In current severe global emergency situation of 2019-nCov outbreak, it is imperative to identify vulnerable and susceptible groups for effective protection and care. Recently, studies found that 2019-nCov and SARS-nCov share the same receptor, ACE2. In this study, we analyzed five large-scale bulk transcriptomic datasets of normal lung tissue and two single-cell transcriptomic datasets to investigate the disparities related to race, age, gender and smoking status in ACE2 gene expression and its distribution among cell types. We didn’t find significant disparities in ACE2 gene expression between racial groups (Asian vs Caucasian), age groups (>60 vs <60) or gender groups (male vs female). However, we observed significantly higher ACE2 gene expression in former smoker’s lung compared to non-smoker’s lung. Also, we found higher ACE2 gene expression in Asian current smokers compared to non-smokers but not in Caucasian current smokers, which may indicate an existence of gene-smoking interaction. In addition, we found that ACE2 gene is expressed in specific cell types related to smoking history and location. In bronchial epithelium, ACE2 is actively expressed in goblet cells of current smokers and club cells of non-smokers. In alveoli, ACE2 is actively expressed in remodelled AT2 cells of former smokers. Together, this study indicates that smokers especially former smokers may be more susceptible to 2019-nCov and have infection paths different with non-smokers. Thus, smoking history may provide valuable information in identifying susceptible population and standardizing treatment regimen.

We primarily study a possible link between 2021 COVID-19 vaccination uptake in Europe and monthly 2022 excess all-cause mortality, i.e., mortality higher than before the pandemic. Analyses of 31 countries weighted by population size show that all-cause mortality during the first nine months of 2022 increased more the higher the 2021 vaccination uptake; a one percentage point increase in 2021 vaccination uptake was associated with a monthly mortality increase in 2022 by 0.105 percent (95% CI, 0.075-0.134). When controlling for alternative explanations, the association remained robust, and we discuss the result emphasizing causality as well as potential ecological fallacy. Also, the study shows that 2021 all-cause mortality was lower the higher the vaccination uptake, but this association became non-significant when controlling for alternative explanations.

The current spreading novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is highly infectious and pathogenic and has attracted global attention. Recent studies have found that SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV share around 80% of homology and use the same cell entry receptor, ACE2. These inspired us to study other receptors of SARS-CoV, which may be used for SARS-CoV-2 binding as well. In this study, we screened the gene expression of three receptors (ACE2, DC-SIGN and L-SIGN) in four datasets of normal lung tissue from lung adenocarcinoma patients and two single-cell RNA sequencing datasets from normal lung and bronchial epithelial cells separately. No significant difference in gene expression of these three receptors were found between gender groups (male vs female). We found higher gene expression of DC-SIGN in elder with age>60 and higher gene expression of L-SIGN in Caucasian than Asian. Similar to ACE2, we observed significantly higher DC-SIGN gene expression in the lungs of smokers, especially former smokers. However, smokers upregulate ACE2 and DC-SIGN gene expression in different cell types. In the whole lung, ACE2 is actively expressed in remodeled Alveolar Type II cells of former smokers, while DC-SIGN is largely expressed in monocytes of former smokers and dendritic cells of current smokers. In bronchial epithelium, no obvious gene expression of DC-SIGN and L-SIGN was observed while ACE2 was found to be actively expressed in goblet cells of current smokers and club cells of non-smokers. In conclusion, our findings may indicate that smokers, especially former smokers, and people over 60 have higher risk and are more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Also, this study provides hints on possible SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity mechanisms in lung infection.

The COVID-19 pandemics has had an unprecedented global impact, and the COVID-19 mass vaccination campaign has been commonly regarded as crucial to overcome the pandemics. Since all-cause mortality is the best way to measure the consequences of a health intervention, the present study was devised to analyze the all-cause mortality data of the United Kingdom (UK), which are made publicly available broken down by vaccination status. Data from January to May 2022 were retrospectively collected and analyzed according to age groups and vaccination status and the relative risk (RR) for all-cause mortality was calculated in comparison to the corresponding unvaccinated groups. All-cause mortality RR was also calculated from January to May 2021 for vaccinated people. Results show that the all-cause mortality RR was higher in people who received one or two doses of COVID-19 vaccines throughout the whole period and in any of the age groups considered. People vaccinated with three doses more than 21 days earlier had RRs lower than unvaccinated people, which however linearly increased over time. RR in vaccinated people of all ages in comparison to unvaccinated people were lower in January-May 2021, however they steadily grew over time. The finding that all-cause mortality RR in vaccinated in comparison to unvaccinated people increases over time requires careful examination to understand the underlying factors. Meanwhile, all the other major countries should undertake a systematic collection of all-causes mortality broken down by vaccination status, and mass vaccination campaigns should be suspended.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a global threat to human health and disease risk increases with advancing age. The regulation of the ACE2 gene that codes for COVID-19 host receptor ACE2 has been shown to be under epigenetic regulation. Here, we examined whether intensive DNA methylation profiling of the ACE2 gene differed by human host tissue and cell type, gender, and age. Results: Accessing four public datasets, we observed unique human cell-type-specific ACE2 DNA methylation patterns. In human lung tissues, gender differences in DNA methylation at 2 sites related to the ACE2 gene were identified. Further, in freshly isolated airway epithelial cells, DNA methylation near the transcription start site of the ACE2 gene associated with biological age. Conclusion: Epigenetic profiling of host tissue may permit discovery of age and gender-related potential risk factors for COVID-19. How perturbations in ACE2 methylation relate to clinical severity across the ages and gender needs to be determined to guide screening tools and potential epigenetic modification targeting to alleviate COVID-19 morbidity in the elderly.

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the awareness of local residents regarding healthcare projects and to suggest some ideas for the revision of local ones. Methods: To delve into the opinions of local residents, the author of this study created a questionnaire composed of eight questions on the general characteristics of the respondents, eight questions on satisfaction with health centers, 16 questions on the awareness of healthcare projects, and 22 questions on local healthcare. The survey was conducted for 409 residents who visited public centers in Gimcheon from 15 March to 14 April 2021. Results: Data analysis revealed the following: The proportion of local residents who use health centers was 39.1%, and those users visit health centers, on average, 3.92 times a year. Among healthcare projects, the project known by the highest proportion of people was vaccinations (84.5%), which was also the project that was most used (38.1%). Among healthcare projects needed in the with-COVID-19 age, respondents awarded the highest score to vaccinations (4.15 points on a five-point Likert scale) and the second highest score to infectious disease management (4.12). Conclusions: For healthcare projects, central and local governments should focus on activating vaccinations, solving the problem of medical accessibility through untact remote treatment and establishing national infectious disease-specializing hospitals and local infectious disease management based on such national hospitals.

Background: Prior to the federal law passed in late 2019, many states passed an increased age of sale law prohibiting youth under age 21 (or Tobacco 21) from purchasing tobacco products and e-cigarettes. Although previous research has documented tobacco retail sales violations, fewer studies have examined age verification and illegal tobacco sales in the context of Tobacco 21 or in repeated purchase attempts in various settings. Methods: In this study conducted between 2019 and 2022, buyers aged 18 to 20 years made repeated unsupervised purchase attempts of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, tobacco-free nicotine pouches and/or smokeless tobacco in store visits to over 180 tobacco or vape retailers in New Jersey, New York City, and Pitt County, North Carolina. Buyers documented whether they were asked for identification and whether they were able to successfully purchase a tobacco or nicotine product at each visit. Results: The primary outcome will be the percent of retailers that checked buyers’ identification at store visits and the precent of visits that resulted in a successful underage tobacco product purchase. We will aim to compare the results across time periods and study sites while controlling for other factors (including repeated visits). Conclusion: These results will be beneficial to designing compliance check inspections and/or interventions that reduce youth access to tobacco.

This study presents the validation process of the Questionnaire on Academic Stress in Secondary Education –QASSE-, designed to assess the wide variety of school sources and situations related to academic stress in adolescence, and their relationship with students’ physical and psychological well-being. Participants were 860 Spanish high school students (52.9% girls) with an average age of 14.62 years (SD = 1.8). Through a cross-validation process, EFA and CFA supported QASSE multifactorial structure with four first-order factors -academic overload, interaction with classmates, family pressure, and future-oriented perspective- and a second-order factor of academic stress, showing a significant and intense relationship with adolescents’ psychological and physical well-being. Results also highlight the effects of the gender*educational level interaction on the students’ stress, with girls showing higher levels of stress in the transition courses between educational phases (sophomore and junior years). The QASSE demonstrates good validity and reliability, showing potential for both research and educational application. The results show the high impact of the QASSE dimensions on psychological and physical well-being in adolescence, highlighting its special usefulness for designing and adjusting educational prevention and intervention actions in this area to the students’ specific characteristics and needs

The increasing prevalence of obesity and sedentary lifestyles has led to an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) worldwide. In Taiwan, middle-aged women are at a greater risk of MetS, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease than men are because they have more subcutaneous fat and larger waist circumferences compared to men with equal visceral fat levels. This study investigated the effects of calorie restriction supplemented with fish oil (CRF) in middle-aged women with MetS. For 12 weeks, 75 eligible participants were randomly assigned either calorie restriction (CR) or CRF. Both dietary intervention groups were further divided into two age groups: ≤45 and >45 years. The changes in MetS severity, inflammatory status, iron status, and red blood cell fatty acid profile were evaluated. Seventy-one participants completed the trial. Both dietary interventions significantly ameliorated MetS and improved the participants’ inflammatory status. CR significantly increased total iron binding capacity, whereas CRF increased hepcidin levels. Furthermore, CRF significantly increased the n-6/n-3 and arachidonic acid/docosahexaenoic acid ratios. In conclusion, CR and CRF improved the anthropometric and MetS characteristics of early-middle aged women, including body weight, blood glucose levels, triglyceride levels, as well as the scores for the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and quantitative insulin sensitivity cheque index. Dietary intervention was more effective in >45-year-old women than ≤45-year-old women.

Tobacco use, most people would say. Smoking tobacco increases the risk of developing many types of cancer and is responsible for approximately one-third of all cancer deaths. The association between tobacco use and lung cancer is well known; lung cancer occurs about 20 times more often in heavy smokers than in nonsmokers [1]. However, many lung cancers are diagnosed in never smokers [2], and most smokers do not develop lung cancer [3,4].

Despite increasing research efforts, there is a lack of consensus on defining aging or health. To understand the underlying processes, and to foster the development of targeted interventions towards increasing one’s health, there is an urgent need: (1) to find a broadly acceptable and useful definition of health, based on a list of features (which may or may not be molecular); (2) to operationalize features of health so that it can be measured; (3) to identify predictive biomarkers and (molecular) pathways of health, and (4) to suggest interventions, such as nutrition and exercise, targeted at putative causal pathways and processes. Based on a survey of the literature, we propose to define health as a state of an individual characterized by the core features of (a) physiological function, (b) cognitive function and (c) physical function, amended, specifically in case of humans, by (d) lack of disease, and by (e) reproductive function. Often used concepts such as lack of frailty, allostatic load, or self-reported health (in case of human), and indices such as the Healthy Aging Index can be viewed as projections or surrogates of our definition. We further define aging as the set of all processes in an individual that reduce its “wellbeing”, that is, its health or survival or both. We define biomarkers of health by their attribute of predicting future health better than chronological age. We define healthspan pathways as molecular features of health that relate to each other, specifically by belonging to the same molecular pathway. Our conceptual framework may integrate diverse operationalizations of health and guide precision prevention efforts that are a key to reducing the need for medical and nursing care.

Age-related diseases (ARDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide, and contribute to 90% of mortality in developed countries. Interestingly, the mortality rates of individual ARDs increase exponentially with age. Processes described by the exponential growth function typically involve a branching chain reaction or, more generally, a positive feedback loop. Here I propose that each ARD is mediated by one or several positive feedback loops (vicious cycles). I then identify critical vicious cycles in five major ARDs: atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. I also propose that the progression of ARDs can be halted by selectively interrupting the vicious cycles and suggest the most promising targets. An evolutionary perspective is also offered.

Considering the safety issues of Li ion batteries, all-solid-state polymer electrolyte has been one of the promising solutions. In this point, achieving a Li ion conductivity in the solid state electrolytes comparable to liquid electrolytes (>1 mS/cm) is particularly challenging. Employment of polyethylene oxide (PEO) solid electrolyte has not been not enough in this point due to high crystallinity. In this study, hybrid solid electrolyte (HSE) systems are designed with Li_1.3Al_0.3Ti_0.7(PO₄)₃(LATP), PEO and Lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF₆) or Lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI). Hybrid solid cathode (HSC) is also designed using LATP, PEO and lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO₂, LCO)—lithium manganese oxide (LiMn₂O₄, LMO). The designed HSE system displays 3.0 × 10⁻⁴ S/cm (55 ℃) and 1.8 × 10⁻³ S/cm (23 ℃) with an electrochemical stability as of 6.0 V without any separation layer introduction. Li metal (anode)/HSE/HSC cell in this study displays initial charge capacity as of 123.4/102.7 mAh/g (55 ℃) and 73/57 mAh/g (25 °C). To these systems, Succinonitrile (SN) has been incorporated as a plasticizer for practical secondary Li ion battery system development to enhance ionic conductivity. The incorporated SN effectively increases the ionic conductivity without any leakage and short-circuits even under broken cell condition. The developed system also overcomes the typical disadvantages of internal resistance induced by Ti ion reduction. In this study, optimized ionic conductivity and low internal resistance inside the Li ion battery cell have been obtained, which suggests a new possibility in the secondary Li ion battery development.

Migrations are much more important than currently recognised, for explaining important patterns observed in the European archaeology record – according to this archaeology led model. At a high level, they explain the introduction of different farming, monument building, the spread of metalworking and patterns of trade and exchange. This paper presents an archaeogenetic model based on a strategic review of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic archaeology of Europe, alongside a review of recently published ancient DNA data. The model is archaeology led. It takes archaeology themes and proposes migratory events to explain them. Ancient DNA data and further archaeology evidence is then used to test these proposed migrations- to reject or refine them. The model introduces a new and more strategic way of looking at archaeological cultures - that updates early 20th century approaches to studying archaeology cultures, and integrates with the detailed ‘post processual’ studies of the late 20th Century. The model consists of seven maps – each showing multiple migration events – with key evidence to support each migration map. It proposes a new category of a ‘Black Sea’ related population that makes a major genetic contribution to the Middle Neolithic of Europe. The proposed migrations provide an explanation for the observed patterns of archaeology, for example: • multiple Neolithic migrations that introduced, farming and metalworking into Europe; • a major ‘Black Sea’ related ‘Middle Neolithic’ migration that carried advanced knowledge of astronomy that can be recognised in a variety of types of monument from the Neolithic through to Bronze Age Europe; and, • migrations of related cultures (‘supercultures’) that explain patterns of trade and exchange in Bronze Age western Europe. The model also provides ancient DNA and archaeology based support for the key aspects of Childe’s ‘dawn of civilisation’ in Europe and Egypt and Gimbutas’ ‘Old Europe’ and “three waves of migration from the Steppe”.

