a retrospective analysis of the results of treatment for varicose veins using the sandwich technique with cyanoacrylate glue and foam sclerotherapy. This novel method al-lows for substantial reduction of amount of glue needed for the vein closure, and minimizes the risk of granuloma formation and allergic reaction related to the epifascial administration of cy-anoacrylate. Methods: This technique was used in 60 patients, 77 intrafascial veins were managed. Vein closures were performed with Venex cyanoacrylate glue and 1-3% polidocanol foam. All proce-dures were done under ultrasonographic control, though direct percutaneous punctures of target veins. Follow-up were scheduled 1-3 week after the procedure. If revealed, unclosed segments of the target veins were obliterated at these follow-up visits, with glue and/or sclerotherapy. Results. There were no serious adverse events intra- or postprocedurally. The technical success rate was 100%. The primary success rate at 1-3 week follow-up was 84.4%. The primary assisted success rate, after additional closures, was 100%. Conclusions. We demonstrated that the treatment for varicose veins, using sandwich tech-nique, which combines cyanoacrylate glue and foam sclerotherapy, can be safe and efficient.

Seven pieces of Lacquer Lian from Warring States Period to Yuan Dynasty (475 BC- 1368 AD) were analyzed by means of cross-section observation, Raman spectroscopy (RS) and thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography/ mass spectroscopy (Py-GC/MS). The results demonstrated that Lacquer Lian was consisted by three layers, including pigment layer in the surface, undercoat layer in the middle and ground layer, the red mineral pigment was cinnabar, and mixture of Chinese lacquer and drying oil was applied as main organic materials. Although lacquering techniques had undergone minimal changes from Warring States Period to Yuan Dynasty, the species of drying oil had changed based on the fact that boiled tung oil was found in the ground layer of lacquerwares from Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty. The present research provided direct evidence for the inheritance and development of Chinese lacquer technology.

Blasting pattern optimization is an attempt to optimize blast design parameters aiming to achieve optimum fragmentation, reduce mining operating costs as well as environmental side consequences. The present study aims to propose a multi-objective optimization model, employing artificial intelligence and metaheuristics, to simultaneously minimize the mine-to-crusher operating costs and the impact of blasting consequences including fly-rock and back-break. To achieve the purpose of the study, a multi-variable regression model was developed to model total costs from drilling to crushing. In addition to the costs, multilayer perception neural networks were implemented to predict the blast-induced back-break and fly-rock as a function of collected variables such as number of holes, hole length, burden, spacing, hole slope, stemming, blasted rock per hole, powder factor, and charge per delay. High-precise estimations for both back-break and fly-rock were achieved with the average of 99% coefficient of determination for train, test and validation data sets. Then, the developed regression model and the neural networks were used in an optimization framework, employing Grasshopper algorithm, to find the optimum blast design satisfying practical constraints. The proposed model was tested on a lead-zinc open-pit mine, where 1032 blasting patterns were recorded and analyzed. The results of the optimization model provide a Pareto set of solutions, such that any of these solutions can be implemented according to the strategy of the mining operation management team. The blast pattern with the lowest cost, result in a relatively high fly-rock and back-break, while the pattern with low fly-rock and back-break raises the cost by 20.13 % compared the minimum cost blast design.

This paper is a further development of our “Proposal of a new double-nozzle technique for in-gas-jet laser resonance ionization spectroscopy” published in journal Atoms earlier in this year. Here, we propose to equip the proposed double-nozzle technique with the RF-only funnel and RF-buncher placed in the gas-jet chamber at 70 mm distance downstream the double-nozzle exit. It allows for highly effective extraction into vacuum heavy ion beams, produced in two-steps laser resonance ionization in the argon supersonic jet. We explored the operation of this new full version of the double-nozzle technique through detailed gas dynamic and then Monte Carlo trajectory simulations, which results are presented and discussed. In particularly, we have shown by calculations that more than 80% of all nobelium-254 neutral atoms, extracted by argon flow from the gas stopping cell through the double-nozzle into the supersonic jet can be extracted into vacuum in a form of pulsed ion beam having low transverse and longitudinal emittance.s dynamic and Monte Carlo simulations

Background: Trigeminal neuralgia associated to vascular compression, by aberrant or ectopic arterial or venous vessels, is a frequent condition in clinical practice. Management with microvascular decompression through a Minimal invasive retrosigmoidal has shown high rates of pain control, with low complication rates and excellent therapeutic results. Objective: To describe the surgical technique and clinical outcomes in terms of pain relief after microvascular decompression for trigeminal nerve, through a minimal invasive retrosigmoidal parasterional burr-hole technique. Methods: A group of patients with trigeminal neuralgia refractory to medical management who underwent microvascular decompression considering outcomes based on Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and Barrow Neurological Institute Pain Scale (BNIPS). Added to a technical note of the surgical technique for a minimal invasive retrosigmoidal parasterional burr-hole. Results: Twenty-two patients were evaluated, clinical assessment after surgical intervention showed a decrease pain according to VAS, resulting from an average preoperative state of 9.5 ± 0.37 to a postoperative condition of 1.32 ± 1.28, exhibiting statistically significant changes (p < 0.0001, d = 9.356). On the other hand, in relation to the BNIPS scale, a decrease from an average preoperative status of 4.55 ± 0.25, to a postoperative status at 12 months of 1.73 ± 0.54 was also demonstrated, showing significant changes (p < 0.0001, d = 3.960). Conclusion: Microvascular decompression of the trigeminal nerve through a minimal invasive retrosigmoidal parasterional burr-hole is feasible and can be a safe and effective technique for the management of pain.

In this experimental work, pure nickel oxide and Al-doped NiO thin films have successfully been elaborated onto glass substrates by solar spray pyrolysis technique. The substrates were heated at around 450°C using a solar heater (furnace). The structural, optical and electrical properties of the elaborated Al-doped films have been studied at different atomic percentage ratios (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 at. %). The results of Al-doped NiO films XRD patterns were, the formation of (NiO) phase under a cubic crystalline structure (polycrystalline) with a strong favored orientation along (111) plane were noticed at all sprayed films. When Al doping ratio reaches 1 at.%, an growth in crystallite size over 31.9 nm was obtained denoting the nano-structure of the product, which confirmed by SEM images. In addition, aluminum oxide Al₂O₃ was clearly observed at 1.5 at.% Al ratio. Otherwise, all thin films have a good optical transmission in the visible region of about 65%, the optical band gap energy decreased from 3.69 to 3.64 eV with increasing Al doping ratio. It is shown that the layer deposited with 0.5 at.% has less disorder with few defects. The investigation on electrical properties of elaborated thin films confirmed that the conductivity of NiO films was improved, after doping them with Al which affirms their p-type character of semiconductor. However, an addition of an excessive quantity of Al content causes the formation of Al₂O₃ which leads to a decrease in the conductivity. It is worth mentioning that the Al content of 0.5 at.% is the optimum ratio in terms of electrical conductivity and formation defect. Al-doped NiO can be used in various optoelectronic devices due to its good transparency and high electrical conductivity.

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been linked to psoriasis, and may be an important underlying factor contributing to this disease. However, a precise methodology for assessing mitochondrial dysfunction has yet to be developed. One promising approach is to measure NADH autofluorescence from affected skin areas. In this study, we show that Flow Mediated Skin Fluorescence (FMSF) can be used for non-invasive assessment of mitochondrial dysfunction in psoriasis. The fluorescence level at baseline and the half-time of ischemic growth (t1/2) derived from the FMSF traces can be used for non-invasive assessment of NADH/NAD+ redox imbalance in psoriatic lesions compared to unaffected skin. These results are supported by analysis of the key FMSF parameters, Reactive Hyperemia Response (RHR) and Hypoxia Sensitivity (HS). This method not only contributes to understanding of the biochemical processes involved in the etiopathogenesis of psoriasis, but also provides a basis for identifying new drug targets and improving the treatment process.

Detecting, especially locating local degradations at an incipient stage, is very important for mission-critical high voltage rotating machines. One particular challenge of the existing testing techniques is that the characteristic of a local incipient defect is not prominent due to various factors such as averaging with the healthy remainder, attenuation in signal propagation, interference, and varied operating conditions. This paper proposes and investigates the frequency domain reflectometry (FDR) technique based on scattering parameter measurement. The FDR result presents the object length, wave impedance, and reflections due to impedance discontinuity along the measured windings. Experiments were performed on two commercial coils with artificially made defects. These defects include turn-to-turn short, surface creepage, loose coils, and local overheating, which are commonly seen in practice. Two practical water pumps in the field were also selected for investigation. The study outcome shows that the FDR can identify and locate both structure and insulation degradations of both shielded and unshielded objects with good sensitivity. This makes the FDR a comprehensive tool for fault diagnosis and aging assessment.

In order to monitor the diversity of terrestrial biomes, the Earth Exploration Satellite Services demand a high data rate for downlink transmissions while sharing their frequency spectrum with, and suffering interferences from, cellular Base Stations. Both highlight the dilemmas of spectral efficiency (bps/Hz) and spectral coexistence. Our research aims to mitigate interference on low orbit satellite downlinks using Cognitive Radio (CR) and Adaptive MODulation and CODing (MODCOD) techniques. To fulfill this: 1) we present CR approaches to enhance spectrum exploitation. Next, 2) we detail Adaptive MODCOD (ACM) technique to increase RF power and spectral efficiencies. Then, 3) we suggest the solution by combining 1) and 2). Afterwards, 4) we analyze it by monitoring the signal to interference plus noise ratio and the CR/MODCOD strategy. Finally, 5) we provide case studies to demonstrate the strategy’s effectiveness through the practical operation of satellite services, and 6) we conduct a bench test of the communication system.

