A major limitation of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is its high sensitivity to the scalp and low sensitivity to the brain of adult humans. In the present work we use multi-distance hyperspectral NIRS (hNIRS) to investigate the optimal source-detector distances, range of wavelengths, and analysis techniques to separate cerebral responses to 30-s breath holds (BHs) from the responses in the superficial tissue layer in healthy adult humans. We observed significant responses to BHs in the scalp hemodynamics. Cerebral responses to BHs were detected in the cytochrome C oxidase redox (rCCO) at 4 cm without using data from the short-distance channel. Using the data from the 1 cm channel in the two-layer regression algorithm showed that hemodynamic and rCCO responses also occurred at 3cm. We found that the waveband 700-900 nm was optimal for the detection of cerebral responses to BHs in adults.

The wavelet spectral characteristics of three respiratory muscle signals (Scalenus (SC), Parasternal intercostal (IC) and Rectus abdominis (RA)) and one locomotor muscle Brachioradialis (BR) were analyzed in the time-frequency (T-F) domain during breath-holding (BH). Study was performed for an end-expiratory BH maneuver on twelve healthy, physically active, naive apneists (6 professional athletes; 6 recreational athletes, two in the post-COVID-19 period) using surface electromyography (sEMG). We observe individual effects dependent on muscle oxygenation and person’s fitness, consistent with the mechanism of motor unit (MU) recruitment and the transition of slow-twitch oxidative (type 1) to fast-twitch (oxidative) glycolytic (type 2) muscle fibers. Professional athletes had longer BH duration (BHD) and strong hypercapnic response on expiratory RA, which is activated abruptly at higher BHDs in a person-specific range below 250 Hz and dependent on BHD. This is in contrast with recreational athletes, who had strong hypoxic response on inspiratory IC, which is activated faster and gradually in the frequency range of 250-450 Hz (independent of the apneist and BHD). This pilot study preliminarily indicates that it is possible to non-invasively assess the physiological characteristics of skeletal muscles, especially oxygenation, and improve physical fitness tests by determining T-F features of elevated myoelectric IC and RA activity during BH.

Volatile compounds, abundant in breath, can be used to accurately diagnose and monitor a range of medical conditions. This offers a non-invasive, low-cost approach with screening applications; however, uptake of this diagnostic approach has been limited by conflicting published outcomes. Most published reports rely on large scale screening of the public, at single time points and without reference to ambient air. Here, we present a novel approach to volatile sampling from cellular headspace and mouse breath that incorporates multi-time point analysis and ambient air subtraction revealing compound flux as an effective proxy of active metabolism. This approach to investigating breath volatiles offers a new avenue for disease biomarker discovery and diagnosis. Using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS), we focus on low molecular weight, metabolic substrate/by-product compounds and demonstrate that this non-invasive technique is sensitive (reproducible at ~1 µg cellular protein, or ~500,000 cells) and capable of precisely determining cell type, status and treatment. Isolated cellular models represent components of larger mammalian systems and we show that stress- and pathology-indicative compounds are detectable in mice, supporting further investigation using this methodology as a tool to identify volatile targets in human patients.