All vaccines exhibit both specific and non-specific effects. The specific effects are measured by the efficacy against the target pathogen, while the non-specific effects can be detected by the change in all-cause mortality . All-cause mortality data (gender, age band, vaccination history, month of death) between January 2021 and May 2022 was compiled by the Office for National Statistics. COVID–19 vaccination gave good protection on many occasions but less so for younger ages. Each gender and age group shows its own unique vaccination benefit/disbenefit time profile. Individuals are free to make vaccination decisions. For example, women aged 18-39 show a cohort who do not progress beyond the first or second dose. The all-cause mortality outcomes for the Omicron variant showed a very poor response to vaccination with 70% of sex/age/vaccination stage/month combinations increasing all-cause mortality, probably due to unfavorable antigenic distance between the first-generation vaccines and this variant, and additional non-specific effects. The all-cause mortality outcomes of COVID–19 vaccination is far more nuanced than have been widely appreciated, and virus vector appear better than the mRNA vaccines in this specific respect. The latter are seemingly more likely to increase all-cause mortality especially in younger age groups. An extensive discussion/literature review is included to provide potential explanations for the observed unexpected vaccine effects.

This study updates previous research showing that 22 all-cause mortality in 31 European countries increased over time the higher the 21 COVID-19 full vaccination uptake. The update illuminates that a one percentage point increase in 21 full vaccination uptake initially decreased all-cause mortality from Jan to Mar 22 by –0.423 percent (95% CI –0.577, –0.270), but the following 14 months, a one percentage point increase in 21 booster vaccination uptake oppositely increased mortality by 0.366 percent (95% CI 0.250, 0.482). The findings indicate that full vaccination initially prevented mortality, but subsequently, booster vaccination, in particular, detrimentally and consistently induced higher mortality. The effects remained robust when controlling for alternative explanations. Studies have argued that heat waves caused mortality in the 22 summer and energy prices caused mortality in the 22-23 winter. However, the update shows that booster vaccination consistently induced higher mortality when neither heat waves nor energy prices were likely explanations.

The present review focuses on recent clinical trials that analyze the efficacy of intravitreal therapeutic agents for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), such as neuroprotective drugs, and complement inhibitors, also called immunomodulatory or anti-inflammatory. A systematic literature search was performed to identify randomized controlled trials published prior to January 2019. Patients affected by dry AMD treated with intravitreal therapeutic agents were included. The changes in the correct visual acuity and the reduction in geographic atrophy progression were evaluated. Several new drugs have shown some promising results, including those targeting the complement cascade and agents called neuroprotective. The action potential of the two groups of drugs is to block the complement cascade model for immunomodulating agents, and prevent the degeneration and apoptosis of ganglion cells for the neuroprotectors, respectively. To the best of knowledge, and after extensive studies on the matter, there are still many investigations to be carried out on dry AMD in collaboration between researchers. They will have to identify truly effective molecules, understand the practical potential of pluripotent stem cells, and refine gene therapies. Only in-depth clinical trials will be able to allow the most appropriate and personalized treatments for each dry AMD patient.

With the increasing of copper consumption, the in-use stock of copper tends to increase. This paper used the “average use life method” to quantify the amount of copper in-use stock, and calculated the average age of in-use stock. It was indicated that the total in-use stock had an overall smooth trends, and reached its peak in 2007 was about 68.9 Mt (million tons), in addition, in-use stock per capita reached its peak ,234 kg/capita in 2001. The results demonstrated that during the period 1992-2002, the average age of copper in-use stock was continually decreased, but gradually increased since the year 2003. The fixed assets depreciation method used in this paper is applied to analyze depreciated copper in-use stock, and to analyze the relationship with economic indicator (GDP). It is demonstrated that it was inconsistent with the theory of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) before 2000, this might be the demand for copper in the service sector is greater than the reduced strength of alternatives. Finally, scenario analysis of future copper in-use stock and depreciated copper in-use stock per capita in the U.S. were presented. The corresponding average age of the in-use stock will have a slight rise in the next decade.

The Late Bronze Age on the territory of Southern Transurals is represented by two major archeological cultures: Srubnaya and Andronovskaya (Alakul culture and Fyodorovskaya – type). Their interaction of constitutes a special mix of material cultures which preserves common features of two independent, Srubnaya and Andronovskaya cultures, but also creates novel local material features. These cultural groups are also known to have brought to the region the technology of bronze production. This is evidenced, amongst others, by the proximity of the largest copper mining in the region, Kargaly mines Chernykh (2002). New methods to produce ceramics and to work bones were also developed, combining two traditions, coming from Srubnaya and Andronovskaya cultures respectively. Importantly, the features of these cultures are commonly encountered together in a single cultural horizon across the distribution ares. These diffusion processes took place in a vast area (more than 120,000 km²) andwere reflected in archeological micro-district of the Urshak river basin. We present here the most recent results of the scientific examination of the Late Bronze Age settlements in southern Transurals and attempt to address a peculiar cultural co-habitation of two distinct cultural groups in this region. We also discuss their synchronism based on absolute dates and elaborate on this cultural syncretism in the entire territory of the Volga-Ural region.

Background: As part of the Heart Healthy Lenoir Project, we developed a practice level intervention to improve blood pressure control. The goal of this study was: i) determine if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that associate with blood pressure variation, identified in large case-control studies, are applicable to blood pressure control in subjects from a rural population; ii) measure the association of these SNPs with subjects’ responsiveness to the hypertension intervention; and iii) identify other SNPs that may help understand patient-specific responses to an intervention. Methods and Results: We used a combination of candidate SNPs and genome-wide analyses to test associations with either baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) or change in systolic blood pressure one year after the intervention in two genetically defined ancestral groups: African Americans (AA) or Caucasian Americans (CAU). Of the 48 candidate SNPs, 13 SNPs associated with baseline SBP in our study; however, one candidate SNP, rs592582, also associated with a change in SBP after one year. Using our study data, we identified 4 and 15 additional loci that associated with a change in SBP in the AA and CAU groups, respectively. Our analysis of gene-age interactions identified genotypes associated with SBP improvement within different age groups of our populations. Moreover, our integrative analysis identified AQP4-AS1 and PADI2 as genes whose expression levels may contribute to the pleiotropy of complex traits involved in cardiovascular health and blood pressure regulation in response to an intervention targeting hypertension. Conclusions: Identification of SNPs associated with the success of a hypertension treatment intervention suggests that genetic factors in combination with age may contribute to an individual’s success in lowering SBP. If these findings prove to be applicable to other populations, the use of this genetic variation in making patient-specific interventions may help providers with making decisions to improve patient outcomes. Further investigation is required to determine the role of this genetic variance with respect to the management of hypertension such that more precise treatment recommendations may be made in the future as part of personalized medicine.

Carbon nanomaterials with a different character of the chemical bond – graphene (sp2) and nanodiamond (sp3) are the building bricks for a new class of all-carbon hybrid nanomaterials, where the two different carbon networks with the sp3 and sp2 hybridization coexist, interact and even transform into one another. The unique electronic, mechanical, and chemical properties of the two border nanoallotropes of carbon ensure the immense application potential and versatility of these all-carbon graphene – diamond nanomaterials. The review gives an overview of the current state of the art of graphene – diamond nanomaterials, including their composites, heterojunctions, and other hybrids for sensing, electronic, energy storage, and other applications. Also, the graphene-to-diamond and diamond-to-graphene transformations at the nanoscale, essential for innovative fabrication, and stability and chemical reactivity assessment are discussed based on extensive theoretical, computational, and experimental studies.

The black-chinned tilapia Sarotherodon melanotheron is the most abundant fish species in the Nakwa (a closed lagoon) and Brenu (an open lagoon) in the Central region of Ghana. Aspects of the life history characteristics and the ecology of the fish populations in both lagoons were studied to assess the bio-ecological status of this important resource. The estimated von Bertalanffy growth parameters were L∞ = 12.04 cm; K =2.76 year-1 for the Nakwa Lagoon samples and L∞ = 13.44 cm; K = 3.27 years-1 for Brenu Lagoon samples. Daily otolith incremental rate ranged from 0.01-0.03mm per day and 0.01-0.02mm per day for Nakwa and Brenu lagoons respectively. Stomach content analysis of the fish samples revealed that the species are planktivorous and the range of food varied between the lagoons. Green algae was the most prevalent food item in the stomachs of the fish samples from Nakwa with frequency of 69% while diatoms (80.5%) were most prevalent phytoplanktonic food item in for the fish in Brenu lagoon. The results of this study of Sarotherodon melanotheron from the two lagoons and can be used to improve on management policies, maximize yield and to sustain the fishery resources.

Biophoton emission has been experimented for decades. The photo-genic origin of biophoton has also been attributed to the oxidative stress or free radical production. However, there are considerable gaps in quantitative understanding of biophoton emission. In this work, I propose an analytical hypothesis for interpreting a few patterns of steady-state biophoton emission of human, including the dependency on age, the diurnal variation, and the geometric asymmetry associated with serious asymmetrical pathological conditions. The hypothesis is based on an alternative form of energy state, termed vivo-nergy, which is associated with only metabolically active organisms that are also under neuronal control. The hypothesis projects a decrease of the vivo-nergy in human during growth beyond puberty. The hypothesis also proposes a modification of the vivo-nergy by the phases of systematic or homeostatic physiology. The hypothesis further postulates that the deviation of the physiology-modified vivo-nergy from the pre-puberty level is deteriorated by acquired organ-specific pathological conditions. A temporal differential change of vivo-nergy is hypothesized to proportionally modulate oxidative stress that functions as the physical source of biophoton emission. The resulted steady-state diffusion of the photon emitted from a photo-genic source in a human geometry simplified as a homogeneous spherical domain is modeled by photon diffusion principles incorporating an extrapolated zero-boundary condition. The age and systematic physiology combined determines the intensity of the centered physiological steady-state photo-genic source. An acquired pathology sets both the intensity and the off-center position of the pathological steady-state photo-genic source. When the age-commemorated, physiology-commanded, and pathology-controlled modifications of the steady-state photo-genetic sources are implemented in the photon diffusion model, the photon fluence rate at the surface of the human-representing spherical domain reveals the patterns on age, the temporal variation corresponding to systematic physiology, and the geometric asymmetry associated with significant asymmetric pathological condition as reported for spontaneous biophoton emission. The hypothesis, as it provides conveniences for quantitative estimation of biophoton emission patterns, will be extended in future works towards interpreting the temporal characteristics of biophoton emission under stimulation.

The development of electric aircrafts is becoming an important technology for achieving the goals set by the European Commission for the reduction of gases emissions by 2050 in the aeronautical transportation system. However, there is a gap between the values of specific power in commercial electric machines and the ones required for aeronautical applications. Therefore, the search for alternative materials and non-conventional designs is mandatory. One emergent solution is using superconducting machines and systems to overcome the current limits of conventional electrical machines. This work reviews the new hybrid and all-electric aircraft tendencies, complementing it with recent research on the design and development of high specific power superconducting machines. This includes the main topologies for hybrid and all-electric aircraft, with an overview of the ongoing worldwide projects of these types of aircrafts, systematizing the main characteristics of their propulsion systems. It also includes the research on superconducting machines for the purpose of high specific power, considering the impact on the redesign of aircraft systems in the electrical, cooling, and fuel source sense.

Artificial Intelligence innovations, such as chatbots and specialized education suggestion tools, provide potential interactive and on-demand pedagogical engagement between non-Christians and Christians with Christianity. However, there is little empirical research on the readiness, acceptance, and adoption of A.I.'s involvement in religious education in a secular state, such as Vietnam. This research addresses the literature gap by providing an entrepreneurial analysis and customer perspectives on the ideas of A.I.'s involvement in religious education. Specifically, the study explores whether the Vietnamese across different ages and religious orientations accept and have enough skills to adopt A.I.'s religious education innovation. The interview sample is 32 participants, selected based on their religious orientation (Christians & Non-Christians) and age (Generation X, Generation Y & Generation Z). Most respondents are open to A.I. application in religious education except for the Church's personnel. However, only gen Z generations are fully prepared to adopt this innovation. Theoretically, the research customizes the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model into religious innovation context. Practically, this research acts as market research on the demand for A.I.'s religious innovation in Vietnam, an insight for future religious tech entrepreneurs.

Phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) can be used as biomarkers for qualitative and quantitative analyses of soil microbial community diversity. In this study, we collected soil samples at 10-cm intervals to a depth of 1 m from Robinia pseudoacacia plantations of four different ages (10, 15, 25 and 40 years) in a loess area and analysed the soil microbial community structure by PLFA analysis. A total of 97 PLFAs were detected in soils of R. pseudoacacia plantations of different ages. The individual PLFA contents gradually decreased in the 0- to 40-cm soil layers, with little variation in the 40- to 100-cm soil layers. The individual PLFAs were similarly distributed in the soils of R. pseudoacacia plantations of different ages, and there was a clear variation with stand age and soil depth. The individual PLFA contents in the 0- to 20-cm soil layers were highest for the 25-year-old plantation, while those in the 20- to 40-cm soil layers were relatively high for the 25- and 40-year-old plantations; the 16:0 content was the highest among individual PLFAs. The total PLFA content and the PLFA contents of different microbial groups [bacteria, fungi, Gram-positive bacteria (G⁺), Gram-negative bacteria (G^-) and actinomycetes] initially increased before decreasing in the soils of R. pseudoacacia plantations with increasing stand age, whereas these contents gradually decreased with increasing soil depth; the highest PLFA contents was found in the 25-year-old plantation. The total PLFA content and the contents of fungal, G^- and actinomycete PLFAs in the soils of R. pseudoacacia plantations differed significantly among stands of different ages in the 0- to 10-cm, 10- to 20-cm and 30- to 40-cm soil layers, while no significant differences were found in the 20- to 30-cm soil layers; the G⁺ and bacterial PLFAs contents in each of the 0- to 40-cm soil layers were significantly different. The PLFA ratios between different microbial groups differed among the stands of different ages. The fungi/bacteria ratio showed a “decrease-increase-decrease” trend with stand age, while the G⁺/G^- ratio showed an “increase-decrease” trend. The saturated/monounsaturated PLFA ratio initially decreased before plateauing, while the opposite trend was observed for the cyclopropyl/precursor ratio. The PLFA contents of different microbial groups were ranked as follows: bacteria > G^- > G⁺ > actinomycetes > fungi. In the principle component analysis, 18:1ω9c, 10Me18:0, i17:0, a17:0, 18:1ω7c, 18:1ω5c and 18:0 made the greatest contribution to principal component 1, and a14:0, i14:0 3OH, i14:0, i14:1ω7c and 14:0 made the greatest contribution to principal component 2. In conclusion, soil nutrient status and other soil eco-environmental stress factors should be considered in 10- to 25-year-old (particularly ~15-year-old) plots for the management of R. pseudoacacia plantations to prevent forest soil degradation and improve forest stand quality, thereby achieving better soil and water conservation and environmental improvement in R. pseudoacacia plantations.

