The genus Vigna is penta-tropical having more than 200 species with many desirable economically important traits. The aim of study was to validate the in-silico polymorphism of whole genome sequence developed mungbean specific SSR markers and their transferability among the different Vigna species. The present study utilized a set of 200 SSR markers developed from whole genome sequence of mungbean and validated using a diversity panel of 25 accessions which belongs to 13 Vigna species. Out of 200 SSR markers, 130 markers (65%) were polymorphic across the various Vigna species and the number of alleles amplified varied between 7 to24. The SSR markers showed more than 90 percent transferability across the different Vigna species accessions. Based on allelic data, the 25 Vigna accessions grouped into three clusters based upon the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) phylogenetic tree. The principal co-ordinates analysis (PCA) biplot graph and UPGMA based neighbor joining clustering diagram showed similar pattern of Vigna accessions distribution. The population structure assessment has grouped the cultivated and wild species accessions into two sub-population. The estimated marker parameters such as polymorphic information content (0.09 – 0.84), marker index (0.091 – 3.342) and effective multiplex ratio (1.0 – 4.0) suggested their adequacy in several genetic studies such as parental selection, hybrid testing, genetic mapping and marker aided breeding programmes for genetic enhancement of species belonging to the Vigna genus.

The framework proposed by Alison Druin about 20 years ago, which defined the roles children play in technology design, has been widely adopted by the Child-Computer Interaction (CCI) community. While some studies have adopted relevant roles as presented in the framework, others have argued for extending the framework to include newly identified roles. Still, other studies argue that Druin's framework failed to account for roles children may take up as they interact with peers or with tools. Consequently, this systematic literature review examines children’s emerging and changing roles in the codesign of new technologies. Specifically, we answered the research question: What new roles emerge in research as children co-design new technologies? Our effort aims at providing evidence of new roles children have adopted in literature, which may help researchers in the CCI community make more informed decisions about participatory design approaches with children.

Anthracnose is one of primary diseases in tea plants that affects tea yield and quality. The geographical distribution, occurrence regularity, and agronomic measures of tea plants with anthracnose have been researched for decades. However, the pathogenic cause of anthracnose in tea plants is diverse in different regions of the world. Identifying the specific pathogenic fungi causing tea anthracnose is an essential control measure to mitigate this disease. In this study, 88 Diaporthales and 45 Colletotrichum isolates were obtained from 3 different types of diseased tea leaves. Based on multilocus phylogenetic and morphological analysis, 3 known species, including Discula theae-sinensis, Diaporthe ueckerae, Diaporthe lithocarpus, and 3 indistinguishable species of Diaporthales were identified. In adddition, 8 known species of Colletotrichum, C. fructicola, C. camelliae, C. aenigma, C. siamense, C. henanense, C. karstii, C. tropicicola, C. gigasporum, were identified. This study is the first to report C. tropicicola and C. gigasporum in tea plant in China. Discula theae-sinensis was the most common species in this study and caused disease lesions around wounded areas of tea leaves. The dual trials in vitro indicated Discula theae-sinensis and Colletotrichum were slight inhibition. Co-inoculating Discula theae-sinensis and C. fructicola was superior to single inoculation at low concentration.

The two-component compound formed by codeine and cyclopentobarbital was produced by grinding techniques and by evaporation from alcoholic solutions. The cocrystal nature of this phase was established unequivocally by single crystal X-ray structure determination. The asym-metric unit contains one formula unit. In the cyclopentobarbital molecule, the cyclopentenyl ring is disordered over two positions related by a rotation of approximately 180° about its C‒C bond to the pyrimidine ring. The two NH groups of the cyclopentobarbital molecule form N—H···N and N—H···O bonds to piperidine and hydroxyl groups, respectively, belonging to different codeine molecules. In addition, the hydroxyl and methoxy groups of neighboring codeine molecules are linked by O—H···O interactions, resulting H-bonded framework structure of codeine and cyclo-pentobarbital molecules. The cocrystal was also characterized by thermal analysis, X-ray powder diffraction and IR spectroscopy.

Transition metal alloys have emerged as promising electrocatalysts due to their ability to modulate key parameters such as d-band electron filling, Fermi level energy, and interatomic spacing, thereby influencing their affinity towards reaction intermediates. However, the structural stability of alloy electrocatalysts during alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) remains a subject of debate. In this study, we systematically investigate the structural evolution and catalytic activity of the c-Co/Co3Mo electrocatalyst under alkaline HER conditions. We reveal that the instability of the Co3Mo alloy and H0.9MoO3 during alkaline HER leads to the destruction of the crystal structure, resulting in the formation of hexagonal cobalt (h-Co) from hexagonal Co(OH)2 as an intermediate species. Furthermore, we explore the re-adsorption and surface coordination of the Mo element, which enhances the catalytic activity for alkaline HER. This work provides valuable insights into the dynamic behavior of alloy-based electrocatalysts, shedding light on their structural stability and catalytic activity during electrochemical reduction processes

In this paper, the performance of Cu-(In,Ga)-S2 (CIGS2) solar cells with adjusting composite CGI-ratio absorber is explored and compared through an improved three-stage co-evaporation technique. For co-evaporating CIGS2 absorber as a less toxic alternative to Cd-containing film, we analyse the effect of the CGI-ratio stoichiometry and crystallinity, and explore its opto-electric sensing characteristic of individual solar cell. The results of this research signify the potential of high-performance CIGS2-absorption solar cells for photovoltaic (PV)-module industrial applications. For the optimal CIGS2-absorption film (CGI=0.95), the Raman main-phase signal (A1) falls at 291 cm-1, which is excited by the 532-nm line of Ar+-laser. Using photo-luminescence (PL) spectroscopy, the corresponding main-peak bandgaps measured is 1.59 eV at the same CGI-ratio film. Meanwhile, the best conversion efficiency (=3.212%) and the average external quantum efficiency (EQE=51.1% in the visible-wavelength region) of photo-electric properties were achieved for the developed CIGS2-solar cells (CGI=0.95). The discoveries of this CIGS2-absorption PV research provide a new scientific understanding of solar cells. Moreover, this research undeniably contributes to a major advancement towards practical PV-module applications and can help more to build an eco-friendly community.

Scrub typhus (ST) is one of the most neglected tropical diseases, a leading cause of acute undifferentiated febrile illness in areas of the ‘tsutsugamushi triangle’, diagnosed frequently in South Asian countries. The bacteria Orientia tsutsugamushi is the causative agent of the disease, which enters to human body through the bite of trombiculid mite (Chigger) of the genus Leptotrombidium deliense.The diagnosis of the disease becomes challenging as its early symptoms mimic other febrile illnesses like dengue, influenza, and corona viruses. Lack of rapid, reliable, and cost-effective diagnostic methods further complicates the identification process. Northeast India, a mountainous region with a predominantly rural tribal population, has witnessed a resurgence of scrub typhus cases in recent years. Various ecological factors, including rodent population, habitat characteristics, and climatic conditions, influence its prevalence. Entomological investigations have confirmed the abundance of vector mites, highlighting the importance of understanding their distribution and the probability of transmission of scrub typhus in the region. Proper diagnosis, awareness campaigns, and behavioral interventions are essential for controlling scrub typhus outbreaks and reducing its impact on public health in Northeast India. Further research and community-based studies are necessary to accurately assess the disease burden and implement effective prevention strategies.

High-strength wastewaters from a variety of sources, including the food industry, domestic septage and landfill leachate, are often hauled to municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for co-treatment. Due to their high organic loadings, these wastewaters can cause process upsets in both the WWTP’s liquid and solids treatment trains and consume organic treatment capacity, leaving less capacity available to service customers in the catchment area. A novel pre-treatment method, the Waste Activated Sludge-High Rate (WASHR) process, is proposed to optimize the co-treatment of high-strength wastewaters. The WASHR process combines the contact stabilization and sequencing batch reactor processes. It utilizes waste activated sludge from the municipal WWTP as its biomass source, allowing rapid start-up. Bench scale treatment trials of winery wastewater confirm the WASHR process can reduce loadings on the downstream WWTP’s liquid treatment and solids treatment trains. A case study approach is used to confirm the economic viability and environmental sustainability of the WASHR process compared to direct co-treatment using life cycle cost analyses and greenhouse gas emissions estimates.

In the end, this paper analyzed the economy from the investment in plant construction, raw material collection, product production and product sales. The resulting products include pyrolytic carbon, pyrolytic oil, pyrolysis gas. The results showed that when the treatment scale was 1 ton h−1, the pyrolysis plants with three loading modes will always be in a state of loss during the 20-year running time. When the processing scale was 9 ton h−1, the pyrolysis plant can be profitable in the first year. In the sensitivity analysis, the influence of three pyrolysis products on the total return on investment was explored. The results showed that the price change of pyrolysis oil has the greatest influence on the total return on investment (Total ROI) under the three loading methods, The price change of pyrolysis gas has minimal impact on the Total ROI. This study provides basic data and basis for the commercialization of coal-biomass co-pyrolysis technology and investment in plant construction.

At Mae-Moh power plant, Thailand, superheater tubes, which are exposed in fly ash environ-ment, often degrade due to solid particle erosion. To extend the service lifetime of the superheater tubes, the high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermal spray technique is used to deposit a protective coating on the material, SA213-T22 steel. In this work, the solid particle erosion of the Co-28Cr and WC-12Co coatings was investigated using erodent particle impingement at the angles of 30o and 90o with an average particle size of 60 μm. The erosion behavior of SA213-T22 with and without Co-28Cr and WC-12Co coatings was explained using ductile and brittle erosion modes. The erosion test resulted in the brittle mode for both Co-28Cr and WC-12Co coatings, while SA213-T22 without coating indicated the ductile mode. On the investigation of surface morphology, the Co-28Cr coating showed mostly microcracks in contrast with the WC-12Co coating, fracture, de-bonding and deep cavities were also observed. Erosion resistance of the Co-28Cr coating was significantly higher than the WC-12Co coating, due to high hardness, low porosity and high density of the coating.

Silica aerogels and their derivatives have outstanding thermal properties with exceptional values in the thermal insulation industry. However, the brittle nature restricts its large-scale commercialization. Thus, enhancing their mechanical strength without affecting their thermal insulating properties is essential. Therefore, for the first time, highly thermally stable Poly(acrylamide-Co-acrylic acid) partial sodium salt is used as a reinforcing polymer to synthesize hybrid P(AAm-CO-AAc)-silica aerogels via epoxy ring-opening polymerization in the present study. Functional groups in P(AAm-CO-AAc) partial sodium salts, such as CONH2 and COOH, acted as nucleophiles for the epoxy ring-opening reaction with (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane, which resulted in a seven-fold enhancement in mechanical strength compared to that of a pristine silica aerogel while maintaining the thermal conductivity at less than 30.6 mW/mK and porosity of more than 93.68%. Moreover, the hybrid P(AAm-CO-AAc)-silica aerogel demonstrated improved thermal stability up to 343 ⁰C owing to the synergetic effect between P(AAm-CO-AAc) and the silica aerogel, corresponding to thermal stability and strong covalent bonding among them. These excellent results illustrate that this new synthetic approach for producing hybrid P(AAm-CO-AAc)-silica aerogels is useful for enhancing the mechanical strength of a pristine silica aerogel without impairing its thermal insulating property and shows potential as an industrial heat insulation material.

Abstract Congenital rubella syndrome is a constellation of birth defects that can have devastating consequences, impacting approximately 100,000 births worldwide each year. The incidence is much lower in countries that routinely vaccinate their population. In the US, postnatal immunization of susceptible women is an important epidemiological strategy for the prevention of rubella. However, concerns that co-administration of Rubella vaccine with other immunoglobins (i.e., Rhogam) could comprise vaccine efficacy has produced warnings that can delay the administration of Rubella vaccination postpartum, leaving women susceptible in a subsequent pregnancy. We aimed to address whether co-administration of Rubella vaccine and Rhogam decreased antibody responses as compared to those receiving only Rubella vaccination. This retrospective cohort study utilized clinical data from 80 subjects who received Rubella vaccine and Rhogam after delivery and 43 subjects received Rubella vaccine alone. Maternal demographics, pregnancy complications and rubella status at the start of a subsequent pregnancy were recorded for analysis. Overall, the two cohorts had similar baseline characteristics; however, lower parity was noted in the participants having both Rubella vaccination and Rhogam. Based on maternal antibody IgG index for rubella during the next pregnancy, we observed that 88% of the Rhogam + Rubella vaccine group had positive titers, which was not significantly different than the 81% in the Rubella vaccine only cohort (p=0.36). In conclusion, no differences in the rubella immunity status in a subsequent pregnancy were observed in those mothers administered both Rubella vaccine and Rhogam concurrently. Given these findings, warnings against co-administration of Rubella vaccine in combination with other immunoglobulins should be discontinued.

Vasculogenic mimicry (VM), a process in which aggressive cancer cells form tube-like structures, plays a crucial role in providing nutrients and escape routes. Highly plastic tumor cells, such as those with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) phenotype, can develop VM. However, little is known about the interplay between cellular components of the tumor microenvironment upon TNBC cells VM-capacity. In this study, we analyzed the ability of endothelial and stromal cells to induce VM when interacting with TNBC cells, and analyzed the involvement of the FGFR/PI3K/Akt pathway in this process. VM was corroborated using fluorescently‐labeled TNBC cells. Only endothelial cells triggered VM formation, suggesting a predominant role of paracrine/ juxtacrine factors from an endothelial origin in VM development. By immunocytochemistry, qPCR and secretome analyses, we determined increased expression of proangiogenic factors as well as stemness markers in VM-forming cancer cells. Similarly, endothelial cells primed by TNBC cells showed upregulation of proangiogenic molecules, including FGF, VEGFA, and several inflammatory cytokines. The endothelium-dependent TNBC-VM formation was prevented by AZD4547 or LY294002, strongly suggesting the involvement of the FGFR/PI3K/Akt axis in this process. Given that VM is associated with poor clinical prognosis, targeting FGFR/PI3K/Akt pharmacologically may hold promise for treating and preventing VM in TNBC tumors.

