Deep neural networks (DNNs), founded on the brain's neuronal organization, can extract higher-level features from raw input. However, complex intellect via autonomous decision-making is way beyond current AI design. Here we propose an autonomous AI inspired by the thermodynamic cycle of sensory perception, operating between two information density reservoirs. Stimulus unbalances the high entropy resting state and triggers a thermodynamic cycle. By recovering the initial conditions, self-regulation generates a response while accumulating an orthogonal, holographic potential. The resulting high-density manifold is a stable memory and experience field, which increases future freedom of action via intelligent decision-making.

Proper management of solar energy, as an effective renewable source, is of high importance toward sustainable energy harvesting. This paper offers a novel sophisticated method for predicting solar irradiance (SIr) from environmental conditions. To this end, an efficient metaheuristic technique, namely electromagnetic field optimization (EFO) is employed for optimizing a neural network. This algorithm quickly mines a publicly available dataset for non-linearly tuning the network parameters. To suggest an optimal configuration, five influential parameters of the EFO (i.e., N_Pop, R_rate, Ps_rate, P_field, and N_field) are optimized by an extensive trial and error practice. Analyzing the results showed that the proposed model can learn the SIr pattern and predict it for unseen conditions with high accuracy. Furthermore, it provided about 10% and 16% higher accuracy compared to two benchmark optimizers, namely shuffled complex evolution and shuffled frog leaping algorithm. Hence, the EFO-supervised neural network can be a promising tool for the early prediction of SIr in practice. The findings of this research may shed light on the use of advanced intelligent models for efficient energy development.

The use of nanomaterials has been increasing in recent times, and they are widely used in industries such as cosmetics, drug, food, water treatment and agriculture. The rapid development of new nanomaterials demands a set of approaches to evaluate the potential toxicity and risks related to them. In this regard, nanosafety has been using and adapting already existing methods (toxicological approach), but the unique characteristics of nanomaterials demand new approaches (nanotoxicology) to fully understand the potential toxicity, immunotoxicity and (epi)genotoxicity. Also, new technologies, such as organ-on-chip and sophisticated sensors, are under development and/or adaptation. All the information generated is used to develop new in silico approaches trying to predict the potential effects of newly developed materials. The overall evaluation of how from the production to final disposition chain of nanomaterials is evaluated under Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which is becoming an important element of nanosafety considering sustainability and environmental impact. In this review we give an overview of all these elements of nanosafety.

This paper presents a new methodology to derive and analyze strategies for a fully decarbonized urban transport system which combines conceptual vehicle design, a large-scale agent-based transport simulation, operational cost analysis, and life cycle assessment for a complete urban region. The holistic approach evaluates technical feasibility, system cost, energy demand, transportation time and sustainability-related impacts of various decarbonization strategies. In contrast to previous work, the consequences of a transformation to fully decarbonized transport system scenarios are quantified across all traffic segments, considering procurement, operation and disposal. The methodology can be applied to arbitrary regions and transport systems. Here, the metropolitan region of Berlin is chosen as a demonstration case. First results are shown for a complete conversion of all traffic segments from conventional propulsion technology to battery electric vehicles. The transition of private individual traffic is analyzed regarding technical feasibility, energy demand and environmental impact. Commercial goods, municipal traffic and public transport are analyzed with respect to system cost and environmental impacts. We can show a feasible transition path for all cases with substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions. Based on current technologies and today’s cost structures our simulation shows a moderate increase in total systems cost of 13-18%.

Fossil-based emissions can be avoided through using wood in place of non-renewable raw materials as energy and materials. However, increasing wood harvest influences forest carbon stocks. This effect may reduce the overall climate benefit of wood use significantly but is widely overlooked. We carried out a systematic review of simulation studies and compared differences in forest carbon and amount of wood harvested between more and less intensive wood harvest scenarios for three different time perspectives; short (1-30 years), mid (31-70 years) and long (71-100 years). Out of more than 450 reviewed studies 44 provided adequate data. Our results show that increased harvesting reduced carbon stocks over 100 years in temperate and boreal forests roughly 1.6 (stdev 0.9) t_C per t_C harvested. The value proved to be robust when outliers explicitly influenced by other factors than change in harvest rate, such as increase in fertilization or forest area, were removed. Interestingly, no significant difference in carbon impacts was found for average values of boreal and temperate forests or between short and long time-horizons. However, impacts tend to be greatest in the mid-term. This carbon balance indicator that we estimated can be interpreted as carbon debit of wood harvest in forests. It is significant compared with the typical GHG credits in technosphere generated by avoiding fossil emissions in substitution and increase in carbon storage in harvested wood products, and should not be ignored. Our estimates provide default values that can directly be included in GHG balances of products or assessment of mitigation policies and measures related to wood use. However, more systematic scenarios and transparent data in which different factors influencing forest carbon stocks are separately studied are clearly required to provide better constrained estimates for specific forest types.

Combined systems for power production and thermally activated cooling have a high potential for improving the efficiency and utilisation of thermal systems. In this regard, various configurations have been proposed and are comprehensively reviewed. They are primarily based on absorption systems and the implementation of multiple levels of complexity and flexibility. The configuration of the absorption power and cooling combined cycle proposed herein has wide commercial applicability owing to its simplicity. The configuration of the components is not new. However, the utilisation of aqueous salt solutions, the comparison with ammonia chiller and with absorption power cycles, the focus on parameters that are important for real-life applications, and the comparison of the performances for constant heat input and waste heat recovery are novel. The proposed cycle is also compared with a system based on the organic Rankine cycle and vapour compression cycle. An investigation of its performance proves that the system is suitable for a given range of boundary conditions from a thermodynamic standpoint, as well as in terms of system complexity and technical feasibility. New possibilities with regard to added power production have the potential to improve the economics and promote the use of absorption chiller systems.

Nutrient depletion in Tanzanian sisal production has led to yield decreases over time. We use nutrient mass balances embedded within a life cycle assessment to quantify the extent of nutrient depletion for different production systems, then used circular economy principles to identify potential cosubstrates from within the Tanzanian economy to anaerobically digest with sisal wastes. The biogas produced is then used to generate bioelectricity and the digestate residual can be used as a fertilizer to address the nutrient depletion. If no current beneficial use of the cosubstrate was assumed, then beef manure and marine fish processing waste were the best cosubstrates. If agricultural wastes were assumed to have a current beneficial use as fertilizer, then marine fish processing waste and human urine were the best cosubstrates. The largest reduction in environmental impacts resulted from bioelectricity replacing electricity from fossil fuels in the national electricity grid and improved onsite waste management practices. There is significant potential to revitalize Tanzanian sisal production by applying circular economy principles to sisal waste management and bioenergy production.

In this digital world, organisations are facing global competition as well as manpower pressures leading towards knowledge economy, which heavily impacts on their local and international businesses. The trend is to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing to cope with these problems. With the advancement of technologies and social engineering that can connect people in virtual world across time and distance, several organisations are embarking on knowledge management (KM) systems, implementing community of practice (CoP) approach. However, virtual communities are relatively new paradigms, and there are several challenges to their successful implementation from an organisation’s point of interest. There is lack of CoP implementation framework that can cater to today’s dynamic business and sustainability requirements. To fill the gap in literature, this paper develops a practical framework for a CoP implementation with a view to align KM strategy with business strategy of an organization. It explores the different steps of building, sharing and using tacit and explicit knowledge in CoPs by applying Wiig KM cycle. It proposes a practical CoP implementation framework that adopts the Benefits-Tools-Organisation-People-Process (BTOPP) model in addressing the key questions surrounding each of the BTOPP elements with a structured approach. Finally, it identifies key challenges such as organizational culture and performance measurements, and provides practical recommendations to overcome them for a successful CoP implementation.

Construction project management and cost management is a difficult process that affects the overall success of construction projects. The success of a construction project can be assessed according to key performance indicators (KPIs). Cost savings and cost optimization over the life of a construction project is one of these KPIs. Cost management is largely performed through intelligent information technology in the construction industry. Information systems and information technologies have seen an increase in use in the management of construction projects. The same goes for cost management. Several studies mentioned in the paper point to this increase in use in recent years also in the management of costs at various stages. Many studies point to the use of information technology and software applications in the field of cost management. Still, to a large extent, there are no surveys focused on the analysis of the impact and impact factor of information technology on cost savings or cost optimization in various phases of construction projects. The research discusses the issue of the impact of information technology on cost management in various phases of a construction project. The main goal of the research is to analyze the influence of information technology factors on cost savings and optimization in individual phases of a construction project. Several statistical methods were used in the research. The resulting model of information technology impact factor was created based on data processing and the use of the AHP method.

The motivations for the move to electrified vehicles are discussed with reference to their improved energy efficiency, their potential for lower CO2 emissions (if the electricity system is decarbonized), their lower (or zero) NOx/particulate matter (PM) tailpipe emissions, and the lower overall costs for owners. Some of the assumptions made in life-cycle CO2 emissions calculations are discussed and the effect of these assumptions on the CO2 benefits of electric vehicles are made clear. A number of new tribological challenges have emerged, particularly for hybrid vehicles that have both a conventional internal combustion engine and a battery, such as the need to protect against the much greater number of stop-starts that the engine will have during its lifetime. In addition, new lubricants are required for electric vehicle transmissions systems. Although full battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will not require engine oils (as there is no engine) they will require a system to cool the batteries – alternative cooling systems are discussed, and where these are fluid based, the specific fluid requirements are outlined.

In this paper we analyze the relationship between bankruptcy risk and the corporate life cycle in Pakistan from 2005 to 2014. For this purpose, we run a Hierarchical Linear Mixed Model (HLM) for a sample of 301 non-financial listed firms in 12 different sectors. The empirical outcomes reveal that firms during introduction, growth and, decline stages (mature stage) of life-cycle experience higher (lower) bankruptcy risk. Moreover, in juxtaposition with growth stage, bankruptcy risk is higher at the introduction stage of life-cycle. These findings suggest that financial managers should be cautious about the financial fragility of the firm at each stage of corporate life-cycle. The results also entail that Pakistani firms do not follow a sequential pattern in their life-cycle rather they have the tendency to revert to a previous stage or jump to the next stage of life-cycle. This is the first study that empirically examines the association between firm life-cycle stage and corresponding bankruptcy risk and asserts that managers must incorporate the life-cycle effects into their financial planning and decision making for sustainable working of an enterprise.

Current commitments by European governments seek to improve energy consumption as a means to reduce carbon emissions from building stock by 2050. Within such context, retrieving reliable three-dimensional contours from point clouds becomes an important step in developing facade retrofitting solutions since facade retrofitting projects often make use of as-built 3D models to help reduce inaccuracies by narrowing interpretation and measurement errors. This work aims to provide a method that uses topology-based parametric modelling for reconstructing building envelopes from point clouds. Through a semi-automated process that gives permanent visual feedback, the user adjusts parameters to custom standards of acceptability. A solution under the form of a Grasshopper definition delivers building envelope 3D contours in various file formats as a means for increasing interoperability. The main contributions of this work consist of a parametric reconstruction workflow capable of solving building topology for retrieving 3D contours, a strategy to bypass point cloud occlusion, and a strategy for converting those contours into an IFC model directly from the parametric modelling environment.

Researchers have reported various impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on small-scale fishers, such as stagnating market demands, reduction of market price and income, etc. While literature have heeded to these impacts in a relatively short time frame, scant evidence exists on the changing impacts over time and on the detailed processes of how fishers have been coping with the challenges in a longer time period. Furthermore, few studies have comprehensively analysed the impacts and strategies from multiple perspectives. This study aims to explore the perceived impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on small-scale fishing communities and to highlight the coping strategies adopted by fishers over a year since the initial outbreak, through a case study in Trang Province, Thailand. Analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data obtained through semi-structured interviews indicated that fishers wisely utilised natural, financial and social capitals at the early stages of the outbreak, while human capitals were essential for recovering from the impacts in the later stages. Our findings suggest that the adaptive capacity to flexibly change livelihood strategies are crucial, while alternative income source may not necessarily help small-scale fishers under stagnating global economy.

The focus of the presented work was to isolate and characterize circulating endometrial cells (CECs) enriched from peripheral blood (PB) of patients with diagnosed endometriosis to support endometriosis diagnosis and treatment. Material and Methods Blood samples (n=423) were tested for CECs presence. Subsequently, gene expression analysis (GEA) was carried out for CECs. In parallel, the presence and character of CECs was tested during phases of menstrual cycle (MC) (n= 11). CECs were isolated by size-based separation from 2x 8ml PB. Results CECs were detected in 78.4% of blood samples. In line with the revised American Fertility Society (rAFS) classification CECs presence was confirmed in all the acknowledged endometriosis stages: minimal, mild, moderate and severe. Surprisingly, the highest CEC negativity rate was reported for severe disease (21.1%). The highest CEC numbers were detected in the mid-secretory periods of MC, which corresponds with uterine lining decidualization. The cytomorphology of CECs captured during MC is changing between the epithelial, stromal and stem cell-like. CECs captured in mid-secretory period expressed KRT18, NANOG and VIM in higher amounts when compared to the genes in the proliferative phase of MC when KRT19 and ESR1 were mostly observed. GEA of the super-positive CECs samples (1000 CECs/8mL PB) revealed high expression of KRT18, VIM, NANOG and FLT1. The expression of these genes was elevated in the endometriosis tissue samples and endometrioma, too. Conclusion The panel of the identified CECs - genes could be tested in a prospective manner to confirm the predictive value of CECs in endometriosis diagnostics.