We examined the causality between growth opportunities and earnings quality of the emerging economies. We develop an argument that growth opportunities should lead to high-quality earnings of the developing economies against the prior studies from developed economies which posit that growth opportunities result in a lower quality of earnings. The findings revealed that Growth Opportunities had a positive significant effect on Earnings Quality (EQ). Thus, the study concluded that growth opportunities are useful in determining the earnings quality of firms. The study recommends that managers should take advantage of their firms' growth opportunities to provide quality accounting information which will directly provide expanded opportunities for business growth. Though literature confirms that generally, earnings management might not be necessarily bad in business operational practice, managers are advised to avoid extreme aggressiveness in managing earnings as this may culminate in the negative manipulation of accounting information.

In this paper, using the discrete time model, we consider the average age of all files for a cached-files-updating system where a server generates N files and transmits them to a local cache. In order that the cached files are fresh, in each time slot the server updates files with certain probabilities. The age of one file or its age of information (AoI) is defined as the time the file stays in cache since it was last time sent to cache. Assume that each file in cache has corresponding request popularity. In this paper, we obtain the distribution function of the popularity-weighted average age over all files, which gives a complete description of this average age. For the random age of single file, both the mean and its distribution have been derived before by establishing a simple Markov chain. Using the same idea, we show that an N dimensional stochastic process can be constituted to characterize the changes of N file ages simultaneously. By solving the steady-state of the resulting process, we obtain the explicit expression of stationary probability for an arbitrary state-vector. Then, the distribution function of the popularity-weighted average age can be derived by mergering a proper set of stationary probabilities. For the possible applications, the distribution function can be utilized to calculate the probability that the average age violates certain statistical guarantee.

With reference to Planck scale Hubble parameter, super luminal expansion speeds, super luminal rotation speeds and Mach’s principle, we review the current cosmological observations. With our revised assumptions, it is possible to show that, at H₀ =70 km/sec/Mpc, current cosmic temperature, age, radius, mass, mass density and rotational kinetic energy are 2.721 K, 4.41 x 1017 sec, 90 billion light years, 1.14654 x 1054 kg, 0.0482 times the current critical density and 0.6667 times the current critical energy density respectively. Based on the estimated current mass density and current rotational kinetic energy density, current cosmic dark matter density can be shown to be 0.2851 times the current critical density. Initial and current expansion speeds are 3 x 108 m/sec and 3.56 x 109 m/sec respectively. Proceeding further, we developed two interesting methods for understanding cosmic scale factor with reference to a temperature of 3000 K, redshift of 1100 and age of 3,69,000 years. Finally we would like to suggest that, with increasing cosmic age and increasing cosmic expansion speed, current universe is expanding with a speed of 11.885c. Magnitude of the future cosmic expansion speed depends on the magnitude of the future Hubble parameter. By knowing the time to time future cosmic temperatures, corresponding future Hubble parameters can be estimated and corresponding future cosmic expansion speeds can also be estimated.Proceeding further, a unified model of evolving quantum cosmology can be developed.

: Nanotechnology options to road surface maintenance offers several advantages compared to traditionally used materials. The small particle sizer of hydrophobic Nano-Silane modified Nano-Polymers (NSNP) enables these nanotechnology products to deeply penetrate existing road surfaces, sealing micro-cracks and render surfacings to be water-resistant for extended periods of time. In comparison, traditionally used products contain minimum partial sizes of about 1 – 5 microns, that provide a superficial protection that wears off in a relatively short period of time. These traditional products are often associated with vehicle contamination while drying and requires the re-instatement of road markings. None of these disadvantages are associated with applicable NSNP technologies that are quick drying, with no vehicle contamination risks and is equivalent to a “clear-seal” requiring no reinstatement of road markings. In a similar vein, pot-hole repairs can be done using applicable, easy to use, pre-packed and treated pot-hole repair kits that are water-repellent and quick-drying at a fraction of the costs of conventional cold-mix products. Resurfacing using NME binder slurries can be done labour-intensively on a pre-treated NSNP surfacing, restoring cracked surfacing and providing a water-resistant long-lasting protective layer without the removal of existing cracked areas. The implementation of nanotechnology solutions for road surface maintenance operations is directly associated with ease of use, labour-intensive operations, prevention of considerable deterioration in riding quality due to removal and manual re-instatement of cracked surfaces, time and cost savings and a reduction in the risk of water damage to the sub-structure. TRANSLATE with x English ArabicHebrewPolish BulgarianHindiPortuguese CatalanHmong DawRomanian Chinese SimplifiedHungarianRussian Chinese TraditionalIndonesianSlovak CzechItalianSlovenian DanishJapaneseSpanish DutchKlingonSwedish EnglishKoreanThai EstonianLatvianTurkish FinnishLithuanianUkrainian FrenchMalayUrdu GermanMalteseVietnamese GreekNorwegianWelsh Haitian CreolePersian TRANSLATE with COPY THE URL BELOW Back EMBED THE SNIPPET BELOW IN YOUR SITE Enable collaborative features and customize widget: Bing Webmaster Portal Back TRANSLATE with x English ArabicHebrewPolish BulgarianHindiPortuguese CatalanHmong DawRomanian Chinese SimplifiedHungarianRussian Chinese TraditionalIndonesianSlovak CzechItalianSlovenian DanishJapaneseSpanish DutchKlingonSwedish EnglishKoreanThai EstonianLatvianTurkish FinnishLithuanianUkrainian FrenchMalayUrdu GermanMalteseVietnamese GreekNorwegianWelsh Haitian CreolePersian TRANSLATE with COPY THE URL BELOW Back EMBED THE SNIPPET BELOW IN YOUR SITE Enable collaborative features and customize widget: Bing Webmaster Portal Back

Background: Appendicular skeletal muscle (or lean) mass (ALM) estimated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is considered to be a preferred method for sarcopenia studies. However, DXA is expensive, has limited portability, and requires radiation exposure. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is inexpensive, easy to use, and portable; thus BIA might be useful in sarcopenia investigations. However, a large variety of models have been commercially supplied by different companies, and for most consumer products, the equations estimating ALM are not disclosed. It is therefore difficult to use these equations for research purposes. In particular, the BIA equation is often age-dependent, which leads to fundamental difficulty in examining age-related ALM loss. The aims of the current study were as follows: (1) to develop and validate an equation to estimate ALM using multi-frequency BIA (MF-BIA) based on theoretical models, and (2) to establish sarcopenia cutoff values using the equation for the Japanese population. Methods: We measured height (Ht), weight, and ALM obtained using DXA and a standing-posture 8-electrode MF-BIA (5, 50, 250 kHz) in 756 Japanese individuals aged 18 to 86-years-old (222 men and 301 women as developing equation group and 97 men and 136 women as a cross validation group). The traditional impedance index (Ht²/Z₅₀) and impedance ratio of high and low frequency (Z₂₅₀/Z₅) of hand to foot values were calculated. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with ALM as dependent variable in men and women separately. Results: We created the following equations: ALM = (0.6947 × (Ht²/Z₅₀)) + (−55.24 × (Z₂₅₀/Z₅)) + (−10,940 × (1/Z₅₀)) + 51.33 for men, and ALM = (0.6144 × (Ht²/Z₅₀)) + (−36.61 × (Z₂₅₀/Z₅)) + (−9332 × (1/Z₅₀)) + 37.91 for women. Additionally, we conducted measurements in 1624 men and 1368 women aged 18 to 40 years to establish sarcopenia cutoff values in the Japanese population. The mean values minus 2 standard deviations of the skeletal muscle mass index (ALM/Ht²) in these participants were 6.8 and 5.7 kg/m² in men and women, respectively. Conclusion: The current study established and validated a theoretical and age-independent equation using MF-BIA to estimate ALM and provided reasonable sarcopenia cutoff values.

The scheme to realize high speed (~250Gb/s) all-optical Boolean logic gates using semiconductor optica amplifiers with quantum-dot (QD-SOA) is introduced and analyzed in this review. Numerical simulation method was presented by solving the rate equation and taking into account nonlinear dynamics including carrier heating and spectral hole-burning. Binary phase shift keyed (BPSK) signal and on-off keyed signal are used to generate high speed all-optical logic gates. The applications based on all-optical logic gates such as, all-optical latches, pseudo random bit sequence (PRBS) generation and all-optical encryption, are also discussed in this review. Results show that the scheme based on QD-SOA is a promising method for the realization of high speed all-optical communication system in the future.

Three-dimensional convolutional neural networks (3D CNN) as a type of artificial intelligence (AI) are powerful in image processing and recognition using deep learning to perform generative and descriptive tasks. The advantage of CNN compared to its predecessors is that it automatically detects the important features without any human supervision. 3D CNN are used to extract features in three dimensions where input is a 3D volume or a sequence of 2D pictures e.g., slices in a cone-beam computer tomography scan (CBCT). The main aim of this article was to bridge interdisciplinary cooperation between forensic medical experts and deep learning engineers. With emphasis activating clinical forensic experts in the field with possibly basic knowledge of advanced artificial intelligence techniques with interest in its implementation in their efforts to advance the forensic research further. This paper introduces a novel workflow of 3D CNN analysis of full-head CBCT scans. Authors explore and present 3D CNN method for forensic research design concept in five perspectives: (1) sex determination, (2) biological age estimation, (3) 3D cephalometric landmark annotation, (4) growth vectors prediction, (5) facial soft-tissue estimation from the skull and vice versa. In conclusion, 3D CNN application can be a watershed moment in forensic medicine, leading to unprecedented improvement of forensic analysis workflows based on 3D neural networks.

Increasing numbers of researchers are interested in the importance of dietary fiber for the gut microbiota, microbiotal metabolite SCFA, energy metabolism and gut health of the host. However, studies have demonstrated that long-term and longitudinal observation may be needed to evaluate the effect of dietary fiber better, and few such works have been made in chickens. Therefore, we successively fed low-fiber, high--fiber and low-fiber diets to two breeds of chickens during different growth periods (1—8, 9—20 and 21—50 weeks), aiming to longitudinally observe the long-term effect of altered dietary fiber on the gut microbiota, SCFA and development of cecum of chickens with age. The results showed that the composition and function of the gut microbiota, SCFA and the development of the cecum were different during different periods, which was largly affected by dietary fiber. However, the causes of some effects were different during the different periods. For example, compared with that in low-fiber chickens at 8 weeks, dominant fiber-degradation bacteria such as Bacteroidetes, Alloprevotella and SCFA-producing bacteria such as Faecalibacterium increased due to a high-fiber diet at 20 weeks, while due to a high feed intake in 50 weeks. Moreover, the concentration of SCFA in 20 weeks was significantly higher than in 8 weeks and 50 weeks, but the causes of this difference were also distinct. It was proposed that a long-term observation was needed to evaluate the effect of dietary fiber better on chickens. The metabolite pathways of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters encoded by Firmicutes were enriched in 8 weeks, while a two-component system and β–glucosidase encoded by Bacteroidetes were enriched in 20 and 50 weeks. The trend was the same in two breeds of chickens except for Alloprevotella. In addition, the total content of SCFA in the contents of cecum was also affected by the size of the cecum. Surprisingly, the length of the cecum shortened from 20—50 weeks, maybe due to reduced dietary fiber.

Poor understanding of malnutrition burden is a common reason for not prioritizing the care of small and nutritionally at-risk infants aged under-six months (infants u6m). We aimed to estimate the anthropometric deficit prevalence in infants u6m attending health centres, using the Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF); and to assess the overlap of different individual indicators. We undertook a two-week survey of all infants u6m visiting each of 18 health centres in two zones of the Oromia region, Ethiopia. We measured weight, length, and MUAC (Mid upper arm circumference); and calculated weight-for-length (WLZ), length-for-age (LAZ), and weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ). Overall, 21.7% (95% CI: 19.2; 24.3) of infants u6m presented CIAF and of these, 10.7% (95% CI: 8.93; 12.7) had multiple anthropometric deficits. Low MUAC overlapped with 47.5% (95% CI: 38.0; 57.3), 43.8% (95% CI: 34.9; 53.1), and 42.6% (95% CI: 36.3; 49.2) of the stunted, wasted and CIAF prevalence, respectively. Underweight overlapped with 63.4% (95% CI: 53.6; 72.2), 52.7% (95% CI: 43.4; 61.7), and 59.6% (95% CI: 53.1; 65.9) of the stunted, wasted and CIAF prevalence, respectively. Anthropometric deficits, single and multiple, are prevalent in infants attending health centres. WAZ overlaps more with other forms of anthropometric deficits than MUAC.

Emulsion stabilisation of base layers surfaced with chip seals often proves problematic with chips punching into the base and early distress. This can be aggravated by the use of modified binders that restricts the evaporation of moisture from pavement layers. The introduction of New-age (Nano) Modified Emulsion (NME) stabilisation has the advantage that water is chemically repelled from the stabilised layer resulting in an accelerated development of strength. A need was identified to evaluate the early life performance of selected chip seals, together with identified binders. Three different chip seal surfacings with unconventional modified binders were constructed and evaluated using Accelerated Pavement Testing (APT) with the MMLS3. The objectives of the experimental design and testing were to evaluate binder performance, early loss of chips before chip orientation at low temperatures, punching of the chips into the NME stabilised base, deformation characteristics of a Cape seal and the effect of the use of a standard normal modified binder. This paper contains details of the NME base layer, the binder and seal selection and the test results. It is shown that a cost-effective thin chip seal in combination with a suitable binder can be used on a NME stabilised base with confidence.