One of the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has lent urgency to ongoing discussions on mental well-being. While standard techniques are available to diagnose mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and stress, ambiguity persists regarding the emotional aspect of well-being. Emotional well-being (EWB) is a recently developed concept that seeks to understand the contribution of emotions to one’s well-being. Interactive approaches for such investigations are recommended to understand people’s contextual experiences. In this study, we use a qualitative approach to examine the psychological impact of the built environment on its residents to formulate the desiderata for an ideal place based on their perceptions. We use personal construct theory and the associated qualitative repertory grid technique. We recruited 15 students from the United Arab Emirates University and obtained information on their perceptions of three built environments they experienced. The findings revealed information on the students’ emotional constructs that were associated with a set of design-related factors, and the way the ideal hostel should be characterized in response to these associations. These findings enrich our knowledge of EWB within built environments and can inform their future design by considering the emotional aspect of the well-being of residents.

BackgroundIndex level disc herniation following lumbar spinal decompression is somewhat overlooked as postoperative complication, resulting in return of symptoms. It is proposed that the combination of local instability and degenerated disc is more likely to result in disc herniation. There is no literature comparing post-decompression disc herniation rates between different techniques. This study compares the postoperative disc herniation rates of the "mini-open" laminectomy versus the tubular system decompression.MethodsIn a retrospective comparative study, 563 patient files who underwent primary lumbar spinal decompression, were reviewed and divided into two groups, distinguished by surgical technique. Demographic, clinical, and postoperative data were collected and compared using independent two-tailed t-test and Fisher's exact test with significance set at p<0.05. Primary outcome: comparison of post-decompression surgery, index level, disc herniation occurrence between two surgical techniques.ResultsPostoperative index level disc herniation was significantly lower in the minimally invasive surgery group with 2 cases (0.8%) versus 19 cases (5.8%) in the "mini-open" group [p=0.002]. Disc herniation following single level and multi-level operations were also significantly lower in the minimally invasive group compared with the "mini-open" group (2 versus 11 and 0 versus 8 respectively; p<0.05).ConclusionPostoperative index level disc herniation following lumbar spinal decompression occurs in 3.7% of surgeries. Minimally invasive surgery is found to result in less herniations then "mini-open".

The aim of this study is to propose and validate the state space mode decomposition technique for precise mode separation of non-classical damping systems and closely distributed modal systems. To assess the reliability and applicability of this technique, a 40-story building with a tuned mass damper is investigated, and acceleration responses measured by the building's health monitoring system are used for the verification of the technique. The mode separation results reveal that the separated modal power spectrum becomes distorted at neighboring natural frequency ranges when the performance index only considers the concentration of power spectral energy at the target natural frequency. However, by introducing an augmented performance index that includes a constraint condition to account for distortion, more accurate mode decomposition can be achieved.

In this paper a new double-nozzle technique for in-gas-jet laser resonance ionization spectroscopy is proposed. The functionality of this new technique we explored by detailed gas dynamic and Monte Carlo atom-trajectory simulations, which results are presented and discussed. The results of similar computer simulations for JetRIS setup (as a typical representative of the conventional nowadays in-gas-jet technique) are presented and discussed as well. The direct comparison of calculation results for proposed new technique with the conventional one shows that the double-nozzle technique has many advantages compared with that one used in the JetRIS setup at GSI for future high-resolution laser spectroscopic study of heaviest elements. To fully implement the proposed new technique to all existing (or under construction) setups for in-gas-jet laser resonance ionization spectroscopy, it will be enough just replace the used their supersonic nozzle by the miniature double-nozzle device described in the paper.

A novel technique using a W-band metasurface for the purpose of transmissive fine powder layer sensing is presented. The proposed technique may allow for the detection, identification, and characterization of inhomogeneous ultrafine powder layers which are effectively hundreds of times thinner than the incident wavelengths used to sense them. Such a technique may be useful during personnel screening processes (i.e., at an airport) and in industrial manufacturing environments where early detection and quantization of harmful airborne particulates can be a matter of security or safety. To our knowledge, the requisite science involved in such a novel W-band metasurface sensing technique has not been fully explored.

Alternating current field measurement (ACFM) testing is one of promising techniques in the field of non-destructive testing with advantages of the non-contact capability and the reduction of lift-off effects. In this paper, a novel crack detection approach is proposed to reduce the effect of the angled crack (cack orientation) by using rotated ACFM techniques. The sensor probe is composed of an excitation coil and two receiving coils. Two receiving coils are orthogonally placed in the centre of the excitation coil where the magnetic field is measured. It is found that the change of the x component and the peak value of the z component of the magnetic field when the sensor probe rotates around a crack follows a sine wave shape. A customised accelerated finite element method solver programmed in MATLAB is adopted to simulate the performance of the designed sensor probe which can significantly improve the computation efficiency due to the small crack perturbation. The experiments have also been carried out to validate the simulations. It is found that the ratio between the z and x components of the magnetic field remains stable under various rotation angles. It shows the potential to estimate the depth of the crack from the ratio detected by combining the magnetic fields from both receiving coils (i.e., the x and z components of the magnetic field) using the rotated ACFM technique.

Poplar is a globalized commercial tree species that supports humanity's economy, energy, and ecology. To evaluate the twelve hybrid Populus euramericana genotypes developed in China, a total of six locations were selected for the test, comprising four climatic types and three soil kinds. The objective of this study is to characterize the early stages of Populus euramericana growth and test locations; to identify good genotypes for stable and high yield that may be encouraged; and to offer practical experience and technical assistance for further breeding of Populus euramericana. Main research methods include the statistical description of tree heights and diameter at breast heights[DBH], the establishment of a mixed effect model to analyze the genotype and environmental interaction effect [G×E], the use of best linear unbiased prediction[BLUP] values as GGE biplots to achieve visual screening, and the calculation of genetic parameters. Results show that the genotype effect [G], the environmental effect [E], and the G×E is significant; the BLUP value has a strong correspondence with the observed value; the goodness of fit of all biplots can explain more than 85% of the variation; broad-sense heritability of tree height and DBH is 0.13 and 0.3, type-B correlation is 0.36 and 0.65; G5, G7, G4 and G9 are excellent genotypes with high yield and stability; using these four genotypes tree height and DBH can get 3.35% and 0.81% genetic gains.The study concludes as follows: Rank-change interaction and scale-effect interaction were distinctly occurred. The G, E, and G×E all had a significant effect on the growth of poplar trees during their early stage. G4, G5, G7, and G9 genotypes have favorable development characteristics. N146 is a great source of paternal genetics.

Cogging torque is a pulsating, parasitic and undesired torque ripple intrinsic of the design of a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG), which should be minimized due to its adverse effects: vibration and noise. In addition, as aerodynamic power is low during start-up at low wind speeds in small wind energy systems, the cogging torque must be as low as possible to achieve a low cut-in speed. A novel mitigation technique using compound pre-slotting, based on a combination of magnetic and non-magnetic materials, is investigated. The finite element technique is used to calculate the cogging torque of a real PMSG design for a small wind turbine, with and without using compound pre-slotting. The results show that cogging torque can be reduced by a factor of 48% with this technique, while avoiding the main drawback of the conventional pre-slotting technique: the reduction of induced voltage due to leakage flux between stator teeth. Furthermore, through a combination of pre-slotting and other cogging torque optimization techniques, 84%, cogging torque can be eliminated for a given design.

In the present study, field observation wind data from the time of the wind turbine blade damage accident on Shiratakiyama Wind Farm were analyzed in detail. In parallel, high-resolution LES turbulence simulations were performed in order to examine the model’s ability to numerically reproduce terrain-induced turbulence. The comparison of the observed and simulated time series (1 second average values) from a 10 minute period from the time of the accident led to the conclusion that the settings of the horizontal grid resolution and time increment are important to numerically reproduce the terrain-induced turbulence that caused the wind turbine blade damage accident on Shiratakiyama Wind Farm. A spectral analysis of the same set of observed and simulated data revealed that the simulated data reproduced the energy cascade of the actual terrain-induced turbulence well.

Grading of rice grains has gain attentions due its requirement of quality assessment during import or export. Rice grain quality depends on milling operation, where rice hull is removed with a huller system followed by whitening operation. In such process, adjustment of rollers, control, and operation is important in terms of quality of milled rice. Especially, the basmati rice needed more quality assurance as it is not parboiled rice and exported globally with a high product value. In this present work, the basic problem of quality assessment in rice industry is addressed with digital image processing based technique. Machine vision and digital image processing provide an alternative with the automated, nondestructive, cost-effective, and fast approach as compared with traditional method which is done manually by human inspectors. A model of quality grade testing and identification is built based on morphological features using digital image processing and knowledge based adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The qualities of rice kernels are determined with the help of shape descriptors and geometric features using the sample images of milled rice. The adopted technique has been tested on a sufficient number of training images of basmati rice grain. The proposed method gives a promising result in an evaluation of rice quality with 100% classification accuracy for broken and whole grain. The milling efficiency is also assessed using the ratio between head rice and broken rice percentage and it is 77.27% for the test sample. The overall results of the adopted methodology are promising in terms of classification accuracy and efficiency.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) while being an efficient scheme for high data rate wireless communications has drawbacks such as higher Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR). To reduce PAPR, use of multiple signal representation technique such as Partial Transmit Sequence (PTS) is one of the favored techniques. However, the use of conventional PTS technique need excessive number of complex calculations in order to search for all permissible combinations of phase sequences causing steep increase in complexity in terms of complex computations. Paper aims to reduce the cumbersome process of phase selection by making use of the similarity of the phase vectors. The phase vectors are obtained sequentially and thus minimize the number of changes from one phase vector to another. Theoretical analysis shows that computational complexity is significantly reduced with the help of this proposed novel technique. We have also demonstrated that PAPR values are similar i.e. PAPR reduction capability remains similar but at reduced complexity.