The objective of the analysis carried out in this paper is to quantify the impact of subsidies on the activity of two vegetable farms, of different sizes in terms of agricultural area under cultivation, 600 ha and 3000 ha, which can constitute a model at macroeconomic level, indicating the ways in which these farms can ensure their income. For the analysis carried out, indicators were taken into account concerning production, net profit and subsidies received over a period of three years for the agricultural crops grown on these farms, identifying their contribution and effects on profitability. Descriptive statistics, visual inspections and basic comparison methods were also used, thus determining the patterns of the impact of subsidies and their variation for each of the existing crops in the vegetable farms studied. The data on which the statistical models are based are extracted from the financial statements of the farms analysed, giving the possibility of a predictive extension of the evolution of income and, very importantly, of their profitability. The conclusions revealed, for the 600 ha vegetable farm, that this farm maintained its area constant during the analysis period, benefiting from annual subsidies, and that the practice of crop diversification (rape, barley, winter wheat, oats, soybean, maize, lucerne), appropriate rotation, conservation farming and crop irrigation on 85.34% of the area, ensured average yields/ha that exceeded those recorded at national and regional level, except for 2020. The economic performance of this farm is oscillating in the period 2018-2021, with the ability to consistently generate profit, but in 2020 it is close to break-even, a year in which subsidy income tipped the balance towards positive but modest financial results. For this farm, the statistical model carried out was inconclusive because the farm optimises its cropping plan every year, depending on agrometeorological predictions, subsidy levels and market trends, changing crops, thus not being able to estimate the extent to which each crop contributes to maintaining the financial balance of the farm. Thus, although subsidies have impacted the level of net income, the extent to which they have done so is unclear. For the 3000 ha farm, the findings revealed that this farm also has a roughly constant area in use over the analysis period and for which it receives subsidies. This farm practices crop diversification (rape, barley, winter wheat, sunflower, soybean, grain maize, late potatoes, sweet potato, carrot and flowers) and adequate crop rotation. The data highlight that subsidies played a significant and sometimes overwhelming role in determining the gross output of each crop to achieve a positive value of this indicator. Modern conservation farming technologies and crop irrigation on 74.14% of the area justify the average yields/ha achieved, which again exceeded those recorded at national, regional and county level, with the exception of 2020. Maize and soybean crops consistently contributed to the farm's income, with a high gross product and net income, despite changes in the average yield per hectare achieved each year. Good and rising economic performance for this farm during the period under review, which justifies the profitability of the business from an economic, financial and commercial point of view. Although there have been fluctuations in the value of yields realized on different crops, net revenues continued to be high and even up significantly in 2021. Thus, the study highlighted and identified trends and patterns in agriculture, patterns that can serve as a source of information for relevant policy decisions, playing a key role in guiding future research and allocating resources efficiently in the agricultural sector.

Vase life is one of the most important factors that determine the marketability of cut flowers and is greatly affected by the water balance. In recent years, cut hydrangea flowers are increasingly consumed as decorations for various events. However, the vase life of cut hydrangea flowers varies greatly depending on the postharvest solution management. Therefore, this study investigated the vase life, solution uptake, water balance, and relative fresh weight of freshly harvested hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Verena’) according to the three types of holding solutions (tap water, 1% chrysal professional Ⅲ (CPⅢ), 2% sucrose + 250 mg/L 8-hydroxquinoline + 100 mg/L citric acid (SHQC)) and the combination solutions (pretreatment; tap water, 0.1% chrysal RVB (RVB), floralife quickdip (FQ), transport; tap water, CPⅢ, floralife clear (FC), preservatives; CPⅢ, FC) for each distribution stage (pretreatment-transport-consumer). In the preservative comparison experiment, compared with the control, CPⅢ treatment and SHQC treatment significantly increased the vase life in 2019 (0.7 days, 3.4 days) and 2020 (1.4 days, 3.1 days), respectively. In the comparative experiment by solution combination, the group (RVB, FQ) using the pretreatment significantly extended the vase life by 4.6 days and 5.9 days compared to the tap water treatment. It was also determined that the same treatment increased overall solution uptake, maintained water balance longer, and increased relative fresh weight. These results confirm the importance of holding solutions and pretreatments, suggesting that appropriate pretreatments and preservatives should be used to improve the marketability of cut hydrangea flowers.

The review is devoted to the physical, chemical and technological aspects of the breath-figures self-assembly process. Main stages of the process and the impact of the polymer architecture and physical parameters of the breath-figures self-assembly on the eventual pattern are covered. The review is focused on the hierarchy of spatial and temporal scales inherent for the breath-figures self-assembly. Multi-scale patterns arising from the process are addressed. The characteristic spatial lateral scales of patterns vary from nanometers to dozens of micrometers. The temporal scales of the process span from micro-seconds to seconds. The qualitative analysis performed in the paper demonstrates that the process is mainly governed by the interfacial phenomena, whereas the impact of inertia and gravity is negligible. Characterization and applications of polymer films manufactured with breath-figures self-assembly are discussed.

Cash holding is important for Chinese manufacturing firms coping with the increasing cost of financing and stiff market conditions. This study examines the impact of cash holding on the firm value of Chinese manufacturing firms. We find evidence that a non-linear relationship exists between cash holding and firm value in manufacturing firms of China. The study reveals that financially constrained firms having a higher level of cash holding negatively affects the firm value, while the unconstrained firms having a lower level of cash holding positively influences the firm value. Finally, this research is enriched by adopting the novel measure of managerial op-timism and reveals the interactive role of cash holding and optimism on firm value. The study concludes that managerial optimism influences the firm’s cash holding decisions and this is more costly for unconstrained firms.