Chronic degeneration of the Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) is a precursor to pathological changes in the outer retina. The RPE monolayer, which lies beneath the neuroretina, daily internalises and digests large volumes of spent photoreceptor outer segments. Impaired cargo handling and processing in the endocytic/phagosome and autophagy pathways leads to the accumulation of lipofuscin and N-retinylidene-N-retinylethanolamine aggregates and chemically-modified compounds such as malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxynonenal within RPE. These contribute to increased proteolytic and oxidative stress, resulting in irreversible damage to post-mitotic RPE cells and development of blinding conditions such as Age-related Macular Degeneration, Stargardt disease and Choroideremia. Here, we review how impaired cargo handling in the RPE results in their dysfunction, discuss new findings from our laboratory and consider how newly discovered roles for lysosomes and the autophagy pathway could provide insights into retinopathies. Studies of these dynamic, molecular events have also been spurred on by recent advances in optics and imaging technology. Mechanisms underpinning lysosomal impairment in other degenerative conditions including storage disorders, a-synuclein pathologies and Alzheimer’s disease are also discussed. Collectively, these findings help transcend conventional understanding of these intracellular compartments as simple waste disposal bags to bring about a paradigm shift in the way lysosomes are perceived.

Polyamides (PAs) are one of the most important engineering polymers; however, the difficulty in dissolving them hinders their applications. Formic acid (FA) is the most common solvent for PAs, but it has industrial limitations. In this contribution, we proposed a new solvent system for PAs by replacing a portion of the FA with urea and calcium chloride (FAUCa). Urea imparts the hydrogen bonding and calcium ion from the calcium chloride, as a Lewis acid was added to the system to compensate for the pH decrease due to the addition of urea. The results showed that the proposed solvent (FAUCa) could readily dissolve PAs, resulting in less decrease in the mechanical properties during the dissolution. The composite prepared using the FAUCa has almost the same properties like the one prepared using the FA solution. The solution was applied on a polyamide 66 fabric to make an all-polyamide composite coated-fabric, which then was characterized. The FAUCa solution had a higher viscosity than the one prepared using the neat FA solvent, which can be an advantage in the applications which needs higher viscosity like preparing the all-polyamide composite coated-fabric. A more viscouse solution makes a denser coating which will increase the water-/gas-tightness. In conclusion, using the FAUCa solvent has two merits: 1. replacement of 40 % of the FA with less harmful and environmentally-friendly chemicals and 2. enabling for the preparation of more viscouse solutions, which makes denser coating.

Arabic was the language of philosophy, logic, Islamic sciences and rhetorical linguistic sciences. It was used in the writing of all sciences generally and became the language of world culture. Although the other languages of the Islamic world had a little share, but all peoples of Islamic countries; Arabs and non-Arabs, Muslims and non-Muslims attributed to that movement appreciated. Hence, Arab sciences flourished in their bright ages. Arabic language was a cultural container of the ancient Greek and Latin intellectual heritage. As the ancient Greek and Latin sciences and literatures were translated into Arabic in the bright ages of Islam. Arab language was a strong bond for them, as a common human heritage for the centuries to save it from being lost, as Muslims used it to develop their sciences and arts, as Muslims in the East used the Western sciences and literatures in the modern age, because they are not Eastern or Western, but the common efforts of all humanity. Arabic language opened for the dictionaries ​​and other tongues of cross-fertilization, civil friction and simulation. Arabic had become the language of sciences: mathematics, astronomy, engineering, logic, philosophy, mysticism, agriculture, industry and economics by the continuous efforts of scientists in their scientific research, invention, experimentation, knowledge collection and classification in various fields, where orientalists recognized the Arab leadership. That scientific and literary civilization moved to Europe through Italy, Andalusia, Crusades and the Ottoman Caliphate. Europeans learned Arabic language, literature and sciences in the centers of Toledo, Fez and cities of Maghreb.

Vascular pathogens are the causal agents of main diseases threatening the health and growth of olive crops worldwide. The use of endophytic microorganisms represents a challenging and promising strategy for management of vascular diseases in olive. Although current research has been focused on analyzing the structure and diversity of the endophytic microbial communities inhabiting the olive xylem, the characterization of this ecological niche has been overlooked and to date remain unexplored, despite that the characterization of the xylem sap composition is essential to unravel the nutritional requirements of xylem-limited microorganisms. In this study, branches from plantlets and adult olive trees of cultivars ‘Picual’ and ‘Arbequina' were selected to characterize the chemical composition of olive xylem sap extracted using a Scholander pressure chamber. Metabolome and ionome analyses of xylem sap were performed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy-based and by inductively coupled plasma with optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), respectively. Olive xylem sap metabolites included a higher relative percentage of sugars (54.35%), followed by alcohols (28.85%), amino acids (8.01%), organic acids (7.68%) and osmolytes (1.12%). Within each of these groups, the main metabolites in the olive xylem sap were mannitol, ethanol, glutamine, acetate and trigonelline, whereas K and Cl- were the main element and inorganic anion, respectively. Metabolomic profile varied when comparing olive plant age and genotype. The levels of glucose, fructose, sucrose and mannitol, choline, B and PO43 were significantly higher in adult trees than in plantlets for both olive genotypes, whereas NO3- and Rb content showed the opposite behavior. On the other hand, levels of aspartate, phenylalanine and Na were significantly higher in ‘Picual’ than in ‘Arbequina’ whereas Fe showed the opposite behavior but only for adult trees. Non-supervised hierarchical clustering analysis separated xylem sap composition firstly according to the plant age and then by the olive cultivar. Supervised PLS-DA analysis revealed that B, ethanol, Fe, Fructose, glucose, mannitol, sucrose and Sr were the most significative compounds discriminating adult trees from plantlets, whereas asparagine, aspartate, glutamate and phenylalanine or aspartate, arginine, ethanol and Sr were the most contributory compounds in the discrimination of both olive genotypes for adult trees or plantlets, respectively. Knowledge of the chemical composition of xylem sap will lead to a better understanding of the complex nutritional requirements of olive xylem-inhabiting microorganisms, including its vascular pathogens, and would allow the design of artificial growing media to improve culturing the olive microbiome.

The role of the submission was to find out what changes people think they need to make in their home because of getting older. At advanced age, the likelihood of different limitations such as vision impairment, hearing impairment or physical inability is increased. Currently, tenants are often forced to leave their long-term living space, as these spaces cannot serve “new” individual needs. This transition from the privacy of their home to the new environment often appears to be a painful change. They will not have a well-known environment because their homes cannot be adapted to their new needs. The aim is a comprehensive approach to the design of such an exterior and interior space which could serve people at all stages of their life, including the terms of mobility. This means that even if there is an unexpected situation and changes in movement abilities and physiological limitations of man, not only by natural aging, but according to accidents or disabilities we can adapt the living space to the given conditions. The survey results are presented in Germany and Slovakia. In the survey, respondents expressed their opinion on what they considered important in creating an adaptive environment considering various life changes. Results are processed graphically with explanation. The results could be of an interest to architects and designers of the environment. Based on the results of the questionnaire survey, studies of possible modifications of flats and houses were developed. The contribution brought these results to three age groups of respondents; people aged 35, 50 and over 50.

Emergency Management has not developed in a cohesive or comprehensive manner. Differing terms are used to name identical concepts. A standard comprehensive doctrine for the important development of emergency management is needed. In this paper I explain a doctrinal framework for emergency management. The paper states a clear identification of the five dimensions, and each of their components, necessary to the informed practice of Emergency Management. Although emergencies vary in cause and severity, the process of Emergency Management necessary for optimal handling of these emergencies varies little. The “All Hazards Approach” to emergency management establishes and reinforces commonality in processes, procedures, planning templates and organizational structure. The three types of agencies associated with emergency management activities are discussed, including the subject matter agency, coordinating agency, and supporting agency. The four critical functions of emergency management are detailed, and include mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery, often all carried out concurrently. The ten activities, and seven resources of emergency management are highlighted. There are many ways to represent the integration of these five dimensions, to ensure completeness, while ensuring clarity; the two most common are described. When experts in Emergency Management follow the doctrine, they can coordinate all those involved to be sure that all aspects of any hazard are considered, and that all organizations/agencies, functions, activities, and resources of Emergency Management are coordinated and optimally active. Following this process is the only way to ensure the best outcomes from any emergency.

This study was designed to assess variation of possible phytochemical compounds in the ethanolic extracts of Gigantochloa scortechinii rhizome. Destructive sampling was done by using selective random sampling method on four consecutive rhizomes from healthy clumps and was conducted at two natural forests and one secondary forest (planted). Homogenized sample were extracted using solvent extraction (70% ethanol) method. Ethanolic extracts of G. scortechinii rhizome were qualitatively analyzed using GC/MS GC2010 Plus, Shimadzu to determine the composition of phytochemical compounds and identified using FFNSC 1.3, NIST11, PMW_tox2, and Wiley229 spectral library. A qualitative variation was observed with a total of 56 compounds were identified and differentiated between study site and rhizome age. Results revealed that G. scortechinii rhizome contains various phytochemical compounds with potential as a plant of phytopharmaceutical importance. This is the first finding on the spatial and age-related effects of phytochemical compounds in a consecutive rhizome and of G. scortechinii rhizome specifically.

In the paper, the results of an investigation into trace elements found in slag sulphides from 14 archaeological Bronze Age settlements of the Cis-Urals, Trans-Urals and North and Central Kazakhstan are presented. The study used Cu-(Fe)-sulphides as indicator minerals. Cu-(Fe)-S minerals in slags are primarily represented by covellite and chalcocite, as well as by rarer bornite and single chalcopyrite grains. Slag sulphides formed relic clasts and neogenic droplets of different shapes and sizes. Supergenic ores in the Bronze Age in Urals and Kazakhstan played a significant role in the mineralogical raw material base. In sulphides, the main indicator elements Fe, Co, Ni, As, Se, Te, Sb, Ag, Pb, and Bi are important markers of copper deposit types. Sulphides from olivine Cr-rich spinel containing slags of Ustye, Turganik, and Kuzminkovskoe 2 are characterised by As-Co-Ni assemblages and confined to copper deposits in ultramafic rocks. Olivine sulphide-containing slags from Kamenny Ambar, Konoplyanka and Sarlybay 3 are characterised by Co-Se-Te assemblage and confined to mafic rocks. Glassy sulphide-containing slags from Katzbakh 6, Turganik, Ordynsky Ovrag, Ivanovskoe, Tokskoe, Bulanovskoe 2, Pokrovskoe, Rodnikovoe, and Taldysay are characterised by Ag-Pb-(Ba)-(Bi) assemblage and confined to cupriferous sandstone deposits. High As, Sb, Sn and Ba contents found in slags can be seen as indicators of alloying or flux components in primary copper smelting. These include samples from Ustye, Katzbakh 6, Rodnikovoe, and Taldysay sites, where high Ba and As slag contents are identified. The compilation of a database with a broad sample of sulphide compositions from Bronze Age slags and mines in the Urals and Kazakhstan will permit the further identification of ore types and raw materials associated with a particular deposit.

The retina is a complex and fragile photosensitive part of the central nervous system which is prone to degenerative diseases leading to permanent vision loss. No proven treatment strategies exist to treat or reverse the degenerative conditions. Recent investigations demonstrate that cell transplantation therapies to replace the dysfunctional retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and or the degenerating photoreceptors (PRs) are viable options to restore vision. Pluripotent stem cells, retinal progenitor cells and somatic stem cells are the main cell sources used for cell transplantation therapies. The success of retinal transplantation based on cell suspension injection is hindered by limited cell survival and lack of cellular integration. Recent advances in material science helped to develop strategies to grow cells as intact monolayers or as sheets on biomaterial scaffolds for transplantation into the eyes. Such implants are found to be more promising than the bolus injection approach. Tissue engineering techniques are specifically designed to construct biodegradable or non-degradable polymer scaffolds to grow cells as a monolayer and construct implantable grafts. The engineered cell construct along with the extracellular matrix formed, can hold the cells in place to enable easy survival, better integration and improved visual function. This article reviews the advances in the use of scaffolds for transplantation studies in animal models and its application in current clinical trials.

Background: All Payer Claims Databases (APCD) are a rich source of health information, however, race and ethnicity (R&E) data are largely missing. Bayesian Improved Surname Geocoding (BISG) is a common R&E imputation method, yet, validation of BISG in APCDs is lacking. We used the BISG to impute missing R&E in the Oregon APCD. Methods: BISG imputed R&E for Asian Pacific Islanders (API), Blacks, Hispanics and Whites were contrasted to the gold standard (vital statistics) and sensitivity and specificity improvements were assessed. Logistic regression examined whether missing R&E was random across patient characteristics. Results: Among 85,857 individuals in the study, 32.1% (n=27,594) had missing R&E. Missing R&E was not randomly distributed. There were higher odds of missingness among males, Whites, those age 65 and older, and commercially insured individuals. Differences in the percent missing were also found by co-morbid conditions and mortality causes. Imputing the missing R&E with BISG method improved the sensitivity to identify White, Black, API, and Hispanics. Conclusions: APCDs can benefit from enhancing missing R&E with BISG imputation to perform more robust population-health level analyses and identify inequities according to R&E without losing power or dropping non-random records with missing R&E data.

We design an asymmetric nonlinear optical nanoantenna composed of a dielectric nanodisk and an adjacent nanobar. The proposed composite structure made of AlGaAs exhibits resonant response at both the fundamental and doubled frequencies. Being driven by the strong magnetic dipole resonance at the pump wavelength and a high-quality mode at the harmonic wavelength, the efficient second-harmonic radiation is generated predominantly along the vertical directions under the normally incident plane-wave excitation.

Background: Little is known about potential confounding factors influencing the humoral response in individuals having received the BNT162b2 vaccine. Methods: Blood samples from 231 subjects were collected before and 14, 28 and 42 days following COVID-19 vaccination with BNT162b2. Anti-Spike Receptor-Binding-Domain protein (anti-Spike/RBD) immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies were measured at each time-point. Impact of age, sex, childbearing age status, hormonal therapy, blood group, body mass index and past-history of SARS-CoV-2 infection were assessed by multivariable analyses. Results and Conclusions: In naïve subjects, the level of anti-Spike/RBD antibodies gradually increased following administration of the first dose to reach the maximal response at day 28 and then plateauing at day 42. In vaccinated subjects with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, the plateau was reached sooner (i.e. at day 14). In the naïve population, age had a significant negative impact on anti-Spike/RBD titers at day 14 and 28 while lower levels were observed for males at day 42, when corrected for other confounding factors. BMI as well as B and AB blood groups had a significant impact in various subgroups on the early response at day 14 but no longer after. No significant confounding factors were highlighted in the previously infected group.