The Density Wave Theory, which aims to explain the formation of spiral arms in disc galaxies, has been subject to discussion. According to this theory, at the co-rotation circle, the rotational velocity of the density waves or spiral arms matches that of the galactic matter. Consequently, this alignment should impede the formation of new stars within this co-rotation circle, leading to the presence of dark or dim gaps within the spiral arms. Additionally, the theory predicts the occurrence of the front side trail effect in the inner region of the co-rotation circle and the rear side trail effect in the outer region. However, despite these expectations, no such spiral patterns have been observed, prompting the need for revision or reconsideration of the Density Wave Theory.

Two novel dsRNA mycoviruses were found in different isolates of Diplodia fraxini, NW FVA 1581 and NW FVA 1706, which were isolated from a root, associated with stem collar necrosis of Fraxinus excelsior L. Both mycelia are infected by a novel fusagravirus, which was named Diplodia fraxini fusagravirus 1 (DfFV1), and isolate NW FVA 1706 is additionally infected by a novel partitivirus, which was denominated as Diplodia fraxini partitivirus 1 (DfPV1). The one-segmented, bicistronic genome of DfFV1 is composed of about 8,500 bp. Their ORFs are connected by a 1 slippery heptamer sequence and the 3’ terminal ORF is coding for the viral RdRp. The genome of DfPV1 is composed of three, monocistronic dsRNA segments ranging from 1,755 bp (dsRNA 1) over 1,588 bp (dsRNA 2) to 1,233 bp (dsRNA 3). Based on genome organization and phylogenetic positions, DfFV1 was assigned to the proposed family of “Fusagraviridae” and DfPV1 to the genus Gammapartitivirus within the family of Partitiviridae. Ultra-structural analysis showed that polysomal structures were stabilized in the single infection and none of these structures could be isolated in the double infection. It is assumed that DfFV1 has an opportunistic lifestyle, being either protected by ribosomes or by transcapsidation from particles of DfPV1.

This research elucidates the dynamic expression of expansin genes during the wheat grain (Triticum aestivum L.) development process using comprehensive meta-analysis and experimental validation. We leveraged RNA-seq data from multiple public databases, applying stringent criteria for selection, and identified 60,852 differentially expressed genes across developmental stages. From this pool, 28,558 DEGs were found to exhibit significant temporal regulation in at least two different datasets, and were enriched for processes integral to grain development such as carbohydrate metabolism and cell wall organization. Notably, 30% of the 241 known expansin genes showed differential expression during grain growth. Hierarchical clustering and expression level analysis revealed temporal regulation and distinct contributions of expansin subfamilies during the early stages of grain development. Further analysis using co-expression networks underscored the significance of expansin genes, revealing their substantial co-expression with genes involved in cell wall modification. Finally, qPCR validation and grain morphological analysis under field conditions indicated a significant negative correlation between expression of select expansin genes and grain size and weight. This study illuminates the potential role of expansin genes in wheat grain development and provides new avenues for targeted genetic improvements in wheat.

Recently, there has been a lot of interest in the phenolics of pomegranate peels because of their health-promoting effects. The incorporation of encapsulated phenolic extracts in functional foods, beverages, and dietary supplements can enhance their nutritional and health benefits. This paper aims to provide an overview of the encapsulation of pomegranate peel phenolic extract by co-crystallization, focusing on the properties of the encapsulated extract. Pomegranate peel extract encapsulated in sucrose by co-crystallization at conditions determined in our previous work is characterized by evaluating its properties; moisture content, bulk density, solubility, hygroscopicity, color, degree of encapsulation by thermograms, crystallinity by X-ray scattering, microstructure by scanning electron microscope, and storage stability in terms of total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. The co-crystallized powder had a low moisture content (0.59%) and hygroscopicity (0.011%) and a high bulk density (0.803 g/cm3) and solubility (61 s). Its total phenolic content decreased by only 0.56% after storage at 60oC for 45 days, whereas its antioxidant activity was maintained at levels higher than 84%. The differential scanning calorimetry and the X-ray scattering techniques proved the successful encapsulation in the sucrose matrix and the fact that the extract remained liquid inside the porosity of the sucrose crystals.

The anaerobic digestion (AD) of rumen residues and wheat straw in different proportions of inoculum (66.67, 50, 33.33 %V/V) to substrate and their co-digestion potential have been exhaustively studied in this research. It explores variation of feedstock characteristics such as biodegradability and methane potential during AD and anaerobic co-digestion (ACoD) of rumen residues (RR) with wheat straw (WS), under mesophilic conditions. Comparative performance was made with a organic load rate of 18 gVS/L (with 2:1, 1:1 and 1:2 g/g VS of inoculum to substrate). Among different kinetic models studied (modified Gompertz model, transfer model and logistic function), the AD and ACoD of substrates showed better fit to Gompertz model (R2: 0.977–0.997) indicating variation in lag phase and methane production rate depending on the substrate characteristics. During AD, the methane yield improved as the inoculum ratio increased, however, there was no significant difference in ACoD yield from RR to WS for the inoculum to substrate ratios studied, due to the synergistic effect as a result. of greater biodegradability and optimal conditions (such as the C/N ratio). A comparison of methane generation means indicated that maximum methane production can be achieved by mixing rumen residue (75 %) and wheat straw (25 %) with a C/N ratio of (38.15).

The requirement for integration of power plants due to the cyclical rise in electrical energy consumption is due to fluctuating load demand with the current grid systems. This integration necessitates effective allocating loads to the power plants for a minimum grid-tied transmission line cost while meeting network constraints. In this paper, we formulate an optimisation problem of minimising the total operational cost of all committed plants transmitted to the grid while meeting network constraints and ensuring economic power dispatch (EPD) and energy management system co-optimization. The developed Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method resolve the optimisation problem using piecewise quadratic function to describe the operational cost of the generation units, and the B coefficient approach is employed to estimate the transmission losses. Intelligent adjustments are made to the acceleration coefficients, and a brand-new algorithm is suggested for distributing the initial power values to the generation units. The developed economic power dispatch strategy successfully demonstrated an imperative cost reduction with connected load of 850MW, 1263MW and 2630MW power demand are contrasted with previous PSO application cost values, maximum yearly cost savings of (0.55%, 91.87), (46.55%, 3.78), (73.86%, 89.10) respectively, and significant environmental-benefit. The proposed co-optimisation approach can enhance a significant self-consumption ratio compared to the baseline method.

The growth of two pairs of co-cultures (Escherichia coli/Geotrichum candidum, and Staphylococcus aureus/Geotrichum candidum) with a starter culture of lactic acid bacteria was studied in milk at temperatures related to artisanal cheesemaking ripening. For an inoculum of approximately 106 CFU/mL, LAB not only induced an early stationary phase of E. coli (two strains BR and PS2) and S. aureus (strains 2064 and 14733) but affected their death phase. G. candidum was found to be the subject of interactions with LAB within a given temperature range only partially. To develop a tertiary model for the growth curves of the populations, a one-step approach was used, combining two types of primary models (Huang and Gimenez and Dalgaard) with secondary square root models for growth rate and lag time. Furthermore, the reparametrized Gompertz-inspired function with the Bigelow secondary model was used to describe the death phase of the E. coli and S. aureus strains. The prediction ability of the growth of the H-GD tertiary model for co-cultures was cross-validated within the strains and data sets in milk and milk medium with 1 % NaCl.

Fungal plant diseases are a major threat to food security worldwide. Current efforts to identify and list loci involved in different biological processes are more complicated than originally thought, even when complete genome assemblies are available. Despite numerous experimental and computational efforts to characterize gene functions in plants, about ~ 40% of protein-coding genes in the model plant A. thaliana are still not categorized in the Gene Ontology Biological Process (BP) annotation. In non-model organisms, such as sunflower (Helianthus annuus), the number of BP term annotation is far fewer, ~22%. In the current study we performed gene co-expression network analysis using eight terabytes of public transcriptome datasets and performed expression-based functional prediction to categorize and identify loci involved in the response to fungal pathogens. We were able to construct a reference gene network of healthy green tissue (GreenGCN) and a gene network of healthy and stressed root tissues (RootGCN). Both networks achieved robust high quality scores on the metrics of guilt-by-association and selective constraints versus gene connectivity. We were able to identify eight modules enriched in defense functions, of which, two out of the three modules in the RootGCN were also conserved in the GreenGCN, suggesting similar defense-related expression patterns. We identified 16 WRKY genes involved in defense related functions and 65 previously uncharacterized loci now linked to defense response. In addition, we identified and classified 122 loci previously identified within QTL or near candidate loci reported in GWAS studies of disease resistance in sunflower linked to defense response. In all, we have implemented a valuable strategy to better describe genes within specific biological processes.

The ultrasonic vibration assisted pressing process can improve the fluidity, the uneven distribution of density and particle size of WC-Co powder. However, the microscopic mechanism of ultrasonic vibration on the powder remains unclear. In this paper, WC and Co particles are simulated by three-dimensional spherical models of two particle sizes with the aide of the secondary development of Python. At the same time, the forming process of powder at mesoscale is simulated in the virtue of the finite element analysis software ABAQUS. The influence of vibration amplitude on the fluidity, the filling density and the stress distribution of WC-Co powder is investigated when the ultrasonic vibration is applied to the conventional pressing process. From simulation results, the ultrasonic vibration amplitude has great influences on the density of the compact. With the increase of the ultrasonic amplitude, the compact density also increases gradually. At the initial stage of the compaction, the particles move violently under the action of ultrasonic vibration, the fluidity is obviously enhanced, the arch bridge effect between particles is destroyed, the fine particles quickly fill the pores between the large particles, which increase the density, and the residual stress in the billet decreases after the compaction. From the experimental results, the size distribution of the billet is more uniform, the elastic aftereffect is reduced, the dimensional instability is improved, and the density curves obtained by experiment and simulation are within a reasonable error range.

The objective of the current investigation is to identify the first or first draining node or sentinel lymph node (SLN) from the primary tumor mass in a regional lymphocenter. Four different indirect lymphography (IL) methods were employed in 96 canine patients with different types of cancer between 2018 and 2021. The IL technique involved intradermal, submucosal, and peritumoral injections of 2ml contrast agent in the four-quadrant principle which were divided into equal aliquots. Lymphatic mapping with lipiodol (iodized oil) was 100% in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, anal sac apocrine gland adenocarcinoma, mast cell tumor, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, mammary carcinoma, and with methylene blue dye, 100% detection was achieved in testicular tumor and mammary carcinoma. Instead of a very short washout time of 2 minutes, Iohexol showed an excellent detection in indirect CT lymphography for histiocytic sarcoma and in indirect radiographic lymphography for lymphosarcoma. The significance of contrast and blue dyes in detecting the lymphatic spread of canine cancers is clearly emphasized in the current investigation. The nature of cancerous tissue was again analyzed through image and machine learning approach in this work. Supervised machine learning technique is applied in this work for automatic classification of cancerous and non-cancerous regions. Various statistical and texture-based features are extracted from X-Ray images and support vector machine with linear, polynomial, multilayer perceptron (MLP), and RBF kernel functions are applied for classification. Highest 95.53%, 94.64%, 93.05% sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, respectively, is achieved using RBF kernel function.

Cells are influenced by several biomechanical aspects of their microenvironment, such as substrate geometry. According to the literature, substrate geometry influences the behavior of muscle cells; in particular, the curvature feature improves cell proliferation. However, the effect of the substrate geometry on the myogenic differentiation process is not clear and needs to be further investigated. Here, we show that the 3D co-printing technique allows the realization of substrates. To test the influence of the co-printing technique on cellular behavior we realized linear polycaprolactone substrates with channels in which a fibrinogen-based hydrogel loaded with C2C12 cells was deposited. Cell viability and differentiation were investigated up to 21 days in culture. The results suggest that this technology significantly improves the differentiation at 14 days. Therefore, we investigate the substrate geometry influence by comparing three different co-printed geometries – linear, circular, and hybrid structures (linear and circular features combined). Based on our results, all structures exhibit optimal cell viability (> 94%) but the linear pattern allows to increase the in-vitro cell differentiation, in particular after 14 days of culture. This study proposes an endorsed approach for creating artificial muscles for future skeletal muscle tissue engineering applications.