The paper focuses on the application of a multilevel, integrative and territorial approach to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. It points out the problems of the sectoral approach and discusses international recommendations that can be integrated into the planning methodology. The case study is the area of Djerdap National Park, which has an already established international and national importance. The research suggests that the cultural heritage in the area, with the exception of the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual localities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The interna-tional and national importance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the inte-gration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

Abstract: Background: The analysis of vitamins in baby food is a challenging task given the com-plexity of the food matrix, vitamin stability, and strict regulations of the European Union regarding permissible deviations from declared values. Vitamins in food exist in different concentrations and forms and have different stabilities, and it is not straightforward to prepare samples for reliable analysis using the same procedure. Therefore, significant attention has been devoted to optimizing sample preparation in the analysis of vitamins. Methods: This study aims to determine which of the seven applied extraction methods is the most efficient for the simultaneous extraction and deter-mination of A, D, E, and K vitamins in milk and baby food using high-performance liquid chro-matography (HPLC). Different samples of baby food were prepared in seven different ways based on four methods (saponification, enzymatic hydrolysis, solvent extraction, and solid-phase extrac-tion). Results and Conclusion: The best preparation method proved to be solid-phase extraction with a C18 stationary phase, and HPLC with a UV-VIS detector was identified as a sufficiently sensitive technique for the identification and quantification of fat-soluble vitamins in milk and baby food.

Observations of ocean surface winds from Indian scatterometer SCATSAT-1 have been combined with background wind field from a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model available at National Centre for Medium Range Weather Prediction (NCMRWF) to generate a 6-hourly gridded hybrid wind product. A distinctive feature of the study is to produce a global gridded wind field from SCATSAT-1 scatterometer passes with spatio-temporal data gaps at regular synoptic hours relevant for forcing models and other NWP studies. This is done by making use of concepts from the modern particle filter technique, which does not represent the model probability density function (PDF) following the Gaussian technique. The 6 hourly hybrid wind is generated for the entire year of 2018 and is validated using the wind speed from daily gridded level-4 SCATSAT-1 winds (L4AW), Cross Calibrated Multi-Platform dataset (CCMP) and global buoy data from National Data Buoy Centre (NDBC). The results indicate potential of the technique to produce scatterometer winds at the desired temporal frequency with significantly less noise and along swath biases. The study shows the generated hybrid winds have very high quality with respect to the already existing daily product available from ISRO.

Glycosidic linkage analysis was conducted on the unfractionated polysaccharides in the alcohol-insoluble residues (AIRs) prepared from six red seaweeds (Gracilariopsis sp., Prionitis sp., Mastocarpus papillatus, Callophyllis sp., Mazzaella splendens, and Palmaria palmata) using GC-MS/FID analysis of partially methylated alditol acetates (PMAAs). The cell walls of P. palmata primarily contained mixed-linkage xylans and small amounts of sulfated galactans and cellulose. In contrast, the unfractionated polysaccharides of the other five species were rich in galactans displaying diverse 3,6-anhydro-galactose and galactose linkages with varied sulfation patterns. Different levels of cellulose were also observed. This glycosidic linkage method offers advantages for cellulose analysis over traditional monosaccharide analysis that is known for underrepresenting glucose in crystalline cellulose. Relative linkage compositions calculated from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements showed that anhydro sugar linkages generated more response in the latter detection method. This improved linkage workflow presents a useful tool for studying polysaccharide structural variations across red seaweed species. Furthermore, for the first time, relative linkage compositions from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements, along with normalized FID and total ion current (TIC) chromatograms without peak assignments, were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the technique's potential to differentiate various red seaweed species.

Background: Educating college students about the importance of good sleep habits could lead to the adoption of healthier sleep routines, including sufficient sleep duration and sleep quality. The current pre-post study examines the impact of completing a sleep education program called “Sleep 101” on (1) sleep hygiene practices, (2) sleep quality, and (3) weekday and weekend sleep behaviors among college students. “Sleep 101” is an interactive online course developed to educate college students about the importance of sleep by addressing basic sleep physiology, the impact of sleep on mood, academic and physical performance, the interactions between sleep and various substances, and common sleep disorders. Methods: 338 college students were recruited from a midsized public university in the US and invited to participate in “Sleep 101”, of which 25 participants completed the baseline and post-intervention questionnaire. The Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) was utilized to evaluate sleep hygiene practices, while standard questions were employed to assess weekday and weekend sleep behaviors and overall sleep quality. Results: Those who completed the study demonstrated a significant increase in weekday sleep duration and were less likely to engage in negative prior bedtime activities. In addition, 40% of those who completed baseline and post-intervention assessments noticed improvements in their sleep quality. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a brief online program is beneficial in improving sleep behaviors among college and could be a scalable approach to addressing current sleep issues and preventing future sleep problems in college students.

The profile of secondary metabolites occurring in apple cuticular layer is not only characteristic for particular apple cultivar, but also dynamically reflects various external factors in growing environment. In this study, the possibility to authenticate apple samples based on analysis of their cuticular layer extracts was investigated. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) was employed for obtaining metabolomic fingerprints. In total, 274 authentic apple samples, four cultivars harvested within the seasons 2020 to 2022 in the Czech Republic and Poland were analysed. The generated complex data processed by univariate and multivariate statistical methods enabled to build classification models for discrimination of apple cultivars as well as their geographical origin. The models showed very good performance in differentiation of Czech and Polish samples for three of four cultivars: ‘Gala’, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Idared’, moreover, the validity of the models was verified over harvest seasons. The diagnostic markers, besides metabolites of triterpene biosynthetic pathway, mainly represented wax esters. ‘Jonagold’, which is known to be susceptible to mutations, was the only cultivar for which the unambiguous classification of geographical origin was not possible.

The streptavidin and biotin interaction is one of the strongest non-covalent interactions in nature. As a result, this non-covalent interaction has been of great interest when it comes to biochemical assays, diagnosis of diseases, and cell-targeted drug delivery. Past research has proven that biotin-streptavidin is useful in biosensor development to improve the detection of a system when conjugated to nanoparticles. This study aims to prove that streptavidin-coated nanoparticles can be conjugated with biotinylated antibodies using the primary-secondary method to non-invasively detect adenocarcinoma in-vitro. While the use of nanoparticles is not uncommon to the diagnostics area of scientific research, the technique this research aims to investigate is a non-invasive one, utilizing the primary-secondary method. Specifically, the increased stability of fluorophores when bound to antibodies as opposed to nanoparticles directly can be indicative of the particles conjugated through the primary-secondary method’s ability to specifically bind to overexpressed transferrin receptors in the A549 cell line. In this paper, streptavidin-coated nanoparticles were conjugated with biotinylated anti-transferrin receptor antibodies and AlexaFluor-488 secondary antibodies were used to enable fluorescence-based detection. The efficiency of these particles were observed quantitatively through a plate reader and qualitatively through a fluorescence microscope. I demonstrated that these nanoparticles are able to specifically bind to the target proteins in this study. These findings contribute to the field of nanoparticle diagnostics and can be extended to different diseases caused by overexpression of proteins in the future. While this was conducted in-vitro, conjugates can be prepared to detect cancer in-vivo and can be tested with magnetic relaxometry in the future.

Strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora is one of the main diseases of strawberry and significantly impacts the yield and quality of strawberry fruit. There are now no effective control techniques available except for fungicide sprays, which may directly impact consumers. Biological control is becoming an alternative method for the control of plant diseases to replace or decrease the application of traditional synthetic chemical fungicides. Trichoderma is widely used as a biological agent for controlling strawberry root rot. In order to provide resources for screening the highly effective biocontrol fungus for controlling strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora, the biocontrol mechanism,the control effects of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 against strawberry root rot and growth-promoting effects on strawberry seedlings were investigated by plate culture, microscopy observation and root drenching methods.The results showed that CMT10 had obvious competitive, antibiotic and hyperparasitism effects on Neopestalotiopsis clavispora CMGF3. The CMT10 could quickly occupy nutritional space, and the inhibition rates of CMT10 against CMGF3 in confrontation culture on 7 d was 65.49%. The inhibition rates of volatile metabolite and fermentation metabolite produced by CMT10 against CMGF3 were 79.67% and 69.84%, respectively. The mycelium of strain CMT10 can act as hyperparasites by making contacting, winding and penetrating hyphae of CMGF3. Pot experiment showed that the biocontrol efficacy of CMT10 on strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora was 63.00%. CMT10 had obvious promotion effect on strawberry growth, the plant height, root length, total fresh weight, root fresh weight, stem fresh weight and root dry weight, with the promotion rates were 20.09%, 22.39%, 87.11%, 101.58%, 79.82% and 72.33%, respectively. Overall, this study showed the ability of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 to control strawberry root rot and their potential to develop as novel biocontrol agents to replace chemical fungicides for eco-friendly, sustainable agriculture.

The use of Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (i.e., LASERs or lasers) by the U.S. Department of Defense is not new and includes laser weapons guidance, laser-aided measurements, even lasers as weapons (e.g., Airborne Laser). Lasers in support of telecommunications is also not new. The use of laser light in fiber optics shattered thoughts on communications bandwidth and throughput. Even the use of lasers in space is no longer new. Lasers are being used for satellite-to-satellite crosslinking. Laser communication can transmit orders-of-magnitude more data using orders-of-magnitude less power and can do so with minimal risk of exposure to the sending and receiving terminals. What is new is using lasers as the uplink and downlink between the terrestrial segment and the space segment of satellite systems. More so, the use of lasers to transmit and receive data between moving terrestrial segments (e.g., ships at sea, airplanes in flight) and geosynchronous satellites is burgeoning. This manuscript examines the technological maturation of employing lasers as the signal carrier for satellite communications linking terrestrial and space systems. The purpose of the manuscript is to develop key performance parameters (KPPs) to inform U.S. Department of Defense initial capabilities documents (ICDs) for near-future satellite acquisition and development. By appreciating the history and technological challenges of employing lasers rather than traditional radio frequency sources for satellite uplink and downlink signal carrier, this manuscript recommends ways for the U.S. Department of Defense to employ lasers to transmit and receive high bandwidth, large-throughput data from moving platforms that need to retain low probabilities of detection, intercept, and exploitation (e.g., carrier battle group transiting to a hostile area of operations, unmanned aerial vehicle collecting over adversary areas). The manuscript also intends to identify commercial sector early-adopter fields and those fields likely to adapt to laser employment for transmission and receipt.