Background: This paper investigates the statistical relationship between bilingualism and the Onset Age (OA) of AD and MCI across a clinical sample, consisting of 580 Alzheimer's Disease (AD) subjects and 1264 Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) subjects, via a statistical analysis conducted on the sample retrieved from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) dataset. Method: To investigate whether bilingualism has any correlation with the OAs of AD or MCI subjects, our study leverages the full potential of the ADNI dataset, a dataset that covers both the OA and the bilingualism status of both the AD and MCI subjects. Prior to performing any meaningful statistical analysis, a regression model and a probabilistic model were developed in parallel to fill in the missing OA and bilingualism values. A simple least-square regression model that consists of an independent variable of registered age for Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score was used to estimate the OA of the AD and MCI subjects in the ADNI dataset. After filling in the missing OA values, the number of subjects relevant for the statistical analysis increased from 816 (AD: 371, MCI: 445) to 1844 (AD: 580, MCI: 1264), which greatly enlarged the representation of the AD and MCI sample in the ADNI population. With increased sample size, a novel probabilistic classification model was introduced to infer an ADNI subject’s bilingualism when relevant demographic information and deterministic outcome were not readily available from the ADNI dataset. The weighted average OA for the bilinguals and the monolinguals was then computed, where the weights for the probabilistic labels were assigned based on the percentage of bilingualism in the general US population. Finally, a statistical analysis was performed to test whether any statistically significant correlation exists between the OA and the bilingualism of the AD and MCI subjects within the ADNI dataset. Findings: Our preliminary study demonstrates no significant statistical difference between the OA of the bilinguals and the monolinguals within the ADNI dataset. Thus, the monolingual speakers within the ADNI dataset do not statistically manifest earlier onset, as compared to the bilingual speakers, which is slightly inconsistent with some earlier statistical findings that bilingual speakers enjoy certain distinctive advantages, such as late onset of AD, as compared to monolingual counterparts.

The use of naturally available materials not conforming to traditional specifications or standards, in the base and sub-base layers of road pavement structures, stabilised with New-age (Nano) Modified Emulsions (NME), have been tested, implemented and successfully verified through Accelerated Pavement Testing (APT) in South Africa. This was made possible through the development and use of a design procedure addressing fundamental principles and based on scientific concepts, which are universally applicable. The understanding of and incorporation of the chemical interaction between the mineralogy of the materials and a NME stabilising agent (compatibility between the chemistry of the reactive agents and material mineralogy) into the design approach is key to achieving the required engineering properties. Stabilised materials evaluation is done using tests indicative of the basic engineering properties (physics) of compressive strengths, tensile strengths and durability. This article describes the basic materials design approach developed to ensure that organofunctional nano-silane modified emulsions can successfully be used for pavement layer construction utilising naturally available materials, at a low risk. The enablement of the use of naturally available materials in all pavement layers can have a considerable impact on the unit cost and life-cycle costs of road transportation infrastructure. TRANSLATE with x English ArabicHebrewPolish BulgarianHindiPortuguese CatalanHmong DawRomanian Chinese SimplifiedHungarianRussian Chinese TraditionalIndonesianSlovak CzechItalianSlovenian DanishJapaneseSpanish DutchKlingonSwedish EnglishKoreanThai EstonianLatvianTurkish FinnishLithuanianUkrainian FrenchMalayUrdu GermanMalteseVietnamese GreekNorwegianWelsh Haitian CreolePersian TRANSLATE with COPY THE URL BELOW Back EMBED THE SNIPPET BELOW IN YOUR SITE Enable collaborative features and customize widget: Bing Webmaster Portal Back

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) aberrant expression have been found in several types of cancer, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but lncRNA mapped in transcribed ultraconserved regions (T-UCRs) are little explored. The T-UCRs uc.112, uc.122, uc.160 and uc.262 were evaluated in pediatric ALL and uc.112 expression was higher in T-ALL compared to patients with B-ALL and in patients with hyperdiploid karyotype. These findings suggest a potential role of this uc.112 in pediatric ALL and emphasize the need for further investigation of T-UCR in pediatric ALL.

This study used structural equation modelling (SEM) to evaluate the direct effect of sex and age on stroke types and outcomes in Tertiary Health Facilities in Rives State, Nigeria. The study was a cross-sectional retrospective hospital-based research that utilized specific stroke patients’ information between 2015-2019. The study obtained the sex and age, stroke type (ischemic/hemorrhagic), and outcomes (No disability/disability/death) from the records. The retrieved data was Microsoft Excel (2016), then analyzed using SPSS (version 21, Amos) and STATGRAPHICS centurion (Stat Point Tech., Inc.). From the result, out of the recorded 1916 stroke patients, 1229 (64.1%) were female, while 687 (35.9%) were males. The older adults (>55 years) had more recorded cases (n=1289) than young adults (ages 18–35 years; n=77) and middle-aged adults (ages 36–55 years, n=550). The SEM results showed that age was significantly associated with stroke type (P<0.001) and outcomes (P=0.038), while sex was significantly associated with stroke outcomes (P<0.001). The likelihood of death was 1.3 times higher in hemorrhagic stroke than ischemic stroke. In conclusion, age and sex had direct effects on stroke type, while age had a direct effect on stroke outcome. Hemorrhagic stroke was more likely to cause death than ischemic stroke in the studied population.

Studies on the gait's parameters have been identified on the patients population. Most researchers confirm that the patients walk differently than normal people and they may have a risk for falls. Consistent finding and description of gender, age, and body mass index differences in gait studies is rare in healthy subjects. A cross-sectional study with forty-five young adult (F = 20, M = 25) was conducted. Stadiometer and Physilog 4 inertial sensors were used for data collection. A gait analyser 5.2 software (GaitUp, S.A. Lausanne, Switzerland) was used to determine spatiotemporal parameters. No statistically significant differences were found in any bilateral foot gait parameters with respect to gender, age, and body mass index. Females are found with higher total double support and cadence than males. Cadence also increases with age. Obese people showed lower gait speed, cadence, and total double support. These findings may be beneficial to those who have abnormal gait pattern due to age, body mass index differences, decreased muscle strength, spasticity, and joint mobility. This important informations should be considered to rehabilitate patients with abnormal gait patterns to controlling dynamic balance and riks to falling.

Since the 21st century, China's urbanization process has been rapid development, the concept and function of urban public space in the city has been gradually paid attention to. In order to guarantee life and water, most urban construction relies on rivers, and Bridges are the most important way to communicate between urban areas. The main functional part of the bridge is the span structure, that is, the bearing structure of the bridge, and the lower part of the "gray" space formed by the bridge structure. Considering the social level, with the economic growth and urbanization development, people have brought a better living environment and quality of life, and also improved the requirements for urban public environment. In the increasingly tense urban space, how to use and transform the space under the bridge is a problem that needs to be considered and solved. In view of this problem, in this study, we try to solve the micro-transformation of space under Bridges in cities through public art from the perspective of "regional culture" and "art for all". This paper analyzes the micro-transformation of space art under Bridges in two large cities of Shanghai and Foshan, namely, the space under Bridges under Songhong Road in Shanghai, the space under Bridges under Central Of Suzhou River and the space under Bridges under Pingsheng Bridge in Foshan. This paper discusses the cultural intervention of "regional culture" in the micro-transformation of the space under the bridge, and the influence and effect of "art for all" on the public art space under the bridge after the transformation to the community and the public.

An all-weather land surface temperature (LST) product derived at the Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis (LSA-SAF) is presented. The product is based on clear-sky LST retrieved from MSG/SEVIRI infrared (IR) measurements, complemented by LST estimated with a land surface energy balance (EB) model to fill gaps caused by clouds. The EB model solves the surface energy balance mostly using products derived at LSA-SAF. The new product is compared with in situ observations made at 3 dedicated validation stations, and with a Microwave (MW) based LST product derived from AMSR-E measurements. The validation against in-situ LST indicates an accuracy of the new product between -0.8 K and 1.1 K and a precision between 1.0 K and 1.4 K, generally showing a better performance than the MW product. The EB model shows some limitations concerning the representation of the LST diurnal cycle. Comparisons with MW LST generally show higher LST of the new product over desert areas, and lower LST over tropical regions. Several other imagers provide suitable measurements for implementing the proposed methodology, which offers the potential to obtain a global, nearly gap-free LST product.

The initial outbreak of COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan (China) during the latter part of December 2019. Indonesia has the fourth-largest population globally and reported the country’s first case of the virus on 2nd March 2020. The World Health Organisation (WHO) in addition to several neighbouring provinces and educational institutions within the region began questioning the Indonesian government upon the initial case reported. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiological characteristics of the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia during March 2020. The data were collected from Indonesian government databases and non-government organisations (NGOs). The data were analysed using Microsoft Office 2019 (Excel) and Adobe Illustrator 2017 software, was used in drawing the map depicting the distribution of COVID-19 in Indonesia. As at 31st March 2020, a total of 1,528 people in Indonesia have been infected by COVID-19, in addition to 136 mortalities (CFR of 8.9%). Jakarta, as the principal capital of Indonesia, quickly has become the epicentre of the virus since this period. Most patient cases were attributed to those aged between 31 and 70 years (72.64%), with male patients (64.93%) representing the highest incidence of cases compared to female patients (35.07%). The number of ventilating machines was 3,326, with hospital numbers at 859. The distribution of cases depicting COVID-19 was mainly seen in urban areas compared to rural areas. Males compared to females, are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, including those aged below 30, between 30 and 60 or above. Indonesia also has the highest case fatality rate (CFR) with respect to mortalities in Southeast Asia and has the second-highest CFR globally. Similarly, while the number of ventilator machines as at 31st March 2020 were sufficient in meeting the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the country, it is possible that the government may need to increase the number of ventilators if the cases continue to escalate.

Although general relativity has been successful in explaining many astronomical phenomena, few problems about the contents and evolution of the universe have remained mysterious since last century. Most important of them is the cosmological constant problem in which conventional calculation of vacuum (or dark) energy density using quantum mechanics leads to a value ~10¹¹⁴ J/m³ which is ~10¹²³ times more than the vacuum energy (5.3×10^-10 J/m³) estimated from astronomical observations of expanding universe. Similarly, cosmic coincidence problem questions why the matter energy density (ordinary plus dark matter) is of the same order as the vacuum energy density at present time. Finally, the mechanism responsible for spatial flatness and expansion of the universe are not clearly understood. In this paper, by taking the vacuum as a finite and closed quantum oscillator, we solve all of the above-mentioned problems. At first, by using purely quantum mechanical approach, we predict that the dark energy density is c⁴/(GR²) = 5.27×10^-10 J/m³ (where R is radius of 3-sphere of universe) and matter energy density is c⁴/(2GR²) = 2.6×10^-10 J/m³ which match well with astronomical observations. We also prove that the dark energy has always been ~66.7% and matter energy has been ~33.3% of total energy and hence, the so called cosmic coincidence problem doesn’t exist. Next, we show how flatness of space could be maintained since the early stage of universe. Finally, using our model, we derive the expression for age and radius of universe which match well with the astronomical data.

Although congenital sensorineural hearing loss (SHL) in the bilateral cochleae mainly results from genetic abnormalities, chronic SHL progressing in later life is often influenced by systemic immune disturbances, including autoimmunity, chronic inflammation, and immunosenescence. We have investigated the relationship between the inner ear and systemic immunity and reviewed the possibilities to prevent SHL, including autoimmune SHL and age-related SHL. We also demonstrated two lymphocyte populations, interleukin 1 receptor type II (IL-1R2)-positive T cells (T1R2) and naturally occurring regulatory T cells (nTregs) in CD4⁺ T cells, which increase with aging, suppress host immune function and promote organ degeneration. Alterations in systemic immunity by fewer microbial antigen challenges in the living environment, elimination of immune suppressive lymphocytes, or immune rejuvenation with a reconstituted thymus may contribute not only to renew the cochlear function in SHL, but also to extend the healthy life of functional organs in a vigorous and youthful body, one of humanity’s greatest dreams.

Advanced image processing will be crucial for emerging technologies such as autonomous driving, where the requirement to quickly recognize and classify objects under rapidly changing, poor visibility environments in real time will be needed. Photonic technologies will be key for next-generation signal and information processing, due to their wide bandwidths of 10’s of Terahertz and versatility. Here, we demonstrate broadband real time analog image and video processing with an ultrahigh bandwidth photonic processor that is highly versatile and reconfigurable. It is capable of massively parallel processing over 10,000 video signals simultaneously in real time, performing key functions needed for object recognition, such as edge enhancement and detection. Our system, based on a soliton crystal Kerr optical micro-comb with a 49GHz spacing with >90 wavelengths in the C-band, is highly versatile, performing different functions without changing the physical hardware. These results highlight the potential for photonic processing based on Kerr microcombs for chip-scale fully programmable high-speed real time video processing for next generation technologies.

