Al-6%Mg-Sc-Zr alloys with the total ratio of Sc + Zr = 0.32 wt.% make up the target of this research. The content of scandium and zirconium varied with an increment of 0.02%. The alloys were produced by induction casting. Their ultrafine-grained (UFG) microstructure was formed with Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP). Such cast alloys have a homogeneous macrostructure formed by small equiaxed grains in the central part of the ingot and columnar crystals along the edges of the cross section. After ECAP, the average grain size in the alloy specimens is 0.5–1 µm. The average grain size does not depend on the ratio of Sc and Zr in these alloys. Superplasticity tests were performed at temperatures ranging from 300 to 500 °C and at a strain rate varying between 3.3·10-3 and 3.3·10-1 s-1. UFG Al-6%Mg-0.20%Sc-0.12%Zr and Al-6%Mg-0.18%Sc-0.14%Zr alloys exhibit the highest superplasticity. It was suggested that changes in Sc:Zr ratio affect spatial distribution and composition of the following precipitating particles: Al3Sc, Al3Zr, Al3(ScxZr1-x). An increase in Zr concentration is shown to reduce the susceptibility of UFG alloys to cavitation fracture.

The microstructure evolution and grain refinement kinetics of a solution treated Cu – 0.1Cr – 0.06Zr alloy during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at a temperature of 673 K via route B_C were investigated. The microstructure change during plastic deformation was accompanied by the microband formation and an increase in the misorienations of strain-induced subboundaries. The refinement of initial coarse grains was considered as a result of continuous dynamic recrystallization. The dynamic recrystallization kinetics was discussed in terms of grain/subgrain boundary triple junction evolution. The strain dependence of the triple junctions of high-angle boundaries can be expressed by a modified Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov relationship with a strain exponent of about 1.49. Severe plastic deformation by ECAP led to substantial strengthening of the Cu-0.1Cr-0.06Zr alloy. The yield strength increased from 60 MPa in the initial state to 445 MPa after the total strain of 12.

Zircon xenocrysts from alkali basalts in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia, represent a unique low-Hf zircon, within a 12,000 km long Indo-Pacific megacryst zone. Colourless, yellow, brown and red crystals ({100}, {101}, subordinate {211}, {1103}), with hopper growth and corrosion features, range up to 20 cm in size. Zircon chemistry implicates juvenile, Zr-saturated, mantle-derived alkaline melt (Hf 0.6–0.7 wt%, Y <0.2 wt%, U+Th+REE <600 ppm, Zr/Hf 66–92, Eu/Eu*_N ~ 1, positive Ce/Ce*_N, HREE enrichment). Incompatible element depletion with increasing Yb/Sm_N from core to rim at ~ constant Hf suggests single stage growth. Ti-in-zircon temperatures (~570–740 °C) are lower than predicted by crystal morphology (800–900 °C) and decrease from core to rim (D_T = 10–50 °C). The d¹⁸O values (4.88 to 5.01‰ VSMOW) are relatively low for xenocrysts from the zircon Indo-Pacific zone (ZIP). The ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf values (+ εHf 4.5–10.2) give T_{Depleted Mantle} model source ages of 260–462 Ma and T_Crustal ages of 391–754 Ma. The source magmas reflect variably depleted lithospheric mantle with little supracrustal input. Zircon U-Pb (0.88–1.56 Ma) and (U-Th)/He (0.86–1.02 Ma) ages are older than host basalt ages (~0.7 Ma), suggesting limited residence before transport. Zircon genesis suggests Zr-saturated, Al-undersaturated, carbonatitic-influenced, low-degree partial melting (<1%) of peridotitic mantle at ~60 km beneath the Indochina terrane.

We appeal the science community to review the basic definition of wavelength dependent cosmic red shift. We would like to emphasize the point that, the true cosmic red shift must be defined as the ratio of loss in energy of photon to the energy of photon at galaxy. In terms of wavelength, photon red shift must be defined as the ratio of change in wavelength to the observed wavelength of photon. Considering the recent paper pertaining to cosmic halt authored by Cosmin Andrei, Anna Ijjas, and Paul J. Steinhardt and reviewed by Saul Perlmutter, in this paper we propose a very simple model of the universe having early stage light radius of proton seems to be equal to half the product of reduced Planck’s constant and current speed expansion and current stage quantum halt accompanied by continuous light speed rotation. In this context, representing early cosmic expansion and rotation as an outward spiral, it seems possible to consider Hubble’s law as a representation of current cosmic light speed rotation having no further expansion. To understand the current cosmic halt, we are proposing very simple and very strange atomic and nuclear relations that constitute Hubble parameter and gravitational constant. Qualitatively and quantitatively, gravitational potential energy of proton and electron separated by a distance of root mean square radius of proton. Based on uncertainty condition, it needs further study, observations and analysis. We have extended our analysis towards the microscopic coupling constants. Thus, instead of considering the cosmological variable nature of elementary physical constants, we consider the case of current or nearby cosmic halt by means of considering the equality of current cosmic variable physical constants having similar dimensions of fixed elementary physical constants and their combinations. In this connection, it is very interesting to note that, our estimated cosmic age of (2/H0) is matching with recent estimates proposed by Rajendra P Gupta and published in MNRAS.

In recent years, the rise of advanced artificial intelligence technologies has had a profound impact on many fields, including education and research. One such technology is ChatGPT, a powerful large language model developed by OpenAI. This technology offers exciting opportunities for students and educators, including personalized feedback, increased accessibility, interactive conversations, lesson preparation, evaluation, and new ways to teach complex concepts. However, ChatGPT poses different threats to the traditional education and research system, including the possibility of cheating on online exams, human-like text generation, diminished critical thinking skills, and difficulties in evaluating information generated by ChatGPT. This study explores potential opportunities and threats that ChatGPT poses to overall education from the perspective of students and educators. Furthermore, for programming learning, we explore how ChatGPT helps students improve their programming skills. To demonstrate this, we conducted different coding-related experiments with ChatGPT, including code generation from problem descriptions, pseudocode generation of algorithms from texts, and code correction. We also verified the generated codes with an online judge system to evaluate their accuracy.

By modifying the basic definition of cosmic red shift, considering ‘speed of light’ as an absolute cosmic expansion rate and adopting ‘Planck mass’ as the basic seed of the observed large scale universe, it is certainly possible to review and revise the basic picture of ‘standard cosmology’ and in near future, a perfect model of ‘white hole cosmology’ can be developed. In this context we have developed five assumptions. First three assumptions are based on ‘time reversed’ black holes and seem to be well connected with General theory of relativity as well as Quantum mechanics. 4^th and 5^th assumptions are helpful in understanding current galactic dark matter and flat rotation speeds. It may be noted that, considering our first three assumptions and considering the Planck Legacy 2018 data’s enhanced lensing amplitude in cosmic microwave background power spectra - conceptually, a closed universe having a positive curvature seems to be a best fit for the observed universe. With reference to our recent publication [26], for clarity on the subject, in this short communication, we make an attempt to review and explain our proposed assumptions at fundamental level. Our aim is to see that, professional and non-professional cosmologists must understand the basics of workable quantum cosmology.

The role of innate immunity in neutralization of viral infections (including COVID-19) and forming long-lasting and specific immune memory is considered. It is assumed that antiviral protection is generated by the mechanism of RNA interference (RNAi) and is based on the presence of specific viral patterns in the DNA library of the host cells.

With our long experience in the field of unification of gravity and quantum mechanics, we understood that, when mass of any elementary is extremely small/negligible compared to macroscopic bodies, highly curved microscopic space-time can be addressed with large gravitational constants and magnitude of elementary gravitational constant seems to increase with decreasing mass and increasing interaction range. In our earlier publications, we proposed that, 1) There exist three atomic gravitational constants associated with electroweak, strong and electromagnetic interactions; 2) There exists a strong interaction elementary charge in such a way that, it's squared ratio with normal elementary charge is close to inverse of the strong coupling constant; and 3) Considering a fermion-boson mass ratio of 2.27, quarks can be split into quark fermions and quark bosons. Further, we noticed that, electroweak field seems to be operated by a primordial massive fermion of rest energy 584.725 GeV and hadron masses seem to be generated by a new hadronic fermion of rest energy 103.4 GeV. In this context, starting from lepton rest masses to stellar masses, we have developed many interesting and workable relations. With further study, a workable model of final unification can be developed.

With reference to Planck scale, increasing support for large scale cosmic anisotropy and preferred directions and by considering an increasing ratio of Hubble parameter to angular velocity, right from the beginning of Planck scale, we make an attempt to estimate ordinary matter density ratio, dark matter density ratio, mass, radius, temperature, age and expansion velocity (from and about the baby universe in all directions). We would like suggest that, from the beginning of Planck scale, 1) Dark matter can be considered as a kind of cosmic foam responsible for formation of galaxies. 2) Cosmic angular velocity decreases with square of the decreasing cosmic temperature. 3) Increasing ratio of Hubble parameter to angular velocity plays a crucial role in estimating increasing cosmic expansion velocity and decreasing density ratios of dark matter and ordinary matter. 4) There is no need to consider dark energy for understanding cosmic acceleration.

With reference to Planck scale, Mach's relation and by introducing two new parameters Gamma and Beta, right from the beginning of Planck scale, we make an attempt to estimate ordinary matter density ratio, dark matter density ratio, mass, radius, temperature, age and expansion velocity (from and about the Planck mass in all directions). In analogy with currently believed cosmic acceleration, with a decreasing trend of total matter density ratio, cosmic expansion velocity can be shown to be increasing. By considering $H_0\cong 70$ km/sec/Mpc, estimated current cosmic mass, radius, total matter density, expansion velocity, temperature and age are: $4.3352\times {10}^{53}\mathrm{kg},$ $3.207\times {10}^{26}\mathrm{m},$ $3.138\times {10}^{-27}\mathrm{kg}{.\mathrm{m}}^{-3},$ $2.43c,$ $2.721\mathrm{K}$ and $19.78\mathrm{Billion}\mathrm{years}$ respectively. Point to be noted is that, with reference to Planck scale, cosmic temperature seems to be redshifted by a factor ${\left(Z_T\right)}_t\cong \sqrt{1+\ln \left(H_{pl}/H_t\right)}-1$ where $\left(H_{pl},H_t\right)$ represent Planck scale and time dependent Hubble parameters respectively. As a peculiar case, considering the equality of current Hubble parameter and current angular velocity, current cosmic rotational kinetic energy can be estimated to be 0.667 times the current critical energy. It needs further study.

By considering three virtual gravitational constants assumed to be associated with gravitational, electromagnetic and strong interactions, Fermi’s weak coupling constant can be shown to be a natural manifestation of microscopic quantum gravity. As our approach is heuristic and completely different from the current methods of estimating the Newtonian gravitational constant, with reference to the call of ‘Ideas lab 2016’ organized by NSF, we appeal for inclusion of this theoretical work as a project under unification scheme.

We would like to suggest that, by considering three virtual gravitational constants assumed to be associated with gravitational, electromagnetic and strong interactions along with a strongly interacting virtual nuclear elementary charge, a workable model of final unification can be developed. In a verifiable approach, Newtonian gravitational constant and Fermi’s weak coupling constant can be interrelated via nuclear and electromagnetic gravitational constants.

Physical activity is widely recognized as a biotherapy by WHO in the fight and prevention of bone diseases such as osteoporosis. It reduces the risk of disabling fractures associated with many comorbidities, and whose repair is a major public health and economic issue. Bone tissue is a dynamic supportive tissue that reshapes itself according to the mechanical stresses to which it is exposed. Physical exercise is recognized as a key factor for bone health. However, the effects of exercise on bone quality depend on exercise protocols, duration, intensity and frequency. Today, the effects of different exercise modalities on capillary bone vascularization, bone blood flow and bone angiogenesis remain poorly understood and unclear. As vascularization is an integral part of bone repair process, the analysis of the preventive and/or curative effects of physical exercise is currently very undeveloped. Angiogenesis-osteogenesis coupling may constitute a new way for understanding the role of physical activity, especially in fracturing or in the integration of bone biomaterials. Thus, this review aims to clarify the link between physical activities, vascularization and bone repair.

The research was undertaken to study the way deformation behaves in ultrafine-grained (UFG) conducting Al-Zr alloys doped with Sc, Hf, and Yb. All in all, 8 alloys were studied with zirconium partially replaced by Sc, Hf, and/or Yb. Doping elements (X = Zr, Sc, Hf, Yb) in the alloys total 0.4 wt.%. The choice of doping elements is conditioned by possible precipitation of Al3X particles with L12 structure while annealing these alloys. Such particles provide higher thermal stability of a nonequilibrium UFG microstructure. Initial coarse-grained samples were obtained by induction casting. The UFG microstructure in the alloys was formed by Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) at 225°C. Superplasticity tests were carried out at temperatures ranging from 300 to 500 °C and strain rates varying between 3.310-4 and 3.310-1 s-1. The highest values of elongation to failure are observed in Sc-doped alloys. A UFG Al-0.2%Zr-0.1%Sc-0.1%Hf alloy has maximum ductility: at 450 °C and a strain rate of 3.310-3 s-1, relative elongation to failure reaches 765%. At the onset of superplasticity, stress–strain curves are characterized by a stage of homogeneous strain and a long stage of localized plastic flow. The dependence of homogeneous strain (eq) on test temperature in UFG Sc-doped alloys is increasing uniformly, which is not the case for other UFG alloys with eq(T) dependence peaking at 350-400 оС. Strain rate sensitivity coefficient of flow stress m is small and does not exceed 0.26-0.3 at 400-500 °C. In UFG alloys containing no scandium, m coefficient is observed to go down to 0.12-0.18 at 500 оС. It has been suggested that lower m values are driven by intensive grain growth and pore formation in large Al3X particles, which develop specifically at the ingot crystallization stage.