We investigated the response of the Manila clam Venerupis philippinarum to possible temperature and salinity changes in a holding facility. First, clams were exposed to four temperatures for 15 days. Valve closure and survival of clams exposed to seawater at 18℃ were higher than that of those exposed to seawater at 24℃. Second, clams were exposed to six salinities for 15 days. Survival of clams exposed to two salinity fluctuation conditions (24–30 and 27–24 psu) was lower than that of clams exposed to constant 30 psu conditions. Valve closures of clams exposed to constant low salinity conditions (24 psu) and two salinity fluctuation conditions (24–30 and 27–24 psu) were higher than of those exposed to constant 30 psu conditions. Lastly, clams were exposed to two different temperatures and three different salinities conditions for 8 days. Valve closure and survival decreased significantly under the combination of 24℃ and 18 psu. These results suggest that an increase in temperature or a wider range of salinity fluctuations are detrimental to the survival of the Manila clam. The synergistic effect of temperature and salinity stressors may decrease the survival period of clams compared to the effect of a single stressor.

In this paper, a mathematical and physical interpretation of the length and the angle of the catenary curve made by the anchor chains was implemented, and the safety of an anchored vessel was reviewed. So far, holding force has been calculated approximately when the angle of the catenary curve of the anchor chain to the seafloor is 0°. In this study, the holding force equation was strictly derived for the case of anchor dragging. In addition, the equations for the angle and length of the catenary curve were mathematically derived when the anchor dragging occurs. The holding force equation derived in this paper are expected to help provide guidelines in vessel design or increase the safety of anchoring.

Existing approaches to identifying predictive T-cell epitopes have traditionally utilized either 2-digit HLA super-families or more commonly autologous HLA alleles to facilitate the predictions, but frequently they may not consider their representation within a population. Here we propose a modification to this concept whereby subsets of individuals are selected for their specific HLA allele profiles and the representation they provide within a given population. Using this targeted approach to HLA selection and the linkages to specific individuals may enable the design of restricted experimental strategies.

The effect of seven different thawing methods (atmospheric temperature thawing (AT), microwave thawing (MT), microwave magnetic nanoparticles thawing (MMT), microwave vacuum thawing (MVT), far-infrared thawing (FT), far-infrared magnetic nanoparticles thawing (FMT) and far-infrared ultrasonic thawing (FUT)) on water mobility and microstructure of frozen pork was examined. The results showed that the thawing loss, cooking loss, and centrifugal loss of MVT treatment were lower than those of other thawing methods. The results of LF-NMR and NMRI showed that in MVT and FUT treatment, the proportion of bound water and non-flowing water increased, while the proportion of free water decreased. The microstructure was significantly improved by microwave or far-infrared thawing assisted by magnetic nanoparticles, and the frozen pork samples had a more compact and granular microstructure. In summary, MVT and FUT improved the quality of thawed meat and have broad potential applications in thawing meat.

In order to clarify the individual role of freezing and frozen storage on the quality of fish, fillets of large-mouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were subjected to different freezing rates (freezing with -18 °C (A), -60 °C (B), -60 °C with forced air circulation at 2 m/s (C), respectively) followed by frozen storage at -18 °C for 30 and 90 days. Another 2 groups were frozen with -60 °C, followed by storage at -40 °C (D) and -60 °C (E), respectively. Results showed that water-holding and TVBN were mainly affected by storage time. No significant changes were found in free thiol content among treatments. A greater freezing rate and lower storage temperature generally led to lower TBARS. GC×GC-TOFMS revealed a total of 66 volatile compounds which were related to lipid oxidation. PLS-DA showed that fresh samples were separated from the frozen-thawed ones, and fillets in group D & E were relatively close to fresh fillets in the composition of oxidation-related volatiles. In conclusion, freezing rate and storage temperature had significant impact on lipid oxidation and protein denaturation in the fillets of large-mouth bass, while protein oxidation was more affected by freezing rate.