Hybrid power plants have recently emerged as reliable and flexible electricity generation stations by combining multiple renewable energy sources, energy storage systems (ESS), and fossil-based output. However, the effective operation of the hybrid power plants to ensure continuous energy dispatch under challenging conditions is a complex task. This paper proposes a dispatch engine (DE) based on mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) for the planning and management of hybrid power plants. To maintain the committed electricity output, the dispatch engine will provide schedules for operation over extended time periods as well as monitor and reschedule the operation in real-time. Through precise prediction of the PV and wind power output, the proposed approach guarantees optimum scheduling. The precise prediction of the PV and wind power are achieved by employing a predictor of Feed-Forward Neural Network (FFNN) type. With such a dispatch engine, the operational cost of the hybrid power plants, and the use of diesel generators (DGs) are both minimized. A case study is carried out to assess the proposed dispatch engine feasibility. A real-time measurement data pertaining to load, wind, and PV power outputs is obtained from different locations in the Sultanate of Oman. The real-time data is utilized to predict the future output power from PV and the Wind farm over 24 hours. The predicted powers are then used in combination with a PV-Wind-DG-ESS-Grid hybrid plant to evaluate the performance of the proposed dispatch engine. The proposed approach is implemented and simulated using MATLAB. The results of the simulation reveal the proposed Feed-Forward Neural Network’s (FFNN) powerful forecasting abilities. In addition, the results demonstrate that adopting the proposed DE can minimize the use of DG units and reduce plant running expenses.

This study aims to explore the applicability of an innovative cervical tactile ultrasound approach for predicting spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB). Eligible participants were women with low-risk singleton pregnancies in their second trimester, enrolled in this prospective observational study. A Cervix Monitor (CM) device was designed with a vaginal probe comprising four tactile sensors and a single ultrasound transducer operating at 5 MHz. The probe enabled the application of controllable pressure to the external cervical surface, facilitating the acquisition of stress-strain data from both anterior and posterior cervical sectors. These data were used to calculate cervical elasticity, as a stress-to-strain ratio. CM examination data were analyzed for 127 women at 24 - 28 gestational weeks. PTB was observed in 6.3% (8 out of 127) of the cases. The preterm group exhibited a lower average cervical stress-to-strain ratio (elasticity) of 0.70±0.26 kPa/mm compared to the term group's 1.63±0.65 kPa/mm, with a significant p-value of 1.1×10-4. Diagnostic accuracy for predicting spontaneous preterm birth based solely on cervical elasticity data was found to be 95.0% (95% CI, 88.5–100.0). These findings suggest that measuring cervical elasticity with the designed tactile ultrasound probe could potentially predict spontaneous preterm birth in a cost-effective manner.

This paper describes the design and implementation of an ultrasonic non-contact air-coupled technique (UNCACT) using antisymmetric Lamb waves (ALW) for NDT assessment in novel composite sandwich plates of the car body shell. This technique is complemented with a C-Scan image implementation using this kind of guided waves. The finite element method using Comsol 6.1 is developed for the interpretation of the several wave modes presented in the experiments, including the ALW mode. The phase velocity method (PVM) is applied for the verification of the ALW mode in the portion of the RF signal necessary in the C-Scan image.

The induced draft (ID) fan is important auxiliary equipment in the thermal power plant. It is of great significance to monitor the operation of the ID fan for safe and efficient production. In this paper, an adaptive warning model is proposed to detect early faults of ID fans. First, a non-parametric monitoring model is constructed to describe the normal operation states with the multivariate state estimation technique (MSET). Then, an early warning approach is presented to identify abnormal behaviors based on the results of the MSET model. As the performance of the MSET model is heavily influenced by the normal operation data in the historic memory matrix, an adaptive strategy is proposed by using the samples with a high data quality index (DQI) to manage the memory matrix and update the model. The proposed method is applied to a 300 MW coal-fired power plant for early fault detection, and it is compared with the model without an update. Results show that the proposed method can detect the fault earlier and more accurately.

The widely used logistic model for epidemic case reporting data may be either restrictive or unrealistic in presence of containment measures when implemented after an epidemic outbreak. For flexibility in epidemic case reporting data modelling, we combined an exponential growth curve for the early epidemic phase with a flexible growth curve to account for the potential change in growth pattern after implementation of containment measures. We also fitted logistic regression models to recoveries and deaths from the confirmed positive cases. In addition, the growth curves were integrated into a SIQR (Susceptible, Infective, Quarantined, Recovered) model framework to provide an overview on the modelled epidemic wave. We focused on the estimation of: (1) the delay between the appearance of the first infectious case in the population and the outbreak (“epidemic latency period"); (2) the duration of the exponential growth phase; (3) the basic and the time-varying reproduction numbers; and (4) the peaks (time and size) in confirmed positive cases, active cases and new infections. The application of this approach to COVID-19 data from West Africa allowed to discuss the effectiveness of some containment measures implemented across the region.

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.

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.

Aim: To describe a technique for retrieval of abdominal organs of a cadaveric donor Methods: Only the inner transverse transection of abdominal wall floors except skin was performedResults: The good exposure of abdominal closure with the retrieval of the liver, both kidneys and spleen easily.Conclusion: The technique can be feasible in cadaveric organ retrieval from the abdomen.

Detection of formaldehyde is very important in terms of life protection, as it can cause serious injury to eyes, skin, mouth and gastrointestinal function if indirectly inhaled and hence researchers are putting effort in developing novel and sensitive device. In this work, we have fabricated an electro-chemical sensor in the form of a field effect transistor (FET) to detect formaldehyde over wide range (10 nM to 1 mM). For this, ZnO nanosheets (NS) were first synthesized by hydrothermal method with in-situ deposition on cleaned SiO₂ coated Si (100) substrate. The synthesized materials were characterized for morphology and purity and surface area (31.718 m²/g). The developed device was tested for formaldehyde detection at room temperature that resulted in a linear response with concentration (96%), sensitivity value of 0.27 mA/M/cm² and a low detection limit of 210 nM, and a high 0.93194 return.

Dynamic laser speckle is applied as a reliable sensor of activity in all sort of material. Traditional applications are based on a time rate that is usually higher than 10 frames-per-second (FPS). Even in drying processes, where there is a high activity in the first moments after the painting and a slow activity after some minutes or hours, the process is based on the acquisition of images in a time rate that is the same in both moments of high and low activity. In this work, we present an alternative approach to follow the drying of paint and the other processes related to restauration of paintings that takes long-term to reduce the activity. We illuminated, using three different wavelength lasers, an accelerator (Cyclododecane) and a varnish used in restauration of paintings and monitor them at long-term drying using an alternative fps, comparing the results to the traditional method. The work also presents a way to do the monitoring using a portable equipment. The results present the feasibility to use the portable device and show the improvement in the sensitivity of the dynamic laser speckle to sense long-term process regarding the drying of Cyclododecane and Varnish used in restauration.

The scope of this work was part of our previous research on Pulsed Power Plasma Stimulation Technique. Electromagnetic fields generated during a pulsed power plasma discharge were simulated using a finite element method in the COMSOL RF module. The field distributions were calculated during and after the pulse. The current paper takes advantage of prior work measuring and modeling the current distribution in the plasma arc. Agreement with laboratory experimental measurements provides support for extension of the model to reservoir scale. The validated model was used to quantify the signal attenuation level in different medium environment.

Sediment accumulation in a dam reservoir is a common happening environmental problem throughout the world. Topographic conditions, land use land cover change, the intensity of rainfall, and the soil characteristics are the major driving factors for sedimentation to occur. The effect of sedimentation in a dam reservoir is very visible in the watershed as a result of hilly topographic conditions, high rainfall intensity, thin land cover, and less soil infiltration capacity. In this paper, an integrated RUSLE and GIS technique was implemented to estimate a mean annual sediment yield based on spatial and temporal variations in Nashe dam reservoir situated in Fincha catchment, Abaya River basin, Ethiopia. Spatial and temporal estimation of mean annual sediment yield was estimated using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and GIS. Historical 6-year (2014-2019) rainfall for the temporal variations and other physical factors such as soil erodibility, slope and length steepness, management and land used land cover, and support practice for spatial variations were used as sediment driving factors. The mean annual sediment yield ranges from 0 to 2712.65 t ha-1 year-1 was seen. Spatially, Very high, high, moderate, low, and very low sediment yield severity with total area coverage with 25%, 10%, 30%, 15%, and 20% in 2017, 2015, 2019, 2014, and 2018 respectively. The information about the spatial and temporal variations of the severity of sediment yield in RUSLE model has a paramount role to control the entry of sediment into the dam reservoir in this watershed. The results of the RUSLE model can also be further considered along with the watershed for planning strategies for dam reservoirs in the catchment.

Influence of water concentration on the properties of fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) thin films was systematically studied in this work. Home made SISOM’s SPEED techniques and its chemical formulation was employed to grow the FTO on quartz substrate. Water concentration in the precursor solution was varied from 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mol %. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of the films were studied under these deposition conditions. The results show that the properties of the films varied significantly with water concentration. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed FTO films whose grain size and uniformity increases significantly with increase in water concentration. The structure of the films was measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement. It shows polycrystalline films with (110), (101), (200), (211) and (220) orientation; the strength increases as water concentration increases. The optical transmission was determined by UV-Vis spectroscopy at 380–780 nm UV-VIS regions. The optical transmittance varies with water concentration with an average of 84%. The electrical property, measured by Hall Effect revealed n-type semiconductor. The films have the following properties: resistivity, 15 × 10^-4Ω cm; carrier concentration, 18.7 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3 and mobility of 21.86 cm² V^-1 s^-1. The average figure of merit, φ of the FTO film is 1.25. Optimum deposition condition was established after series of experiments and was found to be 1.5% water concentration at 460^oC substrate temperature. The FTO films deposited in this work could be a promising replacement to indium tin oxide (ITO) especially in dye-sensitized solar cells.