Broadly speaking, binominal and biverbal lexical constructions have been studied independently in different research traditions and frameworks. It is true that the two do not necessarily have overlapping areal distributions, but the fundamental question remains whether Indo-European NN compounds and Transeurasian VV compounds have nothing in common. From a purely theoretical perspective also, the cross-categorial parallelism is worthy of serious investigation because a theory of the process of compounding that inherits the spirit of X-bar theory strives to capture commonalities among various compounding patterns and category-specific constraints observed within and across languages. Against this background, a cross-categorial comparison, not within but across languages, is made of coordinative binominal and biverbal constructions. NN and VV coordinate compounds from English and Japanese are examined in detail using the methodology of contrastive morphology and decompositional lexical semantics. It is shown that dvandva is possible not only in NN but also in VV coordinate compounds and furthermore that the dvandva-appositive distinction in NN coordinate compounds recurs in VV coordinate compounds.

The purpose of this study is to examine the potential of the sacred groves and natural sites for tourism in local communities in Nigeria. Three communities in Inyi town were chosen as case studies: Umuome, Enugwu-Inyi, and Alum, using a purposive sampling technique. An ethnographic data collection method was adopted, using in-depth interviews and direct observation. Grove locations were located and mapped using a geographic information system (GIS) throughout the research area. The secondary data was obtained from scholarly journals. The findings showed that the sacred groves and natural sites had exceptional value for cultural and eco-tourism. There are not many works that have studied the tourism dimension of the sacred groves in the study domain. The implication of the study is that tourism aids in the preservation of the sites' integrity. The research helps the government and policymakers to adopt a policy that promotes tourism in the sacred groves. This research is important to researchers at the universities and research institutions that are seeking to carry out a related research. Conclusively, utilizing the area for tourism is a superior conservation alternative.

The first description of a new form of neutrophil cell death distinct from that of apoptosis or necrosis was discovered in 2004 and coined neutrophil extracellular traps “(NETs)” or “NETosis”. Different stimuli for NET formation, and pathways that drive neutrophils to commit to NETosis have been elucidated in the years that followed. Critical enzymes required for NET formation have been discovered, and targeted therapeutically. NET formation is no longer restricted to neutrophils but has been discovered in other innate cells: Macrophages/Monocytes, Mast Cells, Eosinophils, Basophils, Dendritic cells, and extracellular DNA is extruded from both B and T cells. It has become clear that although this mechanism is thought to enhance host defence by ensnaring bacteria within large webs of DNA to increase bactericidal killing capacity, it is also injurious to innocent bystander tissue. Proteases and enzymes released from extracellular traps (ETs), injure epithelial and endothelial cells perpetuating inflammation. In the context of autoimmunity ETs release over 70 well known autoantigens. ETs are associated with pathology in multiple diseases: lung diseases, vasculitis, autoimmune kidney diseases, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Defining these pathways that drive ET release will provide insight into mechanisms of pathological insult, and provide potential therapeutic targets.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) induced by eccentric half-squat exercise on vertical jump performance in male jumpers. The jumping height, peak power, and work were measured and evaluated in twenty male jumpers. Participants performed five eccentric half-squats at 85% of their one-repetition maximum (1 RM), with a knee angle below 90°, followed by immediate and 2min delayed jump assessments using Squat Jump (SJ) and Countermovement Jump (CMJ) tests. Results showed that this specific PAPE protocol did not significantly improve jump performance for both SJ and CMJ tests. Factors such as stimulus specificity, rest intervals, muscle length, and the balance between potentiation and fatigue may explain these results. The study highlights the complexity of PAPE responses and suggests that a single set of eccentric squats with a short rest may not improve jump performance in male jumpers. Further research is required to optimize the interplay between conditioning stimulus and rest periods to maximize PAPE effects in athletic performance enhancement.

Any quantization maps linearly functions on a phase space to symmetric operators in a Hilbert space. Covariant integral quantization combines operator-valued measure with symmetry group of the phase space. Covariant means that the quantization map intertwines classical (geometric operation) and quantum (unitary transformations) symmetries. Integral means that we use all ressources of integral calculus, in order to implement the method when we apply it to singular functions, or distributions, for which the integral calculus is an essential ingredient. In this paper we emphasize the deep connection between Fourier transform and covariant integral quantization when the Weyl-Heisenberg and affine groups are involved. We show with our generalisations of the Wigner-Weyl transform that many properties of the Weyl integral quantization, commonly viewed as optimal, are actually shared by a large family of integral quantizations.

TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL or Apo2 or TNFSF10) belongs to the TNF superfamily. When bound to its agonistic receptors, TRAIL can induce apoptosis in tumour cells, while sparing healthy cells. This tumour selectivity prompted, over the last three decades, many studies aiming at evaluating the anti-tumoral potential of TRAIL or its derivatives. Although most of these attempts have failed, so far, novel formulations are still being evaluated. Yet, emerging evidence indicates that TRAIL can also trigger, on the other hand, a non-canonical signal transduction pathway that is likely to be detrimental for its use in oncology. Likewise, increasing studies suggest that TRAIL can induce, through Death receptor 5 (DR5) in some circumstances, tumour cell motility, potentially leading to and contributing to tumour metastasis. While the pro-apoptotic signal transduction machinery of TRAIL is well known from a mechanistic point of view, that of the non-canonical pathway is less understood. We are reviewing here the current state of knowledge of TRAIL non-canonical signalling.

Virgin Argan Oil (VAO) is extracted from the fruits of the Moroccan endemic species argan [Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels]. It is known for its richness in polyunsaturated fatty acids and its unique composition in tocopherols conferring a panoply of pharmacological properties, documented in several studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential protective effect of VAO against oxidative and nitrosative stress induced in cells of the model species Tetrahymena pyriformis. As a comparison, well-known Virgin Olive Oil (VOO) from Olea europaea L. was used instead. Both oils were subjected to a preliminary analysis of phytochemicals and properties of interest. Oxidative stress in T. pyriformis cells was induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at 350µM, whereas sodium nitroprusside (SNP) nitrosative stress was induced using a 1mM concentration. Neither of these concentrations caused relevant changes in cell viability. The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was evaluated in the cell cultures by using H2-DCFDA dye. The activity and cell localization of the antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) was evaluated as well as the levels of glutathione (GSH) and the malondialdehyde (MDA) generated after lipid peroxidation. Finally, the presence and localization of intracellular lipid droplets was assessed by using Nile red. The treatment of cultures with H2O2 produced significant increases in the activity of CAT, SOD and GPX and in the level of GSH, as also did the SNP treatment. MDA level was increased by both the treatments. VAO and VOO treatment were found to protect T. pyriformis from oxidative stress and increased cells defense in nitrosative stress. In another hand VAO and VOO decreased significantly MDA level increased by H2O2 treatment and failed after SNP treatment. The quantification of fluorescence signal obtained from immunolocalization of antioxidant enzymes confirmed the results obtained after the evaluation of their activities. Interestingly the level of ROS and the number of lipid droplets increased by H2O2 treatment was significantly decreased by VAO and VOO co-treatments. VAO and VOO represent strong antioxidants, playing an important role in protecting cells against oxidative stress.

Accurate detection of forest restoration sites using deep learning is crucial for effective ecosystem management, optimizing reforestation efforts, and ensuring environmental sustainability. While various deep learning-based systems have been developed for this purpose, the influence of different neural network architectures on model performance during the identification of forest restoration sites remains underexplored. This study aimed to address this gap by exploring the optimal methodology for extracting and classifying candidate sites for forest restoration based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), specialized for image recognition. Four categories—arable land, road and barren, quarry, and forest—were defined as candidate sites for forest restoration. A dataset comprising 17,043 samples was divided into training (11,929) and validation (5,114) sets at a ratio of 7:3 for model learning. Model accuracy was evaluated using pixel accuracy (PA) and mean intersection over union (mean IoU). The Resnet152-U-Net model demonstrated a pixel accuracy of 95.2% and a mean IoU of 61.3%, indicating excellent performance in extracting candidate sites for forest restoration. This approach offers spatial and temporal advantages over conventional field surveys or aerial image-based assessments, potentially serving as valuable data for selecting future forest restoration sites.

The electronic, optical, and magnetic properties of Nd-doped ZnO systems were calculated using the DFT/GGA+U method. According to the results, the Nd dopant causes lattice parameter expansion, negative formation energy, and bandgap narrowing, resulting in the formation of an n-type degenerate semiconductor. Overlapping of the generated impurity and Fermi levels results in a significant trap effect that prevents electron-hole recombination. The absorption spectrum demonstrates a redshift in the visible region and improved intensity, leading to enhanced photocatalytic performance. The Nd-doped ZnO system displays ferromagnetic, with FM coupling due to strong spd-f hybridization through magnetic exchange interaction between the Nd-4f state and O-2p, Zn-4s, and Zn-3p states. These findings imply that Nd-doped ZnO may be a promising material for DMS spintronic devices.

Vein segmentation and projection correction constitute the core algorithms of auxiliary venipuncture device, responding to the accurate venous positioning to assist puncture and reduce the number of punctures and pain of patients. This paper proposes an improved U-Net for segmenting vein and a coaxial correction for image alignment in the self-build vein projection system. The proposed U-Net is embedded by Gabor convolution kernels in the shallow layers to enhance segmentation accuracy. Additionally, to mitigate the semantic information loss caused by channel reduction, the network model is lightweighted by the mean of replacing conventional convolutions with inverted residual blocks. During the visualization process, a method that combining coaxial correction and homography matrix is proposed to address the non-planarity of the dorsal hand in this paper. First, use a hot mirror to adjust the light paths of both projector and camera to be coaxial, and then align the projected image with dorsal hand using a homography matrix. Using this approach, the device requires only a single calibration before use. With the implementation of the improved segmentation method, an accuracy rate of 95.12% is achieved by the dataset. The intersection over union ratio between the segmented and original images is reached at 90.07%. The entire segmentation process is completed in a 0.09 second, and the largest distance error of vein projection onto dorsal hand is 0.53mm. Experiments show that the device has reached practical accuracy and has the value of research and application.

We present here seven new zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) ages and three new zircon fission track ages (ZFT) analyzed from an age-elevation profile (Machu Picchu, Peru). ZFT data present older ages in comparison with the other thermochronological data, whereas the ZHe data interestingly present similar ages than the ones obtained with apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe). It has been proposed that He retention in zircon is linked to the damage dose, with an evolution of the closure-temperature from low values associated to low α-dose (<1016 α/g), subsequently increasing before decreasing again at very high α-dose (>1018 α /g). Studies have been focused on the He diffusion behavior at high α-dose, but little is known at low dose. We propose that the ZHe closure temperature at α-dose ranging from 0.6×1015 to 4×1016 α/g is in the range of ~60-80°C. This value is lower than the one proposed in the current damage model ZRDAAM and demonstrates that the ZHe and AHe methods could have similar closure temperatures at low α-dose (i.e. similar ages). These new data strengthen our previous geological conclusions and even highlight an about twice more important cooling rate than the one deduced from AHe and apatite fission-track data alone registered at Machu Picchu.

We have an unprecedented ability to map the Earth’s surface as deep learning technologies are applied to an abundance of high-frequency Earth observation data. Simple, free, and effective methods are needed to enable a variety of stakeholders to use these tools to improve scientific knowledge and decision making. Here we present a trained U-Net model that can map and delineate ground mounted solar arrays using publicly available Sentinel-2 imagery, and that requires minimal data pre-processing and no feature engineering. By using label overloading and image augmentation during training, the model is robust to temporal and spatial variation in imagery. The trained model achieved a precision and recall of 91.5% each and an intersection over union of 84.3% on independent validation data from two distinct geographies. This generalizability in space and time makes the model useful for repeatedly mapping solar arrays. We use this model to delineate all ground mounted solar arrays in North Carolina and the Chesapeake Bay watershed to illustrate how these methods can be used to quickly and easily produce accurate maps of solar infrastructure.

General Linear Modelling (GLM) has been widely employed to estimate the hemodynamic changes evoked by cognitive processing, which are more likely to be nonlinear than linear. First, this study re-analyzed the fNIRS data (N = 38, Mage = 5.0 years, SD = 0.69 years, 17 girls) collected in the Mixed-Order Design Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task. The results indicated that the quadratic equation was better than GLM to model HbO changes in this task. Second, analysis of a new set of data indicated that the Habit-DisHabit design of DCCS was more effective in identifying the neural correlates of cognitive shifting than the Mixed-Order Design. Third, this study found that the Non-users were more attentive and engaged than the Heavy-users, with a slower but more steady increase of brain activation in BA8 and BA9.