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

Nano-scale organofunctional silanes have been developed, tested and successfully applied to protect stone buildings in Europe against climatic effects since the 1860s. The same nanotechnologies can also be used in pavement engineering to create strong chemical bonds between a stabilising agent and the material substrata. The attachment of the organofunctional silane to a material also makes the surface of the material hydrophobic, reducing future chemical weathering. These properties allow naturally available materials to be used in any pavement layer at a low risk. In the built environment, scientists soon determined that the successful use of an organo-silane depends on the type and condition of the stone to be treated. The same principles apply to the implementation of applicable nanotechnologies in pavement engineering. Understanding the basic chemistry determining the properties of the stabilising agent and the organofunctional modifying agent and the chemical interaction with the primary and secondary minerals of the material are essential for the successful application of these technologies in pavement engineering. This paper explains some basic chemistry which fundamentally influences engineering outputs that can be achieved using New-age (Nano) Modified Emulsions (NME) stabilising agents with naturally available material in all road pavement TRANSLATE with x English ArabicHebrewPolish BulgarianHindiPortuguese CatalanHmong DawRomanian Chinese SimplifiedHungarianRussian Chinese TraditionalIndonesianSlovak CzechItalianSlovenian DanishJapaneseSpanish DutchKlingonSwedish EnglishKoreanThai EstonianLatvianTurkish FinnishLithuanianUkrainian FrenchMalayUrdu GermanMalteseVietnamese GreekNorwegianWelsh Haitian CreolePersian TRANSLATE with COPY THE URL BELOW Back EMBED THE SNIPPET BELOW IN YOUR SITE Enable collaborative features and customize widget: Bing Webmaster Portal Back TRANSLATE with x English ArabicHebrewPolish BulgarianHindiPortuguese CatalanHmong DawRomanian Chinese SimplifiedHungarianRussian Chinese TraditionalIndonesianSlovak CzechItalianSlovenian DanishJapaneseSpanish DutchKlingonSwedish EnglishKoreanThai EstonianLatvianTurkish FinnishLithuanianUkrainian FrenchMalayUrdu GermanMalteseVietnamese GreekNorwegianWelsh Haitian CreolePersian TRANSLATE with COPY THE URL BELOW Back EMBED THE SNIPPET BELOW IN YOUR SITE Enable collaborative features and customize widget: Bing Webmaster Portal Back TRANSLATE with x English ArabicHebrewPolish BulgarianHindiPortuguese CatalanHmong DawRomanian Chinese SimplifiedHungarianRussian Chinese TraditionalIndonesianSlovak CzechItalianSlovenian DanishJapaneseSpanish DutchKlingonSwedish EnglishKoreanThai EstonianLatvianTurkish FinnishLithuanianUkrainian FrenchMalayUrdu GermanMalteseVietnamese GreekNorwegianWelsh Haitian CreolePersian TRANSLATE with COPY THE URL BELOW Back EMBED THE SNIPPET BELOW IN YOUR SITE Enable collaborative features and customize widget: Bing Webmaster Portal Back

Remote sensing is one of the modern methods that have significantly developed over the last two decades and nowadays provides a new means for forest monitoring. High spatial and temporal resolutions are demanded for accurate and timely monitoring of forests. In this study multi-spectral Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) images were used to estimate canopy parameters (definition of crown extent, top and height as well as photosynthetic pigment contents). The UAV images in Green, Red, Red-Edge and NIR bands were acquired by Parrot Sequoia camera over selected sites in two small catchments (Czech Republic) covered dominantly by Norway spruce monocultures. Individual tree extents, together with tree tops and heights, were derived from the Canopy Height Model (CHM). In addition, the following were tested i) to what extent can the linear relationship be established between selected vegetation indexes (NDVI and NDVIred edge) derived for individual trees and the corresponding ground truth (e.g., biochemically assessed needle photosynthetic pigment contents), and ii) whether needle age selection as a ground truth and crown light conditions affect the validity of linear models. The results of the conducted statistical analysis show that the two vegetation indexes (NDVI and NDVIred edge) tested here have a potential to assess photosynthetic pigments in Norway spruce forests at a semi-quantitative level, however the needle-age selection as a ground truth was revealed to be a very important factor. The only usable results were obtained for linear models when using the 2nd year needle pigment contents as a ground truth. On the other hand, the illumination conditions of the crown proved to have very little effect on the model’s validity. No study was found to directly compare these results conducted on coniferous forest stands. This shows that there is a further need for studies dealing with a quantitative estimation of the biochemical variables of nature coniferous forests when employing spectral data acquired by the UAV platform at a very high spatial resolution.

A key concern in an ageing society is citizens’ mobility. As populations age, disability impairments can affect active ageing, health-related wellbeing and quality of life. In this paper, we present the on-going research project SeriousGiggle—Game-based learning for triggering active ageing. Its goal is to assess the potential of game-based learning for active ageing and contribute to a sense of wellbeing and quality of life. It also seeks to improve the mobility of older adults by creating a set of journey plans with route guidance that are rated in terms of safety, community support, environment and age-friendliness. Drawn on our field work with 33 co-designers, 40 end users and 10 semi-structured interviews with Subject Matter Experts, we identify a set of necessary design requirements to an Age-friendly Playable City. This study recommends the use of gamification and playful techniques to engage the end-users to provide information about local traffic signs, pavement conditions, wayfinding and, therefore, help to create route guidance and walking assistance that are personalized to older adults’ context in terms of location, travel fitness, mobility impairments and motivations.

FoxP3 is a transcription factor essential for the differentiation and function of T regulatory cells (Tregs). There are two major subsets of Tregs: natural Tregs (nTregs) generated in thymus and inducible Tregs (iTregs) produced in peripheral immune system. It has been documented that iTreg development is dependent on soluble mediators including interleukin 2 (IL2), transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) and all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA). In our experiments we performed a gene expression array, followed by Real-time PCR experiments, to study the expression of genes regulated by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D) or ATRA in cells of myeloid origin. Our experiments revealed that ATRA alone, but also a cocktail of mediators consisting of IL2, TGFβ and ATRA, upregulate the expression of FOXP3 gene in lymphoid cells, but also in normal and leukemic myeloid cells. The FoxP3 expression is followed by a phenotypic changes in cells of myeloid origin. Our results indicate that signaling pathways which are used in the late stages of T cell differentiation, are also active in the cells of myeloid lineage

In the oil palm industry, stands age is an important parameter to monitor the sustainability of cultivation, to develop the growth yield model, to identify the disease or stressed area, and to estimate the carbon storage capacity. This research is focused to estimate and distinguish oil palm stands age based on crown/ canopy density obtained using Forest Canopy Density (FCD) model derived from four indices as follows; Advanced Vegetation Index, Bare Soil Index, Shadow Index, and Thermal Index. FCD model employs multi temporal image analysis resulting four classes of oil palm stands age categorized as seed with FCD value of 29–56% (0 years), young with FCD value of 56–63% (1–9 years), teen with FCD value of 63–80% (10–15 years), and mature with FCD value of >80% (>15 years). Minimum canopy density value is 29% even in the zero years old indicates incomplete land clearance or the type of seed planted in the land.

Background: The passage through university, as a complex experience, can heighten personal susceptibility to eating disorders. The objective of this research is to determine how gender, age, year of course, and center or faculty can influence the risk of an eating disorder among university students. Method: A transversal and descriptive study with a probabilistic sample of 516 Spanish students from 26 university degrees is performed, by administering the Inventory Eating Disorder-Reference criterion (EDI-3-RF) to the students. Results: It was found that the female students enrolled in second-year grades presented a greater obsession with thinness and body dissatisfaction, that the male students did more physical exercise to control their weight, and that those under 20 years and the students from both the Health and Law Faculties presented greater bulimic behavior. Conclusions: It is necessary to implement preventive measures adapted to the university students.

In 2019, the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) estimated that prostate cancer (PC) was the 16th cause of death globally in males. In Mexico, PC epidemiology has been reported for a selected number of metrics and years, although without including the most up-to-date estimates. Herein, we describe and compare the burden and trends of PC in Mexico and its 32 states from 2000 to 2019. For this, we extracted online available data from the GBD 2019 to estimate the crude and age-standardized rate (ASR per 100,000 people) of incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). In Mexico, PC caused 27.1 thousand (95% uncertainty intervals, 20.6-36.0 thousand) incident cases, 9.2 thousand (7.7-12.7 thousand) deaths, and 161.5 thousand (122.7-219.5 thousand) DALYs in males of all ages in 2019. Among states, Sinaloa had the greatest ASR of incidence and Guerrero the highest values of deaths and DALYs. The burden of PC showed an increasing trend, although the magnitude of change differed between metrics and locations. We found both an increasing national trend and subnational variation in the burden of PC. Our results confirm the need for updated and timely estimates to design effective diagnostic and treatment campaigns in locations where the burden of PC is the highest.

Many governments particularly in Europe are designing social interventions for the first post COVID-19 emergency phase. Definition of a ‘best practice’ for restriction release is urgent. Although data uncertainty generate difficulties, we believe near term analysis must shift from attempting to understand the numerous ‘unknowns’ to the clarification and interpretation of the few ‘knowns’, to create stepping stones towards rapid evidence-based decision making.Here, open access data on COVID-19 severity in three European countries were analyzed. Spain’s data were more comprehensive than those from Italy and Germany. Overall, COVID-19 severity shows a remarkable nonlinear growth with age that is significantly higher in adult males. Hence, age-adaptive and gender-balanced social interventions might represent efficient repopulation options for public health policymakers. Furthermore, we urge wider governmental effort for open access to relevant data. Their analysis will allow consolidation of existing trends, validation of key observations and thus facilitation of timely decisions.

The paper presents new data on mineralogical-geochemical peculiarities of the granites and pegmatites of the Baikal area (Olkhon Region) with implications for the age, generation conditions and geodynamic settings of magmatism. The early Paleozoic granitoids of the Olkhon region are syncollisional formations produced from the gneiss-schistose substratum of the Olkhon metamorphic sequences. Pegmatoid granites and pegmatites of the Region were generated within a wide age range (458-390 Ma) and include different mineralogical and geochemical types. Amongst the Early Paleozoic granitoids, pegmatoid rocks are products of the collisional magmatism evolution and are similar to granites in terms of the mineral composition and distribution patterns of rare and rare earth elements. On the Olkhon island (Baikal lake) the pegmatite of the Tashkiney vein belong to the Be-Nb-Ta mineralogical-geochemical type demonstrating high contents of W, Sn U, Th and very low concentrations of Li and volatile components (F, B). In the Pryolkhonye area, vein pegmatite Iliksin is with Li, Be, Nb, Ta mineralization (lepidolite, vorobyevite, samarskite et al). The studied pegmatite veins are similar both by the profound negative Ba, Sr, Eu, and Zr anomalies. The zircons from the Tashkiney vein (390±5.0 Ma) and of the Iliksin vein (430.1±2.2 Ma, U-Pb isotope LA ICP MS metod) indicate the formation of pegmatite at the late post-collisional stage of magmatism in the Olkhon Region. As regard to mineralogical and geochemical characteristics, vein pegmatites with amazonite (Ainsky and Ulan-Nur) belong to the Li-F type. The tantalum mineralization, represented by microlites and minerals of the columbite-tantalite group is associated with the Ainsky amazonite pegmatite. As opposed to the Early Paleozoic syncollisional granitoids and pegmatoid formations, the middle Paleozoic vein bodies of pegmatites (Tashkiney, Iliksin, Ainsky, Ulan-Nur) are regarded as rare-metal pegmatites. In terms of geochemical characteristics, they are similar to the rare-metal pegmatoid granites and pegmatites of the intra-plate setting widespread in Mongolia and Transbaikalia. The rare-metal mineralization in the Olkhon region may be genetically related to the evolution of Be-Nb-Ta and Li-F types of the post-collisional granites and pegmatites.

Although CAD/CAM ceramics present a promising alternative to metal-ceramic fixed dental prostheses, little is known about their mid- and long-term clinical performance. This systematic review aims to estimate the survival and success rates and describes the underlying complication characteristics for CAD/CAM tooth-supported fixed dental prostheses (FDPs). We systematically searched MEDLINE and Web of Science to find relevant prospective studies with a follow-up of at least one year. We estimated pooled 1-, 5- and 10-year survival and success rates by combining the collected data in a Poisson regression model. Descriptive statistics were conducted to evaluate the distribution of failures and complications in the included studies. Risk of bias for the included studies was assessed with an adapted checklist for single-arm trials. Pooled estimated 1-, 5-, and 10-year survival rates ranged from 93.80% to 94.66%, 89.67% to 91.1%, and 79.33% to 82.20%, respectively. The corresponding success rates, excluding failures but including any other types of intervention, were 94.53% to 96.77%, 90.89% to 94.62%, and 81.78% to 89.25%. Secondary caries was the most frequent cause of failure, followed by chipping of the veneering. The most common cause of complication, excluding failures but requiring intervention, was chipping of the veneering. Risk of bias was generally acceptable for the included studies, with 7 studies associated with low risk of bias, 8 studies with a moderate risk of bias, and 3 studies with serious risk of bias. The current meta-analysis on CAD/CAM supported FDPs revealed satisfying survival and success rates for up to 10 years of exposure. More prospective studies focusing on long-term performance are needed to strengthen the evidence currently available in the literature.

The use of New-age (Nano) Modified Emulsions (NME) for the stabilisation of marginal materials for use in the upper-pavement layers of roads have been proven in laboratories, through Accelerated Pavement Tests (APT) and in practice. In addition, material design methods have been developed based on the scientific analysis of granular material mineralogy and the chemical interaction with the binder to design a material compatible NME stabilising agent for naturally available (often marginal) materials. However, the introduction of any new disruptive technology in a traditionally well-established industry, such as the road construction industry, is usually associated with considerable resistance. This is especially relevant when the new technology enables the use of granular materials traditionally considered to be of an unacceptable quality in combination with relatively new concepts such as New-age (Nano) Modified Emulsions (NME). In practice, few road construction projects are without any problems. The introduction of new-technologies obviously makes it an easy target to blame for any non-related problem that may arise during construction. This article aims to assist in pre-empting, recognising, preventing and resolving material or non-material related construction problems through the correct identification of the cause of the problem and recommending the best, most cost-effective way to correct any deficiencies on site.

The noradrenergic theory of Cognitive Reserve (Robertson, 2013-2014) postulates that the upregulation of the Locus Coeruleus - Noradrenergic System (LC-NA) originating in the Brainstem might facilitate cortical networks involved in attention, and protracted activation of this system throughout the lifespan may enhance cognitive stimulation contributing to Reserve. To test the above-mentioned theory, a study was conducted on a sample of 686 participants (395 controls, 156 Mild Cognitive Impairment, 135 Alzheimer’s Disease) investigating the relationship between LC volume, attentional performance and a biological index of brain maintenance (BrainPAD – an objective measure which compares an individual’s structural brain health, reflected by their voxel-wise grey matter density, to the state typically expected at that individual’s age). Further analyses were carried out on Reserve indices including education and occupational attainment. Volumetric variation across groups was also explored along with gender differences. Control analyses on the Serotoninergic (5-HT), Dopaminergic (DA) and Cholinergic (Ach) systems were contrasted with the Noradrenergic (NA) hypothesis. The antithetic relationships were also tested across the neuromodulatory subcortical systems.Results supported by bayesian modelling showed that LC volume disproportionately predicted higher attentional performance as well as biological brain maintenance across the three groups. These findings lend support to the role of the noradrenergic system as a key mediator underpinning the neuropsychology of Reserve, and they suggest that early prevention strategies focused on the noradrenergic system (e.g. cognitive-attentive training, physical exercise, pharmacological and dietary interventions) may yield important clinical benefits to mitigate cognitive impairment with age and disease.