Apis mellifera, especially weak ones, are highly vulnerable to Carpoglyphus lactis mites, which can rapidly infest and consume stored pollen, leading to weakened colonies and potentially colony collapse. This study aimed to ascertain and investigate the prevalence of this mite in honeybee colonies across 9 provinces in the Republic of Korea (ROK). A total of 615 honeybee colonies were collected, from 66 apiaries during the spring and 58 apiaries during the summer of 2023. A 1,242 bp segment of the the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction method. The detection levels of C. lactis in the honeybees were compared between winter and summer. Based on the COI sequence analysis, the nucleotide sequence similarity of C. lactis mites isolated in the ROK with those from China (NC048990.1) was found to be 99.5%, and with those from the United Kingdom (KY922482.1) was 99.3%. This study is the first report of C. lactis in Korean apiaries. The findings in this study demonstrate a significantly higher detection rate in winter, which is 4.1 times greater than that in summer (p &lt; 0.001). Furthermore, the results underscore the usefulness of molecular diagnostic techniques for detecting C. lactis mites.

COX II containing a dual core CuA active site is one of the three core subunits of mitochondrial Cco, which plays a significant role in the physiological process. In this report, the full-length cDNA of COXⅡ gene was cloned from Sitophilus zeamais, which had an ORF of 684 bp encoding 227 amino acids residues. The predicted COXⅡ protein had a molecular mass of 26.2 kDa with pI value of 6.37, and multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicated that Sitophilus zeamais COXⅡ had high sequence identity 78.51% with the COXⅡ of other insect species, especially similarity to sitophilus oryzae. This gene was subcloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a, and induced by IPTG in E.coli Transetta (DE3) expression system. Finally the COXⅡ with 6-His tag was purified using affinity chromatography with Ni²⁺-NTA agarose. WB showed the recombinant COXⅡ was about 44 kD, and the concentration of fusion protein was 50μg/mL. UV-spectrophotometer and infrared spectrometer analysis showed that recombinant COXⅡ could catalyze the oxidation of substrate Cytc, and influenced by AITC. It was found that AITC could form a hydrophobic region with COXⅡ protein via molecular docking, besides, a sulfur atom of AITC structure could form a length of 2.9 Å hydrogen bond with Leu-31. These results will provide valuable information for elucidating the role of COXⅡ in Sitophilus zeamais responses to AITC, meanwhile, it will helpful to carry out a point mutation in AITC binding sites for the future research.

The properties of the annual, semiannual and triennial oscillations (AO, SAO and TO) in the middle atmosphere have been investigated using the TIMED/SABER temperature data. The Lomb-Scargle and wavelet spectra were used to determine the dominant oscillations in the background temperature field. The AO is prominent at the mid-latitudes. The AO amplitudes present an asymmetry between the two Hemispheres, being larger in the mesosphere than in the stratosphere. The SAO dominates the tropical regions, with three amplitude maxima at altitudes of 45, 75, and 85 km. The SAOs in the upper mesosphere (75 km) are out of phase with those in the mesopause (85 km) in the tropical regions, which can generate an enhancement of 11 K at each equinox, contributing to the lower mesospheric inversion layer. The TO is significant in the tropical region, with amplitude being maximum at 35, 45 and 85 km. Result shows that there may be potential interaction by the TO with SAO at 85km at the equator. The relation between ENSO and TO has also been discussed. The ENSO signal may modulate the amplitude of the TO, mainly in the lower stratosphere. The real origin of the TO may lie in the wave-mean-flow interaction.

This paper is focused on typical rural settlements in the Stara Planina Mountain area in Serbia. They are distinguished by their authenticity, identity and character, and they have still not been destroyed by inappropriate development as is the case in some other mountain areas in Serbia, where the effects of urbanization, globalization and homogenization are obvious. Consequently, there is a need to prevent these effects in mountain areas where there is a threat of disbalance between development and the inherited natural and cultural values. The paper starts from several important concepts that relate contemporary approaches to cultural heritage preservation, place morphology and planning future development. The concept definitions from recent documents from related fields are used. These concepts are then applied to the area of Stara Planina Mountain and its rural settlements. The necessity for an integrative approach to planning this area with significant natural and anthropogenic potential is pointed out, including its integration into international programs of sustainable development.

The research reported on this paper was aimed at improving the overall efficiency of a PDO certified artisanal cheese production process. Being a PDO certified foodstuff by the EU, it is considered to have properties and qualities determined by the geographical environment in which is made, with its production taking place in a specific and determined geographical location, in this case the Serra da Estrela region. In that sense, the authors conducted a mapping according to a systemic perspective of the processes involved in the context of manufacturing and distribution of certified Serra da Estrela cheese. Numerous methods were used throughout the process, such as a systemic design analysis, and techniques derived from ethnographic methods, which led to the collection of data in the field and consequently provided the immersion of the researcher in genuine work situations. Critical points were identified and emphasized in the systemic map with the purpose of encouraging initiatives to address and overcome the gaps and inefficiencies detected. The systemic design analysis triggered the development of design work. Observations following an ethnographic approach identified ergonomic risks in cheese making during the process of cutting excess chips, fostering the emergence of musculoskeletal disorders at the wrist. A tool that fits best to the task at hand was developed. A prototype of the new tool enabled collecting feedback from use in the work context, in order to inform product development. The domains of agricultural production and microbiology, considering the specific microorganisms developed trough the ripening process of the cheese, turned out to be aspects of high importance for the issue under focus, contributing to a broader understanding of the ripening process and its risks, simultaneously improving the efficiency and success of cheese production. If it were not for the systemic analysis, which served as a link between the boundaries of distinct domains such as the risk of microorganism contamination, ergonomics, energy efficiency, legislation and regulation policies, transportation challenges and economic viability, approached throughout the research. Simultaneously creating bridges between them, the various problems might not have been detected in the first place, as they are usually addressed in specialized disciplines, predetermined by the restrictions of each specific area of knowledge. As a consequence of the development of this research, which was based on an analysis that sought to establish possible connections between various disciplines and tried to constantly maintain a holistic perspective, making new connections and observing the issues from a new angle, apart from the already established methodologies. All this allowed to lay out the seeds for the development of a plan to tackle the critical points identified by the systemic analysis reported in this paper.

Promoting green development has become an important way to optimize the ecological and economic structure and promote sustainable development. The Yangtze River Economic Belt is an important economic corridor in China, and it remains to be examined whether the implementation of environmental regulations has enhanced the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of cities. This paper calculates the green total factor productivity of 107 cities within the Yangtze River Economic Belt by using the super-efficient SBM model and the GML index with Chinese city panel data from 2007-2019 and measures the intensity of environmental regulations through textual analysis. The bidirectional fixed-effects model constructed in this paper suggests an inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and GTFP, which is confirmed by a series of robustness tests. Green technology innovation and advanced industrial structure play a mechanism role in this. In regions with lower levels of green technology and industrial structure, the inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and green total factor productivity is more significant. In addition, the phenomenon of GTFP rising and then falling because of environmental regulation is more obvious in cities in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and outside the urban agglomerations. Therefore, when formulating environmental regulation policies, it is necessary to balance the relationship between economic development and environmental protection and harmonize the environment and economic development of the entire Yangtze River Basin.

The wetlands in northeastern Bangladesh are home to some of the most prolific and valuable ecosystems on the planet, offering a wide range of benefits to both the local and wider communities. A limited number of research on this topic have been carried out in various wetlands in coastal hilsa, but none have been located in the northeastern region of Bangladesh. Thus, the goal of this study was to better understand the most commercially relevant species (anadromous hilsa) in northeastern Bangladesh as well as to assess the wetland ecosystem services more thoroughly with the contribution of their fish genetic resources. In addition to laboratory studies, fieldwork was done in the fishing settlements along the Surma River, Hakaluki Haor, and Tanguar Haor. The study classified 77 fish species into 21 subcategories of ecosystem services, of which 56% were not threatened, 17% were vulnerable, and 10% were highly endangered. The species Hilsa was found to be the most economically significant, accounting for 1% of the GDP overall. The study determined if the hilsa stock of the examined wetlands maintains a single or several subpopulations in comparison to other parts of the country when they migrate from saline water to northeastern Bangladesh (freshwater). But when compared to other groups, the FST score was between 0.000 to 0.017, indicating that the populations are identical and that there is genetic material sharing between them. Additionally, these statistics imply that the Sylhet haor and adjacent river systems contain a single stock of Hilsa fish. Nevertheless, a number of stresses and risks, including overexploitation, illicit and destructive fishing, siltation, and natural disasters like flash floods, have been linked to changes in the supply of hilsa and other ecosystem services. This study also emphasizes the necessity of policy attention and research to address the concerns.

In this paper, we introduce a specialized, fully automated experimental arrangement designed for assessing the effectiveness of augmented and virtual reality technologies in healthcare setting and explore its design principles focusing on depth sensor characterization. The main goal of this project is to establish a robust benchtop platform for the quantitative evaluation of extended reality technologies in a controlled environment, emphasizing the practical assessment of augmented reality head-mounted devices. We outline a design concept and considerations for an experimental configuration aimed at creating a realistic testing environment. This apparatus comprises an observation platform mounted on a three-degree-of-freedom motorized system and a test phantom stage. Focusing on real-case scenarios, we utilized a range of sensors, including readily available range-sensing cameras and commercial augmented reality headsets, such as the Intel RealSense L515 LiDAR camera, mounted on the motion control system. The setup enabled automated data collection and facilitates controlled assessments and validation of various facets of augmented reality technologies, including object, hand, and head tracking, as well as static and dynamic image registration. This paper describes the system architecture, the process of automated data collection, and presents several evaluation studies conducted with this setup, providing insights into the quality and temporal noise associated with static or moving objects or observers in augmented reality applications.

To conduct high-precision and high-resolution numerical simulation of complex flow structures in turbomachinery, a high-order finite volume weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for the large eddy simulation (LES) is improved and embedded into the three-dimensional viscous unsteady CFD solver NUAA-Turbo. Firstly, the spectral characteristics and unsteady convergence of the improved WENO scheme are studied. Compared with the classical WENO scheme, the improved WENO scheme has better dissipation and dispersion characteristics and faster convergence speed. Then, the coefficient CW of the Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity (WALE) model is calibrated by decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence (DHIT) test case. Finally, the scheme is applied to conduct high-precision LES calculations of turbulent boundary layer flow, supersonic compression corner flow, and low-pressure turbine cascade separation flow. The numerical simulation results show that this WENO scheme has excellent shock wave capture ability and turbulence resolution and can capture more flow field details with less mesh size, greatly reducing the computational cost and laying a foundation for large-scale engineering application of LES.