The objective of this study was to detail the monomer composition of resin-based dental materials sold in the market in 2023 and to evaluate the proportion of BPA derivatives in relation with their applications. A search on manufacturers’ websites was performed to reference resin-based dental materials currently on the market. Their monomer composition was determined from material safety data sheets and completed with a search on PubMed database. Among the 543 material compositions exploitable, 382 (70.3%) contained BPA derivatives. Among them, 56.2% contained BisGMA, 28% BisEMA, the most frequently reported. A total of 59 monomers of which 6 BPA-derivatives were found. 309 materials (56.9%) contained UDMA and 292 (53.8%) TEGDMA. Less than one third of materials identified contained no BPA derivatives. These proportions vary a lot depending on their applications with materials dedicated to dental care of young populations containing the highest proportions of BPA-derivatives monomers. The long-term effects on human health of the different monomers identified including BPA-derivatives monomers is a source of concern. For children and pregnant or lactating women arises the question to take a precautionary principle and avoid the use of resin-based dental materials likely to release BPA by opting for alternative materials.

A homogenization of billets from Al-Cu-Li-Mg-Sc-Zr alloys should be accomplished at high annealing temperatures exceeding 500 °C. This type of aluminum alloy is susceptible to the depletion of surface layers from Li. Therefore, choosing a suitable homogenization temperature and duration is a crucial step in assuring a homogeneous distribution of alloying elements and optimal exploitation of the potential of the alloy. In-situ heating in an electron microscope was performed on a twin-roll cast Al-Cu-Li-Mg-Sc-Zr alloy to understand the peculiarities of the homogenization process. Four types of primary phase particles rich in Cu, Li, Mg, and Fe were identified in the as-cast material. They appear as coarse particles at the boundaries of eutectic cells. Their partial dissolution occurs at temperatures above 450 °C. They are almost fully dissolved at 550 °C, except for complex phases containing Fe and Cu. Small dimensions of eutectic cells in the range of 10 µm assure a homogeneous distribution of main alloying elements within the matrix after 20 min of annealing. Direct comparison with the same material prepared by mold-casting indicates that such short annealing times result in the dissolution of main primary phase particles but do not assure a homogeneous distribution of alloying elements in the whole volume of the specimen.

When discussing the Diophantine quintic equation $p(a^5 + b^5) = q(c^5 + d^5)$ where p is a prime and q is an integer, there is a clear gap between the mathematical literature and online forums. Because of the intrinsic complexity of parameterizing fifth-degree equations, this equation re- mains largely unexplored. In this work, we approach this quintic problem through algebraic methods with the goal of providing numerical solutions that illuminate its properties and behaviors.Our research uncovers in- triguing patterns and connections that shed light on the enigmatic nature of Diophantine quintic equations in this particular form.

Obesity has become a global epidemic, contributing to the development of numerous chronic diseases, including diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disorders. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as key regulators in various biological processes, including metabolism, inflammation, and tissue remodeling, making them pivotal players in obesity-related pathologies. This review aims to provide comprehensive insights into the roles of miRNAs in obesity, with a particular emphasis on their involvement in the pathogenesis of CKD and cardiovascular disorders. We highlight the involvement of specific miRNAs in adipose tissue development, energy homeostasis, inflammation, and insulin resistance, contributing to the pathogenesis of obesity. Moreover, we explore the impact of miRNAs on renal fibrosis, and inflammation, giving clues on their roles in the development and progression of CKD. Additionally, we discuss the influence of miRNAs on endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis, and cardiac remodeling, emphasizing their contribution to obesity-related cardiovascular disorders. Understanding the regulatory functions of miRNAs in these interconnected conditions holds promise for improved diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic interventions. Indeed, miRNAs are potential diagnostic biomarkers for obesity-related diseases although challenges remain to be elucidated before their clinical translation. Furthermore, we highlight the emerging strategies that target miRNAs as therapeutic interventions to mitigate the detrimental effects of obesity on kidney and cardiovascular health.

As for most Mediterranean countries, groundwater is the main resource for irrigation and drinking supply in most parts of Syria, however this resource suffers from mismanagement. In the study area (Northeast of Mt. Hermon), the lack of information makes water management in this area extremely difficult. Assessing groundwater pollution risk is the most essential issue for water resources management, especially in the regions where complex interaction between climate, geology, geomorphology, hydrogeology, water scarcity and water resource mismanagement exist. This complexity leads to significant complication in determining pollution risk of studied system. In the present work, we adopted an Integrative Approach to assess groundwater pollution risk in the study area. This methodology is based on the analysis of hydrogeological characteristic of aquifer system and the available information about socio-economic context and physio-chemical groundwater condition that might affect this system. This approach allowed us to delineate the groundwater pollution risk map based on the analysis of concerning parameters/ indicators. The degree of risk was assessed based as the sum and average of rating of these parameters and indicators for each subarea. Typically, very high pollution risk index was identified over the Quaternary/Neogene horizon, i.e shallow and unconfined aquifer and in the lower part of Jurassic aquifer. In these two parts, the majority of anthropogenic activities are concentrated. Low pollution risk index was found for the outcropping of low permeable Quaternary basalt at the Southern part of the study area. A moderate pollution index was identified for the low/moderate permeability of silt, clay and marly limestone rich horizons of the major part of Neogene aquifer outside of the intersected zones with Quaternary aquifer and for the Paleogene formations. The spatial analysis shows that about 50% of the study area is characterized as being at very high and high pollution risk index. Hence, the overall natural protective capacity of this area is still poor. This study demonstrates the flexibility of the proposed approach to assess groundwater pollution risk in local complex aquifer system characterized by lack of information and data in order to reduce the risk of future groundwater pollution.

Infection of hosts by morbilliviruses is facilitated by the interaction between viral hemagglutinin (H-protein) and the signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM). Recently, the functional importance of the N-terminal region of human SLAM as a measles virus receptor was demonstrated. However, the functional roles of this region in the infection process by other morbilliviruses and host range determination remain unknown partly because this region is highly flexible, which has hampered accurate structure determination of this region by X-ray crystallography. In this study, we analyzed the interaction between the H-protein from canine distemper virus (CDV-H) and SLAMs by a computational chemistry approach. Molecular dynamics simulations and fragment molecular orbital analysis demonstrated that the unique His28 in the N-terminal region of SLAM from Macaca is a key determinant that enables formation of a stable interaction with CDV-H, providing a basis for CDV infection in Macaca. The computational chemistry approach presented should enable determination of molecular interactions involving regions of proteins that are difficult to predict from crystal structures because of their high flexibility.

NiV2O6 thin films were grown on glass slides with varying thicknesses using the nebulizer spray pyrolysis. The impact of thickness on the thin films' optical, structural, morphological, and electrical characteristics was systematically investigated. The X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman analysis confirmed the formation of the triclinic NiV2O6 system. Surface morphology and roughness variations in the as-deposited NiV2O6 films were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a profilometer. Optical properties, including optical band gap (Eg), extinction coefficient (k), absorption coefficient (α), and refractive index (n), were determined through optical reflectance and transmittance measurements. The optical energy gap of the as-deposited NiV2O6 films decreased from 2.3 eV to 1.9 eV with increased layer thickness. Furthermore, the photo-detectivity of the films demonstrated an enhancement corresponding to the prolonged spray time. The sensitivity values obtained for visible irradiation are 328, 511, and 433 for samples S1, S2, and S3, respectively. The obtained results are imputed to the specific porous microstructure.

The versatility of metal complexes of corroles raised the interest in the use of these molecules as element of chemical sensors. The tuning of the macrocycle properties by synthetic modification of the different components of the corrole ring, such as functional groups, molecular skeleton, and coordinated metal, allows the creation of a vast library of corrole-based sensors. However, the scarce conductivity of most of aggregates of corroles limits the development of simple conductometric sensors and requires the use of optical or mass transducers that are rather more cumbersome and less prone to be integrated in microelectronics systems. To compensate the scarce conductivity, corroles are often used to functionalize the surface of conductive materials such as graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes, or conductive polymers. Alternatively, they can be incorporated in heterojunction devices where they are interfaced with a conductive material such as a phthalocyanine. Herewith, we introduce two heterojunction sensors made of junctions of lutetium bisphthalocyanine (LuPc2) with either 5,10,15-tris(pentafluorophenyl) corrolato Cu (1) or 5,10,15-tris(4-methoxyphenyl)corrolato Cu (2). Optical spectra show that after forming the heterojunction, corroles maintain their original structure. The conductivity of the devices reveals an energy barrier for interfacial charge transport, which is larger in the 1/LuPc2 device. The different interfacial barriers is also manifested by the opposite response respect to ammonia: with a 1/LuPc2 behaving as a n-type conductor and 2/LuPC2 as a p-type conductor. Furthermore, the sensors show a high sensitivity respect to relative humidity with a reversible and fast response in the range 30-60%.

In the recent years, biochar has emerged as a remarkable biosourced material for addressing global environmental, agricultural, biomedical, and energy challenges. However, the performances of biochar rest in part on finely tuning its surface chemical properties, intended to obtain specific functionalities. In this review, we tackle surface treatment of biochar with silane and other coupling agents such as diazonium salts, titatantes, ionic/non-ionic surfactants, as well as nitrogen-containing (macro)molecules. We summarize the recent progress achieved mostly in the last five years, and correlate the nature and extent of functionalization to eye catchy end applications of the surface engineered biochar.

Water area segmentation in remote sensing is of great importance for flood monitoring. To overcome some challenges in this task, we construct the Water Index and Polarization Information (WIPI) multi-modality dataset and propose a multi-Modality Fusion and Gated multi-Filter U-Net (MFGF-UNet) convolutional neural network. The WIPI dataset enhances the water information and reduces the data dimension. In particular, the Cloud-Free label provided in the database effectively mitigates the issue of scarcity of labeled samples Since a single form or uniform kernel size cannot handle the variety in size and shape of water bodies, we proposed the gated multi-filter inception (GMF-Inception) module in our MFGF-UNet. Moreover, we utilize the attention mechanism by introducing the Gated Channel Transform (GCT) skip connection and integrating GCT into GMF- Inception to further improve model performance. Extensive experiments on three benchmarks, including WIPI, Chengdu and GF2020 datasets demonstrate that our method achieves favorable performance with lower complexity and better robustness against six competing approaches. For example, on WIPI, Chengdu and GF2020 datasets, the proposed MFGF-UNet model achieves F1 of 0.9191, 0.7410, and 0.8421, respectively, which average F1 on three datasets is 0.0045 higher than the U-Net model and reduces 62% average GFLOPs. New WIPI dataset, code and trained models have been released on GitHub

Two different silica conformations (Xerogels and Nanoparticles) both formed by the mediation of dendritic poly (ethylene imine) were tested at low pHs on the problematic uranyl cation sorption. The effect of crucial factors i.e., temperature, electrostatic forces, adsorbent composition, accessibility of the pollutant to the dendritic cavities and MW of the organic matrix was investigated to conclude the optimum formulation for water purification under these conditions. This was attained with the aid of UV-Visible and FTIR spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), ζ-potential; Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) porosimetry, Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TG) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Results highlighted that both adsorbents have extraordinary sorp-tion capacity. Xerogels are cost-effective since they approximate the performance of na-noparticles with much lesser organic content. Furthermore, they are more practicable materials since they may penetrate the pores of a metal or ceramic solid substrate in the form of a precursor, gel-forming solution.

The Ptarmigan and Tom mesothermal gold deposits are located 10 km to the northeast of the city of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories in northern Canada. Both gold deposits comprise a series of en echelon veins that are hosted within upper greenschist to lower amphibolite facies ~2630 Ma (peak) rocks. Supracrustal units across the craton are intruded by the ca. 2610–2605-Ma granodiorite, tonalite, monzodiorite, quartz diorite, and affiliated rocks of the Concession Suite. Hydrothermal apatite is a common accessory mineral in both mineralized and non-mineralized quartz veins in the metasedimentary host rocks that constitute the Ptarmigan and Tom deposits. This study characterizes and compares turbidite-hosted hydrothermal apatite from the Ptarmigan and Tom deposits, non-mineralized veins adjacent to the ore body, and magmatic apatite from proximal LCT-pegmatites. Using electron probe microanalyses (EPMA), laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), micro-XRF, and cathodoluminescence (CL), the major, minor, and trace element abundances have been quantified and mapped. In addition to utilizing this data to determine if the chemistry of apatite can be used to constrain the source of hydrothermal fluids, the apparent age of the apatite is also evaluated utilizing in situ U-Pb dating. The distribution and abundance of major, minor, and trace elements from in situ recovered apatite were studied to characterize the nature of mineralizing fluids. Most apatite from mineralized and non-mineralized veins show different Mn, Sr, and Pb contents, as well as chondrite-normalized rare-earth element (REE) and Y abundance patterns. REEs display five unique chondrite-normalized patterns: (1) negative sloped pattern with slight negative Eu anomaly, (2) a flat pattern with a positive Eu anomaly, (3) a positive slope with a negative Eu anomaly, (iv) light rare earth element (LREE) depleted pattern with positive Eu anomaly, and (v) bell-shaped pattern with a negative Eu anomaly. The REE patterns reflect both the source of the auriferous hydrothermal fluids and, perhaps, co-precipitating mineral phases. Apatite from the Ptarmigan vein occurs with both: (1) a flat pattern with a positive Eu anomaly and (2) bell-shaped pattern with a negative Eu anomaly. The bell-shaped and flat patterns typify orogenic gold deposits. Vein-hosted apatite commonly displays compositional zoning with a characteristic yellow cathodoluminescence (CL) emission spectra with darker cores and brighter rims. The cores have lower REE, whereas the rims are notably higher in REE. It is thought that the darker cores in CL images reflect a transition from an early low REE hydrothermal fluid to one enriched in REE. The hydrothermal apatite age of 2585 ± 15 Ma is consistent with the intrusions of the 2605 and 2590 Ma two-mica granites of the Prosperous Suite and associated LCT pegmatites.