Distinguishable annual growth rings produce in Pinus roxburghii are an asset to find out the age of individual tree. This paper aimed to determine the age of P. roxburghii through coring samples and test the relationship with forest production. The biomass estimated, girths measured at two different sections and heights measured which allowed to determine the rate of tapering of the stand. The regression analysis was performed to test the relationship between various variables. The mean age of the P. roxburghii stand was found to be 23.97 (~24 years). The result showed the significant (p<0.05) positive correlation coefficient has been seen between age with girth at breast height, biomass, volume and carbon stock. However, no significant (p>0.05) correlation (r = 0.08) was found between age and height of the stand. In contrast, a correlation between diameter at breast height (DBH) was significant (p<0.05) and positive with volume, biomass, but no significant (p>0.05) correlation (r = 0.14) found between DBH and height of the stand. However, height has a significant (p<0.05) positive correlation with biomass. The mean biomass was 375 kg and mean annual increment (MAI) was 15 kg per tree. Rate of tapering of the studied stand predicted to be 3 cm diameter decreased with trunk height running at 100 cm from base to upward of P. roxburghii stand and vice versa. Result suggests that height-age relation is very weak whereas age, DBH, biomass and carbon has a significant correlation signifies that time-based forests' production and potential production estimation can be obtained in a relatively accurate way by utilizing the age of stand. The time-based forest production analysis is pioneer work in Nepal. The study affirms the tree ring count in P. roxburghii would be a credible and accurate method to determine the age of standing trees.

Pomegranate peel is a natural source of phenolics, claimed to possess healing properties, among which antioxidant and antidiabetic. In line with this evidence, the ethyl acetate PGE extract, obtained by Soxhlet from the peel of Dente di cavallo DC2 variety and characterized by a 4% amount of ellagic acid, has been studied for its hypoglycemic, antiglycation and antioxidative cytoprotective properties, in order to support a possible further nutraceutical interest. The α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzyme inhibition, interference with advanced glycation end-products (AGE) formation and metal chelating abilities were evaluated as hypoglycemic mechanisms. Also, considering that oxidative stress is associated with hyperglycemia complications, PGE antioxidant cytoprotective properties under hyperglycemic conditions were assayed. Phenolic profile was characterized by integrated chromatographic and spectrophotometric methods. Under our experimental conditions, PGE strongly inhibited the tested enzymes, especially α-glucosidase, and exerted chelating and antiglycation properties. Also, it reduced both ROS and GSH levels under hyperglycemic conditions, thus suggesting its ability to support cell functions by counteracting intracellular oxidative stress. Along with ellagic acid, rutin was the major identified flavonoid (about 4 %) of PGE. Present results suggest PGE to be a possible remedy for hyperglycemia management and encourage further studies to exploit its promising properties.

Dehydrolutein accumulates in substantial concentrations in the retina. The aim of this study was to compare antioxidant properties of dehydrolutein with other retinal carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, and their effects on ARPE-19 cells. The time-resolved detection of characteristic singlet oxygen phosphorescence was used to compare the singlet oxygen quenching rate constants of dehydrolutein, lutein, and zeaxanthin. The effects of these carotenoids on photosensitized oxidation were tested in liposomes, where photooxidation was induced by light in the presence of photosensitizers, and monitored by oximetry. To compare the uptake of dehydrolutein, lutein, and zeaxanthin, ARPE-19 cells were incubated with carotenoids for up to 19 days, and carotenoid contents were determined by spectrophotometry in cell extracts. To investigate the effects of carotenoids on phototocytotoxicity, cells were exposed to light in the presence of rose bengal or all-trans-retinal. The results demonstrate that the rate constants for singlet oxygen quenching are 0.77x1010, 0.55x1010, and 1.23x1010 M-1s-1 for dehydrolutein, lutein and zeaxanthin, respectively. Overall, dehydrolutein is similar to lutein or zeaxanthin in protection of lipids against photosensitized oxidation. ARPE-19 cells accumulate substantial amounts of both zeaxanthin and lutein but no detectable amounts of dehydrolutein. Cells pre-incubated with carotenoids are equally susceptible to photosensitized damage as cells without carotenoids. Carotenoids provided to cells together with the extracellular photosensitizers offer partial protection against photodamage. In conclusion, the antioxidant properties of dehydrolutein are similar to lutein and zeaxanthin. The mechanism responsible for its lack of accumulation in ARPE-19 cells deserves further investigation.

Age estimation in dental radiographs Orthopantomography (OPG) is a medical imaging technique that physicians and pathologists utilise for disease identification and legal matters. For example, for estimating post-mortem interval, detecting child abuse, drug trafficking, and identifying an unknown body. Recent development in automated image processing models improved the age estimation's limited precision to an approximate range of +/- one year. While this estimation is often accepted as accurate measurement, age estimation should be as precise as possible in most serious matters, such as homicide. Current age estimation techniques are highly dependent on manual and time-consuming image processing. Age estimation is often a time-sensitive matter in which the image processing time is vital. Recent development in Machine learning-based data processing methods has decreased the imaging time processing; however, the accuracy of these techniques remains to be further improved. We proposed an ensemble method of image classifiers and transfer learning techniques to enhance the accuracy of age estimation using OPGs from one year to a couple of months (1-3-6). This hybrid model is based on convolutional neural networks (CNN) and K nearest neighbours (KNN). The hybrid (HCNN-KNN) model was used to investigate 1,922 panoramic dental radiographs of patients aged 15 to 23. These OPGs were obtained from the various teaching institutes and private dental clinics in Malaysia. To minimise the chance of overfitting in our model, we used the principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm and eliminated the features with high correlation. To further enhance the performance of our hybrid model, we performed systematic image pre-processing. We applied a series of classifications to train our model. We have successfully demonstrated that combining these innovative approaches has improved the classification and segmentation and thus the age-estimation outcome of the model. Our findings suggest that our innovative model, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, successfully estimated the age in classified studies of one year old, six months, three months and one-month-old cases with accuracies of 99.98, 99.96, 99.87, and 98.78 respectively.

The age of information (AoI) metric was proposed to measure the freshness of messages obtained at the terminal node of a status updating system. In this paper, the AoI of discrete time status updating system with probabilistic packet preemption is investigated by analyzing the steady state of a three-dimensional discrete stochastic process. Assuming the queue used in system is Ber/Geo/1/2*/η, which represents that the system size is 2 and the packet in buffer can be preempted by fresher packet with probability η. Instead of considering system’s AoI separately, we use a three-dimensional state vector (n,m,l) to simultaneously track the real time changes of the AoI, the age of packet in server, and the age of packet waiting in buffer. We give the explicit expression of system’s average AoI, and show that the average AoI of system without packet preemption is obtained by letting η=0. When η is set to 1, the mean of AoI of system having Ber/Geo/1/2* queue is obtained as well. Combining the results we have obtained and comparing them with corresponding average continuous AoIs, we propose a possible relationship between average discrete AoI with Ber/Geo/1/c queue and the average continuous AoI with M/M/1/c queue. For each of two extreme cases where η=0 and η=1, we also determine the stationary distribution of AoI using the probability generation function (PGF) method. The relations between average AoI and the packet preemption probability η, as well as AoI’s distribution curves in two extreme cases are illustrated by numerical simulations. Notice that the probabilistic packet preemption may occur, for example, in an energy harvest (EH) node of wireless sensor network, where the packet in buffer can be replaced only when the node collects enough energy. In particular, to exhibit the usefulness of our idea and methods and highlight the merits of considering discrete time systems, in this paper we give much more explanations showing that how the results about continuous AoI is derived by analyzing the corresponding discrete time system, and how the discrete age analysis is generalized to the system with multiple sources. In terms of packet service process, we also propose our idea to analyze system’s AoI when the service time distribution is relaxed to be arbitrary.

Prime number-related issues can be viewed from drastically different perspectives by examining the close connections between prime numbers and composite numbers. We think that multiple perspectives are the pillars on the path to solutions so we have created this study. As a result of the study, we proposed two new formulas by presenting three theorems and one proof for each theorem, a total of three proofs. We proved that the formula p · n + p returns a composite number in the first of the theorems, which is the preliminary theorem. Our first theorem except the preliminary theorem is that the formula p · n + p returns all composite numbers, and we proved that too. Finally, we created Theorem II using Theorem I to use in our other work and proved that the formula 2 · n · p + p returns all odd composite numbers, which is Theorem II. Afterward, we presented the similarities of the 2 · n · p + p formula we put forth with another known formula.

Learning disorders (LD) are diagnosed in children impaired in the academic skills of reading, writing and/or mathematics. Children with LD usually show a slower resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG), with EEG patterns corresponding to a neurodevelopmental lag. LD-children also show a consistent cognitive impairment in working memory (WM), including an abnormal task-related EEG with an overall slower EEG activity of more delta and theta power, and less gamma activity in posterior sites; task-related EEG patterns considered indices of an inefficient neural resource management. Neurofeedback (NFB) treatments aimed at normalizing the resting-state EEG of LD-children have shown improvements in cognitive-behavioral indices and diminished EEG abnormalities. Given the typical findings of a WM impairment in LD-children; we aimed to explore the effects of a NFB treatment in the WM of children with LD, by analyzing the WM-related EEG power-spectrum. We recruited 18 children with LD (8-10 years old). They performed a Sternberg-type WM-task synchronized with an EEG of 19 leads (10-20 system) twice in pre-post treatment conditions. They went through either 30 sessions of a NFB treatment (NFB-group, n= 10); or through 30 sessions of a placebo-sham treatment (Sham-group, n= 8). We analyzed the before-after treatment group differences for the behavioral performance and the WM-related power-spectrum. The NFB group showed faster response times in the WM-task post-treatment. They also showed an increased gamma power at posterior sites and a decreased beta power. We explain these findings in terms of NFB improving the maintenance of memory representations coupled with a reduction of anxiety.

ASTM A743 CA6NM alloy is a martensitic stainless steel typically used in energy industry -runners and hydraulic turbine components- due to its superior toughness, yield and fatigue properties. In both the manufacturing, shielded metal arc welding is applied to join for this grade steels. However, weldability of the steels is limited due to formation of hard and brittle phases such as untempered martensite during welding and post weld heat treatment processes. The formation causes a reduction in toughness. In this study, influence of post-weld heat treatment procedure (single tempering and double tempering) and parameters on microstructure and hardness of AWS410NiMo all weld metal. Hardness tests were conducted from weld metal. Microstructures of the all weld metals subjected to different heat treatment process were characterized.

Background: Fetal overgrowth is related to many perinatal complications including stillbirth, cesarean section, maternal and neonatal injuries, and shoulder dystocia. It is related to maternal diabetes, obesity, and gestational weight gain, but also happens in low-risk pregnancies. There is ongoing discussion regarding definitions, methods of detection, and classification. The method used for detection is of crucial importance as it draws a line between those at risk and low-risk populations. Methods: In this a narrative review of relevant evidence identified through PubMed search with one of the general terms (macrosomia, large-for-gestational-age) combined with the outcome of interest. Results: This revive summarizes evidence on the relation of fetal overgrowth with stillbirth, cesarean sections, shoulder dystocia, anal sphincter injury, and hemorrhage. Customized growth charts help to detect mothers and fetuses at risk of those complications. Relations between fetal overgrowth and diabetes, maternal weight, and gestational weight gain. Conclusions: a substantial proportion of complications are an effect of the fetus growing above its potential and should be recognized as a new dangerous condition of Fetal Growth Acceleration

The recent glaciation of the southern part of the Altai is estimated (1256 glaciers with the total area of 559.15±31.13 km2), the area of the glaciers of the whole Altai mountains is evaluated by 1096.55 km2. In the southern part of Altai 2276 glaciers with the total area of 1348.43±56.16 km2 were reconstructed, the first estimate of the LIA glacial area for the whole Altai mountain system is given (2288.04 km2). Since the LIA the glaciers decrease by 59% in the southern part of Altai and by 47.9% for the whole Altai. The ELA in the southern part of Altai increased averagely by 106 m. The higher changes of ELA in relatively humid areas is probably caused by decrease of precipitation. Glaciers of Tavan Bogd glacial center degraded with higher rates after 1968 relative to the interval between 1850-1968. One of the intervals of the fastest shrinkage of the glaciers in 2000-2010 was caused by unfavorable for the glaciers dry and warm interval 1989-2004. However, the fast decrease of the glaciers in 2000-2010 was mainly caused by the shrinkage or disappearance of the smaller glaciers, large valley glaciers started fast retreat after 2010.

Deuterostomes make a sudden appearance in the fossil record during the Early Cambrian. Two deuterostome groups, the chordates and the vetulicolians, are of particular interest for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of the Cambrian evolutionary event. Lagerstätten in China and elsewhere have dramatically improved our understanding of the range of variation in these ancient animals. Cephalochordate and vertebrate body plans are well established at least by Cambrian Series 2. Taken together, roughly a dozen chordate genera and fifteen vetulicolian genera document an explosive radiation of deuterostomes at the base of the Cambrian. A new vetulicolian (••• nov. gen. nov. sp.) with a polygonal anterior section and a narrow, unsegmented posterior region (‘tail’) bearing possible myotomes provides new insight into the affinities of the various body plans that emerged during the Early Cambrian. It seems clear that the advent of deuterostomes near the Cambrian boundary involved both a reversal of gut polarity and a two-sided retinoic acid gradient, with a gradient discontinuity at the midpoint of the organism that is reflected in the sharp division of vetulicolians into anterior and posterior sections.

Wrist-worn fitness trackers and smartwatches are proliferating with an incessant attention towards health tracking. Given the growing popularity of wrist-worn devices across all age groups, a rigorous evaluation for recognizing hallmark measures of physical activities and estimating energy expenditure is needed to compare their accuracy across the lifespan. The goal of the study was to build machine learning models to recognize physical activity type (sedentary, locomotion, and lifestyle) and intensity (low, light, and moderate), identify individual physical activities, and estimate energy expenditure. The primary aim of this study was to build and compare models for different age groups: young [20-50 years], middle (50-70 years], and old (70-89 years]. Participants (n = 253, 62% women, aged 20-89 years old) performed a battery of 33 daily activities in a standardized laboratory setting while wearing a portable metabolic unit to measure energy expenditure that was used to gauge metabolic intensity. Tri-axial accelerometer collected data at 80-100 Hz from the right wrist that was processed for 49 features. Results from random forests algorithm were quite accurate in recognizing physical activity type, the F1-Score range across age groups was: sedentary [0.955 – 0.973], locomotion [0.942 – 0.964], and lifestyle [0.913 – 0.949]. Recognizing physical activity intensity resulted in lower performance, the F1-Score range across age groups was: sedentary [0.919 – 0.947], light [0.813 – 0.828], and moderate [0.846 – 0.875]. The root mean square error range was [0.835 – 1.009] for the estimation of energy expenditure. The F1-Score range for recognizing individual physical activities was [0.263 – 0.784]. Performances were relatively similar and the accelerometer data features were ranked similarly between age groups. In conclusion, data features derived from wrist worn accelerometers lead to high-moderate accuracy estimating physical activity type, intensity and energy expenditure and are robust to potential age-differences.