To secure logic circuits against the illegal copying the insertion of the so-called key bit inputs using XOR/XNOR gates has been proposed in . The inserted gates modify (lock) the behavior of the original circuit and only the correct choice of the secret key bits guarantees the equivalent behaviour of the locked circuit to the original circuit. To break this kind of security, i.e. to find the secret key bits, there was a SAT solver based attack proposed in . The aim of this work is to experimentally verify this attack on several locked circuits with various number of primary inputs and outputs and with various number of gates. Except for the random placement of the key gates we evaluate also the positioning with chaining elimination. The obtained and presented results show that we were able to unlock 10 of 11 circuits within few minutes on a common PC.

Intermetallic compounds are increasingly being expected to utilize in tribological environments, but to date the works are hindered by insufficient ductility at low and medium temperature. This paper presents a novel multiphase intermetallic alloy with the chemical composition of Mo-40Ni-13Si (at.%). Microstructure characterization reveals that a certain amount of ductile Mo phases formed during the solidification process of ternary Mo-Ni-Si alloy melt, which is undoubtedly beneficial to the ductility improvement of intermetallic alloy. Tribological properties of the designed alloy, including wear resistance, friction coefficient and metallic tribological compatibility, were evaluated under dry sliding wear test conditions at room temperature. Results suggested that the multiphase alloy possesses an excellent property for room-temperature wear applications, which is attributed to the unique microstructural features and thereby good combination in hardness and ductility. The corresponding wear mechanism is also reported by observing the worn surface, subsurface and wear debris of alloy, which to be found is soft abrasive wear.

With the integrated development of the Internet, wireless sensor technology, cloud computing, and mobile Internet, there has been a lot of attention given to research about and applications of the Internet of Things. A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is one of the important information technologies in the Internet of Things; it integrates multi-technology to detect and gather information in a network environment by mutual cooperation, using a variety of methods to process and analyze data, implement awareness, and perform tests. This paper mainly researches the localization algorithm of sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network. Firstly, a multi-granularity region partition is proposed to divide the location region. In the range-based method, the RSSI (Received Signal Strength indicator, RSSI) is used to estimate distance. The optimal RSSI value is computed by the Gaussian fitting method. Furthermore, a Voronoi diagram is characterized by the use of dividing region. Rach anchor node is regarded as the center of each region; the whole position region is divided into several regions and the sub-region of neighboring nodes is combined into triangles while the unknown node is locked in the ultimate area. Secondly, the multi-granularity regional division and Lagrange multiplier method are used to calculate the final coordinates. Because nodes are influenced by many factors in the practical application, two kinds of positioning methods are designed: the unknown node is in the positioning unit or not. When the unknown node is on the side of the positioning unit, we use the method of vector similarity. Moreover, we use the centroid algorithm to calculate the ultimate coordinates of unknown node. When the unknown node is not on the side of the positioning unit, we establish a Lagrange equation containing the constraint condition to calculate the first coordinates. Furthermore, we use the Taylor expansion formula to correct the coordinates of the unknown node. In addition, this localization method has been validated by establishing the real environment.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a record of brain activity. Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology formed by the EEG signal has become one of the hotspots at present. How to extract the feature signal of EEG is the most basic research of BCI technology. In this paper, A new method of recognizing fatigue, conscious, concentrated state of human brain is proposed by the combination of discrete wavelet transform and the neural network based on EEG signal. First of all, the law signal is preprocessed by the wavelet denoising method because the law EEG signal contains a large number of high frequency noise, which is decomposed into multi-layer high frequency signal and low frequency signal. thus, δ wave, θ wave, α wave, β wave are obtained by the wavelet transform. And then, frequency band energy of the different wave is regards as the feature signal of EEG. In the experiment, the feature signal is classified by radial basic function (RBF) and annealed chaotic competitive learning network (ACCLN). RBF and ACCLN networks are trained with 500 sets of sample data and are tested by 100 sets of samples in different mental states. The experimental results show that the average accuracy of RBF network under three conditions are 88.75%, 88.25%, 88.5%, respectively, and the correct rate of ACCLN network is 97%, 98%, 98%, respectively.

Early discharge after childbirth has led to a rise in neonatal readmission, becoming a major concern in recent decades. Our research aimed to identify the risk factors and incidence of neonatal readmission, as well as explore preventive measures. Our study at the Clinical Hospital of Pediatrics in Ploiești, Romania included 108 neonates admitted during the neonatal period. This accounted for 2.06% of all admissions (5226). The most prevalent cases were malnutrition (25%), fever (20.3%) and bronchiolitis (17.5%). Diarrhea and infectious gastroenteritis were also observed (14.8%), along with acute rhinoconjunctivitis (9.2%) and late onset sepsis (3.7%). No deaths were recorded. The most significant characteristics identified were number of children (p&lt;0.001) and age at maternity discharge (p&lt;0.001). By following the prevention rules, malnutrition, feeding errors, and infections can be avoided. This includes practicing proper hand hygiene for both mothers and medical staff, as well as educating and demonstrating to mothers the benefits of breastfeeding. In addition, all newborns discharged from the maternity ward should benefit from follow-up at 7-10 days of life. Our results confirm the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary team and endorse promoting breastfeeding. Implementing quality control measures and regularly evaluating the surveillance program will help improve its effectiveness.

Wearable technology has been proposed as a potential tool to change the way of human life, such as the smart bracelet and the Google Glass. In the wearable technology, the inertial sensor has great significance in tracking the object movements. The paper focused on detecting the movements of user’s finger based on the inertial sensor to give the control signals. Firstly, the attitude matrix, which represented the transformation relation of carrier coordinate system and the navigation coordinate system, was obtained. Secondly, the attitude matrix was expressed based on the quaternions. Thirdly, the finger gesture was processed by the attitude matrix to get the attitude angle. Finally, the robot was controlled by attitude angle to make the moving action. The experimental results showed the detection of the finger movement is effective.

Background: To compare photodynamic therapy 41 and the use of probiotics in reducing halitosis assessed through gas chromatography and microbiome analysis. Methods: Participants aged from 18 to 25 years, showing sulfide (SH2) ≥ 112 ppb on gas chromatography, were selected. They were divided into 4 treatment groups: Group 1 - Tongue Scraping; Group 2- Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy (aPDT); Group 3- Probiotics; Group 4- Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy (aPDT) and Probiotics. The halimetry process was performed before, immediately after the treatments, 7 days, 14 days and 30 days after the initial collection. The collections for later microbiological analysis were made along with the halimetry, for the microbiome analysis. Results: Treatment with aPDT or probiotics under these experimental conditions was not able to change the bacteria present in the biofilm of the tongue. Conclusions: More research is needed to know the behavior of the oral microbiome in the presence of halitosis and the effectiveness of new treatments.

Two interesting compounds such as quaternary ammonium lignin(QAL) and 2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (P507) were synthesized as ionic liquids(QP-ILs) for the extraction of metal ions. The extraction behavior of Co(II) and Ni(II) from chloride solution was compared between QP-ILs and P507. The results showed that the extraction rates of Co(II) and Ni(II) in the two solutions varied with the extraction conditions, but QP-ILs has stronger extractability for cobalt than P507, while Ni is on the contrary. Under the same conditions, the Co/Ni separation performance(βCo/Ni) in QP-ILs is superior to that in p507. At pH4.0, 55℃, concentration of 20%, extraction time of 10 minutes, the βCo/Ni of QP-ILs reached to 2703, while that of P507 was only 164. In conclusion, QP-ILs was more efficient than P507 for separating Co from mixed solutions.

Brain aging causes a wide variety of changes at molecular and cellular levels, leading to the decline of cognitive functions and increased vulnerability to neurodegenerative disorders. The research aimed at understanding the aging of the brain has made much progress in recent decades. Technological innovations such as single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq), proteomic analyses, and spatial transcriptomic analyses have facilitated the research on the dynamic changes occurring within neurons, glia, and other cells along with their impacts on intercellular communication during aging. In this review, we introduce recent trends of how neurons and glia change during aging and discuss the impact of the brain microenvironment such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

Museums are called to respond to contemporary challenges and contribute to the formation of more progressive societies. One of the major challenges of our time is climate change and museums could construct cocreated narratives around climate and implement targeted actions for the audiences through their sensorial and affective experiences. More specifically, Geology and Palaeontology museums are repositories of knowledge on geoheritage and geoconservation, recognized for their scientific, pedagogical, cultural and recreational values. The educational potential of geological and paleontological exhibits could be used in informal education activities regarding the climate emergency. Taking the above into consideration, this study focuses on both the creation and evaluation of an educational program for the Natural History Museum of Arsakeio Campus at Psychicko.

In this paper, we study the semilinear pseudo-parabolic equations $\displaystyle u_{t} - \triangle_{\mathbb{B}}u - \triangle_{\mathbb{B}}u_{t} = \left|u\right|^{p-1}u$ on a manifold with conical singularity, where $\triangle _{\mathbb{B}}$ is Fuchsian type Laplace operator investigated with totally characteristic degeneracy on the boundary $x_{1} = 0$. Firstly, we discuss the invariant sets and the vacuum isolating behavior of solutions with the help of a family of potential wells. Then, we derive a threshold result of existence and nonexistence of global weak solution: for the low initial energy $J(u_{0})<d$, the solution is global in time with $I(u_{0}) >0$ or $\displaystyle\Vert \nabla_{\mathbb{B}}u_{0}\Vert_{L_{2}^{\frac{n}{2}}(\mathbb{B})} = 0$ and blows up in finite time with $I(u_{0}) < 0$; for the critical initial energy $J(u_{0}) = d$, the solution is global in time with $I(u_{0}) \geq0$ and blows up in finite time with $I(u_{0}) < 0$. The decay estimate of the energy functional for the global solution and the estimates of the lifespan of local solution are also given.