The effect of Zr addition on the melting temperature of the CoCrFeMnNi High Entropy Alloy (HEA), known as the “Cantor’s Alloy”, is investigated, together with its microstructure, mechan-ical properties and thermo-mechanical recrystallization process. The base and Zr-modified al-loys are obtained by vacuum induction melting of mechanically pre-alloyed powders followed by recrystallization. The alloys were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmis-sion electron microscopy, thermal analyses, mechanical spectroscopy and indentation measures. The main advantages of Zr addition are: 1) a fast vacuum induction melting (VIM) process; 2) the lower melting temperature, due to Zr eutectics formation with all the Cantor’s alloy elements; 3) the good chemical alloy homogeneity; 4) the mechanical properties improvement of recrystallized grains with a coherent structure. The crystallographic lattice of both alloys resulted to be FCC. Results demonstrate that the Zr-modified HEA presents a higher recrystallization temperature and smaller grain size after recrystallization with respect to the Cantor’s alloy, with precipita-tion of a coherent second phase which enhance the alloy hardness and strength, while maintaining a good tensile ductility.

As climate change should lead to an increase in the vulnerability and the sensitivity of forests to extreme climatic events, quantifying and predicting their response to more severe droughts remains a key task for foresters. Furthermore, recent works have suggested that tree diversity may affect forest ecosystem functioning, including their response to extreme events. In this study we aimed at testing whether the growth response of forest stands to stressful climatic events varied between mixed and monospecific stands, under various environmental conditions. We focused on beech-fir forests (Fagus sylvatica [L.] and Abies alba [L.]) and beech-oak forests (Fagus sylvatica [L.] and Quercus pubescent [L.]) in the French Alps. We used a dendrochronological dataset sampled in forest plots organized by triplets (one mixture and two monospecific stands) distributed in six sites along a latitudinal gradient. We tested (1) whether stand diversity (two-species stands vs monospecific stands) modulates the stands’ response to drought events in terms of productivity, (2) whether species identity may drive the diversity effect on resistance and recovery, and (3) whether this can be explained by interspecific interactions. We found that (1) interspecific differences in response to extreme drought events (possibly due to interspecific differences in hydraulic characteristics) can induce a mixture effect on stand growth, although it appeared (2) to be strongly depending on species identity (positive effect only found for beech-fir mixed stands), while (3) there were no significant non-additive effects of diversity on stand resistance and recovery, except for some specific cases. Overall, our study shows that promoting selected mixed stands management may buffer extrem drought effect on stand productivity.

The G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER; G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 30, also known as GPR30) is a novel estrogen receptor and has emerged as a promising target for ovarian cancer. GPER, a seven-transmembrane receptor, suppresses cellular viability and migration in studied ovarian cancer cells. However, its impact on the fallopian tube, which is the potential origin of high-grade serous (HGSC) ovarian cancer, has not been addressed. This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship of GPER, ovarian cancer subtypes, i.e., high-grade serous cell lines (OV90 and OVCAR420), as well as potential HGSC ovarian cancer origin (i.e., the fallopian tube cell line FT190). The selective ligand assessed here is the agonist G-1, which was utilized in an in vitro study to characterize its effects on cellular viability and migration. As a result, this study has addressed the effect of a specific GPER antagonist in combination with an agonist on cell viability, providing a better understanding of the effects of these compounds on our diverse group of studied cell lines. Strikingly, attenuated cell proliferation and migration behaviors were observed in the presence of G-1. Thus, our in vitro study reveals the impact of the origin of HGSC ovarian cancers and highlights the GPER agonist G-1 as a potential therapy for ovarian cancer.

Stenting is a common method for treating atherosclerosis. A metal or polymer stent is deployed to open the stenosed artery or vein. After the stent is deployed, the blood flow dynamics influence the mechanics by compressing and expanding the structure. If the stent does not respond properly to the resulting stress, vascular wall injury or re-stenosis can occur. In this work, Discrete Multiphysics is used to study the mechanical deformation of the coronary stent and its relationship with the blood flow dynamics. The major parameters responsible for deforming the stent are sort in terms of dimensionless numbers and a relationship between the elastic forces in the stent and pressure forces in the fluid is established. The blood flow and the stiffness of the stent material contribute significantly to the stent deformation and affect the rate of deformation. The stress distribution in the stent is not uniform with the higher stresses occurring at the nodes of the structure.

This study proposes a 3D particle-base (discrete) multiphysics approach for modelling calcification in the aortic valve. Different stages of calcification (from mild to severe) were simulated, and their effect on the cardiac output assessed. The cardiac flow rate decreases with the level of calcification. In particular, there is a critical level of calcification below which the flow rate decreases dramatically. Mechanical stress on the membrane is also calculated. The results show that, as calcification progresses, spots of high mechanical stress appear. Firstly, they concentrate in the regions connecting two leaflets; when severe calcification is reached, then they extend to the area at the basis of the valve.

An understanding of the cultural conditions that determine the factors affecting nurses’ intention to leave is important for countries suffering from nurse shortage. Aim: to examine factors influencing intention to leave among female hospital nurses in a large Japanese sample, classified into four generations by age considering economic conditions. Methods: a cross-sectional survey with convenience sampling was conducted. Anonymous self-administered questionnaires were distributed to all nurses in 30 hospitals. To assess intention to leave, basic attributes, life conditions, work characteristics, and factors of psychosocial work environment were addressed. After classifying data into four generations based on age cohorts, we conducted multivariate logistic regression analysis using the completed data (N = 5,074, mean age = 36.24). Results: regardless of generational characteristics influenced by economic conditions, effort and monetary reward were generation-common factors. Over-commitment, social support, and the presence of a role model were generation-common factors in three generations. While having children increased intention to leave in the generation born 1965–1979, having family members in need of caregiving other than children decreased the risk in the generation born in the 1980s. Conclusion: generational countermeasures considering factors of psychosocial work environment and life conditions are needed to avert female nurse turnover.

We evaluated the detection efficiency and location accuracy of lightning discharges in Japan using Blitzortung.org, a volunteer-based network for locating lightning discharges from sferics measured by VLF electromagnetic receivers that have been deployed worldwide in recent years. A comparison of the flash rate (the detected lightning rate per area and period) from Blitzortung.org with that from the satellite-based OTD/LIS and the ground-based World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) observations showed that Blitzortung.org clearly observed intense lightning activity in and around the Kanto area, including Tokyo, in summer, which is typical of Japanese lightning activity. However, it did not clearly observe lightning activity in and around the Nansei Islands, including Okinawa. Conversely, Blitzortung.org observed winter lightning activity in the Hokuriku area and off the Kanto. In addition, event studies have compared the detection efficiency and location accuracy of Blitzortung.org with those of the Japanese Lightning Location Network (JLDN) to infer their absolute values. The latest detection efficiency of Blitzortung.org in the Kanto area was estimated at roughly 90%. The mean location accuracy was estimated at up to 5.6 km.

The Double U-pipe ground heat exchanger, recognized for its straightforward process, cost-effectiveness, high heat exchange efficiency, and low thermal resistance, stands as the predominant ground heat exchanger type in today's shallow geothermal energy development and utilization. Recent years have seen significant research into the heat transfer influencing factors and heat exchange performance of Double U-pipe ground heat ex-changers via experimental testing methods. Yet, studies integrating numerical simulation with in-situ testing have been less frequent. Drawing on the cylindrical heat source model theory and the outcomes of regional in-situ thermal response tests, this paper develops a Double U-pipe ground heat transfer model by establishing physical, mathematical, and heat transfer geometric models. It assesses the impact of varying inlet temperatures, flow rates, and initial ground temperatures on heat exchange efficiency under heating conditions. The results validate the precision of the double U-pipe ground heat exchanger model based on in-situ testing. They show that enhancing the temperature differential between the inlet and initial temperatures, elevating the initial ground temperature, and moderately increasing the flow rate can boost the system's heat exchange efficiency.

The Danxia landform area of Jingbian Wave Valley is located in the central part of Ordos Basin. The near-red Danxia landform consisting of sandstone in this area is a new discovery in geological circles at home and abroad, and its depositional age and genesis remain a hot topic of discussion at present. As the material basis for its development, red sandstone is of great importance to the in-depth study on its formation date and origin. The paper explores the origin, tectonic significance and paleogeographic pattern of the red sandstone through field geological investigation and zircon U-Pb dating analysis of the red sandstone of the Luohe Formation. The results show that the original materials of the red sandstone was formed in three main age intervals, 252~456 Ma, 1657~2084 Ma, and 2129~2538 Ma, and regional tectonothermal events in the origin area during the three periods were recorded, among which the events in Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic periods were the most active. The comparative analysis of zircon U-Pb age spectra shows that for the sediment of red sandstone, the early origin is near-origin and late origin is distant-origin. The main origin areas in the study area are the Xingmeng orogenic belt, the North China massif and the Alashan massif; the vertical section reflects that the origin area has the strongest erosion and transport in the upper deposition period, the smallest erosion and transport in the middle deposition period, and the moderate erosion and transport in the lower deposition period. With origins system dominated by the northern origins and the paleogeographic pattern of multi-period and cyclonic, the area mainly experienced four tectonic movement cycles, such as Wutai, Lvliang, Caledon and Haixi.

In Europe, the recent application of regulations oriented to zero-energy buildings and climate neutrality in 2050 has led to a reduction in energy consumption for heating and cooling in the construction sector. The thermal insulation of the building envelope plays a key role in this process and the requirements about the maximum allowable thermal transmittance are defined by country-specific guidelines. Typically, high insulation values provide low energy consumption for heating, however, they may paradoxically imply the risk of overheating in summer period and thus negatively affect the overall performance of the building. In addition, the embodied energy and related emissions caused by the manufacturing and transportation processes of thermal insulation cannot be further neglected in the evaluation of the best optimal solution. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the influence in terms of embodied and operational energy of various walls’ thermal insulation thicknesses on residential buildings in Europe. To this end, the EnergyPlus engine was used for the energy simulation within Ladybug &amp; Honeybee tools, by parametrically conducting multiple iterations; 53 variations of external wall U-value, considering high and low thermal mass scenarios, were simulated for 100 reference cities of the European context, using a representative multifamily building as a reference. The results demonstrate that massive walls generally perform better than lightweight structures and, of course, the best solution in terms of energy varies according to each climate. The optimal values are graphically reported on the map of Europe according to specific climatic features, providing a guidance for new constructions and building retrofit.

Zirconium based bulk metallic glasses are industrially valuable materials which commercial market grows rapidly. Surface modification of these metallic glasses by high-intensity lasers is relatively new and costly treatment promising great advantages over classical surface processing methods. In this work we perform the case study of surface modification of Zr$_{46}$Cu$_{36.8}$Ag$_{9.2}$Al$_8$ metallic glass by high-intensity millisecond laser beam. Our results suggest chemical deposition of atmospheric oxygen and nitrogen in the laser-melted surface area and its surroundings. Zirconium nitride layer was detected in the middle of laser-irradiated area. Nanocrystals embedded in the amorphous matrix were also formed on the surface. Overall, our findings suggest possibilities for improvement of mechanical characteristics of the studied metallic glass.

In vertebrates, oligodendrocytes (OLs) are glial cells of the central nervous system (CNS) responsible for the formation of the myelin sheath that surrounds the axons of neurons. The myelin sheath plays a crucial role in the transmission of neuronal information by promoting the rapid saltatory conduction of action potentials and providing neurons with structural and metabolic support. Saltatory conduction, first described in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), is now generally recognized as a universal evolutionary innovation to respond quickly to the environment: myelin helps us think and act fast. However, the function of myelin in the CNS, particularly in the brain, is not necessarily to act quickly, but rather to act correctly. In this respect, myelin should primarily play a role in synchronizing the different neuronal networks, a synchrony that occurs in the form of oscillations (or rhythms) relevant for specific information processing. Interestingly, myelin has been directly involved in different types of cognitive processes relying on brain oscillations, and myelin plasticity is currently considered to be part of the fundamental mechanisms for memory formation and maintenance. However, despite ample evidence showing the involvement of myelin in cognition and neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by cognitive impairments, the link between myelin, brain oscillations, cognition and disease is not yet fully understood. In this review, we aim to highlight what is known and what remains to be explored to understand the role of myelin in high order brain processes.

Healthcare workers have atypical working schedule and are exposed to experienced stress that led to poor sleep health and frequent mental complaints, particularly since the Covid-19 crisis. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of poor sleep hygiene and mental complaints and their associations among healthcare workers. Usual sleep-wake timings were ex-plored during workdays and free days and used to compute sleep duration, sleep efficiency and social jetlag. Insomnia, sleepiness, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and fatigue were calculated using validated scales. A total of 1,562 participants were included (80.5% of women and mean age of 40.0). Among them, 25.9% slept less than 6 hours, 24.3% had a poor sleep efficiency, and 11.5% reported a social jetlag. A total of 33.9% of participants reported insomnia, 45.1% reported EDS, 13.1% reported fatigue, 16.5% reported depression and 35.7% reported anxiety. After ad-justment, sleep duration and sleep efficiency were associated with mental complaints. Social jetlag was associated with significant insomnia but not with anxiety or depression symptoms. Healthcare workers have a high prevalence of poor sleep hygiene and mental complaints. The promotion of sleep health through behavioral sleep strategies should be encouraged to ensure good health for these professionals.