The severe respiratory distress syndrome (SRDS) has been a significant clinical issue in modern respiratory medicine. Its role in COVID-19 pandemic is not well defined. Outside-the-hospital SRDS is usually community-acquired septic pneumonia; however, in-hospitals incidences are complicated by co-infections. While SRDS is genetically selected in European and African origins, these are not clear in Middle East, particularly in COVID-19 backgrounds. There is a severe paucity in high quality data on correlations between COVID-19, ARDS, co-infectome, and patient demographics. We have conducted a comprehensive investigation on 298 patients for associations of SRDS, coinfections, and patient demographics on COVID-19 patients’ outcomes. Of these, 9.4% (n=28) had SRDS, and the rest (90.6%) had not. 54% of those with SRDS died while 84% survived; SRDS fatality was highly significant (Chi-square test P-value = 0.00000246). Irrespective of gender, the age of patients was significantly associated with SRDS (72.9 +/-8.9) compared to those without it (56.2 +/-15.1). However, there was no significant difference neither in the age of admitted patients before COVID-19 (58.5 +/-15.3) and during COVID-19 (57.2 +/-15.5) nor in the gender and COVID-19 fatality (Fisher Exact test 2-sided 1.000, 1-sided .546) ruling out that SRDS age-specificity were selected by virus susceptibility. A 100% of SRDS patients without bacterial co-infections survived while only 25% of those with co- infectome did not; this association was highly significant (P value= 0.00041). Co-infections alone without underlying SRDS was also associated with high fatality among patients (P value= 0.00000000076). Almost all COVID-19 patients without co-infectome (99.2%) survived while 28% of those with bacterial co-infection died. The major bacterial pathogens that potentially predisposed to SRDS, were Acinetobacter baumannii, and Escherichia coli either alone or in a mixed infection with Klebsiella pneumoniae were predominant species identified during SRDS attack. Thus, Gram-negative co-infectome potentially induced fatal SRDS aggravating COVID-19 outcome. These findings have significant clinical implications in specific differential diagnosis of SRDS syndromes for subsequent empiric therapy and patient management strategies. Future vertical investigation for similar mechanisms of cytokine-induced SRDS by Gram negative pathogens is imperative since hypervirulent strains are rapidly circulating in the region. The study is limited by a single center study confined to Ha’il hospitals; large scale investigation in major national hospitals would gain more insights.

Wild artisanal cultures, such as SCOBY-based membranes (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeasts) and water kefir grains (WKG), are complex consortia of microorganisms comprising yeasts, lactic and acetic acid bacteria, with a large strains’ diversity and abundance. The fermented products (FPs) obtained by the microbiome’s contribution can be included into functional products due to their metabiotics (pre-, pro-, post-, and paraprobiotics) as a result of the complex and synergistic association as well as due to the metabolic functionality. In this study, both consortia of SCOBY and WKG were involved in the co-fermentation of a new formulated substrate, that was further analysed aiming at increasing of the postbiotic composition of the FPs. Plackett-Burman (PB) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) techniques were used for the experimental designs to select and optimize the most important parameters that influence the freeze-dried starter cultures of SCOBY and WKG activity as a multiple inoculum. The tea concentration (1-3%), sugar concentration (5-10%), raisins concentration (3-6%), SCOBY lyophilized culture concentration (0.2-0.5%), WKG lyophilized culture concentration (0.2-0.5%), and fermentation time (5-7 days), were considered the independent variables for mathematical analysis and fermentation conditions’ optimization. The pH, total acidity (TA), antioxidant activity (DPPH), and antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Bacillus subtilis MIUG B1, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, and Aspergillus niger MIUG M5 were evaluated as responses. The rich postbiotic bioactive composition of the FP obtained in optimized biotechnological conditions highlighted the usefulness of the artisanal co-cultures, through their symbiotic metabolic interactions for the improvement of bioactive potential.

Abstract: An attractive application of crude glycerol is in the generation of biomethane by means of anaerobic co-digestion, involving the decomposition of the organic matter in two or more substrates by bacteria and archaea, in the absence of oxygen. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of neural networks and fuzzy logic to predict the production of biomethane from the anaerobic co-digestion of glycerol and/or sugarcane molasses. Firstly, a reactor model was implemented using Scilab, with Monod kinetics involving two substrates and an intermediate (M2SI model), to generate a database for subsequent fitting and evaluation of neural and fuzzy models. The neural network package of Matlab was used. Fuzzy modeling was applied using the Takagi-Sugeno approach available in the ANFIS package of Matlab. The biomethane production results simulated by M2SI were used in neural network modeling, firstly employing a “generic” network applicable to all 8 scenarios. A very good fit was obtained (R²>0.99). Excellent performance was also observed for specific artificial neural networks (one for each condition). The parameters of the M2SI model for the 8 different conditions were also mapped using a neural network, as a function of the organic material composition. A fit with R²>0.99 was obtained using 25 neurons. In the case of the fuzzy logic, RMSE of 18.88 mL of methane was obtained with 216 rules, which was a value lower than 0.5% of the order of magnitude of the accumulated methane. It could be concluded from the results that fuzzy logic and artificial neural networks offer excellent ability to predict methane production, as well as to parameterize the M2SI kinetic model (using neural networks).

Zeolite Y with microporous and hierarchical structure containing Ti–Ni and Ti–Co oxides were obtained as active photocatalysts. Different Ti amounts (5, 10% TiO2) were supported, followed by loading of Ni or Co oxides (5 %). The X-ray diffraction evidenced the presence of TiO2 as anatase. N2 adsorption-desorption results showed type IV isotherms, for hierarchical zeolite Y samples, and a combination of type IV and I isotherms, for zeolite Y samples. UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectra showed shift of absorption band to visible with increasing of Ti loading and especially after Co and Ni addition. A significant effect of the support was evidenced for Ti and interaction with Co/Ni species. The zeolite Y support stabilizes Ti in the 4+ oxidation state while hierarchical zeolite Y support favored the formation of Ti 3+ species and oxidation of Co and especially of Ni to 3+. Photocatalytic activity, under UV and visible light, was evaluated in degradation of amoxicillin, used as a model test. The photocatalytic mechanism was investigated using ethanol, p-benzoquinone and KI as ·OH, ·O2- radicals and hole (h+) scavengers. The best results were obtained for the immobilized Ni-Ti species on hierarchical zeolite Y support.

Using the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, this chapter examines the cryptocurrencies as safe haven investment for stocks of our time varying realization as to the economic chock centralized by the growing pandemic. Using daily data of COVID 19 measures and daily prices for 4 cryptocurrencies and 4 stocks assets for the whole year 2020, we apply both the VAR-DCC-GARCH and Wavelet Coherency models. New evidence of our chapter find that the Bitcoin and Etherum are highly correlated in the short and long horizon with the selected stocks. However for the case of the Litecoin and the XRP are correlated negatively with the stocks in the whole COVID19 period. We find evidence that, Bitcoin is strong safe haven asset for all the selected stocks during the COVID19 era, while the Litecoin is weak safe haven investment for all the stocks and the XRP is with lowest potential of safe haven investment for all the studied stocks. Within the study we are providing a diversification of hedging for the investors and policy makers suggesting that the cryptocurrencies acted as safe haven investment similar to the precious metals during historic crisis and as fiat money for any economic shocks might occurred. The abstract should summarize the contents of the paper in short terms, i.e. 150-250 words.

The phenomenon of pathogens co-infection detected in the half fed on humans I. persulcatus tick in the south of the Far East was studied. Researchs were carried out on PEK, Vero, Vero-E6 cell lines, outbred mice, chicken embryos, using ELISA, PCR, IMFA, plaque formation, and electron microscopy. The tick contained an antigen and a genetic marker of the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). The patient had post-vaccination antibodies in a titer of 1:200, as a result of which, obviously, an antibody-dependent elimination of TBEV occurred. The tick-borne co-isolate also contained an unknown pathogen (Kiparisovo-144 virus), which, in our opinion, was a trigger for the activation of chronic infection in suckling white mice. In the laboratory coisolate, ectromelia virus was present, as evidenced by paw edema during intradermal infection of mice, characteristic rashes on the chorion-allantoic envilope of chicken embryos, and typical plaques on Vero-E6. The Kiparisovo-144 virus was not pathogenic for white mice and chicken embryos, but successfully multiplied in the PEK, Vero, and Vero-E6 lines. Viral co-infection was confirmed by electron microscopy. Passaging on mice contributed to an increase in the virulence of the co-isolate, whose titer increased by 10,000 times by the 5th passage, which poses a serious epidemiological danger.

With the rapid development of electronic and communication technology in military radar, the demand for microwave absorbing materials in low-frequency with thin layer is growing increasingly. In this study, flexible Co3O4/CC (carbon cloth) composites derives from Co-MOFs (metal-organic frameworks)/CC are prepared by hydrothermal and thermal treatment processes. The flexible precursors of Co-MOFs/CC are calcined with different calcination temperatures, which the material structure, dielectric properties and microwave absorption performance are changed. With the increase of calcination temperature, the minimum reflection loss of the corresponding Co3O4/CC composites gradually moves to the lower frequency with thinner thickness. In addition, the Co3O4/CC composites with 25 wt% filler loading ratio exhibit the minimum reflection loss (RL) of -46.59 dB at 6.24 GHz with 4.2 mm thickness. When the thickness is 3.70 mm, the effective absorption bandwidth is 3.04 GHz from 5.84 to 8.88 GHz. This study not only proves that the composite Co3O4/CC is a kind of outstanding microwave absorbing material with better flexibility, but also provides a useful inspiration for the low frequency and broadband microwave absorbing material.

The purpose of this research was to analyze the moderating effect of clean energy innovation on the relationship between corporate carbon footprint and corporate profits in those industrial sectors associated with high demand for fossil fuels in which it is "hard to abate" CO₂e emissions. It used a longitudinal research design, in particular a panel study under a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, based on partial least squares. For the longitudinal moderation analysis, this research employed the Bayesian method by defining a multiple-indicator latent growth curve model (B-LGC model). A global sample was used consisting of 7,827 firm-year observations between 2015 and 2021 corresponding to 167 international firms. The results revealed a very significant impact of the corporate carbon footprint on corporate profits. Likewise, the results showed that innovations in clean energy, when measured as the consumption of renewable energy, positively moderates the relationship between the greenhouse gas emissions from the value chain associated with Scope 3 of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, and the gross profit margin obtained. Besides the academic contribution represented by the moderating effect of clean energy innovation, these findings imply that a more detailed understanding of the emissions of the entire value chain (Scope 3 CO₂e) by executives and managers of high emitting CO₂e companies represents an effective mechanism to obtain higher profits, create competitive advantages and, at the same time, achieve a net zero emissions strategy. More importantly, public policy makers will be able to use these results to revise CO₂e-related policies paying more attention to the Scope 3 CO₂e emissions produced by these companies, to formulate regulatory and control mechanisms that stimulate clean energy innovation.

The health of urban citizens is defined by how their living environments are planned, built, and operated. These complex relations between health and the characteristics of built environments require system-orientated thinking and transdisciplinary interventions, yet have mainly been addressed using conventionally narrow sector-based approaches. This paper investigates the opportunities and challenges of the Vietnamese Green Building Movement (GBM) based on a transdisciplinary approach, with attention to additional health benefits of green buildings that are currently under-researched, while highlighting building users’ perspectives. Focusing on the perspectives of high-rise building residents, the paper examines transdisciplinary insights collected from six thematic webinars, expert interviews, and, in particular, from a household survey conducted in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Among other findings on opportunities and challenges for the Vietnamese GBM, the paper points out a challenging mismatch between the high importance homebuyers place on green building health benefits, and the focus of GBM stakeholders on GB energy-saving benefits- which are not necessarily homebuyers’ most pressing concerns. With this evidence-based inquiry, the paper concludes that improved health and well-being should be considered co-benefits of green buildings, along with energy efficiency. Importantly, this paper also brings attention to the necessity of a systemic and transdisciplinary approach in both academic and practical efforts toward the implementation of SDG3- to “ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all ages”- and SDG 11- “to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.

The major challenge for membrane distillation (MD) is membrane wetting resistance induced by pollutants in the feed solution. The proposed solution for this issue was to fabricate membranes with hydrophobic properties. Hydrophobic electrospun Poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) nanofibers membranes were produced for brine treatment using the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) technique. These nanofibers membranes were prepared from three different polymeric solution compositions to study the effect of solvent composition in the electrospinning process. Further, the effect of the polymer concentration was investigated by preparing polymeric solutions with three different polymer percentages: 6, 8, and 10%. All nanofibers membranes obtained from electrospinning were post-treated at varying temperatures. The effects of thickness, porosity, pore size, and LEP were studied. The hydrophobicity was determined by contact angle measurements, which were investigated by optical contact angle goniometry. The crystallinity and thermal properties were studied by DCS and XRD, while the functional groups were studied by FTIR. The morphological study was performed by AMF and described the roughness of nanofibers membranes. Finally, all nanofibers membranes have enough of a hydrophobic nature to be used in DCMD. PVDF membrane filter disc and all nanofibers membranes were applied in DCMD to treat brine water. The resulting water flux and permeate water quality were compared, and it was discovered that all produced nanofibers membranes showed good behavior with varying water flux, but the salt rejection was greater than 90%. A membrane prepared from DMF/acetone 5-5 with 10% PVDF-HFP provided perfect performance, with an average water flux of 44 kg.m-2.h-1 and salt rejection of 99.8%.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a potentially serious acute respiratory infection caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the virus has spread to more than 200 countries with more than 500 million cases and more than 6 million deaths reported globally. It has long been known that viral respiratory tract infections predispose patients to bacterial infections and that these co-infections often have an unfavourable clinical outcome. Moreover, nosocomial infections, also known as health care-associated infections (HAIs), are those infections that are absent at the time of admission and acquired after hospitalization. However, the impact of coinfections or secondary infections on the progression of COVID-19 disease and its lethal outcome is still debated. The aim of this review was to assess the literature on the incidence of bacterial co-infections and superinfections in patients with COVID-19. The review also highlights the importance of the rational use of antibiotics in patients with COVID-19 and the need to implement antimicrobial stewardship principles to prevent the transmission of drug-resistant organisms in healthcare settings. Finally, alternative antimicrobial agents to counter the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria causing healthcare-associated infections in COVID-19 patients will also be discussed.