Modern experimental astroparticle physics features large-scale setups measuring different messengers, namely high-energy particles generated by cosmic accelerators (e.g. supernova remnants, active galactic nuclei, etc): cosmic and gamma rays, neutrinos and recently discovered gravitational waves. Ongoing and future experiments are distributed over the Earth including ground, underground/underwater setups as well as balloon payloads and spacecrafts. The data acquired by these experiments have different formats, storage concepts and publication policies. Such differences are a crucial issue in the era of big data and of multi-messenger analysis strategies in astroparticle physics. We propose a service ASTROPARTICLE.ONLINE in the frame of which we develop an open science system which enables to publish, store, search, select and analyse astroparticle physics data. The cosmic-ray experiments KASCADE-Grande and TAIGA were chosen as pilot experiments to be included in this framework. In the first step of our initiative we will develop and test the following components of the full data life cycle concept: (i) describing, storing and reusing of astroparticle data; (ii) software for performing multi-experiment and multi-messenger analyses like deep-learning methods; (iii) outreach including example applications and tutorial for students and scientists outside the specific research field. In the present paper we describe the concepts of our initiative, and in particular the plans toward a common, federated astroparticle data storage.

This study analyses uncertainties associated with the annual cycle of West African rainfall characteristics in 15 simulations of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) over the Sahel and Guinean regions. Indices based on daily rainfall such as the frequency and the ntensity of wet days, the consecutive dry days (CDD) and wet days (CWD), the 95th percentile of daily rainfall (R95) and its contribution to the umulative monsoon rainfall (R95PTOT) have been assessed. Over both regions, TRMM, GPCP and CHIRPS observational datasets provide very consistent results on the annual cycle of precipitation but less so on the frequency of wet days. Conversely, higher uncertainties are noted on the intensity of wet days over both study areas, particularly over the Guinean region. Overall, CMIP5 simulations present much higher uncertainties in the representation of the mean precipitation climatology, often provide too early (late) onset dates over the Sahel (the Guinean region) and overestimate rainfall during the early and late monsoon phases. These errors do not compensate at the annual scale nor when considering West Africa as a hole. Results also reveal that over the Guinean region, the difficulty of models to represent the annual structure of the mean precipitation strongly involves biases in the representation of the annual cycle of the frequency of wet days. We found strong uncertainties in the simulation of the CWD and he CDD over both areas. Conversely for R95 and R95PTOT, the ncertainties in CMIP5 models appear somewhat weaker, but the magnitude of R95 is largely underestimated in most models.

In this work, an evaluation and quantification of the impact of using mixtures based on Supercritical Carbon Dioxide "s-CO2" (s-CO2/COS, s-CO2/H2S, s-CO2/NH3, s-CO2/SO2) are made as a working fluid in simple and complex recompression Brayton s-CO2 power cycles configurations that have pressure drops in their components. These cycles are coupled to a solar thermal plant with parabolic-trough collector (PTC) technology. The methodology used in the calculation performance is to establish values of the heat recuperator total conductance (UAtotal) between 5 and 25 MW/K. The main conclusion of this work is that the cycle's efficiency has improved due to s-CO2 mixtures as working fluid; this is significant compared to that obtained using the standard fluid (pure s-CO2). Furthermore, a techno-economic analysis is carried out that compares each configuration's costs using pure s-CO2 and a mixture of s-CO2/COS with a molar fraction (70/30) respectively as working fluid where relevant results are obtained. These results show that the best configuration in terms of thermal efficiency and cost is the RCC-RH for pure sCO2 with values ​​of 41.25% and 2811 $/kWe, while for the mixture sCO2/COS, the RCC-2RH configuration with values ​​of 45, 05% and 2621 $/kWe is optimal. Using the mixture costs 6.75% less than if it is used the standard fluid (s-CO2).

In extant biology, biopolymers perform multiple crucial functions. The biopolymers are synthesized by enzyme-controlled biosystems that would not have been available at the earliest stages of chemical evolution and consist of correctly sequenced and/or linked monomers. Some of the abiotic “messy” polymers approximate some functions of biopolymers. Condensation polymers are an attractive search target for abiotic functional polymers since principal polymers of life are produced by condensation and since condensation allows for the accurate construction of high polymers. Herein the formation of hyperbranched polyesters that have been previously used in the construction of enzyme-like catalytic complexes is explored. The experimental setup compares between the branched polyesters prepared under mild continuous heating and the wet-dry cycle conditions. The results reveal that period wetting during which partial hydrolysis of the polyester occurs, helps control the chain growth and retards the gel transition. It is significant to the origin of life studies that environmental, prebiotically plausible conditions could achieve such control without enzymes or a skilled chemist. As expected in marginally controlled systems, the identification of each component of the heterogeneous system has proved challenging, but it is not crucial for drawing the conclusions.

Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), is a family member of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and a widespread environmental pollutant and neurotoxicant that contribute to the development of cancer. Microtubules are polymers of tubulin that form part of the cytoskeleton and target for anticancer drugs. Furthermore, NPY significantly increased the percentage of cells in S and G2/M phases. However, little is known about the specific role of NPY in proliferation and the underlying protective mechanism remains unclear. Hence, the aim of this work was to investigate the effect of B[a]P on SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and to explore the potential mechanism for alteration of tubulin-microtubule equilibrium causing mitotic arrest and NPY expression. The present findings showed B[a]P treatment significantly increase number of SH-SY5Y cells in S and G2/M phase as compared to G1 phase and provokes cell cycle arrest that correlated with significant decrease in G0/G1 cells. Immunofluorescence study showed significantly distorted tubulin arrangement from metaphasic plate in formation of bipolar mitotic spindle apparatus. Further, higher doses of B[a]P treatment lead to chromosomal abnormalities accompanied by DNA damage due ROS causing oxidative stress showing significant decrease in tubulin protein around spindle. The results of present study demonstrated that NPY exerts a proliferative and protective effect on B[a]P-induced oxidative stress in a dose-dependent manner in vitro and importantly, these effects may be mediated via mitotic arrest and involved in spindle arrangement during cell division. Our findings addresses a novel pathological outcomes of B[a]P-induced NPY expression by oxidative stress through spindle abnormalities leading to microtubule disruption.

In this paper, we propose an adaptive duty-cycled hybrid X-MAC (ADX-MAC) protocol for energy-efficient forest fire prediction. The X-MAC protocol acquires the additional environmental status collected by each forest fire monitoring sensor for a certain period. And, based on these values, the length of sleep interval of duty-cycle is changed to efficiently calculate the risk of occurrence of forest fire according to the mountain environment. The performance of the proposed ADX-MAC protocol was verified through experiments the proposed ADX-MAC protocol improves throughput by 19% and was more energy-efficient by 24% compared to X-MAC protocol. As the probability of forest fires increases, the length of the duty cycle is shortened, confirming that the forest fires are detected at a faster cycle.

The Carnot cycle and the attendant notions of reversibility and entropy are examined. It is shown how the modern view of these concepts still correspond to the ideas Clausius laid down in the nineteenth century. As such, they reflect the outmoded idea current at the time that heat is motion. It is shown how this view of heat led Clausius to develop the entropy of a body based on the work that could be done in a reversible process rather than the work that was actually done. In consequence, Clausius built into entropy a conflict with energy conservation, which is concerned with actual changes in energy. In this paper, a macroscopic formulation of internal mechanisms of damping based on rate equations for the distribution of energy within a gas. It is shown that work processes involving a step-change in external pressure, however small, are intrinsically irreversible. However, under idealised conditions of zero damping the gas inside a piston expands and traces out a trajectory through the space of equilibrium states. Therefore, the entropy change due to heat flow from the reservoir matches the entropy change of the equilibrium states. This trajectory can traced out in reverse as the piston reverses direction, but if the external conditions are adjusted appro-priately, the gas can be made to trace out a Carnot cycle in P-V space. The cycle is dynamic as opposed to quasi-static as the piston has kinetic energy equal in difference to the work done in-ternally and externally.

The prediction of capacity degradation, and more generally of the behaviors related to battery aging, is useful in the design and use phases of a battery to help improve the efficiency and reliability of energy systems. In this paper, a stochastic model for the prediction of battery cell degradation is presented. The proposed model takes its cue from an approach based on Markov chains, although it is not comparable to a Markov process, as the transition probabilities vary as the number of cycles that the cell has performed varies. The proposed model can reproduce the abrupt decrease in the capacity that occurs near the end of life condition (80% of the nominal value of the capacity) for the cells analyzed. Furthermore, we illustrate the ability of this model to predict the capacity trend for a lithium-ion cell with nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) at the cathode and graphite at the anode subjected to a life cycle in which there are different aging factors, using the results obtained for cells subjected to single aging factors.

It has been widely described that chronic intake of fructose causes metabolic alterations which can be associated with brain function impairment. In this study, we evaluated the effects of fructose intake on the sleep-wake cycle, locomotion and neurochemical parameters in Wistar rats. The experimental group was fed with 10% fructose in drinking water for five weeks. After treatment, metabolic indicators were quantified in blood. Electroencephalographic recordings were used to evaluate the sleep architecture and the spectral power of frequency bands. Likewise, the locomotor activity and the concentrations of orexin A and monoamines were estimated. Our results show that fructose diet significantly increased the blood levels of glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides. Fructose modified the sleep-wake cycle of rats increasing the waking duration and conversely decreasing the non-rapid eye movement sleep. Furthermore, these effects were accompanied by increases of the spectral power at different frequency bands. Chronic consumption of fructose caused a slight increase in the locomotor activity as well as an increase of orexin-A and dopamine levels in the hypothalamus and brainstem. Specifically, immunoreactivity for orexin-A was increased in the ventral tegmental area after the intake of fructose. Our study suggests that fructose induces metabolic changes and stimulates the activity of orexinergic and dopaminergic neurons which may be responsible for alterations of the sleep-wake cycle.

This study introduces a remote sensing application using satellite imagery to survey a network-scale aggregate stockpile inventory. First, a real scale aggregate quarry site was surveyed using a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (sUAV) to produce digital terrain models that enabled analysis of aggregate pile geometry. Second, a lab experiment was designed and performed to validate the applicability of close-range Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry for measuring aggregate piles' physical properties such as volume and density. The other part of the lab experiment delved into direct measurement of aggregate density under varying compaction efforts. These experimental results, in conjunction with some simplifying assumptions, enabled the calculation of aggregate stockpile volumes and estimated weights from satellite imagery. We estimated that an inventory of 4.4 and 1.1 million metric tons of crushed aggregates and Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP), respectively, stockpiled in Washington State for asphalt production in 2017. The merit of producing such database was further showcased in an example on the economic and environmental impacts of material transportation. We approximated that hauling aggregates from quarry plants to construction sites within Washington State incurs a cost of about $50 thousand to over $4 million, consumes about 0.25 to 20 TJ of energy, and emits 20 to over 1,500 tons of CO₂-eq per asphalt plant annually.

Background: The demand in the development of cancer nanomedicine has increased due to various limitations in conventional cancer therapy. This study assessed the mRNA transcriptomic profiling of human HepG2 cells exposed to C. roseus-AgNPs. Methods: The proliferative activity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) and normal human liver (THLE3) cells treated with C. roseus‑AgNPs were measured using MTT assay. The RNA samples were extracted and sequenced using BGIseq500 platform. This is followed by data filtering, mapping, gene expression analysis, DEG analysis, GO analysis, and pathway analysis. Results: The mean IC₅₀ values of C. roseus‑AgNPs on HepG2 was 4.38±1.59 µg/mL while on THLE3 cells was 800±1.55 µg/mL. Transciptomic profiling revealed an alteration of 296 genes. C. roseus‑AgNPs induced the expression of stress-associated genes such as MT, HSP and HMOX-1. Cellular signaling pathways were potentially activated through MAPK, TNF and TGF pathways that responsible for apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. The alteration of ARF6, EHD2, FGFR3, RhoA, EEA1, VPS28, VPS25, TSG101 indicated the uptake of C. roseus-AgNPs via both clathrin-dependent and clathrin-independent endocytosis. Conclusions: This study provides the new insights on gene expression study of biosynthesized AgNPs on cancer cells. The cytotoxicity effect is mediated by the aberrant gene alteration, and more interestingly the unique selective antiproliferative properties indicates the C. roseus‑AgNPs as an ideal anticancer candidate.

Background: Metastatic cancer is associated with an invariably fatal outcome. However, DeltaRex-G, a tumor- targeted retrovector encoding a CCNG1 inhibitor gene, has induced long term (>10 years) survival of patients with chemo-resistant metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma, MPNST, osteosarcoma, B-cell lymphoma, and breast carcinoma. Objective: To evaluate the level of CCNG1 expression in tumors as a potential biomarker for CCNG1 inhibitor therapy. Methods: CCNG1 RNA expression levels were measured in tumors (TCGA, N=9161), adjacent “tissues” (TCGA, N=678) and GTEx normal tissues (N=7187) across 22 organ sites. Differential expression of CCNG1 and Ki-67 in primary (N= 9161) vs metastatic (N= 393) tumors were also compared and particularly in primary (N=103) vs. metastatic (N=367) skin cancer (i.e., melanoma). Results: Enhanced CCNG1 RNA and protein expression were noted in tumors compared to normal analogous counterparts, and CCNG1 expression correlated significantly with that of Ki-67. Further, CCNG1 expression tended to be higher than that of Ki-67 in metastatic vs primary tumors, particularly in skin cancer (melanoma). Conclusions: Taken together, these data indicate that (1) CCNG1 expression is frequently enhanced in tumors when compared to their normal analogous counterparts, (2) CCNG1 and Ki-67 expressions are higher in metastatic vs primary tumors, (3) CCNG1 expression is significantly correlated with that of Ki-67, and (4) CCNG1 may be a stronger marker of metastasis than Ki-67. Phase 2 studies are planned to identify patients who are likely to respond favorably to CCNG1 inhibitor therapy by correlating treatment outcome parameters with CCNG1 expression levels in various cancer types.