Various tissue resident stem cells are receiving attention from basic scientists and clinicians as they hold certain promise for regenerative medicine. This paper is intended to clarify and facilitate the understanding, development and adoption of regenerative medicine in general and specifically of therapies based on unmodified, autologous adipose-derived regenerative cells (UA-ADRCs). To this end, results of landmark experiments on stem cells and stem cell therapy performed in the labs of the authors are summarized, the most intriguing of which are the following: (i) vascular associated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be isolated from different organs (adipose tissue, heart, skin, bone marrow and skeletal muscle) and differentiated into ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm, providing significant support for the hypothesis of the existence of a small, ubiquitously distributed, universal vascular associated stem cell with full pluripotency; (ii) the orientation and differentiation of MSCs are driven by signals of the respective microenvironment; and (iii) these stem cells irrespective of the tissue origin exhibit full pluripotent differentiation potential without any prior genetic modification or the need for culturing. They can be obtained from a small amount of adipose tissue when using the appropriate technology for isolating the cells, and can be harvested from and re-applied to the same patient at the point of care without the need for complicated processing, manipulation, culturing, expensive equipment, or repeat interventions. These findings demonstrate the potential of UA-ADRCs for triggering the development of an entire new generation of medicine for the benefit of patients and of healthcare systems.

Many signaling pathways, molecular and cellular actors which are critical for wound healing have been implicated in cancer metastasis. These two conditions are a complex succession of cellular biological events and accurate regulation of these events is essential. Apart from inflammation, macrophages-released ROS arise as major regulators of these processes. But, whatever the pathology concerned, oxidative stress is a complicated phenomenon to control and requires a finely tuned balance over the different stages and responding cells. This review provides an overview of the pivotal role of oxidative stress in both wound healing and metastasis, encompassing the contribution of macrophages. Indeed, macrophages are major ROS producers but also appear as their targets since ROS interfere with their differentiation and function. Elucidating ROS functions in wound healing and metastatic spread may allow the development of innovative therapeutic strategies involving redox modulators.

Esters constitute a wide family of volatile compounds impacting the organoleptic properties of many beverages including wine and beer. They can be classified according to their chemical structure. Higher Alcohols Acetate differ from Fatty Acids Ethyl Esters whereas a third group, Substituted Ethyl Esters, contributes to the fruitiness of red wines. Derived from yeast metabolism, the biosynthesis of Higher Alcohols Acetates and Fatty Acids Ethyl Esters has been widely in-vestigated at the enzymatic and genetic level. In this work, we confirmed their effective contri-bution in the fruity perception in young red wines by evaluating the effect of their depletion by chemical and sensorial analyses. As previously reported, two pairs of esterases respectively en-coded by the paralogue genes (ATF1, ATF2) and (EEB1 and EHT1) are mostly involved in the bi-osynthesis of Acetate of Higher alcohols and Fatty Acids Ethyl Esters. However, those esterases have a moderate effect on the biosynthesis of Substituted Ethyl Esters that depends to another pair of genes, MGL2 and YJU3 encoding for mono-acyl lipases. These new findings complete our un-derstanding of esters metabolism in the context of wine alcoholic fermentation. In order to evaluate the sensorial impact of esters we attempted to produce a red wine without esters by generating a multiple deletion strain. Surprisingly, we failed to abolish all the esterase activities revealing unsuspected physiological consequences of ester biosynthesis routes. A preliminary RNA-seq analysis depicted the overall impact of the multiple deletion of ATF1, ATF2, EEB1 and EHT1 that triggers the expression shift of 1124 genes involved in nitrogen and lipid metabolism but also chromatin organization and histone acetylation, suggesting an unsuspected regulatory role of ester metabolism

In this article, the effect of substitution of Zr and Ga in Dy2Fe17 prepared by arc melting technique are studied. The substitution of Zr and Ga in Dy2Fe17 was found to have an important effect on their structure and magnetic properties. The Rietveld analysis conformed that the crystalline system wereTh2Ni17 structure. Lattice parameters a (Å) and c (Å), unit cell volume (Å3), bonding distance (Å) were calculated by using Rietveld analysis. The unit cell volume of Dy2Fe17-xZrx and Dy2Fe16Ga1-xZrx increase linearly with the Zr and Ga substitution. The substitution of Zr and Ga are limited up to x=1 in order to avoid the decrease in saturation magnetization. The Curie temperature (Tc) of Dy2Fe17-xZrx and Dy2Fe16Ga1-xZrx are found to be Zr content dependent. The Curie temperature is found to be increasing first and then decrease for higher Zr content. The maximum curie temperature was observed 510K at x = 0.75 for Dy2Fe17-xZrx and 505.1 K at x = 0.5 for Dy2Fe17-xZrx which are102 K and 97 K higher than Dy2Fe17. The room temperature Mössbauer analysis shows the decrease in average hyperfine field and increase in isomer shift with Zr doping.

Western Anatolia comprises a vast amount of various volcanic successions spanning from Eocene to Upper Miocene periods. These units mainly display southward younging in broad sense and display large amounts of chemical variation that spanned from basalt to rhyolite. The southward younging of magmatism and chemical variations have been largely attributed to the retreat and roll-back of the Hellenic slab and the western escape of the Anatolian microplate. However, there is still a lack of high precision data to pinpoint the exact nature of the magmatism and lithospheric tectonics. In this contribution we investigated a poorly known region along the Western Anatolia along Manisa district called Karakılıçlı volcanic field. We investigated two different volcanic sections (Kalpakkaya and Çamlık hill) that display the best volcano-sedimentary features in terms of geochronology and geochemistry. Samples acquired from the bottom, middle and upper portions of these sections display Early-Middle Miocene ages of 17.64±0.20, 17.22±0.15, 16.16±0.17 and 16.36±0.13, 15.79±0.71 and 13.61±0.20 Ma respectively. The results indicate that the volcanism in the region generated by the melting of the mantle and/or lithospheric mantle by slab retreat and roll-back of the Hellenic slab and evolved in the shallow magma chambers/mushes by fractional crystallization, magma mixing and crustal assimilation.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by motor deficits and a wide variety of non-motor symptoms. The age of onset, rate of disease progression and the precise profile of motor and non-motor symptoms display considerable individual variation. Neuropathologically, the loss of substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons is a key feature of PD. The vast majority of PD patients exhibit alpha-synuclein aggregates in several brain regions, but there is also great variability in the neuropathology between individuals. While the dopamine replacement therapies can reduce motor symptoms, current therapies do not modify the disease progression. Numerous clinical trials using a wide variety of approaches have failed to achieve disease modification. It has been suggested that the heterogeneity of PD is a major contributing factor to the failure of disease modification trials, and that it is unlikely that a single treatment will be effective in all patients. Precision medicine, using drugs designed to target the pathophysiology in a manner that is specific to each individual with PD, has been suggested as a way forward. PD patients can be stratified according to whether they carry one of the risk variants associated with elevated PD risk. In this review we assess current clinical trials targeting two enzymes, leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) and glucocerebrosidase (GBA), which are encoded by two most common PD risk genes. Because the details of the pathogenic processes coupled to the different LRRK2and GBA risk variants are not fully understood, we ask if these precision medicine-based intervention strategies will prove “precise“ or “personalized“ enough to modify the disease process in PD patients. We also consider at what phases of the disease that such strategies might be effective, in light of the genes being primarily associated with the risk of developing disease in the first place, and less clearly linked to the rate of disease progression. Finally, we critically evaluate the notion that therapies targeting LRRK2 and GBA might be relevant to a wider segment of PD patients, beyond those that actually carry risk variants of these genes.

Diarylethene is a prototypical molecular switch that can be reversibly photoisomerized between its open and closed forms. Ligands bpy-DAE-bpy, consisting of a phenyl-diarylethene-phenyl (DAE) central core and bipyridine (bpy) terminal substituents, are able to self-organize. They are investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy at the solid-liquid interface. Upon light irradiation, cooperative photochromic switching of the ligands is recognized down to the sub-molecular level. The closed isomers show different electron density of states (DOS) contrasts, attributed to the HOMO or LUMO molecular orbitals observed. More importantly, the LUMO images show remarkable differences between the open and closed isomers, attributed to combined topographic and electronic contrasts mainly on the DAE moieties. The electronic contrasts from multiple HOMO or LUMO distributions, combined with topographic distortion of the open or closed DAE, are interpreted by density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Visual data on the geographic distribution of carbon storage helps policy maker to formulate countermeasures on global warming. However, Taiwan, as an island showing diversity in climate and topography, had lacked valid visual data in distribution of forest carbon storage between the last to forest surveys (1993-2015). This study established a model to achieve an estimation that capable to demonstrate the distribution of forest carbon storage. This model uses land use, stand morphology, carbon conversion coefficient databases accordingly for 51 types of major forest in Taiwan. An estimation on 2006 was conducted and shows an overall carbon storage of 165.65 Mt C, with forest carbon storage per unit area of 71.56 t C ha–1, where natural forests and plantations respectively contributed of 114.15 Mt C (68.9%) and 51.50 Mt C (31.1%). By assuming no change in land use type, the carbon sequestration from 2006 to 2007 by the 51 forest types was estimated to be 5.21 Mt C yr–1 using historical tree growth and mortality rates. The result reflects the reality of the land use status and event of coverage shifting with time by combining to the two forest surveys in Taiwan.

We report that ethanol, used together with water, plays a crucial role in tuning the structures of a zirconium-based Metal-Organic Framework, the 12-connected MOF-801, and the possible mechanisms of this modulating effect. By employing the cosolvent system of ethanol and water just under room temperature without the presence of a monotopic carboxylic acid as the modulator, MOF-801 in various morphologies of different sizes can be synthesized. The linear correlation between the ethanol/water ratio and the crystal sizes is also demonstrated. The growth mechanism is mainly explained by ethanol’s binding with the metal ion clusters and the Marangoni Flow Effect. Ethanol competes with the linker molecules in coordinating with the Zr metal clusters, a role similar to that of the modulators. The Marangoni Flow Effect, which dominates at a certain solvent ratio, further promotes the 1-D alignment of the MOF-801 crystals.

During quasi-stationary tensile deformation of ultrafine-grained Cu-0.2 mass%Zr at 673 K and a deformation rate of about 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹ load changes were performed. Relative load reductions by more than about 25% to relative loads R < 0.75 initiate anelastic back flow. Subsequently the creep rate turns positive again and goes through a relative maximum. This is interpreted by a strain rate contribution ε ̇− from recovery of dislocations. Back extrapolation indicates that ε ̇− contributes about (20 ± 10)% to the quasi-stationary strain rate. The stress dependences of the recovery-strain rate ε ̇− and the rate ε ̇+ related with generation and storage of dislocations are discussed in terms of thermally activated processes characterized by different kinetics.

The present paper reports an alternative solution of the measurement problem in quantum theory. The measurement problem can be characterized as that the U-procedure verses the R-procedure. The R-procedure is tested by the Yes/No measurement originally proposed by von Neuman and discussed in details by Penrose. We propose a novel stochastic sampling method to tackle the measurement paradox. Each testing sample produces a pair of Yes-number c and No-number d, which in turn generates a sample phase with respect to the exponential form of (c+id). All the sample phases forms a group G_R. Taking G_R as the sampling potential, combined with the dynamic phase group G_U，we establish a unified model of U-procedure and R-procedure for the evolution of wavefunction. Based on the Born rule, the probability of a sample is given by the squared magnitude of （c+id）. Some metaproperties of the new U-R model, such as natural transformation, consistency, and completeness, are presented. The present work provides a new picture of quantum mechanics and alike. The measurement problem widely exists in dynamic analysis, higher cognition, and large data modeling. Thus, the work reported here has a wide range of applications. Keywords: The measurement problem; U-R procedures; the Yes/No type measurement; stochastic sampling; sample phase; Born probability.

Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) is a terminal disease characterized by severe pulmonary vascular remodeling. Unfortunately, targeted therapy to prevent disease progression is limited. Here, the vascular cell populations that contribute to the molecular and morphological changes of PH in conjunction with current animal models for studying vascular remodeling in PH will be examined. The status quo of epigenetic targeting for treating vascular remodeling in different PH subtypes will be dissected, while parallel epigenetic threads between pulmonary hypertension and pathogenic cancer provide insight into future therapeutic PH opportunities.