Fruit softening is an important characteristic of peach fruit ripening. The auxin receptor TIR1 (Transport Inhibitor Response 1) plays an important role in plant growth and fruit maturation, but little research has been conducted on the relation of TIR1 to the softening of peach fruits. In this study, the hardness of isolated peach fruits was reduced under exogenous NAA treatment of low concentration, at the same time, the low concentration of NAA treatment reduced the transcription level of PpPG and Ppβ-GAL genes related to cell wall softening, and PpACS1 genes related to ethylene synthesis. The transient over-expression of the PpTIR1 gene in peach fruit blocks caused significant down-regulation of the expression of early auxin-responsive genes, ethylene synthesis and cell wall metabolic genes related to fruit firmness. Through yeast two-hybrid technology, bimolecular fluorescence complementary technology, and firefly luciferase complementation imaging assay, an interaction between PpTIR1 and PpIAA1/3/5/9/27 proteins was revealed, and the interaction depended on auxin and its type and concentration. These results show that PpTIR1-Aux/IAA module has a possible regulatory effect on fruit ripening and softening.

Frailty, an age-related decline in homeostatic reserves, markedly proceeded during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. To continuously assess frailty status, a remote system is urgently required. We aimed to co-design/co-develop an online frailty check (FC) application alongside FC supporters who were facilitators in a pre-existing onsite FC program. The online FC included a screening measurement for sarcopenia and an 11-item questionnaire covering dietary, physical, and social behaviors. Using prototype applications, 55 opinions obtained from 32 FC supporters (median 74.0 years) were categorized and reflected refinement. Regarding the self-efficacy of FC supporters, a significant increase in social positioning was seen after the mock test (P=.031). For FC supporters and participants, the average system usability scale (SUS) score was 70.2±10.3 points, which was “marginally high” for acceptability and “good” for the adjective range. Multiple regression analysis showed that the SUS score was significantly correlated with online-onsite reliability but not online communication, even after adjusting by age, sex, education level, and ICT proficiency (b=0.400, 95% CI: 0.243-1.951, P=.013). Additionally, a significant association between onsite and online FC scores was observed (R=0.670, P=.001). Our online FC application was evaluated to be a valuable tool to practically assess frailty status remotely.

An essential metric for determining the efficacy of tuberculosis (TB) control programs is the evaluation of TB treatment outcomes. Assessing treatment outcomes is fundamental to facilitating the End TB Strategy set target. Clinic records from 457 patients with DR-TB were examined for data collection while 101 patients were followed up prospectively. Data were analyzed using Stata version 17.0. The odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were calculated to check the association between variables. P ≤ 0.05 was con-sidered statistically significant. Of the 427 participants, 65.8% had successful treatment whilst 34.2% had unsuccessful TB treatment. A total of 61.2% and 39% of the HIV-positive and HIV-negative participants had a successful TB treatment whilst 66% and 34% of both HIV-negative and positive participants had unsuccessful TB treatment. From 101 patients that were followed up, smokers had longer treatment outcomes compared to non-smokers. In the study with HIV/TB co-infection, men predominated. HIV and tuberculosis co-infection made therapy difficult with unfavorable effects on TB management. The treatment success rate (65.8%) is lower than the WHO threshold standard with a high proportion of patients lost to follow-up. The co-infection of tuberculosis and HIV resulted in undesirable treatment outcomes. Strengthening TB surveillance and control is recommended.

Vessel co-option correlates with resistance against anti-angiogenic agents and chemotherapy in colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CRCLM). We previously identified higher intensity of neutrophils in the tumour microenvironment of vessel co-opting CRCLM lesions compared to their angiogenic counterparts. Herein, we demonstrated that over 50% of the neutrophils in vessel co-opting lesions are expressing pro-apoptotic markers including cleaved caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1). Our previous publications suggested upregulation of transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ1) in the microenvironment of vessel co-option CRCLM. Therefore, we examined the effect of TGFβ1 on the expression of cleaved caspase-3 and PARP-1 in neutrophils in vitro. Significantly, we noticed the upregulation of pro-apoptotic markers upon exposure to TGFβ1. This finding might pave the way to determine the role of neutrophils in developing vessel co-option in CRCLM in the future.

This study is focused on the mechanical properties of WC-Co composites obtained via Selective Laser Sintering using PA12 as a binder. The as-printed samples were thermally debonded, and sintered, first in vacuum, and then sinter-HIPed at 1400oC, using 50 bar Ar, which has led to relative densities up to 66 %. Optical metallographic images show a microstructure consisting of WC, with an average grain size in the range of 1.4 – 2.0 µm, with isolated large grains, in a well-distributed Co matrix. The shrinkage of the samples was 43 %, with no significant shape distortion. The printing direction of the samples has a great impact on the transversal rupture strength (TRS). Nevertheless, the bending strength was low, with a measured maximum of 612 MPa. SEM images of the fracture surface of TRS samples show the presence of defects that constitute the cause of the low measured values. The hardness values position the obtained composites in the range of medium coarse classical cemented carbides. The results were also related to the amount of free Co after sintering, close to the initial one, as assessed by magnetic measurements, indicating a low degree of interaction with PA12 decomposition products.

Twin pregnancies are highly undesirable in dairy cattle; they compromise the health and wellbeing of a cow, and its incidence dramatically impairs the farm economy. Recently, a genomic prediction for twin pregnancies has been developed. The objective of this study was to assess cow, environmental and management risk factors affecting the incidence of twin pregnancies in high-producing dairy cows in their first lactation, with special emphasis placed on the genomic prediction values for twin pregnancy. Our study population of primiparous cows proved valuable in identifying factors other than genomic predictive values influencing the twin pregnancy rate. The odds ratio for twin pregnancy was 0.85 (p <0.0001) for each unit of a prediction value increase, 3.5 (p = 0.023) for cows becoming pregnant during the negative photoperiod, and 0.33 (p = 0.016) for cows producing ≥42 kg of milk at AI, compared to the remaining cows producing <42kg of milk. As a general conclusion, the practical implication of our findings is that genomic prediction values can identify the risk of twin pregnancy at herd level. Given the cumulative effect of genomic selection, selecting for animals with reduced genetic risk of twin pregnancies can contribute to reduce its incidence in dairy herds.

Abstract: This paper outlines the methodology and results for a two species finite volume scalar computational drug transport model developed for simulating the mass transport of Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) ) from a half-embedded single strut implanted in a coronary arterial vessel wall. The mathematical drug transport model incorporates the convection-diffusion equation in scalar form (dimensionless) with a two species (free-drug and bound-drug) mass transport setup including reversible equilibrium reaction source terms for the free and bound-drug states to account for the pharmaco-kinetic reactions in the arterial wall. The relative reaction rates of the added source terms control the interconversion of drug between the free and bound-drug states. The model is solved by a 2-D finite-volume method for discretizing and solving the free and bound drug transport equations with anisotropic vascular drug diffusivities. This model is an improvement over our previously developed model using the finite-difference method. A dimensionless characteristic scaling pre-analysis was conducted a priori to evaluate the significance of implementing the reaction source terms in the transport equations. This paper reports the findings of an investigation of the interstitial flow profile into the arterial wall and the free and bound drug diffusion profiles with a parametric study of varying polymer drug concentration (low and high), tortuosity, porosity, and Peclet and DamKöhler numbers over the course of 400 hours (16.67 days). The results also reveal how a single species drug delivery model that neglects both a reversible binding reaction source term and the porosity and tortuosity of the arterial wall cannot accurately predict the distribution of both the free and bound drug.

Appropriate governance structures are extremely important for the fishery dependent communities to develop integrated territorial development strategies and adaptive capacity to change, including the climate one. This paper assesses to what extent fisheries co-management schemes (e.g Fisheries LAGs, being regional/local governance instruments in fishing communities) are strengthening sustainability. The latter includes improving energy efficiency, promoting renewable energy sources (RES), coping with climate crisis, minimizing environmental impacts, and promoting sustainable blue economy. For detecting policy aspects of aligning climate neutrality and sustainable blue economy, the research lens focuses on the Greek Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) given that these are mostly located in coastal/marine and insular territories with significant blue growth potential. To map and assess their capacity and efficiency in pursuing Green Deal objectives, a co-development process with FLAG managers was put in place. The results and findings of this process reveal the scarcity of sustainability and blue economy related strategies. Key conclusion is that transition to a post-carbon blue economy on a local level, requires the understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of fisheries co-management schemes. The latter, being multi-sectoral structures, may boost dialogue and cooperation to harmonize local development strategies and EU policies. Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) as an evolutionary governance process itself, can be a driver for making FLAGs evolve, and strengthen commonization and blue justice and equity for fishers.

Thirteen benzylethylenearyl ureas and one carbamate have been designed, synthesized and biologically evaluated as regards their antiproliferative activity on tumor cell lines HEK-293 and A-549 and on the immune and endothelial Jurkat T cells and HMEC-1, respectively. A relationship between the structure of the synthetic compounds and their antiproliferative activity has been established. Compounds C.1, C.3, C.12 and C.14 were chosen for further biological studies in order to determine their potential as oncoimmunomodulating agents. Some compounds exhibited significant inhibitory effects on both total PD-L1 and VEGFR-2 in HT-29 cell line, showing urea C.12 active against both targets. Some compounds could reduce more than 50% of cancer living cells, compared to non-treated ones, when assessed in co-cultures using HT-29 and THP-1 cells. In addition, these compounds showed no effect on the immune cell viability and significantly reduce CD11b expression, which is a promising target for immune modulation in anti-cancer therapies.

This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of highly cited papers published in the journal Sustainability between 2009 and 2023. The aim is to identify influential countries, authors, and papers, as well as patterns in authorship and citation trends. The analysis focuses on frequently cited sources, the most cited research papers and references within the journal, and trends in author keywords. The analysis shows that Sustainability is a leading publication in sustainability research, with an annual growth rate of 53.57%. The selected papers, published between 2013 and 2022, have an average age of 2.11 years and an average of 88.12 citations each. The study highlights the most influential countries in sustainability research published in Sustainability, with China leading, followed by the United States and Germany. The most prolific authors are from China, Spain, and Italy. Interdisciplinary collaboration is essential to address complex sustainability challenges, as shown in the papers published in Sustainability. The study emphasizes the importance of staying informed about emerging trends and research directions in the field of sustainability published in this journal Sustainability. It underscores the significance of fostering international collaborations and partnerships to address complex sustainability challenges facing our world today, as evidenced by the papers published in Sustainability. Overall, this bibliometric analysis provides valuable insights into the current state of sustainability research published in Sustainability and its implications for policy and practice. It highlights key areas for future research and underscores the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to address complex sustainability challenges, as demonstrated by the papers published in Sustainability. These findings have important implications for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners interested in promoting sustainable development in the field of sustainability., as published in Sustainability.

The pathogenesis of porcine circovirus type 2b (PCV2b) and swine influenza A virus (SwIV) during co-infection in swine respiratory cells is poorly understood. To elucidate the impact of PCV2b/SwIV co-infection, newborn porcine tracheal epithelial cells (NPTr) and immortalized porcine alveolar macrophages (iPAM 3D4/21) were co-infected with PCV2b and SwIV (H1N1 or H3N2 genotype). Viral replication, cell viability and cytokine mRNA expression were determined and compared between single-infected and co-infected cells. Finally, 3’mRNA sequencing was performed to identify the modulation of gene expression and cellular pathways in co-infected cells. It was found that PCV2b significantly decreased and improved SwIV replication, in co-infected NPTr and iPAM 3D4/21 cells respectively, compared to single infected cells. Interestingly, PCV2b/SwIV co-infection synergistically up-regulated IFN expression in NPTr cells whereas in iPAM 3D4/21 cells, PCV2b impaired the SwIV IFN induced response, both correlating with SwIV replication modulation. RNA-sequencing analyses revealed that the modulation of gene expression and enriched cellular pathways during PCV2b/SwIV H1N1 co-infection is regulated in a cell type-dependent-manner. This study revealed different outcomes of PCV2b/SwIV co-infection in porcine epithelial cells and macrophages and provides new insights on porcine viral co-infections pathogenesis.

Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, originally used for diabetes mellitus, are gaining more popularity for other indications owing to their positive cardiovascular and renal effects. Initially, SGLT2 inhibitors were shown to reduce heart failure (HF) hospitalization and improve cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. Later, SGLT2 inhibitors were evaluated in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFREF) and had beneficial effects independent of the presence of diabetes. Recently, reduction in cardiovascular outcomes were also observed in patients with HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF). SGLT2 inhibitors also reduced renal outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease. Overall, these drugs have an excellent safety profile with a negligible risk of genitourinary tract infections and ketoacidosis. In this review, we discuss the current data regarding SGLT2 inhibitors in special populations including acute myocardial infarction, acute HF, right ventricular (RV) failure, patients with left ventricular assist device (LVAD), and patients with type1 diabetes. We also discuss the potential mechanisms behind the cardiovascular benefits of these drugs.