Understanding the processes that govern the transformation of the landscape through time is essential for exploring the evolution of a coastal area. Coastal landscapes are dynamic sites, with their evolution strongly linked with waves and sea-level variations. Geomorphological features in the coastal area, such as beachrock formations and dune fields, can function as indicators of the coastal landscape evolution through time. However, our knowledge of the chronological framework of coastal deposits on the Aegean coasts is limited. Optically stimulated luminescence dating techniques are deemed to be very promising indirect dating of the coastal sediments, especially when they are linked with archaeological evidence. The dating of the sediments from different sediment core depths, as they are determined by the method of luminosity, allows us to calculate the rate of sediment deposition over time. Additionally, the coastal evolution and stability were studied from 1945 until today, with the use of aerial photographs and satellite images. This paper presents the 6000 ka years evolution of a coastal landscape based on geomorphological, archaeological, and radio-chronological data. Based on the results, the early stages of the Ammoudara beach dune field appear to be formed ~9.0 – 9.6 ka BP, while the OSL ages from 6 m depth represented the timing of its stabilization (OSL ages ~5–6 ka). This indicates that the dune field appears to already have been formed long before the Bronze Age (5-10 ka BP) and became stabilized with only localized episodes of dune reactivation occurring, while high coastal erosion rates are found in modern times.

Epigenetics, specifically DNA methylation, allows for estimation of animal age from blood or remotely sampled skin. This multi tissue epigenetic aging clock uses 110 longitudinal samples from 34 Navy bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), identifying 195 cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites associated with chronological aging via leave-one-individual-out-cross-validation (R2=0.95). With a median absolute error of 2.5 years this clock improves age estimation capacity in wild dolphins, expanding conservation efforts, enabling better understanding of population demographics.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the antibody responses in two adult age groups after diphtheria vaccination. Study Design: An observational analytic study was carried out to determine the difference in serum titer of anti-diphtheria antibody. Methods: Serum antibody titers were measured just before and 3 months after injection of Diphtheria toxoid vaccine. Vaccine was given to two adult age groups of health care personnel in hospital: the young (< 40 years) and the middle-aged (≥ 40 years). Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test (p < 0.05). Results: Significant increase in serum anti-diphtheria antibody titers were recorded after vaccination in both age group (p < 0.001 in young adult and p = 0.001 in middle-aged adult, respectively). There were no substantial differences between the two groups in terms of antibody titer before vaccination (p = 0.741), 3 months after vaccination (p = 0.317) and in the increase of antibody titer (p = 0.479). Conclusions: This study showed that there was no significant difference in the increase of anti-diphtheria antibody titers between the two age groups, proving that both young and middle-aged adults had an equal immune response to a given diphtheria vaccine.

Since identified as the pathogen responsible for an outbreak of severe respiratory distress in Wuhan, China, the 2019-nCoV coronavirus has caused over 30M cases and 1M deaths globally. Sporadic cases were identified in several states in the US from early January, and large-scale community transmission is believed to have started in late February, leading to a first spike in COVID-19 deaths and overall mortality in late April, and a second spike later in the summer. I show here that the dynamics of the pandemic were different in different regions of the US, showing a north-south pattern, with a first pandemic wave mainly in northern regions, followed by a second wave mainly in southern regions. Analysis of overall mortality data shows that the increase in mortality correlates well with COVID-19 incidence in most regions, and that from April through August COVID-19 deaths accounted for a substantial proportion of all deaths in all parts of the US.

late in December 2019 2019-nCoV was identified as the pathogen responsible for an outbreak of severe respiratory distress in Wuhan, China. The virus was detected in multiple countries during January, but it is believed widespread community transmission began late in February or early March. Since March the virus has caused over 100k confirmed deaths in the US, with some states more severely impacted, notably NY and NJ. Here I examine excess mortality at the national and state level from January through July 2020. I find that the increase in excess mortality began in late February, suggesting the pathogen was circulating undetected earlier than assumed. The timing and intensity of the increase in excess mortality varied across states, with two patterns emerging: an early, sharp increase reaching a peak during April-May, best exemplified by NY and NJ, and a shallower, sustained increase, reaching a peak in late July, observed mostly in the southern regions of the US.

Acute exposure to cannabis has been associated with an array of cognitive alterations, increased risk for neuropsychiatric illness, and other neuropsychiatric sequelae including the emergence of acute psychotic symptoms. However, the brain alterations associating cannabis use and these behavioral and clinical phenotypes remains disputed. To this end, neuroimaging can be a powerful technique to non-invasively study the impact of cannabis exposure on brain structure and function in both humans and animal models. While chronic exposure studies provide insight into how use may be related to long-term outcomes, acute exposure may reveal interesting information regarding the immediate impact of use and abuse on brain circuits. Understanding these alterations could reveal the connection with symptom dimensions in neuropsychiatric disorders and, more specifically with psychosis. The purpose of the present review is to: 1) provide an update on the findings of pharmacological neuroimaging studies examining the effects of administered cannabinoids and 2) focus the discussion on studies that examine the sensitive window for the emergence of psychosis. Current literature indicates that cannabis exposure has varied effects on the brain, with the principal compounds in cannabis (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol) altering activity across different brain regions. Importantly, we also discorvered critical gaps in the literature, particularly regarding sex-dependent responses and long-term effects of chronic exposure. Certain networks often characterized as dysregulated in psychosis, like the default mode network and limbic system, were also impacted by THC exposure, identifying areas of particular interest for future work investigating the potential relationship between the two.

Soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH), a neglected tropical disease (NTD) remains a major health problem all over the world including Ghana, which has STH prevalence of 25.4%. To control the disease, the government of Ghana currently concentrates on implementing mass drug administration (MDA) efforts focusing only among school-aged children. However, various studies have suggested that focusing on only a specific group for MDA may not be cost-effective. Moreover, some adults such as teachers and school-workers spend large fraction of their time with children, who shed more parasite in environment due to unhygienic behavior, and thus have a higher risk of getting infected as compared to other adults. In this study we use a mathematical model to evaluate age-structured and risk-based policies for implementing MDA while capturing transmission dynamics of STH in Ghana. A cost model was developed that included various costs related to MDA to study cost-effectiveness of current policies of MDA in Ghana against novel policies to control STH in Ghana. We carry out analysis for five different scenarios— I: no MDA (baseline), II: current MDA policy (focusing children) in Ghana, III: MDA for different age groups (adults and children groups) for unlimited budget, IV: MDA for different age groups with limitations of number of individuals treated, and, V: MDA for different groups based on their risk of getting infected (adults school workers (high-risk group), adults non-school workers and children groups). Our results suggest that it might be more cost-effective to allocate treatment through MDA to at least some proportion of adults along with children. In case of unlimited budget, the best strategy in Scenario IV would be to treat approximately 22% of adults and approximately 45% of children. The most cost-effective among the 5 scenarios is suggested through scenario V, where high-risk adults group and children are provided MDA at higher level than low-risk adults. In conclusion, age-structured and risk-based allocation of treatment and resources is crucial to reducing STH load in developing countries.

Shales are well known for their strong anisotrophic properties. The classical Athy’s model on the exponential porosity reduction with the depth commonly uses based on localities only. Shale compaction curve affects the results of the basin modeling as it is important input data, thus the standard compaction curve of shales needs to be established. This study provided a new data and complies available data of Thailand shales to propose the new empirical relationship among porosity, burial depth, and geological age. The numerical data of the geological time were estimated by the application from the relationship of velocity and depth in each geological ages. The variation of the Thailand shale data due to the different geological ages was found in this study. Finally, the standard curve of shale compaction proposed by Puttiwongrak et al. [9] was examined and confirmed by this research findings.

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan and is later declared as a pandemic by World Health Organization. Different-aged people have varying gender-wise immunity control properties that necessitates understanding COVID-19 impact on age and gender which does not exist, currently. In this paper, COVID-19 surveillance variables are extensively studied along with hospitalization, tests-performed, and recovery data. Dataset is curated from three sources; however, age and gender data belong to Belgium, particularly. Visualizations, frequencies, Pearson’s and polyserial correlation, student’s t-test, and Cramer’s V are used for enhanced analysis. Results show higher mortality rate in males and need of more ventilators to combat severe symptoms.

When in doubt, asking a peer can be very helpful. Students learn a lot of social strategies from peers. However, stated preference studies [Newman, 1993] have found that for elementary school students with math questions they prefer to ask the teacher. In this paper, we study revealed preferences instead of stated preferences. We analyze the behavior of fourth-grade students seeking face-to-face assistance while working on an online math platform. Students start by working independently on the platform before the teacher selects two or three tutors from among those who have answered 10 questions correctly. Each student is then able to choose between the teacher or one of these tutors when requesting assistance. We study the students’ preferences over 3 years, involving 88 fourth-grade classes, 2,700 students, 1,209 sessions with classmate tutors, and a total of 16,485 requests for help when there was an option to choose between a teacher or a classmate. We found that students prefer asking classmates for help 3 times more than asking their teachers when given the choice. Furthermore, this gap increases from the first to the second semester. We also found that students prefer to request help from classmates of the same sex and of higher academic performance. In this sense, students from the two highest tertiles sought help from classmates in the same two tertiles, and students from the medium tertile prefer to seek help from students of the highest tertile. However, students in the two lowest tertiles do not prefer asking for help from students from the top tertile more than from their own tertiles.

In this paper, we study sums of finite products of Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind and Lucas polynomials and represent each of them in terms of Chebyshev polynomials of all kinds. Here the coefficients involve terminating hypergeometric functions ₂F₁ and these representations are obtained by explicit computations.

Unification point of view, quantum cosmology must be given a priority and one should make a note that, Spin is a basic property of quantum physics and rotation is a very common experience. In this context, we have developed a quantum model of cosmology associated with Machian universe having Planck scale origin, total dark matter, light speed rotation and equality of gravitational self energy density and thermal energy density. We would like to appeal that, observed cosmic radius and age seem to be shortened by 146.3 times their actual magnitudes.

Dunaliella salina is a rich source of 9-cis β-carotene, which has been identified as important in the treatment of retinal dystrophies and other diseases. We previously showed that chlorophyll absorption of red light photons in D. salina is coupled to oxygen reduction and phytoene desaturation and increases the pool size of β-carotene [1]. Here we show for the first time that growth under red light also controls conversion of extant all-trans β-carotene to 9-cis β-carotene by β-carotene isomerases. Cells illuminated with red light from a light emitting diode (LED) during cultivation contained a higher 9-cis β-carotene content compared to cells illuminated with white or blue LED light. The 9-cis/all-trans β-carotene ratio in red light treated cultures reached >2.5:1 within 48 hours and was independent of light intensity. Illumination using red light filters that eliminated blue wavelength light also increased the 9-cis/all-trans β-carotene ratio. With norflurazon, a phytoene desaturase inhibitor which blocked downstream biosynthesis of β-carotene, extant all-trans β-carotene was converted to 9-cis β-carotene during growth with red light and the 9-cis/all-trans β-carotene ratio was ~2:1. With blue light under the same conditions, 9-cis β-carotene was likely destroyed at a greater rate than all-trans β-carotene (9-cis/all-trans ratio 0.5:1). Red light perception by the red light photoreceptor, phytochrome, may increase the pool size of anti-oxidant, specifically 9-cis β-carotene, both by upregulating phytoene synthase to increase the rate of biosynthesis of β-carotene and to reduce the rate of formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and by upregulating β-carotene isomerases to convert extant all-trans β-carotene to 9-cis β-carotene.

In some cases, the human impact on ancient landscapes has been so profound that local soils still remain significantly affected even after hundreds and thousands of years after ending impact. We studied the Late Bronze Age Muradymovo settlement located in Urals, Russia, aiming to estimate the consequences of the ancient people activity for environment. Despite the present humid climate, the modern soils inside the cultural layer of the study site contain more than 27% of gypsum at a depth of just 10 cm from the surface, and a microrelief of the study site is typical of a gypsum desert. The nearby background Chernozems are gypsum-free to a depth of 2 meters. According to the archaeological data, the ancient people belonged to the ‘Srubno-Alakul’ archaeological culture (1750–1350 yrs BC cal) and had a tradition of building their houses from gypsum rocks. At the present time, this area is still unsuitable for human settlement. The properties of modern soils inside the cultural layer of the study site are directly affected by the Late Bronze Age human activities. It has been identified on soil morphology, micromorphology and chemical properties of soils developed inside the cultural layer of the settlement.

Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is a key pathological feature of several of the leading causes of vision loss including neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Here we show that a calreticulin anti-angiogenic domain (CAD)-like peptide 27, CAD27, inhibited in vitro angiogenic activities, including tube formation and migration of endothelial cells, and suppressed vascular sprouting from rat aortic ring explants. In rat model of laser-induced CNV, we demonstrate that intravitreal injection of CAD27 significantly attenuated the formation of CNV lesions as measured via fundus fluorescein angiography and choroid flat-mounts (19.5% and 22.4% reductions at 10μg and 20μg of CAD27 injected, respectively). Similarly, the reduction of CNV lesions was observed in the groups of rats that had received topical applications of CAD27 (choroid flat-mounts: 17.9% and 32.5% reductions at 10μg/mL and 20μg/mL of CAD27 installed, respectively). Retinal function was unaffected, as measured using electroretinography in both groups received interareal injection or topical applications of CAD27 at least for 9 days. These findings show that CAD27 can be used as a potential therapeutic alternative for targeting CNV in the diseases such as neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

Novel strategies have been developed to reduce or to avoid the intravitreal injections (IVTs) of the antiangiogenic (ranibizumab; RBZ) and the anti-inflammatory (triamcinolone acetonide; TA) agents used to treat vitreoretinal diseases. One of the strategies include liposomes. In this study, it was evaluated the safety and efficacy of topical triamcinolone-loaded liposomes formulation (TALF) as an adjuvant to intravitreal RBZ therapy in treatment-naive patients with neovascular age related macular degeneration (nAMD). Subjects were randomly assigned to the RBZ-TALF or the RBZ-pro re nata (RBZ-PRN) group. Patients from the RBZ-TALF group were instructed to apply TALF for a 12-month period after a single dose of RBZ. Patients from the RBZ-PRN group received three monthly RBZ-IVTs. Retreatment with RBZ was considered in case of nAMD reactivation. Related to safety, non-ocular abnormalities were observed during TALF therapy. Owing to the efficacy, non-significant differences are identified in visual acuity or central foveal thickness when the RBZ-PRN and RBZ-TALF groups are compared. Importantly the average number of RBZ injections was significantly lower in the RBZ-TALF group (2.5 ± 1.4 vs 6.1 ± 1.3 IVTs; p=0004). Therefore, TALF used as an adjuvant to RBZ reduce the number of RBZ-IVTs retreatment with optimal visual and anatomic results.