The recent provision of energy-harvesting capabilities to wireless sensor networks has entailed the redefinition of design objectives. Specifically, the traditional goal of maximizing network lifetime has been replaced by optimizing network performance, namely delay and throughput. The present paper contributes to this reformulation by considering the routing problem for the class of time-driven energy-harvesting WSN (EH-WSN) under regular or quasi-periodic energy sources. In particular, this paper shows that the minimum hop count (MHC) criterion maximizes the average duty cycle that can be sustained by nodes in this type of scenarios. This is a primary objective in EH-WSN, since large duty cycles lead to enhanced performance. Based on a previous result, a general expression is first obtained which gives mathematical form to the relationship between duty cycle and traffic load for any node in a time-driven EH-WSN fed by a regular energy source. This expression reveals that the duty cycle achievable by a node decreases as its traffic load increases. Then, it is shown that MHC minimizes the average traffic load over the network, and thus it maximizes the average duty cycle of nodes. This result is numerically validated via simulation by comparison with other well-known routing strategies. Accordingly, this paper suggests assigning top priority to the MHC criterion in the development of routing protocols for time-driven EH-WSN under regular energy sources.

This paper examines the diurnal cycle of convection (DCC) over Lake Titicaca Basin (LTb) during summertime months based on the high spatial resolution (8 x 8 km2) and hourly temporal resolution, estimates of Climate Prediction Center Morphing technique (CMORPH). Analysis was performed using observed data from rain gauges (Rg-SENAMHI) for the period 2002 to 2013. Graphical comparisons and several statistical metrics such as correlation coefficient, bias, and root mean square error were used to evaluate CMORPH product. Spatial maps and graphic metrics of diurnal cycle were developed to assess CMORPH data, spatial dependency an accuracy over the LTb. Approximately, 43% of the total Rg-SENAMHI variation is explained CMORPH data. The correlation between Rg-SENAMHI and CMORPH is positively over southeast and northern LTb, and negatively in the central and southern LTb. A underestimation bias is observed over most the LTb areas and overestimation bias (e.g., Lagunillas, Isla Suana and Desaguadero stations). In general, spatial patterns of rainfall over the LTb were captured through CMORPH data. Over the surrounding lake area, high mountain, and plateau area, maximum peaks of precipitation occur in the early evening, neverhtheless over low areas such as the lake, surrounding and valleys, maximum precipitation values occur early morning. The results show that DCC its very related by surface exchange processes and local circulation resulting from solar radiation and heterogeneous topography.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of cancer in both men and women alike, but it is more prevalent in women. Natural compounds that can modulate the oncogenic process can be considered a significant anti-cancer agent for treating BC. These natural compounds are more effective than synthetic drugs, which have profound side effects on the normal cell and resistance to cancer cells. Genistein is a type of dietary phytoestrogen included in the flavonoid group with a similar structure of estrogen that might provide a strong alternative and complementary medicine to existing chemotherapeutics drugs. Several research studies demonstrated that it can target the estrogen receptor (ER), Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2), and Breast cancer gene-1 (BRCA-1) in multiple BC cell lines, as well as sensitize cancer cell lines to this compound when used at an optimal inhibitory concentration. Genistein effectively showed anti-cancer activities through apoptosis induction, arresting cell cycle, inhibiting angiogenesis with metastasis, reducing inflammation, mammosphere formation, tumor growth, up-regulating tumor suppressor gene, and downregulating oncogene in suppressing cancer progression in vitro and animal model study. In addition, research studies have also suggested that these phytochemicals synergistically reverse the resistance mechanism of chemotherapeutic drugs, increasing the efficacy of some chemoinformatics drugs. Our review article aims to unbox and validate the molecular pharmacology in breast tissue, cell-specific anti-cancer mechanism with synergistic activity, and possible pharmacokinetic parameters of Genistein as a potential alternative therapeutic option for the treatment of BC.

COVID‑19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, has spread rapidly across the globe since the end of 2019 and brought impressive changes in our life and living through partial or full lockdown and reduced anthropogenic activities. Hence, it is imperative to investigate the impacts and consequences of COVID-19 on global eco-system and environment. The present study accordingly addresses the impacts and consequences of COVID-19 by ten environmental indicators; viz., global warming (or greenhouse gas emission), stratospheric ozone depletion, ozone formation (on human health), fine particulate matter formation, smog, ionizing radiation, human carcinogenic toxicity, human non-carcinogenic toxicity, water resource consumption, and effect on human health. The overall study has been performed in agreement with the standard principle and guidelines of life cycle assessment. Worldwide changes in consumption of fossil fuels, viz., petroleum, coal and natural gas, as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, has been the core theme of the study. Outcomes from the study show that COVID-19 has been a ‘blessing in disguise’ for the global environment with most of the above-mentioned indicators declining by approximately 20-30% in 2020 in comparison to the 2019 level.

The research problem was formulated as a question: are demand-supply shocks affecting the opening up of a negative or positive output gap? The hypothesis was formulated: demand-supply shocks have a significant impact on the opening up and deepening of the negative output gap, thereby causing real GDP to shrink or potential GDP to grow. The spatial range applies to Poland and the time period - 2008:Q1-2019:Q4. The methodology consists of three stages: the first is the decomposition of the time series using the TRAMO/SEATS on the components: seasonality, trend-cycle, irregular; the second - the decomposition of the trend-cycle component using the Hodrick-Prescott filter into two separate components; the third is the calculation of the output gap; forecast with VECM and IRF approximation. The ouput gap is in the range of - 11% to +10%. After cleaning it, the shock elements are between -2.2% and 2%. Demand-supply shocks open up and widen the negative output gap. Based on forecasts, the output gap will be positive by the end of 2022, close to 0% (optimal scenario), rising to 5% (optimistic scenario) and negative, deepening to -4% (pessimistic scenario). Two of these scenarios point to a growing risk of secular stagnation.

Many corporations aspire to become Net Zero Carbon Dioxide by 2030-2050. This paper examines what it will take. It requires understanding where energy is produced and consumed, the magnitude of CO2 generation, and the Carbon Cycle. Reviews are provided for prior technologies for reducing CO2 emissions from fossil to focus on their limitations and to show that none offer a complete solution. Both biofuels and CO2 sequestration reduce future CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. They will not remove CO2 already in the atmosphere. Planting trees has been proposed as one solution. Trees are a temporary solution. When they die, they decompose and release their carbon as CO2 to the atmosphere. The only way to permanently remove CO2 already in the atmosphere is to break the Carbon Cycle by growing biomass from atmospheric CO2 and sequestering biomass carbon. Permanent sequestration of leaves is proposed as a solution. Leaves have a short Carbon Cycle time constant. They renew and decompose every year. Theoretically, sequestrating a fraction of the world’s tree leaves can get the world to Net Zero without disturbing the underlying forests. This would be CO2 capture in its simplest and most natural form. Permanent sequestration may be achieved by redesigning landfills to discourage decomposition. In traditional landfills, waste undergoes several stages of decomposition, including rapid initial aerobic decomposition to CO2, followed by slow anaerobic decomposition to methane and CO2. The latter can take hundreds to thousands of years. Understanding landfill chemistry provides clues to disrupting decomposition at each phase.

The core components of regenerative medicine are stem cells with high self-renewal and tissue regeneration potentials. Adult stem cells can be obtained from many organs and tissues. NANOG, SOX2 and OCT4 represent the core regulatory network that suppresses differentiation-associated genes, maintaining the pluripotency of mesenchymal stem cells. The roles of NANOG in maintaining self-renewal and undifferentiated status of adult stem cells are still not perfectly established. In this study we define the effects of downregulation of NANOG in maintaining self-renewal and undifferentiated state in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from subcutaneous adipose tissue (hASCs). hASCs were expanded and transfected in vitro with short hairpin Lentivirus targeting NANOG. Gene suppressions were achieved at both transcript and proteome levels. The effect of NANOG knockdown on proliferation after 10 passages and on the cell cycle was evaluated by proliferation assay, colony forming unit (CFU), qRT-PCR and cell cycle analysis by flow-cytometry. Moreover, NANOG involvement in differentiation ability was evaluated. We report that downregulation of NANOG revealed a decrease in the proliferation and differentiation rate, inducing cell cycle arrest by increasing p27/CDKN1B (Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1B) and p21/CDKN1A(Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A) through p53 and regulate DLK1/PREF1. Furthermore, NANOG induced downregulation of DNMT1, a major DNA methyltransferase responsible for maintaining methylation status during DNA replication probably involved in cell cycle regulation. Our study confirms that NANOG regulates the complex transcription network of plasticity of the cells, inducing cell cycle arrest and reducing differentiation potential.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a multifunctional cytokine that contributes to the progression of several cancers. MIF overexpression has been reported in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. However, the exact role of MIF in HNSCC is not fully understood. Our aim was to evaluate the amount of secreted MIF and the role of MIF in the proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis in HNSCC cell lines. The MIF levels in conditioned media from human primary (HN18 and HN30) and metastatic (HN17 and HN31) HNSCC cell lines were evaluated using ELISA. The HNSCC cell lines were treated with recombinant MIF and its effect on proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptotic status was determined by MTT and flow cytometry, respectively. The HNSCC-secreted MIF concentration ranged from 49.33‒860 pg/ml. Exogenous MIF (25 ng/ml) significantly increased HN18, HN30, and HN31 cell proliferation. Moreover, MIF induced cell cycle progression and inhibited apoptosis in these cells. However, MIF did not affect growth or apoptosis in HN17 cell. In conclusion, the HNSCC cell lines were evaluated secrete MIF. Exogenous MIF promotes various effects on proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis in HNSCC cells.

Capsicum is the genus where a number of species and varieties have pungent features due to the exclusive content of capsaicinoids such as capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin. In this work, the main enzymatic and non-enzymatic systems in pepper fruits from four varieties with different pungent capacity has been investigated at two ripening stages. Thus, a sweet pepper variety (Melchor) from California type fruits, and three autochthonous Spanish varieties were used, including Piquillo, Padrón and Alegría riojana. The capsaicinoids contents were determined in pericarp and placenta from fruits showing that these phenyl-propanoids were mainly localized in placenta. The activity profile of catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD, total and isoenzymatic), the enzymes of the ascorbate-glutathione cycle (AGC) and four NADP-dehydrogenases indicate that some interaction with the capsaicinoid metabolism seems to occur. Among the results obtained on enzymatic antioxidant, the role of an Fe-SOD and the glutathione reductase from the AGC is highlighted. Additionally, it was found that ascorbate and glutathione content were higher in those pepper fruits which displayed the greater contents of capsacinoids. Taken together, all these data indicate that antioxidants may contribute to preserve capsaicinoids metabolism to maintain their functionality in a framework where NADPH is perhaps playing an essential role.

Alpine forest gaps can distribute snowfall, solar radiation and rainfall, thus inducing a heterogeneous hydrothermal microenvironment between the inside and outside areas of forest gaps. Additionally, the characteristics of the heterogeneous microenvironment could vary greatly across the gap location properties during winter and the growing season. To determine the response of total phenol loss (TPL) from the litter to alpine forest gap disturbance during decomposition, we conducted a field litterbag experiment within a representative fir (Abies faxoniana Rehd.) forest based on the gap location properties. The TPL and abundances of fungi and bacteria from two typical shrub species (willow, Salix paraplesia Schneid., and bamboo, Fargesia nitida (Mitford) Keng f.) were measured during the following periods over two years: snow formation (SF), snow cover (SC) snow melting (ST), the early growing season (EG) and the later growing season (LG). At the end of the study, we found that the snow cover depth, frequencies of the freeze-thaw cycle and the fungal copy g-1 to bacterial copy g-1 ratio had significant effects on the litter TPL. The abundances of fungi and bacteria decreased from the gap center to the closed canopy during the two SF, SC, ST and LG periods and reversed during the two EG periods. The TPL closely followed the same trend as the microbial abundance during the first year of incubation. In addition, both species had larger TPLs in the gap center during the first winter, first year and entire two years. These findings suggest that alpine forest gap formation accelerates litter TPL and plays a dual role during specific critical periods by distributing abiotic and biotic factors directly and indirectly. In conclusion, reduced snow cover depth and duration during winter warming under current climate change scenarios or as gaps vanish may slow litter TPL in alpine biomes.

Through the use of a simplified model of consciousness this paper illustrates the symptoms of schizophrenia linked to neocortical structures and functions. It makes the case that the bewildering and varied presentation of symptoms in schizophrenia can be analyzed and explained using such models. The model is used to illustrate the central thesis of the paper, that schizophrenia is a disorder of neurogenesis which leads to progressive neurochemical, functional and neurophysiological changes that create the characteristic behaviors of the disease.

Tropical forests constitute prolific sanctuary of unique floral diversity and potential medicinal sources, however, many of them remains unexplored. Herein, seven Mascarene endemic plants leaves were extracted and evaluated for their in vitro antioxidant properties and antiproliferative effects on a panel of cancer cell lines using MTT and clonogenic cell survival assay. Flow cytometry and comet assay were used to investigate the cell cycle and DNA damaging effects, respectively. Bioassay guided-fractionation coupled with LC-Mass spectrometry (MS), gas chromatography-MS, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis were used to identify the bioactive compounds. Among the seven plants tested, Terminalia bentzoë was comparatively the most potent antioxidant extract with significantly (p < 0.05) higher cytotoxic activities. T. bentzoë extract further selectively suppressed the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells and significantly halted the cell cycle progression in G0/G1 phase, decreased the cells replicative potential and induced significant DNA damage. Ten phenolic compounds including punicalagin and ellagic acid were identified and likely contributed to the extract potent antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. These results established a promising basis for further in-depth investigations on the potential use of T. bentzoë as supportive therapy in cancer management.