Objectives: The aim of our current study was to analyze whether the use of important measures of methodological quality and reporting of randomized clinical trials published in the field of cardiovascular disease research have changed over time. Further aim was to investigate whether there was an improvement over time in the ability of these trials to provide a good estimate of the true intervention effect. Methods We conducted two searches in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTAL) database to identify cardiovascular clinical research trials published in either 2012 or 2017. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) trials in cardiovascular disease research with adult participants were eligible to be included. We randomly selected 250 RCTs for both publication year 2012 and 2017. Trial characteristics, data on measures of methodological quality and reporting were extracted and risk of bias for each trial was assessed. Results As compared to 2012 in 2017 there were significant improvements in the reporting of the presence of a data monitoring committee (42.0% in 2017 compared to 34.4% in 2012), and a positive tendency of registering cardiovascular disease research RCTs in clinical trial registries (83.6% in 2017 compared to 72.0% in 2012). On the other hand, we also observed that significantly fewer RCTs reported sample size calculation (60.4% in 2017 compared to 98.4% in 2012) in 2017 as compared to 2012. RCTs in 2017 were more likely to have low overall risk of bias ( RoB ) than in 2012 (29.2% in 2017compared to 21.2% in 2012). Conclusion: As compared to 2012 in 2017 there were significant improvement in some, but not all the important measures of methodological quality. Although more trials in the field of cardiovascular disease research had a lower overall RoB in 2017, the improvement over time was not consistently perceived in all RoB domains.

Cannabidiol, is the first cannabis-derived drug approved for the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), Dravet syndrome (DS), and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). The current study performed a descriptive analysis followed by a disproportionality analysis of potential adverse events caused by CBD extracted from the database VigiBase®. Further, biological plausibility of the association between CBD and the serotonin 5-HT1A receptor, as possible cause of adverse events was analyzed and discussed. Data were extracted from VigiBase® database using VigiLyze® signal detection and signal management tool. Adverse events in VigiBase® reports were coded using MedDRA, version 19 of Preferred Terms (PTs). Data were uploaded into SPSS software and analyzed via disproportionality analysis. Statistically significant disproportionality signals for CBD were found for “weight decreased” 5.19 (95% CI: 4.54 - 5.70), “hypophagia” 3.68 (95% CI: 3.22 - 5.27), and “insomnia” 1.6 (95% CI: 1.40 - 1.83). Positive IC025 values were found for “weight decreased” (2.2), “hypophagia” (1.3), and “insomnia” (0.5), indicating a surplus of reported cases. CBD’s interactions with 5-HT1A serotonin receptors may offer a potential biological explanation for the occurrence of insomnia in patients. It is noteworthy that the risk profiles mentioned in the prescribing information for CBD as antiepileptic agent by regulatory agencies showed disparities specifically related to the adverse event “insomnia”.

Disease surveillance is critical to monitor ongoing control activities, detect early outbreaks and to inform intervention priorities and policies. Unfortunately, most data from disease surveillance remain under-utilised to support decision-making in real-time. Using the Brazilian Amazon malaria surveillance data as a case study, we explore unsupervised anomaly detection machine learning techniques to analyse and discover potential anomalies. We found that our models are able to detect early outbreaks, peak of outbreaks as well as change points in the proportion of positive malaria cases. Specifically, the sustained rise in malaria in the Brazilian Amazon in 2016 was flagged by several models. We also found that no single model detects all the anomalies across all health regions. The approaches using Clustering-based local outlier algorithm ranked first before Principal component analysis and Stochastic outlier selection in maximising the number of anomalies detected in local health regions. Because of this, we also provide the minimum number of machine learning models (top-k models) to maximise the number of anomalies detected across different health regions. We discovered that the top-3 models that maximise the coverage of the number and types of anomalies detected across the 13 health regions are: Principal component analysis, Stochastic outlier selection and Multi-covariance determinant. Anomaly detection approaches provide interesting solutions to discover patterns of epidemiological importance when confronted with a large volume of data across space and time. Our exploratory approach can be replicated for other diseases and locations to inform timely interventions and actions toward endemic disease control.

A non-steady state mathematical model of amino acid (phenylalanine (Phe)) and mineral salt (NaCl) solution separation by neutralization dialysis (ND) carried out in a batch mode is proposed. The model takes into account the characteristics of membranes (thickness, ion-exchange capacity and conductivity) and solutions (concentration, composition), as well as the flow rate of the solution in the dialyzer compartments. As compared to previously developed models, the new one considers the local equilibrium of Phe protolysis reactions in solutions and membranes and, also, the transport of all the phenylalanine forms (zwitterionic, positively and negatively charged) through membranes. A series of experiments on ND demineralization of NaCl and Phe mixed solution was carried out. In order to minimize Phe losses, the solution pH in the desalination compartment was controlled by changing the concentrations of the solutions in the acid and alkali compartments of the ND cell. The validity of the model was verified by comparison of simulated and experimental time dependencies of solution electric conductivity and pH, as well as the concentration of Na+, Cl– ions and Phe species in the desalination compartment. Based on the simulation results, the role of Phe transport mechanisms in the losses of this amino acid during ND was discussed.

The reliability of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) is measured in terms of energy consumption (EC), end-to-end delay(E2E) and packet delivery ratio (PDR). The adverse effects of channel may cause data loss. Reducing delay up to possible extend improves the reliability of the network, also increasing the number of nodes in a particular network increase reliability. Besides, increasing the number of nodes improve reliability but also increase power consumption. In order to overcome these shortcomings, the two routing protocols are proposed in this paper, namely Delay and Reliability Aware Routing (DRAR) protocol and Cooperative Delay and Reliability Aware Routing (Co-DRAR) protocol for UWSNs. In DRAR protocol, network is divided into two equal regions where two sink nodes(SNs) are positioned at upper region of the network and two SNs are placed at the mid region of the network. The protocol choose the relay node based on residual energy (RE), distance and Bit Error Rate (BER). These parameters protect the data packets from corruption and also provide stable path (where nodes remain active for longer period and do not die quickly). The protocol uses single link and may get worse sometimes while changing channel circumstances. To address this problem, cooperative routing scheme is added to DRAR protocol in order to developed its enhanced version known as Co-DRAR protocol. The protocol works by allowing the destination to receive multiple copies of data packets in order to decide the quality of packets. The proposed protocols DRAR and Co-DRAR perform routing irrespective to geographical position of sensors nodes conversely to the some of conventional routing protocols that's way our propose protocol better perform than the well-known protocol i.e. Depth base routing (DBR) in terms of EC, E2E, PDR, dead nodes, packet drop ratio and number of alive nodes (ANs).

The way flipped classrooms are perceived and even practised by teachers is sometimes approximative. For example, while the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed many universities to adopt distance learning, flipped classrooms have often been mentioned as a solution in that context. This inducement maintains a confusion between flipped classrooms and distance learning that might be detrimental for both students and teachers. Moreover, embarking on a new pedagogical practice such as flipped classroom could be intimidating and time-consuming. For these reasons, this article aims to share some tips for implementing a flipped classroom, with examples from biology and biochemistry. Based on our own experiences but also on the current scientific literature, we propose to structure the advises around three phases: Preparation, Implementation, and Follow-up. In the preparation phase it is advised to not only plan to invert time but also say it, as well as to identify (or create) resources for learning in autonomy. In the Implementation phase it is suggested to i) Be explicit in the acquisition of knowledge, and foster students' autonomy; ii) Explore active learning in class; iii) Develop skills of cooperation and sharing; and iv) Differentiate. In the follow-up phase it is proposed to i) Evaluate; ii) Take care of the logistics and your posture; iii) Document your flipped classroom and iv) Share.

We model the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic in China. We use early reported case data to predict the cumulative number of reported cases to a final size. The key features of our model are the timing of implementation of major public policies restricting social movement, the identification and isolation of unreported cases, and the impact of asymptomatic infectious cases.

We develop a mathematical model to provide epidemic predictions for the 2019-nCov epidemic in Wuhan, China. We use reported case data up to January 31, 2020 from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission to parameterize the model. From the parameterized model we identify the number of unreported cases. We then use the model to project the epidemic forward with varying level of public health interventions. The model predictions emphasize the importance of major public health interventions in controlling 2019-nCov epidemics.

This study analyses the case study of a deconstruction project called the ‘Whole House Reuse’ (WHR) which aimed, firstly, to harvest materials from a residential house, secondly, to produce new products using the recovered materials, and thirdly, to organize exhibition for the local public to promote awareness on resource conservation and sustainable deconstruction practices. The study applies characterization of recovered materials through deconstruction. In addition to the material recovery, the study assesses the embodied energy saving and greenhouse gas emission abatement of the deconstruction project. Around twelve tonnes of various construction materials were harvested through a systematic deconstruction approach, most which would otherwise be disposed to landfill in the traditional demolition approach. The study estimates that the recovered materials could potentially save around 502,158MJ of embodied energy and prevent carbon emission of around 27,029kg (CO2e). Deconstruction could eventually contribute to New Zealand’s national emission reduction targets. In addition, the project successfully engages local communities and designers to produce 400 new products using the recovered materials and exhibited to the local people. The study concludes that there is a huge prospect in regard to resource recovery, emission reduction, employment and small business opportunities using deconstruction of the old house. The socio-cultural importance of the WHR project is definitely immense; however, the greater benefits of such projects are often ignored and remain unreported to wider audiences as most of the external and environmental costs have not been considered in the traditional linear economy. It is acknowledged that under a favourable market condition and with appropriate support from local communities and authorities, deconstruction could contribute significantly to resource conservation and environmental protection despite its requirement of labour intensive efforts.

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a member of the TLR family. Members of the TLR family play an important role in innate immune responses and are induced by recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns. They are also involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis in cancer. We investigated the role of TLR4 in apoptotic cell death in gynecological cancer cells; gynecological cancer is associated with infertility and spontaneous abortion. To examine the effect of TLR4 activation on apoptotic signaling in cancer cells, cultured primary cancer cells were treated with the TLR4 agonist lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The morphology of cancer cells was compared with normal myometrial cells. Enhanced growth rate and loss of contact inhibition with cellular overlap was observed in the cancer cells. The molecular mechanism analysis revealed differential expression of tumor suppressor genes in LPS-treated cancer cells. The expression of apoptosis-related caspase-3 was increased significantly in cancer cells with TLR4 activation after exposure to LPS. Taken together, these results suggest the pro-apoptotic activity of TLR4 as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of gynecological cancers.

Thermal processing of Zr-loaded ion-exchangers is a facile route to synthetize (ZrO2, ZrC)@C composites. The chemical character of the functional groups in the cation exchanger is an essential factor in the composition and properties of the (ZrO2, ZrC)@C composites. In the present paper furnace and RF-thermal plasma processing of ZrOCl2 loaded thiourea-functionalized styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer was investigated that led to various composites containing ZrO2 and ZrC. Depending on the synthesis conditions, different ZrO2@C composites were formed between 1000 and 1400 °C in 2 h, whereas the composite containing ZrC was created at 1400 °C in 8 h. The ratio of ZrO2/ZrC, the prevailing ZrO2 modifications, and the crystallite sizes strongly depend on the synthesis conditions. The ZrC-containing composites formed only at 1400 °C in 8 hours and by the plasma treatment of the ZrO2@C sample prepared in the furnace, resulting in 8 and 16% ZrC content, with 44 and 41 nm ZrC crystallite sizes, respectively. The ZrO2-containing composites (tetragonal, monoclinic, and cubic modifications with 65–88 nm ZrO2 crystallite sizes and 15–43 m2/g BET surface areas, depending on the carbonization temperature) formed in a tube furnace between 1000 and 1400 °C in 2 h. The tube furnace–prepared sample formed at 1400 °C in 8 h contained ZrC, ZrO2 modifications, and amorphous carbon, whereas the plasma-treated sample contained ZrC, ZrO2 modifications, and graphite. All ZrO2@C composites had both amorphous carbon and graphite, and their ratio is temperature-dependent. The carbonaceous compounds of the prepared composites were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, with analysis of the G and D band intensities. XPS studies showed the surface oxidation of ZrC.

Despite being well established phenomena, solidification principles are experiencing tough challenges in their application to explain microscale transport phenomena in additive manufacturing melt pool. The problem becomes even more complicated when applied to multicomponent bulk metallic glass matrix composites (BMGMC) whose behavior is dubious and still not fully understood. The aim of the present study is to highlight pathways to overcome these challenges. A comprehensive nucleation and growth model based on original KGT theory and Rappaz modification is proposed encompassing actual transient thermophysical BMGMC data to predict evolving microstructure during additive manufacturing. The model is aimed at pictorial representation of in-situ ductile phase dendrite evolution from melt pool during solidification using two-dimensional cellular automaton (CA) methods. It is proposed to be coded in MATLAB® using commercial simulation code ABAQUS® at back end for macroscopic heat transfer model. The results will be compared with experimental values for validation.