Biotin-based proximity labeling approaches, such as BioID, have demonstrated their use for the study of mitochondria proteomes in living cells. The use of genetically engineered BioID cell lines enables the detailed characterization of poorly characterized processes such as mitochondrial co-translational import. In this process, translation is coupled to the translocation of the mitochon-drial proteins, alleviating the energy cost typically associated with the post-translational import relying on chaperone systems. However, the mechanisms are still unclear with only few actors identified but none that have been described in mammals yet. We thus profiled the TOM20 prox-isome using BioID, assuming that some of identified proteins could be molecular actors of the co-translational import in human cells. The obtained results showed a high enrichment of RNA bind-ing proteins close to the TOM complex. However, for the few selected candidates, we could not demonstrate a role in the mitochondrial co-translational import process. Nonetheless, we were able to demonstrate additional uses of our BioID cell line. Indeed, the experimental approach used in this study is thus proposed for the identification of mitochondrial co-translational import effec-tors and for the monitoring of protein entry inside mitochondria with a potential application in the prediction of mitochondrial protein half-life.

By enhancing the bitumen properties with the additives produced from wastes not only can be improved the performance of flexible pavements but also can be contributed to the environment. This research aims to produce a novel pyrolytic char from different wastes and to investigate the usability of this char as an additive in bitumen. In this study, firstly, the pyrolytic char was produced from co-pyrolysis of three different wastes including waste paper cups, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) wastes. Properties of the char were determined by using CHN (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses. The high temperature rheological properties of binders were evaluated by using DSR (dynamic shear rheometer), RV (rotational viscometer), softening point and penetration tests. Additionally, specific gravity, storage stability, high temperature performance grades (PG) and temperature susceptibilities of binders were determined. Test results showed that this pyrolytic char enhanced the high temperature properties of neat bitumen by increasing softening point, viscosity, rutting resistance and high temperature PG. And, it can be said that the bituminous binder modified with this pyrolytic char had a good storage stability when it was used at 8% ratio in neat bitumen.

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).

Low pasture biomass production and fodder scarcity are among the major challenges affecting productivity of dairy cattle farms in Sri Lanka. As a potential solution to this, two Napier hybrid cultivars CO-5 and Sampoorna were recently introduced and a field experiment was conducted to evaluate their growth, dry matter production and nutritional composition during May to September 2020. Plant measurements and samples were collected at five harvest intervals (4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks after planting), with the plant samples subjected to biomass and nutritional assessments. The number of tillers and leaf length differed (P=0.01) between the two cultivars at 4 weeks harvesting interval (HI) whilst number of leaves differed at 12 HI respectively. Dry matter yield increased (P=0.16) almost linearly whilst crude protein declined exponentially with CO-5 greater than Sampoorna (P=0.057; 9.3% vs 8.7%), with increasing harvesting intervals respectively. In-vitro Organic Matter Digestibility and In-vitro Metabolizable Energy contents were similar across weeks 4, 6 and 8 but then decreased. This study demonstrates that higher dry matter yields (12.54 t/ha) can be obtained by harvesting both cultivars at 12 HI, but from a nutritional perspective harvesting at 6 HI during Yala season of the year would be optimum for farmers.

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

The main objective of this paper is to identify the major research areas of ChatGPT through term and keyword co-occurrence network mapping techniques. For conducting the present study, total of 577 publications were retrieved from the Lens database for the network visualization. The findings of the study showed that “chatgpt” occurrence in maximum number of times followed by its related terms such as artificial intelligence, large language model, gpt, study etc. This study will be helpful to library and information science as well as computer or information technology professionals.

Heavy metal contamination is listed among the most alarming threats to the environment and human health. The detrimental effects of heavy metals in the natural environment span from a reduction of biodiversity to toxic effects on marine life - through microplastic born heavy metals -, to impairment of microbial activity in the soil, and to detrimental effects on animal reproduction. A host of different chemical and biological technologies have been proposed to alleviate environmental contamination by heavy metals. Relatively less attention has been paid to the microbial precipitation of heavy metals, as a side mechanism of the most general process of microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP). This process is currently receiving a great deal of interest from both a theoretical and practical standpoint, because of its possible practical applications in concrete healing and soil consolidation, and its importance in the more general framework of microbial induced mineral precipitation. In this study, we analyse the ability of the marine bacteria Vibrio harveyi in co-precipitating CaCO3 minerals, together with Cd, Cr, Pb, and Zn added in form of nitrates, from solutions containing CaCl2. The precipitated carbonatic minerals were a function of the different heavy metals present in the solution. The process of co-precipitation appears to be rather effective and fast, as the concentrations of the 4 heavy metals were reduced in 2 days by 97.2%, on average, in the solutions.

The development of antimicrobial resistance to conventional antibiotics is a major global health challenge. Infections caused by multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria have been named one of the most urgent global health threats. Considerable efforts are devoted to developing new antibiotic drugs and investigating the mechanism of antibiotic resistance. Recently, Anti-Microbial Peptides (AMPs) have emerged as a new platform for the target and design of novel drug resistant anti-microbial agents promising a new therapeutic strategy. AMPs are rapid, potent, possess an unusually broad spectrum of activity, and have shown efficacy as topical agents. Unlike traditional therapeutics that interfere with essential bacterial enzymes, AMPs interact with microbial membranes through electrostatic interactions and physically damage cell integrity. However, naturally occurring AMPs have limited selectivity and modest efficacy. Therefore, recent efforts have focused on the development of synthetic AMP analogs as suitable drug targets. This work explores the development of novel antimicrobial agents which mimic the structure of graft-copolymers and mirror the mode of action of an AMP. Chitosan-graft-polypeptide side chains are synthesized by the ring-opening polymerization of N-carboxyanhydrides of L-lysine and L-leucine initiated from the functional groups of chitosan. The derivatives with random- and block-copolymer side chains are explored as drug targets. These graft copolymer systems exhibit activity against clinically significant pathogens and disrupt biofilm formation. This work highlights the potential of chitosan-graft-polypeptide structures in biomedical applications.

The evolutionary transition from single-celled to multicellular individuality requires organismal fitness to shift from the cell-level to the cell group. This reorganization of fitness occurs by allocating the two components of fitness, survival and reproduction, between two specialized cell types in the multicellular group – soma and germ, respectively. How does the genetic basis for such fitness reorganization evolve? One possible mechanism is the co-option of life-history genes present in the unicellular ancestors of a multicellular lineage. Single-celled organisms must regulate their investment in survival and reproduction in response to environmental changes, particularly decreasing reproduction to ensure survival when stressed. Such stress response life-history genes can provide the foundation for the genetic basis for cellular differentiation in multicellular lineages. The regA gene family in volvocine green algae provides a model system to study how this co-option occurs. We discuss the origin and evolution of the volvocine regA gene family, including regA – the gene that controls somatic cell development in the model organism Volvox carteri. We hypothesize that the co-option of life history trade-off genes is a general mechanism involved in the transition to multicellular individuality, making volvocine algae and the regA family a useful template for similar investigations in other lineages.

The cell stress response is an essential system present in every cell for responding and adapting to extracellular environmental stimulations. A major program for stress response is the heat shock factor (HSF)–heat shock protein (HSP) system that maintains proteostasis in cells and promotes cancer progression. However, less is known about how the cell stress response is regulated by alternative transcription factors. Here, we show that the SCAN domain-containing transcription factors (SCAN-TFs) are involved in repressing the stress response in cancer. SCAND1 and SCAND2 are SCAN-TFs that can hetero-oligomerize with SCAN-zinc finger transcription factors, such as MZF1(ZSCAN6), for accessing DNA and transcriptionally co-repressing target genes. We found that heat stress induced the expression of both SCAND1 and MZF1(ZSCAN6) bound to HSP90 gene promoter regions in prostate cancer cells. SCAND1 and MZF1 blocked the heat shock responsiveness of HSP90 in prostate cancer cells. Gene expression of SCAND2, SCAND1 and MZF1 was negatively correlated with HSP90 expression in patients-derived prostate adenocarcinoma. MZF1 and SCAND2 were more highly expressed in paired normal tissues than in tumor tissues in several cancer types. High expression of SCAND2, SCAND1 and MZF1 correlated with enhanced prognoses of pancreatic cancer and head and neck cancers. Additionally, high expression of SCAND2 was correlated with better prognoses of lung adenocarcinoma and sarcoma. In contrast, high expression of HSP90AA1 correlated with poorer prognoses in several cancer types. These data suggest that the stress-inducible SCAN-TFs can function as a feedback system, suppressing excessive stress response and inhibiting cancers.

The management of urban water has evolved from single-function systems to more sustainable designs promoting society and nature as inputs to engineer novel infrastructure. In transdisciplinary research, co-design refers to a design thinking strategy in which people jointly frame a problem-solution. This article presents a conceptual framework to assess a case study focusing on the process of co-design and implementation of green infrastructure as a prototype for stormwater management. The evaluation is carried out from a self-reflective post-implementation perspective. Research activities are translated into the framework to evaluate conditions shaping the trajectory of the prototype. As a result, key aspects driving the research regarding levels of stakeholder participation and dimensions of power are identified. Planning resilient co-design strategies to retrofit urban spaces is necessary to avoid unintended consequences, especially at the initial experimental stages. This study aims to contribute to the continuous improvement of pilot strategies in urban spaces by providing a framework for a structured evaluation of research experiences.

Introduction: Increasing cannabis legalization raises concerns that tobacco use, frequently used with cannabis, will also increase. This study investigated the association between legal status of cannabis in place of residence and prevalence of cannabis and tobacco co-use, simultaneous use, and mixing by comparing the prevalence among adults in Canada (prior to cannabis legalization) vs. adults in US states that had legalized recreational cannabis vs. US states that had not as of September 2018. Methods: Data were drawn from the 2018 International Cannabis Policy Study, conducted with respondents aged 16-65 in Canada and the US recruited from non-probability consumer panels. Differences in the prevalence of co-use, simultaneous use, and mixing between tobacco and different cannabis products were examined using logistic regression models by legal status of place of residence among past 12-month cannabis consumers (N=6744). Results: Co-use and simultaneous use in the past 12 months were most common among respondents in US legal states. Among cannabis consumers, co-use and simultaneous use were less common in US legal states, while mixing was less frequent in US states with both legal and illegal cannabis compared to Canada. Use of edibles was associated with lower odds of all three outcomes, while smoking dried herb or hash was associated with higher odds. Conclusions: The proportion of cannabis consumers who used tobacco was lower in legal jurisdictions despite higher prevalence of cannabis use. Edible use was inversely associated with co-use suggesting that edible use does not appear to be associated with increased tobacco use.

Metchnikovellids (Microsporidia: Metchnikovellida) are poorly studied hyperparasitic micro-sporidia that live in gregarines inhabiting the intestines of marine invertebrates, mostly poly-chaetes. Our recent studies showed that the diversity of the metchnikovellids might be signifi-cantly higher than previously thought, even within a single host. Four species of metchnikovellids were found in the gregarines inhabiting the gut of the polychaete Pygospio elegans from littoral populations of the White and Barents Seas: the eugregarine Polyrhabdina pygospionis is the host for Metchnikovella incurvata and M. spiralis, while the archigregarine Selenidium pygospionis is the host for M. dogieli and M. dobrovolskiji. The most common species in the White Sea is M. in-curvata, while M. dobrovolskiji prevails in the Barents Sea. The gregarines within a single worm could be infected with different metchnikovellid species. However, co-infection of one and the same gregarine with several species of metchnikovellids has never been observed. The difference in prevalence and intensity of metchnikovellid invasion apparently depends on the features of the life cycle and on the development strategies of individual species.

Determining genetic and non-genetic sources of variation in a breed is vital for the formulation of strategies for its conservation and improvement. The present study was aimed at estimating the (co)variance components and genetic parameters of Mecheri sheep by fitting six different animal models in the restricted maximum likelihood method, with a preliminary investigation on the performance of animals for non-genetic sources of variation. A total of 2616 lambs were studied, and varying levels of significance were found for the effect of period, season, parity of dam and birth type on different body weight traits. Direct heritability estimates derived from the best animal model for body weight at birth, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months were 0.21, 0.24, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.09, respectively, and maternal heritabilities of the corresponding traits were 0.12, 0.05, 0.04, 0.04 and 0.04, respectively. The genetic correlations between body weight traits were all positive and moderate to strong except for birth weight with the other body weight traits. The significance of non-genetic factors studied in this work demanded a correction to improve the accuracy of the direct selection of lambs for body weight traits. The estimated genetic parameters identified the weaning weight as a selection criterion for the improvement in body weight of Mecheri lambs at different ages. Inbred individuals accounted for approximately 13% of the total population in the Mecheri sheep population studied. There were 877 founders in the population, and the actual effective size of the population was 128.48. The population's mean generation interval was 3.26. The mean inbreeding values ranged from 0.005 to 0.010 across generations. The population's average relatedness ranged from 0.001 to 0.014 across generations. Individual inbreeding was found to be 0.45 per cent for the entire population and 3.4 per cent for the inbred population.

Background. To improve maternal and child health, it is essential to adhere to health-promoting and preventive measures. However, reliable information as well as effective tools are not easy to identify in this field. Our cross-sectional study investigated the needs and expectations of expectant and new mothers and fathers -primary users of an app supporting the first 1000 days of life. Methods. Between May and August 2022, we recruited expectant and new parents by administering a 71-item 5-point Likert scale questionnaire related to content, functionalities, and technical features of a hypothetical app. We stratified responses by sociodemographic characteristics and then performed ward hierarchical clustering. Results. The 94 women and 69 men involved in our study generally agreed with the proposed content, but expressed low interest in certain app functionalities, especially those related to interaction mechanism and interactivity. Women were generally more demanding than men, and family income declined as the needs and expectations increased. Conclusions. Our findings, resulting from the engagement of end-users, may be useful for designers and technology providers to implement mHealth solutions that, in addition to conveying reliable information, are tailored to the needs and preferences of end-users in the first 1000 days of life.