Unlike electron microscopy, which can achieve very high resolutions, but to date can only be used to study static structures, time-resolved X-ray diffraction from contracting muscles can, in principle, be used to follow the molecular movements involved in force generation on a millisecond timescale albeit at moderate resolution. However, previous X-ray diffraction studies of resting muscles have come up with structures for the head arrangements in resting myosin filaments that are different from the apparently ubiquitous interacting heads motif (IHM) found by single particle analysis of electron micrographs of isolated myosin filaments from a variety of muscle types. This head organization is supposed to represent the super-relaxed state of the myosin filaments where ATP usage is minimized. Here we have tested whether the interacting heads motif structures will satisfactorily explain the observed low-angle X-ray diffraction patterns from resting vertebrate (bony fish) and invertebrate (insect flight) muscles. We find that the interacting heads motif does not, in fact, explain what is observed. Previous X-ray models fit the observations much better. We conclude that the X-ray diffraction evidence has been well interpreted in the past and that there is more than one ordered myosin head state in resting muscle. There is, therefore, no reason to question some of the previous X-ray diffraction results on myosin filaments; time-resolved X-ray diffraction should be a reliable way to follow crossbridge action in active muscle and may be one of the few ways to follow molecular changes in myosin heads on a millisecond timescale as force is actually produced.

The civil construction industry is one of the sectors that most consume natural resources in the world and, consequently, one of that generate more waste. Thinking about constructive techniques that generate less impact on the environment is vital to ensure sustainable development. In this scenario, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been presented as an internationally recognized approach, that assesses the potential impact of products and services on human health and the environment, throughout its entire life cycle. Aimed to identify construction techniques and vertical closing systems that generate less impact and consumption of natural resources, the impacts generated by the life cycle of the three vertical closing systems most applied in construction sites in Brazil were compared: ceramic brick masonry system (CBr); concrete block masonry system (CBk); and structural blocks masonry system (SBk). The SBk proved to be the least impacting to the “Resource Scarcity”, “Damage to Human Health”, and “Damage to the diversity of Ecosystems” interesting areas. This performance is directly related to the use of cement CPIII type and also by the fact that the SBk consumes less concrete and mortar than the others. Already the "Water Consumption" area, the CBk was the least impacting due to the lower consumption of electricity during its life cycle. The reliability of the results was proven through a sensitivity analysis of the normalization and characterization factors, which consisted of comparing the results obtained by applying two different methodologies. It is believed that the LCA study carried out can assist in the decision-making process regarding the choice of the most sustainable construction method.

In the past decade, under the background of the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality era, the rapid development of new energy vehicles has put forward higher requirements for the performance of strike forces such as battery cycle life, energy density and cost. Lithium-ion batteries have gradually become the mainstream of electric vehicle power batteries due to their excellent energy density, rate performance and cycle life. At present, the most widely used cathode materials for power batteries are lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and ternary nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM). However, these materials exhibit the bottlenecks that limit the improvement and promotion of power battery performance. In this review, the performance characteristics, cycle life attenuation mechanism (including structural damage, gas generation and active lithium loss, etc.) and improvement methods (including surface coating and element-doping modification) of LFP and NCM batteries are reviewed. Finally, the development prospects of this field are proposed.

African swine fever (ASF) is a viral infection of pigs and represents a major threat to animal health and trade. Due to the high tenacity of the causative virus also in carcasses of wild boar, contacts of wild boar with infectious carcasses are regarded an important driver of the so-called habitat cycle. The latter is believed to play a major role in maintaining the present ASF situation in wild boar in Europe. Therefore, search campaigns and timely removal and disposal of carcasses are considered important disease control approaches. If timely disposal is not feasible due to logistic reasons, deterrence of wild boar could be a provisionary option. The performance of seven deterrents (physical and chemical) was tested in a forest near Greifswald, Germany. Carcasses as entities of attraction for wild boar were substituted by luring sites. It could be demonstrated that certain physical (LED-Blinkers, aluminum stripes) and chemical (Wildschwein-Stopp™, Hukinol™) deterrents are capable of reducing significantly the odds of wild boar contacts to one third. It is recommended to carry a choice of the aforementioned, reasonable and easy to apply deterrents, when carcass search campaigns are launched in case of an outbreak of ASF in wild boar.

Mexico is currently facing important water management challenges. Cities in the country are facing water scarcity and at the same time, they struggle with floods during the raining season. The water sensitive urban design (WSUD) approach has proved to be helpful in tackling urban water challenges such as floods and water scarcity and it is being implemented in cities around the world. The WSUD approach highlights the role of both the water cycle and the water utilities systems, when transitioning towards a water sensitive stage. Therefore, the objective of this research is to analyse the current situation of the water cycle and the water utility (SIAPA). To do so, we have selected the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (MAG) and proposes a case study approach. Within our case of study, we answer two questions: 1) What are the causes of water scarcity and flooding in the MAG? and 2) What are the proposals to solve these problems under a WSUD approach? By answering these questions, we identified that the water management in the MAG corresponds to a single purpose infrastructure. This type of management does not contribute to solve the problems of water scarcity and floods. The water supply policy is based only on the construction of large dams disregarding the storage and use of rainwater, and reuse of greywater, and water-conservation devices. In order to transition towards a water sensitive stage, a WSUD approach that includes multi-purpose infrastructure should be considered. Such as green roofs, swales, rainwater gardens, infiltration trenches, etc.

We introduce a total energy and environmental evaluation method in the manufacturing industry. The method gives us a series of descriptive indexes to assess the overall environmental effect level on materials, energy, wastes and products in the life cycle process. Meanwhile, the method uses partial indexes, environmental effect factors, and correction offsets into the quantitative model to analyze the learning process and rebound effect on the energy and environment at each procedure. In this work, we choose S-shaped learning curves to describe how to decrease energy consumption and improve the technical learning by doing for recent 30 years. Also, we draw the different rebound effect curves of the total energy-environmental evaluation with technical learning method, which use the annual industrial production growth rate to show that it's significant to estimate its effect on technology changes. The ideas about the interaction of energy and production environment from material flows to energy consumption, direct us to build an example to estimate quantitatively the results with different condition factors, and realize the process improvement and develop new products.

For every three people on the planet there is approximately two Tonne (Te) of available plastic waste. We show that carbon recovery from polystyrene (PS) plastic is enhanced by the co-addition to solvents to grow carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by liquid injection chemical vapour deposition. Polystyrene was loaded up to 4 wt% in toluene and heated to 780 °C in the presence of a ferrocene catalyst and a hydrogen/argon carrier gas in a 1:19 ratio. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Raman spectroscopy were used to identify multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The PS addition in the range from 0 to 4 wt% showed improved quality and CNT homogeneity; Raman “Graphitic/Defective” (G/D) values increased from 1.9 to 2.3; mean CNT diameters increased from 43.0 to 49.2 nm; and maximum CNT yield increased from 11.3% to 14.2%. Since both the CNT diameters and the percentage yield increased with respect to polystyrene addition, we conclude that carbon from the PS contributes to the carbon within the MWCNTs. The electrical contact resistance of acid washed Bucky papers produced from each loading, ranged from 2.2 to 4.4 Ohm, with no direct correlation to PS loading. Due to this narrow range, the materials with different loading were mixed to create six wires of an Ethernet cable and tested using iPerf to give uplink and downlink speeds of ~99.5 Mbps, comparable to Cu wire of identical dimension (~99.5 Mbps). The lifecycle assessment (LCA) of CNT wire production was compared to copper wire production for the use case in a Boeing 747-400 over the lifespan of the craft. Due to their lightweight nature the CNT wires decreased the CO2 footprint by 21 kTonne (kTe) over the aircraft lifespan.

A scientific carbon accounting system can help enterprises reduce carbon emissions. This study took the enterprise in the Yangtze River basin as a case study. The accounting classification of carbon emissions in the life cycle of lime production was assessed, and the composition of the sources of carbon emission was analyzed, covering mining explosives, fuel (diesel, coal), electricity and high temperature limestone decomposition. Using the IPCC emission factor method, a carbon life cycle emission accounting model for lime production was established. We determined that a total of 354,200 tons of carbon emissions were generated from producing 321,000 tons of lime in a year. The decomposition of limestone at a high temperature was the largest carbon emission source, accounting for 62.34% of the total carbon emission. Coal combustion was also an important source of carbon emissions, accounting for 32.66% of total carbon emissions. The carbon emission for one ton of activated lime was 1.46kg, 1.49kg, 1100kg and 1102.95kg respectively for the open-pit, mining stage, crushing stage, and the calcination stage. Based upon the main sources of carbon emission for lime production, carbon emission reduction should focus on CO2 capture technology, fuel optimization and energy control. Using our analysis of carbon emissions, the carbon emission factor of producing unit quicklime of the lime enterprise in the Yangtze River basin was determined. Furthermore, the research into carbon emission reduction for lime production can provide a point of reference for the promotion of carbon neutrality in the same industry.

The evaluation of geometric defects is necessary in order to maintain the integrity of structures over time. These assessments are designed to detect damages of structures and ideally help inspectors to estimate the remaining life of structures. Current methodologies for monitoring structural systems, while providing useful information about the current state of a structure, are limited in the monitoring of defects over time and in linking them to predictive simulation. This paper presents a new approach to the predictive modeling of geometric defects. A combination of segmented from point clouds are parametrized using the convex hull algorithm to extract features from detected defects, and a stochastic dynamic model is then adapted to these features to model the evolution of the hull over time. Describing a defect in terms of its parameterized hull enables consistent temporal tracking for predictive purposes, while implicitly reducing data dimensionality and complexity as well. In this study, 2D point clouds analogous to information derived from point clouds were first generated over simulated life-cycles. The evolutions of point cloud hull parameterizations were modeled as stochastic dynamical processes via autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and vectorized autoregression (VAR) and compared against ground truth. The results indicate that this convex hull approach provides consistent and accurate representations of defect evolution across a range of defect topologies and is reasonably robust to noisy measurements, however assumptions regarding the underlying dynamical process play a significant the role in predictive accuracy. The results were then validated on experimental data from fatigue testing with high accuracy. Longer term, the results of this work will support finite element model updating for predictive analysis of structural capacity.

I wish to suggest a hypothesis regarding the physiological function of alpha-synuclein, a protein implicated in Parkinson disease, whose cell biology is still debated. The essence is the concept of Carnot cycle of refrigeration in which membrane fluidity depends on the heat produced by mitochondria. The hypothesis has the potential to explain the diverse phenotypes attributed to alpha-synuclein under both physiological and pathological conditions.

Building carbon footprint analysis is a key instrument for assessing the impact of different constructions on climate change. Several standards and methodologies are available to calculate the footprint of buildings, including standards and norms, life cycle assessment (LCA), and dedicated software tools. The use of BIM software for these calculations is both scientifically justified and very practical. This scientific publication focusses on the application of a BIM-based research methodology for the analysis of the carbon footprint of a single-family house. The research process included the following steps: (i) design of a single-family house with timber frame construction using Archicad BIM software, (ii) simulation of the building energy performance using the EcoDesigner Star plug-in, (iii) life cycle assessment (LCA) using the plug-in for Archicad, (iv) preparation of a second model with traditional masonry construction for comparison, and (v) comparative analysis of the single-family house models with timber frame and masonry construction. Analysis of the results highlights significant differences in CO2e emissions between masonry and timber buildings and the varying impact of individual elements on the total CO2e emissions of the buildings studied. These findings are relevant for future work on sustainable building design and construction, which aims to minimise negative environmental impacts. The goal of minimising the cumulative carbon footprint of buildings is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and combating climate change.

CO₂ emissions have been identified as the main driver for climate change, with devastating consequences for the global natural environment. The steel industry is responsible for ca. 8%-11% of global CO₂ emissions, due to high fossil-fuel and energy consumption. The onus is therefore on industry to remedy the environmental damage caused and to decarbonise production. This desk research report follows a two-tiered route: 1) exploring the Bio Steel Cycle; 2) proposing a seven-step strategy to overcome the challenges within the iron and steel industry. The true levels of CO₂ emissions in the steelmaking process, during the blast-furnace/basic-oxygen-furnace operation, will be detailed first, at 4.61t of CO₂ emissions/t of steel produced. The manuscript proposes a solution for reduced carbon emissions steelmaking with the Bio Steel Cycle components and detail on how to reach net-zero carbon emissions steel production. The 7-step-implementation-strategy as a potential solution to achieve net and true zero carbon emissions steel production in the short to medium-term. The findings of this are pointing towards the conclusion that CO₂ emissions seem to have been under-reported and under-estimated in the past, but the emission can be addressed if the correct scenarios for net-zero steel manufacturing are implemented by 2050.

The study examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the corporate life cycle (CLC) of the Chinese pharmaceutical listed companies for the duration of 2010 to 2018. The firm cash flow pattern is used as a proxy for the CLC. The study results indicate that the relationship between CSR and CLC is positive and linear in all the phases of the CLC including, the introduction, growth and maturity stage. Although the relationship is smaller and more significant at the maturity phase. The research further shows that investors incorporating social responsibilities values play a key role in the firm cash flow performance (CFP) across all the firm stages. Whilst, employees espousing social responsibility tenets can only improve CFP in the decline or shakeout stages. Likewise, embedding CSR into the customers group only improves CFP at the maturity stage. Applying the lag effects lead to the same study results. The finding for the bi-directional causality indicates that although CSR can positively influence CFP, CFP is ultimately more associated with the firm unobservable characteristics rather than performance attributed to CSR. On the whole, our study results point to positive causality between CSR and CFP across all the firm life stages and the CSR has a mediating effect on each life cycle.