Metallic glass matrix composites are unique new materials which have superior mechanical properties as compared to existing conventional materials. Owing to this, they are potential candidates for various future structural applications. However, they suffer from disadvantages of brittleness, poor ductility and little or no toughness and they manifest catastrophic failure on application of force. Their behavior is dubious and require extensive experimentation to draw conclusive results. In present study, which is continuation of previous study by author, an effort has been made to overcome this pitfall by simulation. A quantitative mathematical model based on KGT theory has been developed to describe nucleation and growth of crystalline phase dendrites in glassy matrix during solidification. It yields information about numerical parameters to understand the behavior of each individual element in a phase in multicomponent sluggish slurry and their effect on final microstructural evolution. Model is programmed and simulated in MATLAB®. Its validation is done by comparison with identical curves reported in literature previously for similar alloys. Results indicate that effect of incorporating all heat transfer coefficients at macroscopic level and diffusion coefficients at microscopic level play a vital role in refining the model and bringing it closer to actual experimental observations. Two types of hypoeutectic and eutectic systems namely Zr₆₅Cu₁₅Al₁₀Ni₁₀ and Zr_47.5Cu_45.5Al₅Co₂ respectively were studied. Simulation results were found to be in good agreement with prior simulated and experimental values

The determination and classification of seafloor sediment types are crucial for the exploitation of marine resources, construction of marine engineering, and maintenance of marine ecological en-vironments. Automatic classification of seafloor sediment based on acoustic telemetry data is an important method to quickly understand the type of a large range of sediment. Currently, most studies on sediment classification are based on multi-beam backscattering intensity data, which is a relatively single data type. Besides, the low-dimensional details of standard U-Net gradually weaken in the propagation process, limiting the accuracy of sediment classification. Therefore, this study proposes an automatic classification method of seafloor sediment types based on an im-proved U-Net and K-means clustering algorithm, using multi-beam water depth, sub-bottom profile, and sample test data in the Northern Slope of the South China Sea. Six sediment types, including gravelly muddy sand, sand, silty sand, less muddy silt, muddy silt, and silty mud, were identified in the study area. Additionally, the study area was divided into four sedimentary en-vironment zones, including the shelf sedimentary area, the upper shelf slope break sedimentary area, the lower shelf slope break mixed sedimentary area, and the slope deposition area, based on the results of sediment classification and geological background. The sedimentary environment zones were found to be distributed along the trend of the shelf slope break line. The results of this study not only provide an important supplement to the existing classification methods of seafloor sediments but also contribute to the understanding of the sedimentary environment and process of the Northern Slope of the South China Sea.

Rapid isolation of white blood cells (WBCs) from whole blood is an essential part of any WBC examination platform. However, most conventional cell separation techniques are labor-intensive and low throughput, require large volumes of samples, need extensive cell manipulation, and have low purity. To address these challenges, we report the design and fabrication of a passive, label-free microfluidic device with a unique U-shaped cross-section to separate WBCs from whole blood using hydrodynamic forces that exist in a microchannel with curvilinear geometry. It is shown that the spiral microchannel with a U-shaped cross-section concentrates larger blood cells (e.g., WBCs) in the inner cross-section of the microchannel by moving smaller blood cells (e.g., red blood cells (RBCs) and platelets) to the outer microchannel section and preventing them from returning to the inner microchannel section. Therefore, it overcomes the major limitation of a rectangular cross-section where secondary Dean vortices constantly enforce particles throughout the entire cross-section and decrease its isolation efficiency. Under optimal settings, more than 95% of WBCs can be isolated from whole blood under high-throughput (6 ml/min), high-purity (88%), and high-capacity (180 ml of sample in 1 hour) conditions. High efficiency, fast processing time, and non-invasive WBC isolation from large blood samples without centrifugation, RBC lysis, cell biomarkers, and chemical pre-treatments make this method an ideal choice for downstream cell study platforms.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) exist in the atmosphere in the vapor and particulate phases, as well as in the solubilized form in fog/rain/cloud waters. They are abundant pollutants and are known for their acute and chronic toxicity. In the current paper, fogwater samples are collected during 42 events between 2015 and 2021 at four sites (Strasbourg, Geispolsheim, Erstein, Cronenbourg) in the Alsace region with different topological characteristics. PAHs and PCBs are extracted using the liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) supported on a solid cartridge (XTR Chromabond), and then analyzed by gas-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Total PAHs and PCBs concentration in fog samples varied between 0.58 and 6.7 µg L-1 (average of 2.70 µg L-1), and 0.14 and 15.5 µg L-1 (average of 2.75 µg L-1). Low molecular weight (LMW) predominant and highly detectable over high molecular weight PAHs by at least 1.6 times, while pentachloro-biphenyls are the dominant PCB congener accounting for at least 50% of the total fraction. PAHs and PCBs concentrations have increased over sampling years at all sites, except a slight decrease in PCBs level at Geispolsheim. Diagnostic ratio analysis suggested that diesel and fossil fuel combustion are the dominant contributors to PAHs in Alsace

There has been a rapid increase in the use of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) throughout the world recently, partly due to the continued loss of marine biodiversity and habitat. The sustainability of marine resources is threatened in all regions of the world by major events such as climate change, marine pollution, overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing both on the high seas and in country waters. Here, we present a comprehensive review and analysis of how economic information has been applied and used to inform decisions about MSP in British Columbia (BC), Canada and other similar jurisdictions. This focus for the paper was selected because important gaps remain in the literature in terms of incorporating economic questions into MSP. We first present different definitions of MSP, and then we extract useful lessons from MSP regimes with well–tested decision support tools, and use this to guide MSP implementation in BC. We finally present and discuss case studies from Australia, South Africa and Belgium. Our review suggests that applying economic information to support the design and implementation of MSPs would lead to better decisions. This in turn would foster livelihoods, attract finance, increase buy–in and advance United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water, thereby achieving Infinity Fish, i.e., ensuring that ocean benefits flow to humanity forever.

The agricultural industry places a high priority on crop protection, especially when it comes to protecting cotton crops against pink bollworm infestations. Rapid disease identification is essential for effective crop management at the same time. In order to overcome these difficulties, this study offers a thorough process for utilizing the Robot Operating System (ROS) to deploy an autonomous robot. The robot is intended to identify infestations of pink bollworm in addition to counting and tracking red Disease that impact cotton harvests. Drones are used to check the condition of cotton fields, and the autonomous robot's path planning component is closely related to this process. Large fields are photographed by these drones in multispectral mode, and the robot's course planning technique is done by calculating the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) based on these images. This approach ensures targeted surveillance and intervention, optimizing the use of resources. A customized dataset was created especially for this application to improve the robot's detecting abilities. The dataset was utilized to train a YOLOV8 model, a state-of-the-art object detection architecture. Performance characteristics of the trained model are impressive; it has a mean Average Precision (mAP) of 67.1%, Precision of 67.9%, and Recall of 61.8%. These metrics highlight how well the model works to precisely locate and measure interesting occurrences in the cotton fields. In order to address the particular challenges presented by pink bollworm infestations and crop diseases in the context of cotton cultivation, this research contributes a comprehensive solution for autonomous crop monitoring and protection by seamlessly integrating ROS, drones, NDVI calculations, and a robust detection model.

The type III receptor tyrosine kinase FLT3 is a pivotal kinase for hematopoietic progenitor cell regulation, with significant implications in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) through mutations like internal tandem duplication (ITD). This study delves into the structural intricacies of FLT3, the roles of activation loop mutants, and their interaction with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Coupled with this, the research leverages molecular contrastive learning and protein language modeling to examine interactions between small molecule inhibitors and FLT3 activation loop mutants. Utilizing the ConPLex platform, over 5.7 million unique FLT3 activation loop mutants-small molecule pairs were analyzed. The binding free energies of three inhibitors were assessed, and cellular apoptotic responses were evaluated under drug treatments. Notably, the introduction of the Xepto50 scoring system provides a nuanced metric for drug efficacy. The findings underscore the modulation of molecular interactions and cellular responses by Y842 mutations in FLT3-KD, highlighting the need for tailored therapeutic approaches in FLT3-ITD-related malignancies.

Maternal intake of the polyunsaturated fatty acids omega-3 (n-3 PUFA) and omega-6 (n-6 PUFA) impacts hippocampal neurogenesis during development, an effect that may extend to adulthood by altering adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN). n-3 PUFA and n-6 PUFA are precursors of inflammatory regulators that potentially affect AHN and glia. Additionally, n-3 PUFA dietary supplementation may present a sexually dimorphic action in the brain. Therefore, we postulated that dietary n-6/n-3 PUFA balance shapes the adult DG in a sex-dependent manner influencing AHN and glia. We test our hypothesis by feeding adult female and male mice with n-3 PUFA balanced or deficient diets. To analyze the immunomodulatory potential of the diets, we injected mice with the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS reduced neuroblast number, and its effect was exacerbated by the n-3 PUFA deficient diet. The n-3 PUFA deficient diet reduced the DG volume, AHN, microglia number and surveilled volume. Diet effect on most mature neuroblasts was exclusively significant in female mice. Colocalization and multivariate analysis revealed an association between microglia and AHN, and the sexual dimorphic effect of diet. Our study reveals that female mice are more susceptible than males to the effect of dietary n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio on AHN and microglia.

Indoor Positioning Systems (IPSs) are designed to provide solutions for location-based services. Wireless local area network (WLAN)-based positioning systems are the most widespread around the globe and are commonly found to have a ready-to-use infrastructure composed mostly of access points (APs). They provide useful information on signal strength to be processed by adequate location algorithms, which are not always capable of achieving the desired localization error only by themselves. In this sense, this paper proposes a new method to improve the accuracy of IPSs by optimizing some of their most relevant infrastructure components. Included are the arrangement of APs over the environment, the number of reference points (RPs), and the number of samples per location estimation test. A simulation environment is also proposed, in which the impact of key influencing factors on system accuracy is analyzed. Finally, a case study is simulated to validate an optimal combination of design parameters and its compliance with the requirements of localization error and the limited number of access points. Our simulation results clearly show that the desired localization accuracy, which is set as a goal, can be achieved while maintaining the factors already mentioned at minimal levels, which decreases both system deployment costs and computational effort.

Recently, the Internet of Things (IoT) has attracted wide attention from many fields, especially healthcare, because of its large capacities of information perception and collection. In this paper, we present an IoT-based home telehealth system for providing smart healthcare management for individuals, especially older people. Each client node of the system is mainly composed of an electronic water meter that records the user's daily water usage and an unobtrusive sleep sensor that monitors the user's physiological parameters during sleep such as heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), body movement (BM), and states on the bed or outside the bed. The sleep sensor senses the biosignals and states by a sensor matrix composed of 12 piezoelectric sensors. The collected data can be transmitted to a remote centralized cloud service by a wireless home gateway for analyzing the living pattern and rhythm of users. Furthermore, the periodic feedback of results can be provided to users themselves as well as their family and health advisers. In the present study, data collections from a total of 18 older subjects were made for one year to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed system. By analyzing living pattern and rhythm, preliminary results indicate the effectiveness of the telehealth system and suggest the potential of the system regarding improvement of quality of life (QoL) of older people and promotion of their health.

Living cells are complex systems that may be characterized by fluids crowded by hundreds of different elements in particular by a high density of polymers; they are an excellent and challenging laboratory to study exotic emerging physical phenomena where entropic forces emerge from organization processes of many-body interactions. The competition between microscopic and entropic forces may generate complex behaviors like phase transitions that living cells may use to accomplish their functions. In the era of the big data, when biological information abounds but general principles and precise understanding of the microscopic interactions scarce, the entropy methods may offer significant information. In this work we develop a model where the thermodynamic equilibrium results from the competition between an effective electrostatic shortrange interaction and the entropic forces emerging in a fluid crowded by different size polymers. The target audience for this article are interdisciplinary researchers in complex systems, particularly in thermodynamics and biophysics modeling.

The present protocol described staining protocol for Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in aromatic crop grown under nutrient stress through DAB and NBT histochemical method. Spearmint (Mentha spicata) were grown under manganese and salt toxicity stresses and after 10 and 20 days of the stress treatments, plants showed stunted growth. The morphological characteristics of leaves under stresses were observed. Manganese toxicity and salt stress induced the production of ROS. Accumulation of hydrogen peroxide was characterised as brown spots from the DAB polymerisation which were emerged and clearly observed in leaves from plant grown under 2.5 and 5 mM concentrations of manganese as well as 300 mM concentration of salt. Furthermore, accumulation of superoxide anion was characterised as blue pigments based upon the ability of cells to reduce NBT. Spearmint leaves showed the distribution of the blue pigment which was obviously observed under the 5 mM of manganese and 300 mM of salt. DAB and NBT staining method can be the rapid method to characterise ROS accumulation in plant cell under the abiotic stresses.

This study aimed to establish and verify the validity of an acoustic simulation method during sustained phonation of the Japanese vowels /i/ and /u/. The study participants were six healthy adults. First, vocal tract models were constructed based on computed tomography (CT) data, such as the range from the frontal sinus to the glottis, during sustained phonation of /i/ and /u/. Next, cylindrical shapes virtually extended by 12 cm were added to the vocal tract models to imitate the trachea between the tracheal bifurcation and lower part of the glottis. The Kirchhoff–Helmholtz integral equation was formulated as the wave equation for sound propagation, and the boundary element method was used for discretization. As a result, the relative discrimination thresholds of the vowel formant frequencies for /i/ and /u/ against actual voice were 1.1%–10.2% and 0.4%–9.3% for the first formant and 3.9%–7.5% and 5.0%–12.5% for second formant, respectively. In the vocal tract model with nasal coupling, a pole–zero pair was observed at around 500 Hz, and for both /i/ and /u/, a pole–zero pair was observed at around 1000 Hz regardless of the presence or absence of nasal coupling. These findings demonstrated that /i/ and /u/ could be simulated with high validity in a vocal tract model constructed from CT data obtained during sustained phonation using the boundary element method.