Some cancer cells rely heavily on non-essential biomolecules for survival, growth, and proliferation. Enzyme based therapeutics can eliminate these biomolecules, thus specifically targeting neoplastic cells; however, enzyme therapeutics are susceptible to immune clearance, exhibit short half-lives, and require frequent administration. Encapsulation of therapeutic cargo within biocompatible and biodegradable poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles (PLGA NPs) is a strategy for controlled release. Unfortunately, PLGA NPs exhibit burst release of cargo shortly after delivery or upon introduction to aqueous environments where they decompose via hydrolysis. Here we show the generation of hybrid silica-coated PLGA (SiLGA) NPs as viable drug delivery vehicles exhibiting sub-200 nm diameters, a metastable Zeta potential, and high loading efficiency and content. Compared to uncoated PLGA NPs, SiLGA NPs offer greater retention of enzymatic activity and slow the burst release of cargo. Thus, SiLGA encapsulation of therapeutic enzymes, such as asparaginase, could reduce frequency of administration, increase half-life, and improve efficacy for patients with a range of diseases.

Surface defect detection is one of the most widely used research areas in the field of image processing and machine vision. Detection of surface defects is used in visual inspection systems and medical image analysis. In this manuscript, an innovative method for detecting surface defects based on energy changes in co-occurrence matrices is presented in several directions. The method presented in this manuscript includes two stages of learning and testing. In the learning phase, to extract texture features, the gray level co-occurrence matrix operator is applied on the healthy image of the desired level. Then the energy value of the output matrix is ​​calculated. In the following, changes in the amount of energy are considered as statistical characteristics that are a good representative of the image of a healthy surface. Finally, with its help, a suitable threshold for the health of the images is obtained. Then, in the test phase, with the help of the calculated quorum, the defective windows that have suffered from non-normality are distinguished from the healthy surface sections. In the results section, the efficiency of the mentioned method has been measured on medical images and stone and ceramic images, and its detection accuracy has been compared with some previous effective methods. The advantages of the presented method include high accuracy, low calculations and compatibility with all types of levels due to the use of the learning stage. The proposed approach can be used in medical applications to diagnose abnormalities such as diseases. All extracted features are statistical, so its detection speed is higher than deep neural networks.

Rare diseases are characterized by a wide diversity of signs and symptoms and vary not only from disease to disease, but also from person to person, and living with a disease leads patients to peculiar experiences and treatments, without limits of time and space, as they extend to various environments and relationships of their lives. The objective of this study is the theoretical interaction between Value Co-creation (VC) and the Stakeholder Theory (ST) with the Shared Decision Making (SDM) health care theory. It is configured as a multiparadigmatic proposal by enabling the analysis of multiple perspectives of different stakeholders in health care. Thus, Co-created Decision Making (CDM) emerges in a logic dominated by service, with emphasis on intangible aspects and the interactivity of the relationships. It goes beyond the clinical office and the doctor-patient relationships, as studied in SDM, extending to all environments and interactions that add value to the patient's treatment. It was concluded that the essence of this new theory proposed here is neither in patient-centered care nor in patient self-care, but in co-created relationships with and between stakeholders in both directions, including non-health care environments that are important to the patient, such as relationships with friends, family, other patients with the same disease, social media, public policies, and the practice of pleasurable activities.

New generation antibiotics are needed to combat the development of resistance to antimicrobials. One of the most promising new classes of antibiotics is cannabidiol (CBD). It is a non-toxic and low-resistance chemical that can be used to treat bacterial infections. The antibacterial activity of Cannabis sativa L. byproducts, specifically CBD, has been of growing interest in the field of novel therapeutics. As research continues to define and characterize the antibacterial activity that CBD possesses against a wide variety of bacterial species it is important to examine potential interaction between CBD and common therapeutics such as broad-spectrum antibiotics. Here, we show that CBD-antibiotic co-therapy can effectively fight S. typhimurium via membrane integrity disruption. This research serves to examine the potential synergy between CBD and three broad-spectrum antibiotics for potential antibiotic-CBD co-therapy. In this study, we reveal that Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium) growth is inhibited at very low dosages of CBD-antibiotic. This interesting finding demonstrates that CBD and CBD-antibiotic co-therapies are viable novel alternatives to combating Salmonella typhimurium.

The emergence of the circular economy, and the evolving paradigms in the treatment and management of wastewater, have opened up an opportunity for co-digestion of organic waste (i.e., food waste) with sewage sludges to enhance resource recovery at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This paper reviewed the potential for anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludges, as well as alternative sustainable food waste handling systems in South Africa. The promotion of the circular economy by the latest national solid waste management strategy and the ongoing efforts for resource recovery by the wastewater sector suggests that anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge is possible in South Africa. Furthermore, an integrated food waste disposer (FWD) system was identified as a sustainable alternative for food waste handling. To formulate a roadmap for future food waste and sewage sludge co-digestion implementation, a multi-disciplinary investigation is required to bridge the literature gap.

When present in specific amounts in the air, the colorless, odorless, and tasteless gases monoxide and carbon dioxide may either replace oxygen in red blood cells (CO) or increase the respiratory rate causing cardiac arrhythmias (CO2), leading to death. Commercial sensors take around 8 h to detect levels of CO (50 PPM), causing moderate poisoning. SnO2 presents controlled interactions with the atmosphere using conductance and vacancy adjustments to capture electrical properties. However, the selectivity of gas detection by SnO2 can still be improved, thus also increasing the application possibilities. The present study aimed to optimize the sensing of CO and CO2 in SnO2 using palladium functionalization. The vapor-liquid-solid method synthesized a network of SnO2 nanobelts decorated with palladium nanoparticles. The sensitivity of the sensors for CO and CO2 were evaluated, characterizing parameters such as response time, a wide range of CO and CO2 concentrations, and temperature. In the seventh measurement cycle, the sensor response for different concentrations of gases in consecutive cycles showed a sensitivity of up to 125% for CO in 60 s. Furthermore, we observed increased sensor sensitivity with material doping with nanoparticles from 130 ppm to 1360 ppm in 30 seconds to CO. Conclusion: The results provide a better understanding of the sensitivity of SnO2 in palladium-decorated nanoparticles, offering insights for detecting low CO concentrations quickly. The behavior of these doped nanosensors showed us the importance of considering them as a practical possibility for detecting these gases of importance to human health.

Leishmania parasites present astonishing adaptative abilities that represent a matter of life or death within disparate environments during the heteroxenous parasite life cycle. From an evolutionary perspective, organisms develop methods of overcoming such challenges. Strategies that extend beyond the genetic diversity have been discussed and include variability between parasite cells during the infections of their hosts. The occurrence of Leishmania subpopulation fluctuations with variable structural genomic contents demonstrates that a single strain might shelter the variability required to overcome inconsistent environments. Such intrastrain variability provides parasites with an extraordinary ability to adapt and thus survive and propagate. However, different perspectives on this evolution have been proposed. Strains or species living in the same environment can cooperate but also compete. These interactions might increase the replication rate of some parasites but cause the loss of more aggressive competitors for others. Adaptive responses to intra- and interspecific competition can evolve as a fixed strategy (replication is adapted to the average genetic complexity of infections) or an optional strategy (replication varies according to the genetic complexity of the current infection). This review highlights the complexity of interspecies and intrastrain interactions among Leishmania parasites as well as the different factors that influence this interplay.

The power utility, Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) is faced with challenges of supplying adequate power to the ever-increasing demand. To this end, this paper explores the installed Ubungo Gas Power Plant (UGP II) located in Dar es Salaam to find means of utilizing it in co-generation method. The study embarked on detailed modelling of the system and run simulations which indicated that the co-generation can result to power generation efficiency increase between 10.42 to 50.92%. It is recommended to change the UGP II to exploit this co-generation method. Further, the study could be improved by including more parameters of the gas and steam plant and verify them experimentally.

As a typical form of value co-creation, crowdsourcing has been increasingly applied by firms to generate business value. By engaging a crowd, a platform, and other stakeholders, a crowdsourcer can foster the co-creation of a portfolio of value for diverse stakeholders. In analyzing the value co-creation in crowdsourcing, we propose a framework by combining the theories and frameworks in value co-creation and crowdsourcing. The framework examines the key stakeholders, joint purpose, engaged value co-creation processes, contributions, bidirectional relationships of the engagement, and perceived value, exhibiting a holistic view of the value co-creation in a crowdsourcing project. Results of the analysis reveal the business performance of the crowdsourcing project and identify areas of improvement regarding business sustainability. This is a major theoretical contribution of this study. The research design applied a case study approach to empirically investigate a crowdsourcing project. Both the theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Recently, the amount of waste generated has been rapidly increasing, there have been difficulties disposing of waste in Korea. As a solution to this, treating waste using a cement kiln has suggested, but the environmental and economic effects have not been specifically studied. In this study, the effects of alternative resources, and reducing the social costs(Installation and Operation) associated with waste treatment facilities were analyzed. Through a co-processing method, a reduction of approximately 53kg of CO2 can be realized during the production of one ton of cement, and cost savings of about 3,815 milion USD. Another effect is an extension of the expiration date for landfills by 7.55 years.

The extremely controversial conclusions about the function of human interferon-gamma (hIFNγ) C-terminus as well as the lack of a consistent model explaining its role in the receptor binding prompted us to scrutinize the interaction of hIFNγ with its extracellular receptor hIFNGR1 in different scenarios by means of molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the two molecules alone fail to form a stable complex but the presence of heparan-sulfate-like oligosaccharides largely facilitates the process by both demobilizing the highly flexible C-termini of the cytokine and assisting in the proper positioning of its globule between the receptor subunits. An antiproliferative-activity essay on cells depleted from surface sulfation confirms qualitatively the simulation-based multistage complex-formation model. Our results reveal the key role of HS and its proteoglycans in all processes involving hIFNγ signalling.

Mutations within the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome have been associated with rapid progres-sion to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, there is limited information regarding the prevalence and impact of these mutations in most of sub-Saharan Africa, including Botswana. We aimed to determine the prevalence of HBV mutations known to be associated with progression to HCC using a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of 48 previously generated HBV sequences from adults with concomitant HBV/HIV initiating HIV antiretroviral therapy in Botswana. The sequences were aligned with reference sequences, and HCC-associated mutations were manually identified using BioEdit. Sixteen (33.3 %) of 48 participant samples had 20 HCC-associated mu-tations. Seven HCC mutations were present in the core region, 4 in the preCore region, 7 in the X region, and one mutation in the surface region, as well as deletions within the preSurface 1 region. Seven of the 16 participants (43.8%) had multiple HCC-associated mutations. There were also previously uncharacterized mutations at positions with known HCC-associated mutations. HCC-associated mutations were common in this cohort; hence, some participants may require close clinical monitoring as they might be more prone to rapid disease progression. Other functionally uncharacterized polymorphisms were also detected and require characterization in future studies.

Drought is one of the most serious abiotic stressors in the environment, restricting agricultural production by reducing plant growth, development, and productivity. To investigate such a complex and multifaceted stressor and its effects on the plants, a systems biology-based approach is necessitated, entailing the generation of co-expression networks, identification of highly-priority transcription factors (TFs) dynamic mathematical modeling, and computational simulations. Here, we studied a high-resolution drought transcriptome of Arabidopsis. We revealed distinct temporal transcriptional signatures and demonstrated the involvement of specific biological pathways. Generation of a large-scale co-expression network followed by network centrality analyses identified 117 TFs that possess critical properties of hubs, bottlenecks, and high clustering coefficients nodes. Dynamic transcriptional regulatory modeling on integrated TF-target and transcriptome datasets uncovered major transcriptional events during the course of drought stress. Mathematical transcriptional simulations allowed us to ascertain the activation status of major TFs as well as the transcriptional intensity and amplitude of their target genes. Finally, we validated our predictions by providing experimental evidence of gene expression under drought stress for a set of four TFs and their major target genes using qRT-PCR. Taken together, we provided a systems-level perspective on the dynamic transcriptional regulation during drought stress in Arabidopsis and uncovered numerous novel TFs that can potentially be used in future genetic crop engineering programs.

A digital text abstract presents the essential information of an article, and we can find the trend and value of the research by analyzing it rigorously and digging up knowledge. Therefore, this study focuses on the abstracts of index journals in China and Taiwan from July 2010 to June 2020 (a total of 3,283 abstracts). Through the concepts of text mining and natural language processing (NLP), it constructs processes such as text retrieval, text segmentation and word cloud analysis, TF-IDF weight analysis, co-word analysis, network analysis, and trend analysis, and analyses a large amount of text data. The results show that the scope of research in China covers the fields of social sports and sports science, and research in Taiwan covers both natural and social sciences. The network diagram highlights the richness of sports-related research fields in the two regions, but research on sports philosophy is relatively rare. It is suggested that all disci-plines/departments should re-allocate the same resources, so as to show a balanced development trend and help expand a new chapter in the sports academic field.

Addressing factors modulating COVID-19 is crucial since abundant clinical evidence shows that outcomes are markedly heterogeneous between patients. This requires identifying the factors and understanding how they mechanistically influence COVID-19. Here, we describe how eleven selected factors influence COVID-19 by applying the Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) framework well-established in regulatory toxicology. This framework aims to model the sequence of events starting from an initial interaction of a stressor with the organism and the progress through key biological events leading to an adverse health outcome. Several linear AOPs depicting pathways from the binding of the virus to ACE2 up to clinical outcomes observed in COVID-19 patients have been developed and integrated into a network offering a unique overview of the mechanisms underlying the disease. As SARS-CoV-2 infectibility and ACE2 activity are the major starting points and inflammatory response is central in the development of COVID-19, we evaluated how eleven intrinsic and extrinsic factors modulate those processes impacting clinical outcomes. Applying this AOP-aligned approach enables the identification of current knowledge gaps orientating for further research and allows to propose biomarkers to identify of high-risk patients. This approach also facilitates expertise synergy from different disciplines to address public health issues.