Wind technology is considered to be among the most promising types of renewable energy sources, and due to high oil prices and growing concerns about climate change and energy security, it has been the subject of extensive considerations in recent years, including questions related to the relative sustainability of electricity production when the manufacturing, assembly, transportation and dismantling processes of these facilities are taken into account. The present article evaluates the environmental impacts, carbon emissions and water consumption, derived from the production of electric energy of the Villonaco wind farm, located in Loja-Ecuador, during its entire life cycle, using the Life Cycle Analysis method. Finally, it is concluded that wind energy has greater environmental advantages, since it has lower values of carbon and water footprints than other energy sources. Additionally, with the techniques Cumulative Energy Demand and Energy Return on Investment, sustainability in the production of electricity from wind power in Ecuador is demonstrated; and, that due to issues of vulnerability to climate change, the diversification of its energy mix is essential considering the inclusion of non-conventional renewable sources such as solar or wind, this being the only way to reduce both the carbon footprint and the water supply power.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widely recognized tool used to evaluate environmental impacts of a product or process, based on the environmental inventory database and bills of material. Data quality is one of the most significant factors affecting the analysis results. However, currently most datasets in inventory databases are generic i.e., they may represent material and energy flow of a process at market average, instead of a specific process used by a manufacturer. As a result, stockholders are unable to track their supply chain to find out the actual environmental impact from each supplier and to compare the environmental performance of alternative options. In this paper, we developed a new framework i.e., blockchain based LCA (BC-LCA), where block-chain technology is adapted to secure and transmit inventory data from upstream suppliers to downstream manufacturers. With BC-LCA, more specific data can be acquired along the supply chain in a real-time manner. Moreover, the availability, accuracy, privacy, and automatic update of inventory data can be improved. A case study is provided based on an industrial supply chain, to demonstrate the utilization of BC-LCA.

Solar power innately has issues with weather, grid demand and time of day, which for the case of concentrating solar power (CSP) can be mitigated through use of thermal energy storage. Nuclear reactors, including lead-cooled fast reactors (LFRs), can load follow, but have high fixed and low operating costs which can make this economically unattractive. We investigate potential synergies through coupling CSP and LFR together in a single supercritical CO$_2$ Brayton cycle and/or using the same thermal energy storage. Combining these cycles allows for the LFR to thermally charge the salt storage in the CSP cycle during low demand periods to be dispatched when grid demand increases. The LFR/CSP coupling into one cycle is modeled to find the preferred location of the LFR heat exchanger, CSP heat exchanger, sCO$_2$-to-salt heat exchanger (C2S), turbines, and recuperators within the supercritical CO$_2$ Brayton cycle. Three cycle configurations have been studied: two-cycle configuration, which uses CSP and LFR heat for dedicated turbocompressors, has the highest efficiencies but with less component synergies; a combined cycle with CSP and LFR heat sources in parallel is the simplest with the lowest efficiencies; and a combined cycle with separate high temperature recuperators for both the CSP and LFR is a compromise between efficiency and component synergies. Additionally, four thermal energy storage charging techniques are studied: the turbine positioned before C2S, requiring a high LFR outlet temperature for viability; the turbine after the C2S, reducing turbine inlet temperature and therefore power; the turbine parallel to the C2S producing moderate efficiency; and a dedicated circulator loop. While all configurations have pros and cons, use of a single cycle offers component synergies with limited efficiency penalty. Using a turbine in parallel with the C2S heat exchanger is feasible but results in a low charging efficiency, while a dedicated circulator loop offers flexibility and near perfect heat storage efficiency but increasing cost with additional cycle components.

Turner syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal disorder that is caused by a missing or structurally ab-normal second sex chromosome. Subjects with TS are at an increased risk of developing intrauterine growth retardation, low birth weight, short stature, congenital heart diseases, infertility, obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular diseases (stroke and myocardial infarction). The underlying pathogenetic mechanism of TS is unknown. The assumption that X chromosome-linked gene haploinsufficiency is associated with the TS phenotype is questioned since such genes have not been identified. Thus, other pathogenic mechanisms have been suggested to explain this phenotype. Morphogenesis encompasses a series of events that includes cell division, the production of migratory precursors and their progeny, differentiation, programmed cell death, and integration into organs and systems. The precise control of the growth and differentiation of cells is essential for normal development. The cell cycle frequency and the number of proliferating cells are essential in cell growth. 45,X cells have a failure to proliferate at a normal rate, leading to a decreased cell number in a given tissue during organogenesis. A convergence of data indicates an association between a prolonged cell cycle and the phenotypical features in Turner syndrome. This review aims to examine old and new findings concerning the relationship between a prolonged cell cycle and TS phenotype. These studies reveal a diversity of phenotypic features in TS that could be explained by reduced cell proliferation. The implications of this hypothesis for our understanding of the TS phenotype and its pathogenesis are discussed. It is not surprising that 45,X monosomy leads to cellular growth pathway dysregulation with profound deleterious effects on both embryonic and later stages of development. The prolonged cell cycle could represent the beginning of the pathogenesis of TS, leading to a series of phenotypic consequences in embryonic/fetal, neonatal, pediatric, adolescence, and adulthood life.

Understanding the molecular underpinnings of the evolution of complex (multi-part) systems is a fundamental topic in biology. One unanswered question is the extent to which similar or different genes and regulatory interactions underlie similar complex systems across species. Animal eyes and phototransduction (light detection) are outstanding systems to investigate this question because some of the genetics underlying these traits are well-characterized in model organisms. However, comparative studies using non-model organisms are also necessary to understand the diversity and evolution of these traits. Here, we compare the characteristics of photoreceptor cells, opsins, and phototransduction cascades in diverse taxa, with particular focus on cnidarians. In contrast to the common theme of deep homology, whereby similar traits develop mainly using homologous genes, comparisons of visual systems - especially in non-model organisms - are beginning to highlight a “deep diversity” of underlying components, illustrating how variation can underlie similar complex systems across taxa. Although using candidate genes from model organisms across diversity was a good starting point to understand the evolution of complex systems, unbiased genome-wide comparisons and subsequent functional validation will be necessary to uncover unique genes that comprise complex systems of non-model groups to better understand biodiversity and its evolution.

The stiffness of the myosin cross-bridges is a key factor in analysing possible scenarios to explain myosin head changes during force generation in active muscles. The seminal study of Huxley and Simmons (1971: Nature 233: 533) suggested that most of the observed half-sarcomere instantaneous compliance (=1/stiffness) resides in the myosin heads. They showed with a so-called T₁ plot that, after a very fast release, the half-sarcomere tension reduced to zero after a step size of about 60Å (later with improved experiments reduced to 40Å). However, later X-ray diffraction studies showed that myosin and actin filaments themselves stretch slightly under tension, which means that most (at least two-thirds) of the half sarcomere compliance comes from the filaments and not from cross-bridges. Here we have used a different approach, namely to model the compliances in a virtual half sarcomere structure in silico. We confirm that the T₁ curve comes almost entirely from length changes in the myosin and actin filaments, because the calculated cross-bridge stiffness (probably greater than 0.4 pN/Å) is higher than previous studies have suggested. In the light of this, we present a plausible modified scenario to describe aspects of the myosin cross-bridge cycle in active muscle. In particular, we suggest that, apart from the filament compliances, most of the cross-bridge contribution to the instantaneous T₁ response comes from weakly-bound myosin heads, not myosin heads in strongly attached states. The strongly attached heads would still contribute to the T₁ curve, but only in a very minor way, with a stiffness that we postulate could be around 0.1 pN/Å, a value which would generate a working stroke close to 100 Å from the hydrolysis of one ATP molecule. The new program can serve as a tool to calculate sarcomere elastic properties for any vertebrate striated muscle once various parameters have been determined (e.g. tension, T₁ intercept, temperature, X-ray diffraction spacing results).

Published transcriptomic data from surgically removed metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) samples were re-analyzed from the Genomic Fabric Perspective that considers the transcriptome a multi-dimensional mathematical object, constrained by a dynamic set of expression correlations among genes. Every gene in the chest wall metastasis (MET), two primary tumors (PTA, PTB) and the surrounding normal tissue (NOR) of the right kidney was characterized by three independent measures: average expression level (AVE), relative expression variation (REV) and expression correlation (COR) with each other gene. AVE was used to determine the regulation of the genomic fabrics of ccRCC, apoptosis, chemokine and VEGF signaling pathways. REV quantified the alteration of the transcripts’ abundances control, while COR determined the remodeling of the transcriptomic networks of chemokine signaling and oxidative phosphorylation genes. The gene hierarchy was established in based on Gene Commanding Height and the Gene Master Regulators (GMR) TASOR (PTA), FAM27C (PTB) and ALG13 (MET) and DAPK3 (NOR) were identified in each profiled region. We predict that TASOR overexpression would block transcription in PTA but not in PTB, while slightly stimulating it in NOR. Silencing of ALG3 would slow-down the cell-cycle in all three cancer regions with practically no effect in NOR.

Miniaturization of electronics devices is often limited by the concomitant high heat fluxes (cooling load) and maldistribution of temperature profiles (hot spots). Thermal energy storage (TES) platforms providing supplemental cooling can be a cost-effective solution, that often leverages phase change materials (PCM). Although salt hydrates provide higher storage capacities and power ratings (as compared to that of the organic PCMs), they suffer from reliability issues (e.g., supercooling). ‘Cold Finger Technique (CFT)’ can obviate supercooling by maintaining a small mass fraction of the PCM in solid state for enabling spontaneous nucleation. Optimization of CFT necessitates real-time forecasting of the transient values of the melt-fraction. In this study artificial neural network (ANN) is explored for real-time prediction of the time remaining to reach a target value of melt-fraction based on the prior history of the spatial distribution of the surface temperature transients. Two different approaches were explored for training the ANN model, using: (1) transient PCM-temperature data; or (2) transient surface-temperature data. When deployed in a heat sink that leverages PCM based passive thermal management systems for cooling of electronic chips and packages, this maverick approach (using the second method) affords cheaper costs, better sustainability, higher reliability and resilience.

Analysis of the hourly Canadian Prairie data for the past 60 years has transformed our quantitative understanding of land-atmosphere-cloud coupling. The key reason is that trained observers made hourly estimates of opaque cloud fraction that obscures the sun, moon or stars, following the same protocol for 60 years at all stations. These 24 daily estimates of opaque cloud data are of sufficient quality that they can be calibrated against Baseline Surface Radiation Network data to give the climatology of the daily short-wave, longwave and total cloud forcing (SWCF, LWCF and CF). This key radiative forcing has not been available previously for climate datasets. Net cloud radiative forcing reverses sign from negative in the warm season to positive in the cold season, when reflective snow reduces the negative SWCF below the positive LWCF. This in turn leads to a large climate discontinuity with snow cover, with a systematic cooling of 10°C or more with snow cover. In addition, snow cover transforms the coupling between cloud cover and the diurnal range of temperature. In the warm season, maximum temperature increases with decreasing cloud, while minimum temperature barely changes; while in the cold season with snow cover, maximum temperature decreases with decreasing cloud and minimum temperature decreases even more. In the warm season, the diurnal ranges of temperature, relative humidity, equivalent potential temperature and the pressure height of the lifting condensation level are all tightly coupled to opaque cloud cover. Given over 600 station-years of hourly data, we are able to extract, perhaps for the first time, the coupling between cloud forcing and the warm season imbalance of the diurnal cycle; which changes monotonically from a warming and drying under clear skies to a cooling and moistening under cloudy skies with precipitation. Because we have the daily cloud radiative forci, which is large, we are able to show that the memory of water storage anomalies, from precipitation and the snowpack, goes back many months. The spring climatology shows the memory of snowfall back through the entire winter, and the memory in summer goes back to the months of snowmelt. Lagged precipitation anomalies modify the thermodynamic coupling of the diurnal cycle to the cloud forcing, and shift the diurnal cycle of mixing ratio which has a double peak. The seasonal extraction of the surface total water storage is a large damping of the interannual variability of precipitation anomalies in the growing season. The large land-use change from summer fallow to intensive cropping, which peaked in the early 1990s, has led to a coupled climate response that has cooled and moistened the growing season, lowering cloud-base, increasing equivalent potential temperature, and increasing precipitation. We show a simplified energy balance of the Prairies during the growing season and its dependence on reflective cloud.

Water plays a crucial role in maintaining plant functionality and drives many ecophysiological processes. The distribution of water resources is in a continuous change due to global warming affecting the productivity of ecosystems around the globe, but there is a lack of non-destructive methods capable of continuous monitoring of plant and leaf water content that would help us in understanding the consequences of the redistribution of water. We studied the utilization of novel small hyperspectral sensors in the 1350-2450 nm spectral range in non-destructive estimation of leaf water content in laboratory and field conditions. We found that the sensors captured up to 96% of the variation in equivalent water thickness (EWT, g/m²) and up to 90% of the variation in relative water content (RWC). These laboratory findings were supported by field measurements, where repeated leaf spectra measurements were in good agreement (R²=0.79) with a time-lagged change of tree xylem diameter. Further tests were done with an indoor plant (Dracaena marginate Lem.) by continuously measuring leaf spectra while drought conditions developed, which revealed detailed diurnal dynamics of leaf water content. We conclude that close-range hyperspectral spectroscopy can provide a novel tool for continuous measurement of leaf water content at the single leaf level and help us to better understand plant responses to varying environmental conditions.