Multimodal remote sensing data classification can enhance the model’s ability to distinguish land features through multimodal data fusion. In this context, how to help models understand the relationship between multimodal data and target tasks is the focus of researchers. Inspired by human feedback learning mechanisms, causal reasoning mechanisms, and knowledge induction mechanisms, this paper integrates causal learning, reinforcement learning, and meta learning into a unified remote sensing data classification framework and proposed the causal meta-reinforcement learning (CMRL). First, based on feedback learning mechanisms, we have overcome the limitations of traditional implicit optimization of fusion features and customized a reinforcement learning environment for multimodal remote sensing data classification tasks. Through feedback interactive learning between agents and the environment, we help them understand the complex relationships between multimodal data and labels, thereby achieving full mining of multimodal complementary information. Second, based on the causal inference mechanism we designed causal distribution prediction action, classification reward, and causal intervention reward, capturing pure causal factors in multimodal data and cutting off false statistical associations between non-causal factors and class labels. Finally, based on the knowledge induction mechanism, we designed a bi-layer optimization mechanism based on meta-learning. By constructing a meta training task and meta validation task simulation model in the generalization scenario of unseen data, we helped the model induce cross-task shared knowledge, thereby improving its generalization ability for unseen multimodal data. The experimental results on multiple sets of multimodal datasets show that the proposed method achieved state-of-the-art performance in multimodal remote sensing data classification tasks.

Moso bamboo is famous for fast growing and biomass accumulation, as well as high annual output for timber and bamboo shoots. These high outputs require high nutrient inputs to maintain and improve stand productivity. Soil nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are important micronutrients for plant growth and productivity. Due to high variability of soils, analysing spatial patterns of soil N, P and K stocks is necessary for scientific nutrient management in Moso bamboo forests. In this study, soils were sampled from 138 locations across Yong’an City and ordinary kriging was applied for spatial interpolation of soil N, P and K stocks. Soil N stock showed a strong spatial dependence while soil N and P stocks presented a moderate spatial dependence, indicating soil N was mainly controlled by intrinsic factors while soil N and P stocks were controlled by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Different spatial patterns were observed for soil N, P and K stocks across the whole study area, indicating that fertilizations with different ratios of N:P:K should be applied for different sites to maintain and improve stand productivity. The total soil N, P and K stocks within 0-60 cm were 0.624, 0.020 and 0.583 Tg, respectively.

With the increasing concern of environment, the energy-efficiency scheduling of manufacturing industry is becoming urgent and popular. In turning processes, both spindle speed and processing time can affect the final energy consumption and thus the spindle speed and scheduling scheme need to be optimized simultaneously. Since the turning workshop can be regarded as the flexible flow shop, this paper formulates a mixed integer linear programming model for energy-efficient scheduling of flexible flow shop. Accordingly, a new decoding method is developed by considering of the optimization of spindle speed and scheduling scheme simultaneously, and an estimation of distribution algorithm adopting the new decoding method is proposed to solve large-size problems. The parameters of this algorithm are determined by statistical technique with a simplified practical case. In order to validate the proposed method, a case from practical factories is studied, in which the makespan can be shortened by 25.22%, and the consumed energy can be saved by 5.48%. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical model and algorithm.

The effectiveness of a recently proposed methodology in the identification of damage in planar, multi-storey, Reinforced Concrete (RC) moment-frames, which develop a plastic-yield mechanism on their beams, is showcased here via the examining of a group of such existing multi-storey frames with three or more unequal spans. According to the methodology, the diagram of the instantaneous Eigen-Frequencies of the frame in the nonlinear regime is drawn as a function of the inelastic seismic roof displacement by performing a sequence of pushover and instantaneous modal analyses with gradually increasing target displacement. Using this key-diagram, the locations of severe seismic damage in an existing moment-frame can be evaluated if the instantaneous fundamental eigen-frequency of the damaged frame, at an analysis step within the nonlinear area, is known in advance by “the monitoring and the identification of frequencies” using a local network of uniaxial accelerometers. This is a hybrid technique because both procedures, the instrumental Monitoring of the structure and the Pushover analysis on the frame (M and P technique), are combined. Moreover, the damage image of the planar multi-storey moment-frame is illustrated, and the lateral stiffness matrix of the damaged frame is calculated with high accuracy.

Little is understood about the impact of nebulisation on the viability of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, a range of nebulisers with differing methods of aerosol generation were evaluated to determine SARS-CoV-2 viability following aerosolisation. The aerosol particle size distribution was assessed using an aerosol particle sizer (APS) and SARS-CoV-2 viability was determined after collection into liquid media using All-Glass Impingers (AGI). Viable particles of SARS-CoV-2 were further characterised using the Collison 6-jet nebuliser in conjunction with novel sample techniques in an Andersen size-fractioning sampler to predict lung deposition profiles. Results demonstrate that all the tested nebulisers can generate stable, polydisperse aerosols (Geometric standard deviation (GSD) circa 1.8) in the respirable range (1.2 to 2.2µm). Viable fractions (PFU/particle, the virus viability as a function of total particles produced) were circa 5x10^-3 and were not significantly affected by relative humidity. The novel Andersen sample collection methods successfully captured viable virus particles across all sizes; with most particle sizes below 3.3µm. MMADs (Mass Median Aerodynamic Diameters) were calculated from linear regression of log10-log10 transformed cumulative PFU data, and calculated MMADs accorded well with APS measurements and did not differ across collection method types. This data will be vital in informing animal aerosol challenge models, and infection prevention and control policies.

The stress concentrations have become common phenomenon of steel elements when arresting a fracture by implementing the crack stop hole (CSH) technique. Embedding the CSH with Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) enhance the fatigue life by delaying the fractures while achieving a stiffness recovery due to superior mechanical characteristics of CFRP material. Hence, low cyclic fatigue (LCF) behaviour of 162 strengthened and non-strengthened CSH specimens were examined in this context. These specimens were subjected to a range of 0 to10,000 fatigue load cycles with the frequency of 5 Hz. At the end of fatigue exposure, the average tensile strength was measured in each case. The average strength reductions in the range between 13% to 25% was noted in steel elements with CSH subjected to fatigue exposure. The application of a CFRP patch on CSH had effectively recovered the strength losses while enhancing the strength in the range between 32% to 45% with respect to the non-strengthened non specimens. The developed numerical model based on cyclic J-integral technique agrees with test results and is capable of predicting characteristics for this novel hybrid technique.

Abstract Aims: In recent years, electro kinetic (EK) remediation has become more popular as a novel method for removing chromium contamination from soil. This approach, however, is ineffective since it uses both cationic and anionic forms of chromium. In this work, a membrane –based technique was employed to increase the efficiency of the electro kinetic removal of chromium. Methods: Chromium removal from polluted sludge was studied in four bench-scale experiments, two of which used distilled water (EK-1, EK2 & Membrane) and two of which used acetic acid as a catholyte (EK-3, EK4 &Membrane). Results: The pH, total chromium, and fractionation of chromium in the sludge were measured after remediation. In the EK-1, EK-2 & Membrane and EK-3, EK-4 & Membrane trials, the average removal efficiency of total chromium was 47.6%, 58.6%, and 74.4%, 79.6%, respectively. Conclusion: In contrast to the electro kinetic remediation strategy, which left approximately 80% of the sludge neutral or alkaline after treatment, the use of the membrane created acidic soil conditions throughout the sludge. For example, the high field intensity used in the membrane tests may have helped to facilitate chromium desorption, dissolution and separation from the sludge, as well as enhance chromium mobility. The findings show that the membrane can improve the effectiveness of chromium removal from sludge when utilized in the EK remediation process.

Growth-preserving instrumentation techniques are utilized in early-onset scoliosis (EOS) cases requiring surgical intervention. Shilla technique corrects the deformity and may reduce the need for surgical treatment with its growth-directing effect. As with other techniques, various prob-lems can be encountered following the administration of the Shilla technique. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of complications encountered with Shilla treatment on correction and growth. Sixteen patients with a follow-up period of at least 1 year who received Shilla growth guidance for EOS were included in the study. No complications occurred in 50% cases and no unplanned surgery was required. Of the remaining 8 patients with postoperative im-plant-related complications (50%), 6 (37.5%) required unplanned surgery; this consequently caused implant failure in the proximal region in 5 cases (31.25%) and deep tissue infection around the implant in 1 case (6.25%). Deformity correction, spine length, and quality-of-life scores significantly improved in EOS through Shilla growth guidance. Although implant-related com-plications were observed and related unplanned surgeries were required with Shilla growth guidance in our patients, these complications did not have a significant negative effect on correc-tion and spine growth.

Groundwater is a strategic resource for economic development, social justice, environmental sustainability, and water governance. The Lower Casas Grandes Basin located in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico is in a semi-arid region that has increasing groundwater demands while confronting regional challenges such as adverse climate change scenarios and depleting aquifers. Even though there is official information about the availability of groundwater, comprehensive aquifer characterization is still uncertain and needs interdisciplinary investigation using a diverse suite of tools and multiple data sources. This study presents a multi-technique framework to evaluate potential sites to drill for groundwater resources. The main components of the methodology included: wellhead leveling correction with a differential global positioning survey to define piezometric levels, principal component analysis using Landsat-8 images, application of geospatial tools, geophysics using Time Domain Electromagnetic Surveys and Vertical Electric Soundings and structural geohydrology to define aquifer characteristics. Results show that the application of the framework enhances the possibility of successful drilling for groundwater while saving time and money using “pin-point” positioning for drilling sites as compared to a traditional extensive groundwater exploration approach. Low resistivity values (35 Ohm-m) were found at depths from 50m to 85m at sites where the regional static water level reached 245 m deep adding a shallow groundwater potential at sites where the intersection of fracture trace was identified. This procedure can be used at other sites where limited or minimum information is available for groundwater exploration to reduce the risk of drilling dry wells in complex hydrogeological environments.