Using of the organic base tetramethylammonium hydroxides (TMAH) is a viable, cheap and fast route, for the MgZnAl-LDH type materials synthesis by both co-precipitation and mechano-chemical methods. TMAH provided several advantages as smaller quantity of water required in the washing step compared to the use of inorganic alkalis, prevention of LDH contamination with alkali cations, acting as template molecule in texture tailoring along with disadvantages as its presence in small quantities in the resulting layered materials. Regardless the use of organic / inorganic bases and co-precipitation / mechano-chemical methods, zincite stable phase was found in all the synthesized solids. The basicity of catalysts followed the trend: mixed oxides > reconstructed > parent LDH. The memory effect of LDH is supported only by the presence of Mg and Al cations, while Zn remains as zincite stable phase. The catalytic activities for Claisen-Schmidt condensation of benzaldehyde with cyclohexanone provided values higher than 90% after 2h, with a total selectivity in 2,6-dibenzylidenecyclohexanone, while in self-condensation of cyclohexanone no more than 7.29% after 5h. These behaviors depended on catalysts basicity as well as the planar rigidity of the compound.

Pharmaceutically active compounds and organic pollutants are becoming a major environmental dispute possessing serious threat to the water bodies and terrestrial ecosystem. Microorganisms are capable of the self-purification process, and hence the microbial degradation is considered a lucrative method to counteract the therapeutic and recalcitrant pollutants. Pharmaceutical toxicants in aquatic system can be treated by conventional wastewater treatment, but slow sludge settling, presence of mixture of pharmaceuticals and recalcitrant compounds often pose a potential ecological risk. Some microbial strains are very effective in reducing the chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), total dissolved solids (TDS), and turbidity in pharmaceutical industrial wastewater treatment. The natural microbial community has a significant role in the ecological processes of pharmaceutical and organic compounds, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics, blood lipid regulators and other micropollutants. Specific bacterial isolates can act as biodegraders, and fungal treatment could offer protection to the ecosystem. These microorganisms use the pollutants as their sole carbon source and transform the contaminants by co-metabolic pathways. Natural attenuation by native microorganisms, biostimulation and bioaugmentation are the processes employed to degrade the target contaminant. Microorganisms may also be genetically engineered to improve the neutralization efficiency, which would assist in the mineralization of the pollutants. Thus, employing microorganisms to detoxify the pollutants probably enhances the sustainable potential biodegradability, improves water quality standards and ensures eco-friendly alternative bioremediation strategy.

In the next decade, further digitalisation of the entire wind energy project lifecycle is expected to be a major driver for reducing project costs and risks. In this paper, a literature review on the challenges related to implementation of digitalisation in the wind energy industry is first carried out, showing that there is a strong need for new solutions that enable co-innovation within and between organisations. Therefore, a new collaboration method called the WeDoWind Ecosystem is developed and demonstrated. The method is centred around specific "challenges", which are defined by "challenge providers" within a topical "space" and made available to participants via a digital platform. The data required in order to solve a particular "challenge" is provided by the "challenge providers" under the confidentiality conditions they specify. The method is demonstrated via a case study, the EDP Wind Turbine Fault Detection Challenge. Six submitted solutions using diverse approaches are evaluated. Two of the methods perform significantly better than EDP’s existing method in terms of Total Prediction Costs (saving up to €120,000). The WeDoWind Ecosystem is found to be a promising solution for enabling co-innovation in wind energy, providing a number of tangible benefits for both challenge and solution providers.

There are two contrary opinions regarding the risk if mainland China (MC) moves away from its zero-COVID policy. Some experts think the risk shall be much lower than influenza as per MC’s own COVID-19 case fatality rate (CFR), while some other experts think the risk shall be much higher than influenza as per the COVID-19 CFRs of other regions. We elucidate here that this and multiple other striking differences in the CFR between various scenarios all support and substantially resulted from the view that good IDM is highly powerful to mitigate COVID-19, where IDM (isolation-disinfection-maintenance) means isolation of COVID-19 cases from other people, disinfection of their living environments, and health maintenance (e.g., rest, nutrition, breathing). The high effect of good IDM is also supported by the theoretic functions of IDM in minimizing co-infections and maintaining body functions, and the fact that all the 505 COVID-19 deaths reported in MC in 2022 before May 5 died directly of severe underlying diseases with COVID-19. Although it is tough for people in poverty to obtain good IDM, good IDM can be feasible at home for the most mild cases and in hospitals for the most severe cases. Therefore, good IDM can be crucial to mitigating COVID-19 worldwide. It also suggests that the risk for China to end its zero-COVID policy depends on China’s control policies or measures. Based on the effect of IDM, the cautious co-existence policy was proposed for COVID-19 control. This policy could reduce the whole death toll in MC because good IDM is non-specific and can reduce deaths of various other diseases. The cautious co-existence policy (non-specific) and the vaccination policy (specific) aid each other to mitigate COVID-19, and they cannot replace each other. Those who are qualified in health for vaccination should be vaccinated against COVID-19 timely.

The complete regression of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) obtained pre-clinically with anti-carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) G36 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in doses equivalent to 10e8 CAR T cells/ Kg renewed the potential of this target to treat ccRCC and other tumors in hypoxia. The immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) brought durable clinical responses in advanced ccRCC and other tumors. Here we tested CD8/4-1BB compared to CD28-based anti-CAIX CAR PBMCs cells-releasing anti-programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) IgG4 for human ccRCC treatment in vitro and in an orthotopic NSG mice model in vivo. Using a 10e7 CAR PBMCs cells/ Kg dose, anti-CAIX CD28 CAR T cells releasing anti-PD-L1 IgG highly decrease both tumor volume and weight in vivo, avoiding the occurrence of metastasis. This antitumoral superiority of CD28-based CAR PBMCs cells compared to 4-1BB occurred under ICB via PD-L1. Furthermore, T cell exhaustion status in peripheral CD4 T cells, additionally to CD8 was critical for CAR T cells efficiency. The lack of hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity upon administration of 10e7 CAR PMBCs cells/Kg dose is the basis for carrying out clinical trials using anti-CAIX CD28 CAR PBMCs cells releasing anti-PD-L1 antibodies or anti-CAIX 4-1BB CAR T cells, offering exciting new prospects for the treatment of refractory ccRCC and hypoxic tumors.

Films prepared from poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) copolymers produced by Aneurinibacillus sp. H1 using an automatic film applicator were homogeneous and had a defined thickness, which allowed a detailed study of physicochemical properties. Their properties were compared with a poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) homopolymer film prepared by the same procedure, which proved to be significantly more crystalline by DSC and XRD. Structural differences between samples had a major impact on their properties. With increasing 4-hydroxybutyrate content, the ductility and release rate of the model hydrophilic active ingredient increased significantly. Other observed properties, such as the release of the hydrophobic active substance, the contact angle with water and ethylene glycol, or the surface morphology and roughness, were also affected by the composition. The identified properties predetermine these copolymers for wide use in areas such as biomedicine or smart biodegradable packaging for food or cosmetics. The big advantage is the possibility of fine-tuning properties simply by changing the fermentation conditions.

Inherent low soil fertility status limits productivity of rice in the lowland ecologies in Northern Ghana. Combining organic and inorganic N fertilizers could help to maintain the fertility of lowland soils for rice production. A screen house pot experiment was carried out to investigate the combined effect of biochar-compost and inorganic N fertilizer on the nitrogen uptake and agronomic performance of rice plants grown on Eutric Gleysol lowland soil. Inorganic N fertilizer alone and its combinations with different types of biochar-compost (based on the proportions of biochar and compost) were used as treatment. A control (unamended soil) was also included. The incorporation of biochar-compost and inorganic N fertilizer improved the growth parameters and yield components of rice plants. The combination of biochar-compost and inorganic nitrogen fertilizer was also found to improve nitrogen uptake and nutrient use efficiency (NUE) in rice plants. This practice could be the most likely viable option for alleviating lowlands soil fertility issues and increasing rice productivity in Northern Ghana.

New setting is introduced to study co-neighborhood, neutrosophic t-neighborhood, neutrosophic quasi-vertex set, neutrosophic quasi-order, neutrosophic neighborhood, neutrosophic co-t-neighborhood, neutrosophic quasi-edge set, neutrosophic quasi-size, Neutrosophic number, neutrosophic co-neighborhood, co-neutrosophic number, quasi-number and quasi-co-number. Some classes of neutrosophic graphs are investigated.

Escherichia coli and Shigella are common diarrhea-causing pathogens in children and adults. Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) shares a similar pathogenic mechanism with Shigella. However, EIEC are less virulent than Shigella. The aim of this work was to get a better understanding of the virulence differences between EIEC and S. flexneri. We investigated i) the bacterial gene co-expression networks (GCNs) and ii) the the transcriptional modules (WGCNA) of Caco-2 cells infected with EIEC or with S. flexneri during a three-hour period of bacterial infection. The GCN analysis showed that EIEC and S. flexneri networks presented different topologies. Additionally, the EIEC network revealed that pINV genes are not connected with chromosomal genes. WGCNA and eigengene analysis showed enterocyte gene expression variation along the three-hour bacterial post-infection period. Additionally, at one-hour post-infection EIEC induced a higher number of gene expression changes in Caco-2 cells than S. flexneri. Several of these genes are involved in autophagy. This study showed that the lower virulence of EIEC is associated with a lack of functional cooperation between pINV and chromosomal genes, differently from what was observed in S. flexneri. Consequently, EIEC becomes less efficient in subverting host-cell bacterial recognition as well as defense mechanisms such as autophagy.

We present a summary of the main results within the Scale Invariant Vacuum (SIV) paradigm as related to the Weyl Integrable Geometry. After a brief review of the mathematical framework, we will highlight the main results related to inflation within the SIV [9], the growth of the density fluctuations [8], and the application of the SIV to scale-invariant dynamics of Galaxies, MOND, Dark Matter, and the Dwarf Spheroidals [7]. The connection of the weak-field SIV results to the un-proper time parametrization within the reparametrization paradigm is also discussed [14].

Age-related alterations in the gut microbiome composition and its impacts on the host’s health have been well described; however, detailed analyses of the gut microbial structure defining ecological microbe-microbe interactions is limited. One of the ways to determine these interactions is by understanding microbial co-occurrence patterns. We previously showed promising abilities of Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1 on the aging gut microbiome and immune system. However, the potential of the DDS-1 strain to modulate microbial co-occurrence patterns is unknown. Hence, we aimed to investigate the ability of L. acidophilus DDS-1 to modulate the fecal, mucosal and cecal-related microbial co-occurrence networks in young and aging C57BL/6J mice. Our Kendall’s tau correlation measures of co-occurrence revealed age-related changes in the gut microbiome, which were characterized by reduced number of nodes and associations across sample types when compared to younger mice. After four-week supplementation, L. acidophilus DDS-1 differentially modulated the overall microbial community structure in fecal and mucosal samples as compared to cecal samples. Beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Akkermansia acted as connectors in aging networks in response to L. acidophilus DDS-1 supplementation. Our findings provided the first evidence of the DDS-1-induced gut microbial ecological interactions revealing the complex structure of microbial ecosystems with age.

New setting is introduced to study quasi-degree and quasi-co-degree arising from co-neighborhood. quasi-degree and quasi-co-degree is about a vertex which are applied into the setting of neutrosophic graphs. . The structure of set is studied and general results are obtained. Also, some classes of neutrosophic graphs namely path-neutrosophic graphs, cycle-neutrosophic graphs, complete-neutrosophic graphs and star-neutrosophic graphs, complete-bipartite-neutrosophic graphs and complete-multipartite-neutrosophic graphs are investigated in the terms of a vertex which is called either quasi-degree or quasi-co-degree. Neutrosophic number is reused in this way. It’s applied to use the type of neutrosophic number in the way that, three values of a vertex are used and they’ve same share to construct this number to compare with other vertices. Summation of three values of vertex makes one number and applying it to a comparison. This approach facilitates identifying vertices which form quasi-degree and quasi-co-degree. Quasi-degree is a value of a vertex which is maximum amid all values of vertices which are neighbors to a fixed vertex. Quasi-co-degree is a value of an edge which is maximum amid all values of edges which are neighbors to a fixed vertex but corresponded vertex is representative for this notion. Using different values which are related to a vertex inspire us to focus on edge and vertices which are corresponded to a fixed vertex. The notion of neighborhood is used to collect either vertices are titled neighbors or edges are incident to fixed vertex. In both settings, some classes of well-known neutrosophic graphs are studied. Some clarifications for each result and each definitions are provided. Using fixed vertex has key role to have these notions in the form of vertex or edge. The value of an edge has eligibility to call quasi-co-degree but the value of a vertex has eligibility to call quasi-degree. Some results get more frameworks and perspective about these definitions. The way in that, two vertices have connection together, open the way to define neighborhood and co-neighborhood. The maximum values in neighborhood and co-neighborhood introduces quasi-degree and quasi-co-degree, respectively. New name is chosen from degree. Since amid all vertices with different degrees, one vertex is chosen. In other words, one vertex is fixed and its degree turns out quasi-degree where two degrees could be assigned to a vertex. Degree of edges and degree of vertices. The number of edges which are incident to the vertex and the number of vertices which are neighbors to the vertex. Degree and co-degree are the notions which are transformed to use in quasi-style. Two neutrosophic values introduce two neutrosophic vertices separately in each settings. These notions are applied into neutrosophic graphs as individuals but not family of them as drawbacks for these notions. Finding special neutrosophic graphs which are well-known, is an open way to purse this study. Some problems are proposed to pursue this study. Basic familiarities with graph theory and neutrosophic graph theory are proposed for this article.