Tantalum oxide thin films are deposited by DC reactive magnetron sputtering from a tantalum metallic target and oxygen as reactive gas. The reactive gas pulsing process (RGPP) is implemented to produce TaOx compounds with tunable chemical compositions. The argon mass flow rate is maintained constant whereas that of the oxygen gas is pulsed during the deposition. A constant pulsing period T = 10 s is used and the introduction time of the oxygen gas, namely the tON injection time, is systematically changed from 0 to 100 % of the pulsing period T. As the tON injection time increases, the chemical composition of as-deposited TaOx films is continuously changed from pure metallic tantalum to the over-stoichiometric Ta2O5 material. Analysis of the crystallographic structure by X-ray diffraction shows that the films adopt the body-centered cubic structure (metallic Ta) for the lowest tON injection time values (oxygen stoichiometry x &lt; 1.0) and become amorphous for the longest tON injection times. It is shown that the tON injection time is a key parameter to produce either homogeneous tantalum oxides, or periodic Ta/TaOx multilayers with alternations close to 3 nm. Similarly, optical transmittance spectra of the film/glass substrate system are recorded in the visible region and the electrical conductivity of the films is measured vs. temperature. Both exhibit a gradual evolution from metallic (300K = 8.17105 S m-1 with a null optical transmittance in the visible range) to semi-conducting (300K = 1.97103 S m-1 with a semi-transparent behavior) and finally to dielectric properties (300K &lt; 10-5 S m-1 for interferential films) as a function of the oxygen concentration in the films.

Background: Mood disorders, especially depression, and emotional difficulties such as anxiety are very common problems among patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). The loss of physical training may deteriorate their mental state, which in turn has a significant impact on the improvement of functioning. The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of innovative rehabilitation approaches involving robotic assisted gait therapy (RAGT) on mood and anxiety symptoms in pa-tients with SCI. Methods: To this single-centre, single-blinded, single-arm, prospective study, 110 participants with subacute SCI were enrolled; patients were divided into experimental (robotic assisted gait therapy -RAGT) and control (conventional gait therapy with dynamic parapodium - DPT) groups. They received five training sessions per week over 7- weeks. The severity of de-pression was assessed by Depression Assessment Questionnaire (KPD) and anxiety symptoms by State - Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI X-1) on the beginning and end of therapy. Results: SCI patients experienced significantly lower levels of anxiety and depression-related symptoms after completing the seven-week rehabilitation program (KPD: Z=6.35; p<0.001; r=0.43; STAI X-1: Z=-6.20; p<0.001; r=0.42) in both group of patients. In the RAGT group, post-rehabilitation measurements also indicated an improvement in psychological functioning, i.e., a decrease in depression and anxiety, and an increase in self-regulation. Significant results were noted for each variable (STAI X-1: Z = -4.93; KPD: Z = -5.26; SR: Z = -3.21). In the control group, there was also a decrease in the effect on the depression, anxiety-state and an increase in self-regulation ability (STAI X-1: Z=-4.01; KPD: Z=-3.65; SR: Z=-2.83). Rehabilitation modality did not appear to have a statistically significant relationship with the magnitude of improvement in KPD (including SR) and STAI scores. However, there were some significant differences when comparing the groups by extent and depth of injury and type of paralysis. The study also did not find a significant rela-tionship between improvements in physical aspects and changes in psychological factors. Conclusion: Subjects in RAGD and DPT groups experienced a decrease in anxiety and depres-sion after a 7-week rehabilitation program. However, the rehabilitation modality (DPT vs. RAGT) did not differentiate patients with SCI in terms of the magnitude of this change. Our results may suggest that individuals with severe neurological condition and complete spinal cord injury (AIS A) may experience more benefit in terms of change in psychological parameters after rehabilitation with RAGT.

Riverine particulates dominate the transport of vital nutrients like Si, Fe or P to the ocean mar-gins, where they may increase primary production by acting as slow release fertilizer. Further-more, the supply of particulate surface area to the ocean is considered to be a major control or-ganic carbon burial. Taken together, these observations suggest a close link between the supply of riverine particulate material and the organic carbon cycle. To explore this link, we conducted microcosm experiments to measure the growth of the marine diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii in the presence and absence of different types and concentrations of riverine particulate material. Results demonstrate a strong positive effect of riverine particulate material on diatom growth with increased total diatom concentrations and slowed post-exponential death rates with in-creasing particulate concentration. Moreover, SEM and optical microscope investigations con-firm that riverine particulates facilitates organic carbon burial through their role in the aggrega-tion and sedimentation of phytoplankton. The supply of riverine particulate material has been shown to be markedly climate sensitive with their fluxes increasing dramatically with increas-ing global temperature and runoff. This pronounced climate sensitivity implies that riverine particulates contribute substantially in regulating atmospheric CO2 concentrations through their role in the organic carbon cycle.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a slowly progressing neurodegenerative disorder that is coupled to both widespread protein aggregation and to loss of substantia nigra dopamine (DA) neurons, resulting in a wide variety of motor and non-motor signs and symptoms. Recent findings suggest that the PD process is triggered several years before there is sufficient degeneration of DA neurons to cause onset of overt motor symptoms. According to this concept, the number of DA neurons present in the substantia nigra at birth could influence the time from the molecular triggering event until the clinical diagnosis with lower number of neurons at birth increasing the risk to develop the disease. Conversely, the risk for diagnosis would be reduced if the number of DA neurons is high at birth. In this commentary, we discuss the genetic and epigenetic factors that might influence the number of nigral DA neurons that each individual is born with and how these may be linked to PD risk.

In response to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) All of Us Medicine Research Initiative, the Precision Medicine Research (PreMeR) Diversity Consortium was formed by four institutions from the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Translational Research Network (RTRN). This synergistic approach proposed evidence-based, best practices used by experienced researchers to engage, recruit and retain diverse populations in the All of Us initiative. Conceptualization of the proposed approach was aided by social influence theories to better understand how people’s beliefs and opinions should be modified to affect change leading to action [1]. The Social-Ecological Model (SEM), for Health Promotion [2], from Stokols [1] and Community-Based Participatory (CBPR) Models[3],[4] guided proposed engagement, recruitment, and retention strategies contextualized with the individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy spheres of influence. The PreMeR produced a partnership to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of current engagement, recruitment, and retention strategies for minority participation in scientific studies. This approach illustrates the need to incorporate multiple methods of engagement to reach a diverse audience to participate in scientific research. Engagement, recruitment, and retention strategies in community and biomedical research must be viewed as community engaged public health interventions, utilizing the same theoretical principles and approaches.

We investigate the human sustainability of ICT and management changes using a French linked employer-employee survey on organizational changes and computerization (COI). We approach the human sustainability of changes through the evolutions of work intensity, skill utilization and the subjective relationship to work. We compare in the private sector and the State civil service the impacts of ICT and management changes on the evolution of these three dimensions of work experience. We find that when ICT and management changes are intense, they are positively associated in the public sector with work intensification and new knowledge. In the private sector ICT and management changes increase the use of skills, but at a rate decreasing with their intensity and without favoring the accumulation of new knowledge. However, their impacts on the subjective relationship to work are much stronger, with public sector employees expressing discouragement as well as the feeling of an increased effort-reward imbalance when private sector employees become more committed. We tested that the self-selection of employees, the specific sources and paths of changes and the implementation of performance pay did not explain this divergence. We identify two partial explanations: one is related with employee turnover in the private sector, the other one with the role of trade unions. These results suggest that the human sustainability of ICT and management changes depends on their intensity and on how their implementation takes into account the institutional context of the organization.

The development of sensors for monitoring Carbon Monoxide (CO) in a large range of temperature is of crucial importance in areas as monitoring of industrial processes or personal tracking using smart objects. Devices integrating GaN/Ga₂O₃ core/shell nanowires (NWs) is a promising solution allowing combining the high sensitivity of the electronic properties to the states of GaN-core surface; and the high sensitivity to CO of Ga₂O₃-shell. Because the performances of sensors primarily depend on the material properties composing the active layer of the device, it is essential to control these properties and in first time its synthesis. In this work, we investigate the synthesis of GaN/Ga₂O₃ core-shell NWs with a special focus on the formation of the shell. The GaN NWs grown by Plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, are post-treated following thermal oxidation to form Ga₂O₃-shell surrounding the GaN-core. We establish that the Ga₂O₃-shell thickness can be modulated from 1 up to 14 nm by changing the oxidation conditions, and follows the diffuse-controlled reaction. By combining XRD-STEM and EDX analysis, we also demonstrate that the oxide shell formed by thermal oxidation is crystalline and presents the β-Ga₂O₃ crystalline phase, and is synthesized in epitaxial relationship with the GaN-core.

We summarize structural instabilities exhibited by the one dimensional (1D) (arene)2X family of organic conductors in relation with their electronic and magnetic properties. With a charge transfer of one electron to each anion X these salts exhibit a quarter-filled (hole) conduction band located on the donor stacks. Compounds built with donors such as fluorenthene and perylene derivatives and anions X such PF6 or AsF6 exhibit a high temperature (TP~170K) conventional Peierls transition which is announced by a sizeable regime of 1D 2kF charge density wave fluctuations (kF is the Fermi wave vector of the 1D electron gas located on Per stacks). Surprisingly, and probably because of the presence of a multi-sheet warped Fermi surface, the Peierls transition is considerably reduced in the perylene series α-(Per)2[M(mnt)2] where X is the dithiolate molecule with M=Au, Cu, Co and Fe. A special attention is devoted in this paper to physical properties of α-(Per)2[M(mnt)2] salts which with M=Pt, Pd and Ni incorporate segregated S=1/2 1D antiferromagnetic (AF) dithiolate stacks with 1D metallic Per stacks. We analyse conjointly the structural and magnetic properties of these salts in relation with the 1D spin-Peierls (SP) instability located on the dithiolate stacks. We show that the SP instability of the Pd and Ni derivatives occurs in the classical (adiabatic limit) while the SP instability of the Pt derivative occurs in the quantum (anti-adiabatic limit). Furthermore we show that in the Pd and Ni derivatives frustrated 1st neighbour direct and 2nd neighbour indirect (through a fine tuning with the mediated 2kF RKKY coupling interaction on Per stacks) AF interactions add their contribution to the SP instability to open a singlet-triplet gap. Our analysis of the data show unambiguously that magnetic α-(Per)2[M(mnt)2] salts are a typical realization of the physics predicted for two chain 1D Kondo lattices.

The analysis of high-temperature physicochemical properties of theK₃AlF₆-Na₃AlF₆-AlF₃ molten salt system is crucial for practical production of electrolytic aluminum. In this paper, the physicochemical properties of the K₃AlF₆-Na₃AlF₆-AlF₃ molten salt electrolyte system at 1173 K and standard atmospheric pressure were simulated using molecular dynamics calculations. The effects of Zr、B、C、W、Ti、Hf、Nb、and Ta on the radial distribution function, coordination number, viscosity and conductivity of the electrolyte system are discussed in detail. The simulation results show that the coordination number between Al-F and the conductivity is decreasing as the content of B²- increases. And the coordination number between Al-F and the viscosity is decreasing as the content of Zr⁴⁺ increases. With the addition of impurity elements such as C, W, Ti, Hf, Nb, and Ta, the data show that C has no significant effect on this electrolyte system, while the presence of W will decrease the coordination number between Al-F in the system. The presence of Ti, Hf, Nb, and Ta may intensify the decomposition reaction between one of the Al-F ligands, which increases the coordination number between Al-F and the number of ions in the electrolyte. This work provides theoretical support for the subsequent study of inert anodes containing Zr, B, Ti, Hf, Nb, and Ta.

The conductor aluminum alloys Al-0.25wt.%Zr doped additionally with Х = Er, Si, Hf, and Nb were the objects of investigations. The fine-grained microstructure in the alloys was formed by Equal Channel Angular Pressing and Rotary Swaging. The thermal stability of the microstructure, specific electrical resistivity, and microhardness of the novel conductor aluminum alloys was investigated. The mechanisms of nucleation of the Al3(Zr,X) secondary particles during annealing the fine-grained aluminum alloys were determined using Jones-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov equation. Using Zener equation, the dependencies of the mean secondary particle sizes on the annealing time were obtained on the base of analysis of the data on the grain growth in the aluminum alloys. The secondary particle nucleation during long-time low-temperature annealing (300 оC, 1000 hrs) was shown to go preferentially at the cores of the lattice dislocations. The Al-0.25%Zr-0.25%Er-0.20%Hf-0.15%Si alloy subjected to long-time annealing at 300 оC has the optimal combination of the microhardness and electrical conductivity (59.8%IACS, Hv = 480 ± 15 MPa).

In light of the latest trends in global installed capacities, the importance of variable renewable energy sources (VRES) to future energy supply systems is evident. Despite this, the inherent intermittency of VRES remains an obstacle to their widespread adoption. Green hydrogen is often suggested as an energy carrier that can account for this in a sustainable manner. In the analysis, a robust European energy system in the context of 2050 and with 100% VRES energy supply is designed through an iterative minimal cost-optimization approach that ensures robust security of supply over 38 weather-year scenarios (1980-2017). The impact of spatial VRES variability is factored in by defining exclusive VRES groups within each optimization region and, from this, it can be seen that higher numbers of groups in each region offer cheap electricity generation locations to the optimizer and thus decrease the total annual cost of the system. Beyond this, the robust system design and impact of inter-annual variability is identified by iteratively combining the installed capacities of different system designs obtained by applying 38 historical weather years. The robust system design outlined here has significantly lower capacities in comparison to the maximum regional capacities obtained in the first round of optimization.