White adipose tissue (WAT) is distributed in several depots that have distinct metabolic and inflammatory functions. In our body there are subcutaneous (sWAT), visceral (vWAT) and bone marrow fat depots (BFAT). Obesity affects size, function and inflammatory state of WATs. This process can alter the stem cell niches present in these tissues and affect the functions of stem cells residing within. In particular, obesity may affect the activity of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) present in WAT. MSCs are an heterogenous population containing stromal cells, progenitor cells, fibroblasts and stem cells that are able to differentiate in adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteocytes and other mesodermal derivatives. We performed a comparison of the effects of obesity on MSCs obtained from sWAT, vWAT and BFAT. Our study evidenced that obesity affected mainly the biological functions of MSCs obtained from bone marrow and vWAT with a decrease in proliferation rate, reduced percentage of cells in S phase and trigger of senescence. The onset of senescence was confirmed by expression of genes belonging to RB and P53 pathways. Our study evidenced that negative consequences of obesity on body physiology may be related also to impairment in the functions of stromal compartment present in the several adipose tissues. This finding provides new insights on the targets that should be considered for an effective treatment of obesity-related diseases.

Grill-specific footprints for common fuels/grill types in the USA are estimated from public information and data from a major grill manufacturer. These are a function of both 1) a fuel’s footprint and 2) a grill’s efficiency of cooking. In 2022, grill-specific footprints vary by 9:1. A typical gas grill is highest at 3.6 lb CO2e/grill session, nine times that of a wood-pellet grill, lowest at 0.4 lb. Charcoal briquettes, electricity and super-efficient gas grills come in-between. Pellets are lowest, because they are made from waste wood and their production burden is modest. Electricity has the highest fuel footprint, yet the second-lowest grill-specific footprint, thanks to its high efficiency. Briquettes come in fourth, because their production involves fossil gas, and they contain some fossil coal. Grill efficiency is key for gas (natural gas or propane): a typical gas grill has twice the footprint of a super-efficient one. In 2027, with bio substitution, the super-efficient gas grill would move ahead of pellets. Electricity and charcoal could improve but would still place fifth and sixth. The range of grill-specific footprints could fall to 4.5:1, within a much-lower range, the highest footprint in 2027 almost 60% lower than 2022’s highest.

As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a sudden and abrupt change in global energy landscape. Traditional fossil fuels that serve as the linchpin of the modern civilization have found their consumption rapidly fell across the most categories due to strict lockdown and stringent measures that have been adopted to suppress the disease. These changes consequently steered various environmental benefits across the world in recent time. The present article is an attempt to investigate these environmental benefits and reversals that have been materialized in this unfolding situation due to reduced consumption of fossil fuels. Life cycle assessment tool has been used hereby to evaluate nine environmental impacts and one energy based impact. These impacts include: ozone formation (terrestrial ecosystems), terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, marine ecotoxicity, land use, mineral resources scarcity and cumulative exergy demand. Outcomes from the study demonstrate that COVID-19 has delivered impressive changes in global environment and life cycle exergy demand with about 11-25% curtailment in all above-mentioned impacts in 2020 in comparison to their corresponding readings in 2019.

China's implementation of public-private partnerships projects has been quite effective, involving infrastructure and other livelihood projects, a total of 19 industries, and an investment of nearly 1.5 trillion yuan. The characteristics of PPP projects such as long construction period and large investment amount determine the risks of PPP projects are also great, and the PPP projects of comprehensive environmental governance are also the same. The government and social capital use the PPP model to cooperate, and use the principal component analysis method to assess the risks of the entire life cycle of the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project. Therefore, it plays an important role in ensuring the smooth implementation of projects and reducing the losses caused by risks. According to the risk factors of the whole life cycle of the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project, an indicator system of 5 first-level indicators, 18 second-level indicators, and 43 third-level indicators has been established. Principal component analysis is used to analyze the influence weight of risk factors at each stage. The analysis shows that among the four stages, environmental pollution risk, project approval delay risk, completion risk, interest rate and financial fluctuation risk, and franchise life risk are the most influential risks in the implementation of PPP projects. Therefore, suggestions are made through the risk factors of each stage in the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project. For example, strengthen the response to the external environment risks of the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project, standardize the bidding and procurement of the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project, and strengthen the subsequent management of the transfer of the comprehensive environmental governance PPP project. In this way, the ability to resist risks of comprehensive environmental governance PPP projects is improved; the smooth implementation of the project is guaranteed, and the long-term development of comprehensive environmental governance PPP projects is promoted.

Contemporary architects and the construction industry are trying to cope with increasing requirements concerning energy efficiency and environmental impact. One of the available options is the active utilization of energy gains from the environment, specifically solar energy gains. These gains can be utilized by, for example, solar walls and facades. The solar façade concept has been under development for more than a century. However, it hasn’t achieved widespread use for various reasons. Rather recently the concept was enhanced by the application of transparent insulation materials that have the potential to increase the efficiency of such façades. The presented study evaluates the environmental efficiency of 10 solar façade assemblies in the mild climate of the Czech Republic, Central Europe. The evaluated façade assemblies combine the principles of a solar wall with transparent insulation based on honeycomb and polycarbonate panels. The study applies Life-Cycle Assessment methodology to the calculation of environmental impacts related to the life cycle of the evaluated assemblies. The results indicate that even though there are several limiting factors, façade assemblies with transparent insulation have lower environmental impacts compared to a reference assembly with standard thermal insulation. The highest achieved difference is approx. 84% (in favour of the assembly with transparent insulation) during a modelled 50-year façade assembly service life.

This study investigates the hybridization scenario of a single flash geothermal power plant with a biomass driven sCO2-steam Rankine combined cycle where a solid local biomass source, olive residue, is used as a fuel. The hybrid power plant is modeled using the simulation software EB-SILON®Professional. A topping sCO2 cycle is specifically chosen for its potential for flexible elec-tricity generation. A synergy between the topping sCO2 and bottoming steam Rankine cycles is achieved by a good temperature match between the coupling heat exchanger where the waste heat from the topping cycle is utilized in the bottoming cycle. The high temperature heat addition problem common sCO2 cycles is also eliminated by utilizing the heat in the flue gas in the bottoming cycle. Combined cycle thermal efficiency and biomass to electricity conversion efficiency of 24.9% and 22.4% are achieved, respectively. The corresponding fuel consumption of the hybridized plant is found as 2.2 kg/s.

The importance of the contribution from tourism to climate change was pointed out by the International Tourism Organization (UNWTO). By combining process-based Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Input-output analysis, several researches have tried to evaluate the impacts of the tourism industry as well as its products and services. Indeed, the tourism sector has a wide range of industries including travel and tour, transportation, accommodation, food and beverage, amusement, souvenirs etc. However, the existing cases did not show a breakdown of the impact on climate change. In this paper, the carbon footprint (CFP) of the Japanese tourism industry was calculated based on tourist consumption, using the Japanese Input-output table and the Japanese tourism industry. It was shown that the total emissions were approximately 136 million t-CO2 per year. The contribution ratio of each stage is as follows: Transport 56.3%, Souvenirs 23.2%, Petrol (direct emissions) 16.9%, Accommodation 9.8%, Food and Beverage 7.5%, Activities 3.0%. Then, in the breakdown, the impact is high in the following order Air transport 24.7%, Petrol (direct emissions) 16.9%,Accommodation 9.8%, Food and Beverage 7.5%, Petrol 6.1%, Textile products 5.3%, Food items 4.9%, Confectionery 4.8%, Rail transport 3.9%, Cosmetics 1.9%, Footwear 1.8%, etc. In addition to transportation, this research also highlighted especially the contribution from souvenirs, accommodation, food and beverages.

Energy poverty, defined as a lack of access to reliable electricity and reliance on traditional biomass resources for cooking, affects over a billion people daily. The World Health Organization estimates that household air pollution from inefficient stoves causes more premature deaths than malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS). Increasing demand for energy has led to dramatic increases in carbon emissions. The need for reliable electricity and limiting carbon emissions drives research on Resil-ient Hybrid Energy Systems (RHES) that provide low-carbon energy through combined wind, so-lar, and biomass energy with traditional fossil energy, increasing production efficiency and relia-bility, and reducing generating costs and carbon emissions. Microgrids have been shown as an ef-ficient means of implementing RHES, with some focused mainly on reducing the environmental impact of electric power generation. The technical challenges of designing, implementing and ap-plying microgrids involve conducting a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate these systems' environmental and economic performance under diverse operating conditions to evaluate resiliency. A sample RHES has been developed and used to demonstrate implementation in rural applications. This system can provide reliable electricity for heating, cooling, lighting, and pumping clean water. This paper's primary focus is the challenges of using resilient energy sys-tems in the Middle East.

In the chloroplast, Calvin-Benson-Bassham enzymes are active in the reducing environment imposed in the light via the electrons from the photosystems. In the dark these enzymes are inhibited, and this regulation is mainly mediated via oxidation of key regulatory cysteine residues. CP12 is a small protein that plays a role in this regulation with four cysteine residues that undergo a redox transition. Using amide-proton exchange with solvent measured by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass-spectrometry, we confirmed that reduced CP12 is intrinsically disordered. Using real-time NMR, we showed that the oxidation of the two disulfide bridges are simultaneous. In oxidized CP12, the C23-C31 pair is in a region that undergoes a conformational exchange in the NMR-intermediate timescale. The C66-C75 pair is in the C-terminus that folds into a stable helical turn. We confirmed that these structural states exist in a physiologically relevant environment that is, in cell extract from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Consistent with these structural equilibria, the reduction is slower for the C66-C75 pair compared to the C23-C31 pair. Finally, the redox mid-potentials for the two cysteine pairs differ and are similar to those found for phosphoribulokinase and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, that we relate to the regulatory role of CP12.

Despite the remarkable success of Carnot’s heat engine cycle in founding the discipline of thermodynamics two centuries ago, false viewpoints of his use of the caloric theory in the cycle still linger, limiting his legacy. An action revision of the Carnot cycle can correct this, showing that the heat flow powering external mechanical work is compensated internally with configurational changes in the thermodynamic or Gibbs potential of the working fluid, differing in each stage of the cycle quantified by Carnot as caloric. Action (@) is a property of state having the same physical dimensions as angular momentum (mrv=mr2ω). However, this property is scalar rather than vectorial, including a dimensionless phase angle (@=mr2ωδφ). We have recently confirmed with atmospheric gases that their entropy is a logarithmic function of the relative vibrational, rotational and translational action ratios with Planck’s quantum of action ħ. The Carnot principle shows that the maximum rate of work (puissance motrice) possible from the reversible cycle is controlled by the difference in temperature of the hot source and the cold sink, the colder the better. This temperature difference between the source and the sink also controls the isothermal variations of the Gibbs potential of the working fluid, that Carnot identified as reversible temperature-dependent but unequal exchanges in caloric. Importantly, the engine’s inertia ensures that heat from work performed adiabatically in the expansion phase is all restored to the working fluid during the adiabatic recompression, less the net work performed. This allows both the energy and the thermodynamic potential to return to the same values at the beginning of each cycle, a point strongly emphasized by Carnot. Our action revision equates Carnot’s calorique, or the non-sensible heat later described by Clausius as ‘work-heat’ exclusively to negative Gibbs energy (-G) or quantum field energy. This action field complements the sensible energy or vis-viva heat as molecular kinetic motion and its recognition should have significance for designing more efficient heat engines or better understanding of the heat engine powering the Earth’s climates.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used frequently as a decision support tool for evaluating different design choices of products based on their environmental impacts. A life cycle usually comprises several phases of varying timespan. The amount of emissions generated from different life cycle phases of a product could be significantly different from one another. In conventional LCA, the emissions generated from the life cycle phases of a product are aggregated at the inventory analysis stage, which is then used as an input for life cycle impact assessment. However, when the emissions are aggregated, the temporal variability of inventory data is ignored, which may result in inaccurate environmental impact assessment. Besides, the conventional LCA does not consider the environmental impact of circular products with multiple use cycles. It poses difficulties in identifying the hotspots of emission-intensive activities with the potential to mislead conclusions and implications for both practice and policy. To address this issue and to analyse the embedded temporal variations in inventory data in a CE context, the paper proposes to calculate the emission intensity for each life cycle phase. It is argued that calculating and comparing emission intensity, based on the timespan and amount of emissions for individual life cycle phases, at the inventory analysis stage of LCA offers a complementary approach to the traditional aggregate emission-based LCA approach. In a circular scenario, it helps to identify significant issues during different life cycle phases and the relevant environmental performance improvement opportunities through product, business model and supply chain design.

A revised reversed Carnot cycle without external heat source and temperature gap is proposed to challenge the classic reversed Carnot cycle, heat pumps based on the proposed cycle with super energy efficiency works just like electric heater fitted for any climate including extreme cold weather, the application of these new heat pumps is discussed with conclusion that little real obstacles exist for scale application to address the heating related climate change, also a demonstration case shows a remarkable results to encourage the applications of these new heat pumps.

The framework of product life cycle (PLC) cost analysis is one of the most important evaluation tools for a contemporary high-tech company in an increasingly competitive market environment. The PLC-purchasing strategy provides the framework for a procurement plan and examines the sourcing strategy of a firm. The marketing literature emphasizes that ongoing technological change and shortened life cycles are important elements in commercial organizations. From a strategic viewpoint, the vendor has an important position between supplier, buyer and manufacturer. The buyer seeks to procure the products from a set of vendors to take advantage of economies of scale and to exploit opportunities for strategic relationships. However, previous studies have seldom considered vendor selection (VS) based on PLC cost (VSPLCC) analysis. The purpose of this paper is to solve the VSPLCC problems considering the situation of a single-buyer-multiple-supplier. For this issue, a new VSPLCC procurement model and solution procedure are derived by this paper to minimize net cost, rejection rate, late delivery and PLC cost subject to vendor capacities and budget constraints. Moreover, a real case in Taiwan is provided to show how to solve the VSPLCC procurement problem.