The corona (COVID-19) pandemic offers an opportunity for dealing with persistent problems, through a transformative recovery process. It is a crisis that offers opportunities for dealing with three interrelated crises: the ecological crisis (climate change, loss of biodiversity, resource depletion, pollution and ecosystem destruction), the confidence crisis (people losing trust in government, politics, companies, regular news channels, science, each other and the future), and the inequality crisis (the widening of the gap between rich and poor). Our argument is that sustainability transitions will not succeed without a different economy and another social contract with the associated rights and duties of care (for the environment and the well-being of others, including future generations). A different social contract is not only desirable from the point of view of sustainability and fairness, justice and equality, but is also necessary to restore citizens' trust in politics, government, companies and each other. In the paper we discuss mechanisms towards a Natural Social Contract, systemic leverage points for system transformations and possibilities for co-evolutionary governance by actor coalitions interested in transformative change. The combination of those three elements helps to synchronize different agendas and reduce the chance that they will work against each other.

This pot-based study investigated the influence of co-composted wood-derived biochar on lettuce growth performance under salinity and drought stress conditions. Biochar of two particle sizes; > 2 mm and < 1 mm were co-composted with the mixture (1:1 ratio of dry weight) of cow and poultry manures. Co-composted biochars were applied at 5% and 7% rates in soil. Control treatments included the amendment of mixture of biochar with manure in soil. Pots were subjected to slight drought (48-55% water filled pore space (WFPS) of soil) and non-drought conditions (60% WFPS) and under 0 and 1.3 dS m-1 salinity. Results revealed that plants growth performance was significantly better under treatments of co-composted biochar and no salt stress conditions, than when mixture of biochar and manure was applied to soil as non-composted fertilizer. Under no stress condition, small particle-sized co-composted biochar increased root biomass by 786.2% than the large particle-sized co-composted biochar at same application rate. As compared to large-sized co-composted biochar, small sized co-composted biochar at high application rates increased root biomass by 167 – 245% but not leaf biomass under both stress conditions. Small particle-sized co-composted biochar amendment also increased the phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) of lettuce leaves than large particle-sized co-composted biochar under no stress condition. The amendment of small-sized co-composted biochar also increased significantly the concentration of Olsen phosphorus in soil than the amendment of large-particle-sized co-composted biochar. In conclusion, amendment of small particle-sized co-composted biochar has the potential of attenuating salinity and drought stress in lettuce and promoting P cycling in soil.

The spatial distribution of elements can be regarded as a numerical field of concentration values with a continuous spatial coverage. An active area of research is to discover geologically meaningful relationships among elements from their spatial distribution. To solve this problem, we propose an association rule mining method based on clustered events of spatial auto-correlation and applied it to the polymetallic deposits of the Chahanwusu River area, Qinghai Province, China. The elemental data for stream sediments were first clustered into HH (high-high), LL (low-low), HL (high-low), and LH (low-high) groups by using local Moran’s I clustering map (LMIC). Then the Apriori algorithm was used to mine the association rules among different elements in these clusters. More than 86% of the mined rule points are located within 1000 m of faults and near known ore occurrences, and occur in the upper reaches of the stream and catchment areas. In addition, we found that the Indosinian granodiorite is enriched in sulfophile elements, e.g., Zn, Ag and Cd, and the Variscan granite quartz diorite (P1γδο) coexists with Cu and associated elements. Therefore, the proposed algorithm is an effective method for mining co-existence patterns of elements and provides an insight into their enrichment mechanisms.

Despite knowledge concerning stakeholders and the economic advantages of consultation, collaboration and innovation, analysis of the sustainability implications of the geothermal industry has tended to take a high-level or systemic overview of national performance. This study seeks to begin to fill this gap in the academic and grey literature, investigating the following research question: how do projects in the Icelandic geothermal energy sector create co-benefits with stakeholders and reflect the integration of sustainable energy development (SED)? The focus of its analysis is on identifying who are the stakeholders, what are the sustainability benefits co-created with stakeholders, and when in the project lifecycle do these occur. Based on eleven semi-structured interviews with project managers in Iceland’s geothermal industry, the study identifies a broad array of stakeholders in the sector, including national and municipal governments and public sector institutions, businesses, the public, employees and landowners. The sustainability co-benefits of Iceland’s geothermal power projects are broad and cut cross all six themes of SED and multiple phases of the project lifecycle. Although the sustainability benefits are very apparent, trade-offs are reported between the pursuit of an economically efficient energy system and nature conservation. This relates to unsustainable utilization of the resources and the environmental externalities of power production and consumption. Efforts to mitigate these effects are ongoing and the further pursuit of SED is likely in Iceland given its recognition within the nation’s new energy policy and to meet ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in the government’s climate action plan. These are issues that are prominent in other nations seeking to decarbonize energy systems through increased utilization of geothermal resources.

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that affect the mortality among adult HIV/TB co-infected patients and to see the nutritional difference among mortality in residence level. Retrospective cohort studies of 417 patients which fulfill our criteria were included. Multilevel logistic regression models were used. MLwiN and SPSS software are used to estimate the parameter. The variance of the random factor in the empty model was significant which indicates that there were residential differences in TB-HIV co-infected mortality and it shows multilevel analysis was an appropriate approach for further analysis. The prevalence of HIV/TB co-infected patients' death was 12.9% in study time. Functional status, age of patients, WHO clinical stages, nutritional status, CD4 counts, regimen, and BMI were found to be significant determinants of HIV/TB co-infected mortality. In our study, patients with the bedridden category of functional status, the fourth stages of WHO clinical stages (stage IV), patients with higher age, patients whose treatments were second-line regimen and low CD4 cell counts were more at risk of death. The study also revealed that; poor nutritional status increased the risk of mortality among HIV/TB co-infected patients and it varies among the residence of the patients (rural area were more at risk).

New setting is introduced to study types of coloring numbers, degree of vertices, degree of hyperedges, co-degree of vertices, co-degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic degree of vertices, neutrosophic degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic co-degree of vertices, neutrosophic co-degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic number of vertices, neutrosophic number of hyperedges in neutrosophic hypergraphs. Different types of procedures including neutrosophic (r, n)−regular hypergraphs and neutrosophic complete r−partite hypergraphs are proposed in this way, some results are obtained. General classes of neutrosophic hypergraphs are used to obtain chromatic number, the representatives of the colors, degree of vertices, degree of hyperedges, co-degree of vertices, co-degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic degree of vertices, neutrosophic degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic co-degree of vertices, neutrosophic co-degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic number of vertices, neutrosophic number of hyperedges in neutrosophic hypergraphs. Using colors to assign to the vertices of neutrosophic hypergraphs and characterizing representatives of the colors are applied in neutrosophic (r, n)−regular hypergraphs and neutrosophic complete r−partite hypergraphs. Some questions and problems are posed concerning ways to do further studies on this topic. Using different ways of study on neutrosophic hypergraphs to get new results about number, degree and co-degree in the way that some number, degree and co-degree get understandable perspective. Neutrosophic (r, n)−regular hypergraphs and neutrosophic complete r−partite hypergraphs are studied to investigate about the notions, coloring, the representatives of the colors, degree of vertices, degree of hyperedges, co-degree of vertices, co-degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic degree of vertices, neutrosophic degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic co-degree of vertices, neutrosophic co-degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic number of vertices, neutrosophic number of hyperedges in neutrosophic (r, n)−regular hypergraphs and neutrosophic complete r−partite hypergraphs. In this way, sets of representatives of colors, degree of vertices, degree of hyperedges, co-degree of vertices, co-degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic degree of vertices, neutrosophic degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic co-degree of vertices, neutrosophic co-degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic number of vertices, neutrosophic number of hyperedges have key points to get new results but in some cases, there are usages of sets and numbers instead of optimal ones. Simultaneously, notions chromatic number, the representatives of the colors, degree of vertices, degree of hyperedges, co-degree of vertices, co-degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic degree of vertices, neutrosophic degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic co-degree of vertices, neutrosophic co-degree of hyperedges, neutrosophic number of vertices, neutrosophic number of hyperedges are applied into neutrosophic hypergraphs, especially, neutrosophic (r, n)−regular hypergraphs and neutrosophic complete r−partite hypergraphs to get sensible results about their structures. Basic familiarities with neutrosophic hypergraphs theory and hypergraph theory are proposed for this article.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine act as inhibitory neurotransmitters. Three types of inhibitory neurons and terminals, GABAergic, GABA/glycine co-releasing, and glycinergic, are orchestrated in the spinal cord neural circuits and play key roles in the regulation of pain, locomotive movement, and respiratory rhythms. Herein, we first describe GABAergic and glycinergic transmission and inhibitory networks, which consist of three types of terminals, in the mature mouse spinal cord. Second, we describe the developmental formation of GABAergic and glycinergic networks, with specific focus on the differentiation of neurons, formation of synapses, maturation of removal systems, and changes in their action. GABAergic and glycinergic neurons are derived from the same domains of the ventricular zone. Initially, GABAergic neurons are differentiated and their axons form synapses. Some of these neurons remain GABAergic in lamina I and II. Many of GABAergic neurons convert to co-releasing state. The co-releasing neurons and terminals remain in the dorsal horn, whereas many of co-releasing ones ultimately become glycinergic in the ventral horn. During the development of terminals and the transformation from radial glia to astrocytes, GABA and glycine receptor subunit compositions markedly change, removal systems mature, and GABAergic and glycinergic action shifts from excitatory to inhibitory.

Water is essential for all living things however its pain has become serious. Many industrial activities cause its pollution by the release of polluting byproduct. Waste water treatment is hence necessary. In this context, the waste water of the textile industry containing Red Acid 52 was treated by the solid waste of the washed natural phosphate byproduct. Natural phosphate was also studied. The solid materials were first characterized by chemical analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The phosphate materials were after that, tested in the adsorption of the Red Acid 52. The experimental data indicated that the phosphate waste rock allowed the removal of Red Acid 52. Its maximum retention capacity attained 18.4 mg.g-1. Calcinations of materials inhibits the removal capacity found reduced by 60 to 70%. The adsorption kinetics of the Red Acid 52 on the material is well described by the pseudo second order model while the adsorption isotherms are identified by the Langmuir model. Hereafter, the thermodynamic study revealed that the adsorption process is spontaneous and exothermic. Keywords: Waste water, Phosphate co-product, Adsorption, Red Acid 52.

In recent years, hetero atom incorporated specially structured metal-free carbon nanomaterials have drawn huge attention among researchers. In comparison to the un-doped carbon nanomaterials, hetero atoms like nitrogen, sulphur, boron, phosphorous etc. incorporated nanomaterials become well-accepted as potential electrocatalysts in water splitting, supercapacitors and dye-sensitized solar cells. This review emphasizes on the mostly popular synthetic strategies utilized in last two decades and their excellent performance in electrocatalytic studies.

A polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) composed of 50 wt% poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) as its base polymer, 40 wt% Aliquat® 336 as its extractant and 10 wt% dibutyl phthalate (DBP) as plasticizer provided efficient extraction of vanadium(V) from its sulfate solutions adjusted to pH 2.5. It was suggested that V(V) was extracted as VO2SO4− via an anion exchange mechanism. Quantitative back-extraction was achieved in a sulfuric acid solution (6 mol L-1) containing 1 v/v% of hydrogen peroxide. It was assumed that the back-extraction process involved the oxidation of VO2+ to VO(O2)+ by hydrogen peroxide. The newly developed PIM with the optimized composition mentioned above exhibited excellent selectivity for V(V) in the presence of metallic species present in digests of spent alumina hydrodesulfurization catalysts (i.e., Al(III), Co(II), Cu(II), Fe(III), Mn(II), and Ni(II)). The co-extraction of Mo(VI) with V(V) was eliminated by its selective extraction at pH 1.1. The optimized PIM was characterized by contact angle measurements, atomic-force microscopy (AFM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)/derivatives thermogravimetric analysis (DTGA), and the stress-strain measurements.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are a family of molecular chaperones that regulate essential protein refolding and triage decisions to maintaining protein homeostasis. Numerous co-chaperone proteins directly interact and modify the function of HSPs, and these interactions impact the outcome of protein triage, impacting everything from structural proteins to cell signaling mediators. The chaperone/co-chaperone machinery protects against various stressors to ensuring cellular function in the face of stress. However, coding mutations, expression changes, and post-translational modifications of the chaperone/co-chaperone machinery can alter the cellular stress response. Importantly, these dysfunctions appear to contribute to numerous human diseases. Therapeutic targeting of chaperones is an attractive but challenging approach due to the vast functions of HSPs, likely contributing to the off-target effects of these therapies. Current efforts focus on targeting co-chaperones to develop precise treatments for numerous diseases caused by defects in protein quality control. This review focuses on the recent developments regarding selected HSP70/HSP90 co-chaperones, focusing on cardioprotection, neuroprotection, and cancer. We also discuss therapeutic approaches that highlight both the utility and challenges of targeting co-chaperones.