Circulating atypical cells (CAC) are released from a primary tumour site into peripheral blood and are indicators of cancer metastasis. CAC occur at very low frequency in circulating blood, and their detection remains challenging. Moreover, white blood cells (WBC) are the major contaminant in enriched CAC samples. Here, we developed matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) as a novel CAC characterization platform. Main spectra profiles (MSP) of normal and cancer cells were generated by MALDI-TOF MS, and a cell-main spectra database was then compiled and analysed using the MALDI Biotyper software. Logarithmic scores accurately predicted distinct cell types. The feasibility of this workflow was then validated using simulated samples, which were prepared by 5,000 WBC of three healthy individuals spiked with varying numbers (3, 6, 12, 25, 50 and 100) of lung, colon, or prostate cancer cells. MALDI-TOF MS was able to detect cancer cells down to six cells over the background noise of 5,000 WBC with significantly higher predictive scores as compared to WBC alone. Further development of cell-MSP database to cover all cancer types sourced from cell lines and patient tumours may enable the use of MALDI-TOF MS as a cancer-screening platform in clinical settings in the future.

In the last years, more and more studies highlight the advantages of complementing traditional master classes with additional activities that improve students´ learning experience. This combination of teaching techniques is specially advised in the field of structural engineering, where intuition of the structural response it is of vital importance to understand the studied concepts. This paper deals with the introduction of a new (and more encouraging) educational tool to introduce intuitively students in the dynamic response of structures excited with an educational shaking table. Most of the educational structural health monitoring systems use sensors to determine the dynamic response of the structure. The proposed tool is based on a radically different approach, as it is based on low-cost image-recognition techniques. In fact, it only requires the use an amateur camera, a black background and a computer. In this study, the effects of both the camera location and the image quality are also evaluated. Finally, to validate the applicability of the proposed methodology, the dynamic response of small-scale buildings with different typologies is analyzed. In addition, a series of surveys were conducted in order to evaluate the activity based on student´s satisfaction and the actual acquisition and strengthening of knowledge.

Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) create an extensive fighting capability of the developed military forces. Particularly, these systems carrying confidential data are exposed to security attacks. By the wireless’s nature within these networks, they become susceptible to different kinds of attacks, hence, it seems essential to design the appropriate safety mechanism in such networks. The sinkhole attack is one of the most dangerous and threatening attacks amongst types of attack in UAS. A malicious UAV exists in such a threat attacking as a black hole for absorbing all traffic in the network. Mainly, in a Flow-based protocol, the attacker considers the requests on the route, then, it replies to the target UAV such as high quality or the best route towards Gard station. The malicious UAV is able to only insert itself on one occasion between the nodes relating to each other (such as sink node and sensor node), and act for passing packets among them. In this study, the malicious attacks are detected and purged using two stages were. In the first stage, some principles and rules are used to detect black hole, gray hole, and sinkhole attacks. In the second stage, using a smart agent-based strategy negotiation procedure for three steps, a defense mechanism is designed to prevent these attacks. The smart agent is used by reliable neighbors via the negotiation procedure for three steps, hence, the traffic formed by the malicious UAV is not considered. The suggested protocol is called SAUAS. Here, the technique is assessed through extensive simulations performed in the NS-3 environment. Based on the simulation outcomes, it is indicated that the UAS network performance metrics are enhanced based on the packet delivery rate, detection rate, false-negative rate and false-positive rate.

As is well known, the main contribution of the FRP strips to the strength of load-bearing walls is an improvement in the in-plane strength. This paper deals with the possibility of applying the FRP strips in way to modify the strengthening mechanism of the FRP reinforcing system, from an in-plane to an out-of-plane strengthening mechanism. In order to achieve this goal, a second reinforcement system – derived from the CAM system (Active Confinement of Masonry) – provides connections between the FRP strips placed on the opposite sides of the wall. This new strengthening technique – called the straps/strips technique – establishes a stiffness constraint that forces the opposing FRP strips to behave like two flanges of an FRP I-beam embedded in the wall. Consequently, the use of FRP strips also improves the flexural strength of the wall. The present paper briefly summarizes the results obtained in previous works with the straps/strips technique and proposes an improvement of this strengthening technique, based on some weak-points emerged in the early experimentations. The paper also shows the results of a further experimental test, performed with the improved straps/strips technique. Finally, the similarity between FRP strips with transversal connection and concrete wythes of a sandwich panel with flexible connectors leads to interpret the behavior of the ideal I-beam in terms of composite action established between the FRP strips. This paves the way for analytical modeling of the straps/strips technique.

A simple and rapid positive–negative colorimetric approach to determine the presence of antimony ions based on the use of gold nanoparticles conjugated with oligonucleotide (poly-A sequence) is developed. Colorimetric measurements reveal that the aggregates of modified gold nanoparticles were afforded after adding antimony ions, thus changing the solution color from pink to blue. The results of aptamer’s interaction on the gold nanoparticle surface with target analyte can be detected either by photometry or by the naked eye. The realized assay provides rapid (2 min), sensitive (detection limit 10 ng/mL), specific, and precise (variation coefficient less than 3.8%) detection of antimony (III) in drinking water

Landslide is a sliding movement of rock mass, debris and soil along the slope under the action of gravity. Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) is an established method for the investigation and monitoring of landslide moments. This study focuses on monitoring the long-temporal displacement of mountainous terrain in Danba County, Sichuan Province via SBAS technique, based on 31 scenes of L-band ALOS/PALSAR data from Feb. 2007 to Oct. 2010.The results show that the largest velocity rates in LOS direction are ±120 mm/yr and maximum accumulated displacement is up to -300, which indicates fast movement of the mountainous terrain during the observation time. These results get good consistency against the results of previous study. This demonstrates the strong potential of SBAS technique for monitoring the landslides geohazard.

Chaotic switching is a newly evolve randomization method which can suppress conducted electromagnetic interference generated within the DC-DC converter. It can suppress the spectral peaks present in the frequency band effectively by spread spectrum technique and can spread it over the wide range of frequency band implying EMI suppression. In this paper, a chaotic PWM technique based on RCFMFD scheme is generated through Field programmable gate array (FPGA) for suppressing the conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated within the Luo converter. A hardware prototype of Luo converter was developed in order to analyze EMI reduction through FFT analysis by comparing both traditional periodic PWM switching and chaotic PWM switching. The results obtained from the hardware setup shows significant reduction of EMI with Chaotic switching as compared to traditional PWM switching for both boost and buck operation of Luo converter.

Full-scale/model test comparison studies to validate the traditional ABL wind tunnel simulation technique are reviewed. According to the literature review, notable discrepancies between full-scale measurement results and model test results were observed by most performed comparison studies, but the causes of the observed discrepancies were not revealed in a scientific way by those studies. In this regard, a new research scheme for future full-scale/model test comparison studies is proposed in this article, which utilizes the multiple-fan actively controlled wind tunnel simulation technique. With the new research scheme, future full-scale/model test comparison studies are expected to reasonably disclose the main problems with the traditional ABL wind tunnel simulation technique, and the technique can be improved correspondingly.

Lignocellulosic biomass, an abundant and renewable resource, serves as a crucial raw material for the production of biofuels, biochemicals, and various value-added products. This paper aims to develop and optimize a mild alkaline treatment of sawdust assisted by ultrasound, along with enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated material. The sonochemical pretreatment with alkali emerged as the optimal approach to enhance the susceptibility of cellulose to subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis, thereby increasing the yield of reducing sugars. A comparative study was performed using various ultrasonic applicators (horn and bath) and conventional assisted alkaline pretreatment. The ultrasonic assisted pretreatment revealed a higher delignification as 68% (horn) and 57% (bath) comparing with conventional pretreatment. Processes were optimized using a statistical analysis based on a 23 factorial design. The ratio between sawdust and alkanine solution (RSL = 0.5–1.5 g/100 mL), US amplitude (A = 20–60%), and working temperature (t = 30–50 °C) were selected as process factors. The optimal operating conditions to maximize the reducing sugar yield (138.15 mg GE /gsubstrate) were found as following: solid/liquid ratio RSL,opt = 1.25 g/100 mL, US amplitude Aopt = 60%, and and pretreatment temperature topt = 50 °C. The overall outcomes clearly confirmed the intensification of delignification by ultrasound assisted alkaline pretreatment

At 12:28 UTC (8:28 PM, local time) on 15 January 2023, a shallow, moderate earthquake with a magnitude (Mw) of 4.7 and a depth of one (1) kilometer shook the northern part of Leyte Island in the central part of the Philippines. The ground shaking was felt at PHIVOLCS Earthquake Intensity Scale (PEIS) VI, (very strong) equivalent to Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) VI in areas along the strike of the Leyte segment of the Philippine Fault. Even though this earthquake is classified as moderate in size, significant geologic, structural, and socio-economic impacts were documented. Most of the earthquake impacts that include surface rupture, liquefaction, and mass movements are limited near the epicentral area. The earthquake produced an 8-km-long surface rupture, the first documented rupture generated by a magnitude &lt;6 along the Philippine Fault, and is unusual in other surface rupturing earthquakes worldwide. It injured 18 persons and damaged 434 residential buildings and 26 public infrastructures which amounts to about 500 thousand US dollars. Structural damages were caused by surface rupture and/or poor engineering construction practices. Analysis of the seismic waveform and recorded peak ground acceleration (PGA) suggests that the subsurface geology influenced the ground motion amplification in an area near the epicenter. Based on the hypocenter, focal mechanism solution, aftershock distribution, and actual field observation, the causative fault for this event is the northern end of the Philippine Fault – Leyte segment. Moderate in size, this earthquake emphasizes the need and importance of documenting moderate-sized earthquakes as a tool and guide for medium and long-term earthquake risk assessment and resiliency.

Background: The bacterium Capnocytophaga spp. is a part of the oral microbiome of dogs, which has zoonotic potential. This study aimed to assess factors that influence the prevalence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi and Capnocytophaga canimorsus in Wrocaw’s dog population. Methods: Molecular detection (PCR) involved 105 swabs, examining parameters such as oral cavity condition, underlying health issues, recent antibiotics, age, medications, material collection, and dog chews. Results: The study highlighted significant associations between the presence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi and oral cavity condition, material collection method, and use of dog’s chews. Conclusions: Correlations obtained in this study between the oral health of Wroclaw's dog population and the presence of Capnocytophaga cynodegmi suggest its significance in the oral microbiome of dogs. Limitations, including the small sample size, highlight the need for more research to comprehensively understand additional factors that affect the prevalence of Capnocytophaga spp. in dogs