The article focuses on the integrated environmental accounting model called 'eValue', developed for protected areas and applied in the research programme coordinated by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and aimed at implementing an environmental accounting system for Italian Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). eValue adopts a cost-benefit analysis approach. Financial accounting based on costs and revenues is integrated with environmental accounting, which reflects environmental costs and environmental revenues, i.e. environmental benefits. The environ-mental costs assess the impacts related to human activities in the MPA expressed by calculating the carbon footprint and the environmental benefits of the marine ecosystem services calculated by applying monetary valuation techniques. The values thus estimated flow into the annual flow account, where the value produced (or consumed) by the MPA is estimated by difference. The eValue model was applied to the Porto Cesareo MPA (Italy). eValue showed that the annual benefit-cost ratio reaches a value of 3.4. Furthermore, the ratio of net benefit to public funding is 3.7, completely covering the amount of public transfers and thus summarizing the MPA overall value for money.

The transport sector in Germany causes one-quarter of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. One potential solution to reduce these emissions is the use of battery electric vehicles. Although a number of life cycle assessments have been conducted for these vehicles, the influence of a transport system wide transition has not been researched sufficiently. Therefore, we developed a method which combines life cycle assessment with an agent-based transport simulation and synthetic electric, diesel and gasoline powered vehicle models. We use the transport simulation to obtain the number of vehicles, their lifetime mileage and road-specific consumption. Subsequently we analyze the product systems’ vehicle production, use phase and End-of-Life. The results are scaled depending on the covered distance, the vehicle weight and the consumption for the whole life cycle. The results indicate that the sole transition of drive trains is insufficient to significantly lower the greenhouse gas emissions. However, sensitivity analyses demonstrate that there is a considerable potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with higher shares of renewable energies, a different vehicle distribution and a higher lifetime mileage. The method facilitates the assessment of the ecological impacts of the complete car based transportation in urban agglomerations and is able to analyze different transport sectors.

In order to better understand the biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen in meromictic lakes, which can serve as a model for past aquatic environments, we measured dissolved concentrations of nitrate, nitrite, ammonium and organic nitrogen in deep (39 m maximal depth) subarctic Lake Svetloe (NW Russia). The lake is a rare type of freshwater meromictic water boy with high concentrations of methane, ferrous iron, manganese and low concentrations of sulfates and sulfides in the monimolimnion. In the oligotrophic mixolimnion, the concentration of mineral forms of nitrogen decreased in summer compared to winter, likely due to phytoplankton bloom. The decomposition of the bulk of organic matter occurs under microaerophilic/anaerobic conditions of the chemocline and accompanied by the accumulation of nitrogen in the form of N-NH4 in the monimonimlion. We revealed a strong relationship between methane and nitrogen cycles in the chemocline and monimolimnion horizons. The nitrate concentrations in Lake Svetloe varied in the range from 9 to 13 μM throughout the water column. This fact is rare for meromictic lakes, where nitrate concentrations up to 13 µM are found in the monimolimnion zone down to the bottom layers. We hypothesize, in accord with available data for other stratified lakes, that under conditions of high concentrations of manganese and ammonium at the boundary of redox conditions and below, anaerobic nitrification with the formation of nitrates occurs. Overall, most of organic matter in Lake Svetloe undergoes biodegradation essentially under microaerophilic/anaerobic conditions of the chemocline and the monimolimnion. Consequently, the manifestation of the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle is expressed in these horizons in the most vivid and complex relationship with other cycles of elements.

Although different assessments and evaluations of Dual-Miller cycle performed, specified output power and thermal performance associated with engine determined. Besides, multi objective optimization of thermal efficiency, Ecological Coefficient of performance ( ) and Ecological function ( ) by the mean of NSGA-II technique and thermodynamic analysis performed. The Pareto optimal frontier obtaining the best optimum solution is chosen by fuzzy Bellman-Zadeh, LINMAP, and TOPSIS decision-making techniques. Based on the results, performances of dual-Miller cycles and their optimization are improved.

The PLM concept implies the use of heterogeneous information resources at different stages of the product life cycle, the joint work of which allows you to effectively solve the problems of product quality and various costs. According to the principle of isomorphism of regularities of complex systems, an effective PLM system must have these regularities. Unfortunately, this principle is not often fundamental when designing PLM systems. The purpose of the work is to show, using a simple example, the principles of development, operation and use of an educational multi-agent PLM system, the main purpose of which is to study and research these regularities in the life cycle of a special threaded connection. The multi-agent approach to the development of a PLM system provides the necessary prerequisites for the emergence of system-wide regularities in it. The parallel work of agents is implemented using the actor model and the Ray Python-package. Agents for the logical inference of knowledge base facts, CAD/FEA/CAM/SCADA agents, agents for optimization by various methods, and other agents have been developed. Open source software was used to develop the system. Each agent has relatively simple behavior, implemented by its rule function, and can interact with other agents. The system can work in interactive mode with the user or in automatic mode according to a simple algorithm: the rule functions of all agents are executed until at least one of them returns a value other than None. Examples of the operation of the system are given and such system-wide regularities as emergence, historicity and self-organization are demonstrated in it.

Nuclear fission technologies have the potential to play a significant role in the energy mix of a net-zero and sustainable society. However, to achieve the sustainability goal two significant challenges remain: efficient and sustainable fuel usage and the minimisation of long term nuclear waste. Civil nuclear molten salt systems and technologies offer the opportunity to address both, delivering future reactors at scale for efficient and effective power production and nuclear waste burnup. Potentially, both objectives could be fulfilled in one reactor system, which could significantly improve sustainability indices. In addition, demand driven development of a significantly reduced fuel cycle with enhanced proliferation resistance offers further potential for improvement. To achieve these goals, a transformative approach for salt clean-up during molten salt reactor operation is proposed in this work, by concentrating on the detection and removal of key neutron poisoning elements which prevent the reactor from long-term operation. This work also demonstrates the importance of the effective integration of physics, reactor design and chemistry when systems modelling in achieving these system development goals.

Gas turbine installations (GTIs) are widely used to generate electrical and thermal energy mainly by burning gaseous fuels. The use of GTIs to burn hydrogen as part of the development of hydrogen energy technology is currently of particular interest. In order to assess the prospects of using GTIs in such a way, it is necessary, among other things, to understand the carbon footprint of the gas turbine as part of the carbon footprint of the entire life cycle of hydrogen. The article provides an overview of the results of previously published studies on life cycle assessment (LCA) of technically complex devices associated with the production and consumption of fuel and energy, which, from the point of view of the complexity of LCA, are most similar to gas turbine installation. The characteristics of the considered stages and resources used in the assessment of the stages of the life cycle of technically complex equipment are presented, including an analysis of the amount of materials used in production and construction. Taking into account its specific application in Russia, an assessment of greenhouse gas emissions at the stages of the GTI life cycle per MWh of produced capacity was carried out.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematological cancer with poor outcomes due to a lack of efficacious targeted therapies. The Nuclear Factor of Activated T Cells (NFAT) family of transcription factors is well characterized as a regulator of the cell cycle and differentiation in the myeloid lineage. Recent evidence has demonstrated that NFAT family members may have roles in regulating AML leukemogenesis and resistance to targeted therapy in myeloid leukemias. Furthermore gene expression data from patient samples show that some NFATs are more highly expressed in poorly differentiated AML and after disease relapse, implying that the NFAT family may have roles in specific types of AML. This review outlines the evidence for the role of NFAT in healthy myeloid tissue and explores how NFAT might regulate AML pathogenesis, highlighting the potential to target specific NFAT proteins therapeutically in AML.

Forest plantations have a large potential for carbon sequestration, playing an important role in the global carbon cycle. However, despite the huge amount of research carried out worldwide, the absolute contribution of industrial forest plantations is still incomplete for some parts of the world. To contribute to bridge this gap, we calculated the amount of C stock in three fast growing forest species in Chile. Relevant C pools (above-ground and below-ground biomass, forest floor, and soil) were considered for this analysis. Across the industrial plantation forests of Chile, carbon accumulated in the above-ground biomass was 181–212 Mg · ha−1 for Pinus radiata, 147–180 Mg · ha−1 for Eucalyptus nitens, and 95–117 Mg · ha−1 for Eucalyptus globulus (age 20–24 years for P.radiata and 10–14 years for Eucalyptus). Our results agree with other studies showing that 30%–50% of the total C stock is stored in the soil. Total C stocks were for 343 Mg · ha−1 for P.radiata, 352 Mg · ha−1 for E.nitens, and 254 Mg · ha−1 for E. gloubulus, also at the end of a typical rotation. The carbon pool in the forest floor was found to be significantly lower (less than 4% of the total) when compared to the other pools and showed large spatial variability. We conclude that industrial forest plantations are a valuable tool to reduce atmospheric CO2 and mitigate climate change. Given the contribution of soils to total carbon stocks, special attention should be paid to forest management activities that affect the soil organic carbon pool.

The Action Control Theory (ACT) is an enactive theory of perception and mental imagery with six components: Schemata, Objects, Actions, Affect, Goals and Others’ Behavior. The evidence support-ing these six connected processes is reviewed in light of research on mental imagery vividness. The six processes and their interconnections receive empirical support from a wide range of studies. All six domains of perception and mental imagery are influenced by individual differences in vividness. Real-world applications of ACT show interesting potential to improve human well-being in both healthy people and patients. Mental imagery can be applied in creative ways to make new collective goals and actions for change that are necessary to maximize the future prospects of the planet.

Abstract: Oncogenic RAS mutations drive more than half of human cancers, and RAS inhibition is the holy grail of oncology. Thirty years of relentless efforts and harsh disappointments have taught us about the intricacies of oncogenic RAS signalling that allow us to now get a pharmacological grip on this elusive protein. The inhibition of effector pathways, such as the RAF-MEK-ERK pathway, has largely proven disappointing. So far, most of these efforts were aimed at blocking the activation of ERK. Here, we discuss RAF dependent pathways that are regulated through RAF functions independent of catalytic activity and their potential role as targets to block oncogenic RAS signalling. We focus on the now well documented roles of RAF kinase independent functions in apoptosis, cell cycle progression and cell migration.

Background: Interleukin (IL)-33 is a member of interleukin (IL)-1 family of cytokines which has been linked to the development of inflammatory conditions and cancer in the gastrointestinal tract. This study is designed to investigate whether IL-33 has direct effect on human gastric epithelial cells (GES-1) and on human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line (AGS) and gastric carcinoma cell line (NCI-N87), assessing its role in regulation of cell proliferation and cell cycle, apoptosis and necrosis. Cell cycle regulation was also determined in ex vivo gastric cancer samples obtained during endoscopy and surgical procedures. Methods: cell lines and tissue samples underwent stimulation with rhIL-33. Proliferation was assessed by XTT and CFSE assay, we also evaluated apoptosis by Caspase 3/8 Activity assay and Annexin V assays. Cell cycle were analyzed by means of Propidium Iodine assay and gene expression regulation was assessed by RT-PCR Profiling. Results: we found that IL-33 has an antiproliferative and proapoptotic effect on cancer cell line, while it can stimulate proliferation and reduce apoptosis in normal epithelial cell line. These effects are also confirmed by the analysis of cell cycle gene expression which showed a reduced expression of proproliferative genes in cancer cells, in particular genes involved in G0/G1 and G2/M checkpoint. These results are confirmed by the gene expression analysis on surgical and bioptic specimens. Conclusions: the aforementioned results indicate that IL-33 may be involved in cell proliferation in an environment- and cell type-dependent fashion.

A wide variety of bacteria, fungi and plants can produce bioactive secondary metabolites, which are often referred to as natural products. With the rapid development of DNA sequencing technology and bioinformatics, a large number of putative biosynthetic gene clusters have been reported. However, only a few natural products can be detected when isolated species are grown under conventional laboratory conditions, as most biosynthetic gene clusters are not expressed or are expressed at extremely low levels at these conditions. With the rapid development of synthetic biology, advanced genome mining and modification strategies have been reported, and they provide new opportunities for discovery of natural products. This review discusses advances in recent years that can accelerate the design, build, test, and learn (DBTL) cycle of natural product discovery, and prospects trends and key challenges for future research directions.

This paper presents a new implementation of a 2-box absolute flow model, enabling the calculation of CO₂ transfer between the atmosphere and a mixing reservoir representing the combined effect of the terrestrial and ocean regions. The model uses published values of anthropogenic CO₂ fossil fuel emissions (CO2ff), atmospheric CO₂ mixing ratio and nuclear weapons bomb yields, to compute atmospheric d¹³C and Δ¹⁴C time-series. The level of agreement between the calculated values and the accepted values for d¹³C is within ± 0.05 ‰, and for Δ¹⁴C is within ± 3‰, spanning 200 years. The model contains only seven internal parameters; these are varied to optimize the fit, leading to reasonable parameter values, indicating the validity of the method. In addition, the model shows how a rising CO₂ exchange influx fluctuating with surface temperature is compatible with a nett atmospheric CO₂ sink. The study demonstrates that a single CO₂ residence time applies to both the ¹⁴C bomb pulse and the anthropogenic flux, contrary to the conventional view that "bomb radiocarbon and anthropogenic CO₂ do not behave identically." [Joos 1994 Nature 370, 181–182]. It is shown that the difference in behaviour, claimed to be due to seawater chemistry, is not significant in practice since fluctuating bulk carbon dominates fluctuating isotopic ratio. A new analysis of the airborne fraction indicates that the assumption of a time-dependent exchange influx results in a similar residence time for bulk CO₂ as for ¹⁴C in the nuclear bomb pulse, reinforcing the view that the ¹²C, ¹³C and ¹⁴C carbon isotopic forms of CO₂ behave similarly in the carbon cycle.

Using the PLCC advantages generates revenue and lowers costs more than might be anticipated. It ensures better decisions by using a more perfect and practical assessment of revenues and costs. Although the supplier selection (SC) product life cycle cost (SCPLCC) is an important consideration among corporations, SCPLCC problem has become associated with deciding how one supplier should be selected from possible alternatives. In this study, we applied two types of goal programming, multiobjective linear programming and revised multichoice goal programming to develop a PLCC-based concept to solve the SCPLCC problem and construct a decision-making tool for application to a case of supply chain management in a Taiwanese light-emitting diode company in the high-tech industry. Our study main contribution Company managers can easily use the two approaches of the SCPLCC model with different parameters to solve SCPLCC model problems. Finally, we comparing five models found RMCGP with weighted linear goal programming had an adequate effect for application to the PLCC concept for high-technology company; this cloud make company decision–makers focus on low PLCC and select better supplier.

Supermarkets in Port Harcourt (PH) city, Nigeria, predominantly rely on diesel electricity generation due to grid instability, leading to high cost of electricity prices. Although solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have been proposed as an alternative, these supermarkets have yet to adopt them, mainly due to high investment costs and a lack of awareness of the long-term financial and environmental benefits. This paper examines the technical and economic practicality of a PV system for these supermarkets using the PVsyst software and a spreadsheet model. Solar resources showed that PH has a daily average solar radiation and temperature of 4.21 kWh/m2/day and 25.73℃, respectively. Market Square, the supermarket with the highest peak power demand of 59.8 kW, and a 561 kWh/day load profile, was chosen as a case study. A proposed PV system with a power capacity of 232 kW, battery storage capacity of 34,021 Ah, a charge controller size of 100 A/560V, and an inverter with a power rating of 60V/75 kW has been designed to meet the load demand. The economic analysis showed a $266,936 life cycle cost, $0.12 per kWh levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), 4-year simple payback time, and a 20.5% internal rate of return (IRR). The PV system is feasible due to its positive net present value (NPV) of $165,322 and carbon savings of 582 tCO2/year.

Raw rubber production is the sole foundation for the rubber product industry, rendering raw rubber to manufacture essential commodities to mankind such as tires, condoms, surgical gloves, and so forth. Raw rubber production involves various stakeholders; however, literature focusing on the social impacts of raw rubber production and its supply chain has hereto been limited. Social life cycle assessment, a popular tool to assess the social impacts of a product or process and was deployed herein to assess the social profiles of three Sri Lankan raw rubber supply chains (crepe rubber, concentrated latex, and ribbed smoked sheets). The Social Hotspots Database v4 on Sima Pro v9.3 was used for the analysis. Results indicated that Governance and Labour rights & decent work had been affected in its supply chain of fertilizers due to Corruption and Freedom of association & collective bargaining issues, mainly in Belarus, and China. Proposed improvement options to address these touchpoints were found to be effective. For instance, if the importation of K-fertilizer shifted into low risk countries, overall social risks associated with Corruption and Freedom of association & collective bargaining in the supply chains could be reduced by ca. 36% and 25%, respectively. As a result, social risks in the aforesaid impact categories, i.e., Governance and Labor rights & decent work, were reduced by ca. 35-41% and ca. 17-20%, respectively. Such improvements may help positioning the Sri Lankan rubber industry in the sustainability-conscious-world rubber market. Further, the methodical hierarchy developed herein is suggested to adopt in any industry to measure social sustainability subjected to the relevant refinements to the supply chains.

In this study, we investigate the influence of control type and strain rate on the lifetime of specimens manufactured from 50CrMo4. This influence is described by a strain rate dependent method that uses cyclic stress strain curves to correct displacement controlled cyclic test results. The objective of this correction is to eliminate the stress related differences between displacement controlled cyclic test results and force controlled cyclic test results. The method is applied to the results of ultrasonic fatigue tests of six different combinations of heat treatment, specimen geometry (notch factor) and atmosphere. The corrected results show an improved agreement with test results obtained on conventional fatigue testing equipment with similar specimens: the standard deviation in combined data sets is significantly reduced (p=4.1%). We discuss the literature on intrinsic and extrinsic strain rate effects in carbon steels.

In recent years, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have heen evaluated for treating homologous recombination-deficient tumors, taking advantage of synthetic lethality. However, increasing evidence indicates that PARP proteins exert several cellular functions unrelated with their role on DNA repair, including function as a co-activators of transcription through protein-protein interaction with E2F1. Since the RB/E2F1 pathway is among the most frequently mutated in many tumours types, we investigated whether the absence of PARP activity could counteract the consequences of E2F1 hyperactivation. Our results demonstrate that genetic ablation of Parp1 extends the survival of Rb-null embryos, while genetic inactivation of Parp1 results in reduced development of pRb-dependent tumors. Our results demonstrate that PARP1 plays a key role as a transcriptional co-activator of the transcription factor E2F1, an important component of the cell cycle regulation. Furthermore, impairment of PARP results in a reduction of tumor growth, that is not depending of the activity of PARP on DNA repair. Considering that most oncogenic processes are associated with cell cycle deregulation, the disruption of this PARP1-E2F1 interaction could provide a new therapeutic target of great interest and a wide spectrum of indications.

Purpose – The paper aims to view how researchers have operationalized social impact assessment for construction projects over the last ten years. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic review was used to investigate case studies in the Social Life-Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) to analyze the application of the methodology. A qualitative study of 19 articles published between 2012 and 2022 was used to collect content on multiple categories impeding S-LCA through case studies in the construction industry. Findings – Our results showed the existence of limitations on the qualitative and quantitative aspects in measuring the social indicators. They were associated with the scoring method and the lack of data in some articles. Social implications – From this review, we understood that S-LCA has flaws in terms of the quality of the measurement, scoring method, and the lack of social data. Lack of social data means social impacts are being neglected and not assessed properly since there are several challenges pointed out throughout literature Originality/value – The originality of this research is that it focuses on case studies in the construction industry. It studies the operationalization of the S-LCA in this specific industry showing the different characteristics and challenges in the last 10 years.

Protoflavones, a rare group of natural flavonoids with a non-aromatic B-ring, are best known of their antitumor properties. The protoflavone B-ring is a versatile moiety that may be explored for other pharmacological purposes, but common cytotoxicity of these compounds is a limitation to such efforts. Protoapigenone was previously found to be active against the lytic cycle of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Further, the 5-hydroxyflavone moiety is a known pharmacophore against HIV-integrase. The aim of this work was to prepare a series of less cytotoxic protoflavone analogs, and to study their antiviral activity against HIV and EBV. Twenty-seven compounds including 18 new derivatives were prepared from apigenin through oxidative de-aromatization and subsequent continuous-flow hydrogenation, deuteration, and/or 4′-oxime formation. One compound was active against HIV at the micromolar range, and 3 compounds showed significant activity against the EBV lytic cycle at the medium-low nanomolar range. Among these, protoapigenone 1′-O-isopropyl ether (6) was identified as a promising lead due to its 73-times selectivity of its antiviral over its cytotoxic effect, which exceeds that of protoapigenone by 2.4-times. Our results open new opportunities to design new, potent and safe anti-EBV agents based on the natural protoflavone moiety.

Current bridge inspection practices rely on paper-based data acquisition, digitization, and multiple conversions in between incompatible formats to facilitate data exchange. This practice is time-consuming, error-prone, cumbersome, and leads to information loss. One aim for future inspection procedures is to have a fully digitized workflow that achieves loss-free data exchange, which lowers costs and offers higher efficiency. On the one hand, existing studies proposed methods to automatize data acquisition and visualization for inspections. These studies lack an open standard to make the gathered data available for other processes. On the other hand, several studies discuss data structures for exchanging damage information through out different stakeholders. However, those studies do not cover the process of automatic data acquisition and transfer. This study focused on a framework that incorporates automatic damage data acquisition, transfer, and a damage information model for data exchange. This enables inspectors to use damage data for subsequent analyses and simulations. The proposed framework shows the potentials for a comprehensive damage information model and related (semi-)automatic data acquisition and processing.

Saturated lights appear brighter than white lights of the same luminance. This phenomenon is known as the Helmholtz-Kohlrausch (H-K) effect and can be estimated by modeling achromatic luminance and saturation to total brightness. These models have been shown to differ between women and men and are more variable in women. The variation in brightness models among women may be due to hormonal changes across the menstrual cycle. To test this, total brightness and achromatic luminance were measured across blue, green, yellow-green, yellow, and red hues. These data were measured along with salivary hormone levels for nine cycling women at points representing the menstrual, peri-ovulation, and luteal phases. These data were also collected for seven oral contraceptive (OC) users. There were no main effects of OC use nor menstrual cycle phase on B/L ratios, but ratios were higher for the red stimulus in cycling women than OC users. Red B/L ratios were also higher for cycling women than OC users during the luteal phase. Estrogen, progesterone, and their interaction predicted 18% of the variation in brightness for cycling women. These models could not be fit for OC users, and estrogen only accounted for 5% of brightness variance with progesterone terms omitted. These findings and potential mechanisms are discussed in the context of previous results.

Phenotypical screening is a widely used approach in drug discovery for the identification of small molecules with cellular activities. However, functional annotation of identified hits often poses a challenge. The development of small molecules with narrow or exclusive target selectivity such as chemical probes and chemogenomic (CG) libraries, greatly diminishes this challenge, but non-specific effects caused by compound toxicity or interference with basic cellular functions still poses a problem to associate phenotypic readouts with molecular targets. Hence, each compound should ideally be comprehensively characterized regarding its effects on general cell functions. Here, we report an optimized live-cell multiplexed assay that classifies cells based on nuclear morphology, presenting an excellent indicator for cellular responses such as early apoptosis and necrosis. This basic readout in combination with the detection of other general cell damaging activities of small molecules such as changes in cytoskeletal morphology, cell cycle and mitochondrial health provides a comprehensive time-dependent characterization of the effect of small molecules on cellular health in a single experiment. The developed high-content assay offers multi-dimensional comprehensive characterization that can be used to delineate generic effects regarding cell functions and cell viability, allowing an assessment of compound suitability for subsequent detailed phenotypic and mechanistic studies.

A key feature of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is the hyperplastic proliferation exhibited by the vascular smooth muscle cells from patients (HPASMC). The growth inducers FOXM1 and PLK1 are highly upregulated in these cells. The mechanism by which these two proteins direct aberrant growth in these cells is not clear. Herein we identify cyclin dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) also termed cell division cycle protein 2 (CDC2), as having a primary role in promoting progress of the cell cycle leading to proliferation in HPASMC. HPASMC obtained from PAH patients and pulmonary arteries from Sugen/hypoxia rats were investigated for their expression of CDC2. Protein levels of CDC2 were much higher in PAH than in cells from normal donors. Knocking down FOXM1 or PLK1 protein expression with siRNA or pharmacological inhibitors lowered the cellular expression of CDC2 considerably. However, knockdown of CDC2 with siRNA or inhibiting its activity with RO-3306 did not reduce the protein expression of FOXM1 or PLK1. Expression of CDC2 and FOXM1 reached its maximum at G1/S, while PLK1 reached its maximum at G2/M phase of the cell cycle. The expression of other CDKs such as CDK2, CDK4, CDK6, CDK7 and CDK9 did not change in PAH HPASMC. Moreover, inhibition via Wee1 inhibitor adavosertib or siRNAs targeting Wee1, Myt1, CDC25A, CDC25B, or CDC25C led to dramatic decreases in CDC2 protein expression. Lastly, we found CDC2 expression at the RNA and protein level to be upregulated in pulmonary arteries during disease progression Sugen/hypoxia rats. In sum, our present results illustrate that the increased expression of FOXM1 and PLK1 in PAH leads directly to increased expression of CDC2 resulting in a potentiated growth hyperactivity of PASMC from patients with pulmonary hypertension. Our results further suggest that the regulation of CDC2, or associated regulatory proteins, will prove beneficial in the treatment of this disease.

Background: It is unknown whether prolonged artificial hormonal environment during early fetal development affects the birthweight of singletons born after frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET). Methods: A retrospective observational study included singleton births>22 weeks of gestation obtained after FET between 2013-2019 after endometrial preparation with ovulatory cycle (OC) or artificial cycle (AC). Our primary objective was to compare birthweight of singletons after FET between endometrial preparation by OC or AC. Secondary objectives included prolonged pregnancies, high birthweight, low birthweight, SGA and LGA rates. Multivariate analyses were performed considering potential confounding factors. Results: Among 198 singleton live births after FET, 112 were obtained with OC and 86 with AC. Prolonged pregnancies rate was higher in AC (25.6% vs. 7.1%, respectively, p=0.001). Mean birthweight was higher (+219g) in AC (3386g vs. 3167g, p=0.01; adjusted-p=0.052), as well as the rate of babies exceeding 4000g (16.3% vs. 2.7%, p=0.03, adjusted-p=0.015). The rate of babies <2500g was lower in AC (3.5% vs. 11.6%, respectively, p=0.050, adjusted-p=0.049). Conclusions: Since OC does not strain the chances of pregnancy and in the incomplete knowledge of the consequences of neonatal overweight on the future health of children, OC preparation could be advocated as first-line endometrial preparation in FET.