Effects and interactions of incubation time and chick preplacement holding time on mortality at placement, utilization of yolk sac, crop filling rate, early feeding–drinking behavior and broiler live performance were investigated. Ross 308 broiler hatching eggs from a 39-week-old flock were set in two identical setters in a commercial hatchery,with setting time 12 hours earlier in one machine. At the end of incubation, chicks were removed from the hatchers at the same time. Thus, incubation times were either 504 h (normal incubation time (NIT) treatment) or 516 h (longer incubation time (LIT) treatment). After pull time, chicks from each incubation time group were subjected to either 6, 24, 48, 60 or 72 h preplacement holding times. At placement, chicks were given access to feed and water. In total, 19,200 chicks were randomly assigned to a total of 10 subtreatment groups (2 incubation times × 5 preplacement holding times). Therefore, a total of 1,920 chicks were used in each subtreatment group for the grow-out period in a commercial broiler house. An interaction was found between incubation time and preplacement holding time for residual yolk sac (RYS) weight (g, %) (p < 0.001). RYS weight was greater at pull time and at 6 and 24 h of preplacement holding time in the NIT treatment compared to the LIT treatment, while differences were no longer evident at 48–72 h. The lowest percentage of chicks with full crops and eating activity was observed in the shortest preplacement holding time (6 h) group at 3 h after placement. As expected, the initial BW at placement clearly decreased with increasing duration after the pull time (p < 0.05) with the highest and lowest weights were found in the 6 and 72 h holding time treatments respectively. This BW difference was still evident at 35 d after placement and chicks held for the longest period after the pull time (72 h) showed the lowest BW (p < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference between the 6 and 60 h preplacement holding times. Mortality during the first 7 d after placement increased only when the preplacement holding time was extended to 72 h (p = 0.031). Similar to the 7 d results, chicks held for 72 h exhibited higher 0-35 day mortality compared to those held for 6 or 24 h (p = 0.028). Neither BW nor mortality was affected by incubation time treatment at 35 d after placement (p > 0.05). It can be concluded that there were no significant differences in average BW and mortality, up to and including a 60-h holding time under thermal comfort conditions, but a 72-h preplacement holding time resulted in final BW and mortality being negatively affected. In addition, LIT tended to have a beneficial effect on BW and mortality compared to NIT when the preplacement holding time was shorter (6–24 h) but had a negative effect for extended holding times (48–72 h).

Real estate industry is related to the national economy and people's livelihood，characterized by a high degree of financial intensity. The enterprises in this industry need certain financial ability and large shareholder controlling ability to support their survival. However，due to the multiple adverse impacts of current state policies，banks and private capital，the credit crunch，the sudden decrease in withdrawn funds and the limitation of internal financing，the problem of capital restraint of real estate enterprises has become more and more serious. From the perspective of corporate governance，this paper studies the interaction among financial constraints，ownership concentration and corporate performance under different shareholding states by analyzing the quantitative characteristics of equity structure，and looks for the appropriate range of the largest shareholder holding ratio，which has considered the financial performance and risk. It is found that raising the ownership concentration can effectively ease the financing constraints and improve the performance of enterprises，both of which are significant under the state of high ownership concentration， while the financial constraints play a significant intermediary effect under the State of absolute holding， while in the decentralized state of ownership，there is a significant regulatory effect，and the interaction of the three will be different due to the size of the enterprise.

The application of artificial intelligence to point-of-care testing (POCT) disease detection has become a hot research field, in which breath detection which detects the patient's exhaled VOCs combined with sensor arrays of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) algorithms as a new lung cancer detection is attracting more researchers' attention. However, due to low accuracy, high complexity computation and large number of parameters make the CNN algorithms difficult transplant to the embedded system of POCT devices. A lightweight neural network (LTNet) in this work is proposed to deal with this problem, and meanwhile, achieve high-precision classification of acetone and ethanol gases, which are respiratory markers for lung cancer patients. Compared to currently popular lightweight CNN models such as EfficientNet, LTNet has fewer parameters (32K) and its training weight size is only 0.155 MB. LTNet achieved an overall classification accuracy of 99.06% and 99.14% in the own mixed gas dataset and the University of California (UCI) dataset, which are both higher than that of the five existing models’, and it also offers the shortest training (844.38s and 584.67s) and inference time (23s and 14s) in the same validation set. Compared to the existing CNN models, LTNet is more suitable for resource-limited POCT devices.

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) sample analysis is an entirely non-invasive novel sample collection method that is fast, easy to perform, and effort-appeared independent. EBC samples can be very useful in identifying the biomarkers of many diseases. This review provides an updated overview of EBC pH disturbances in different disorders as well as physiological levels among healthy individuals since 2012. Our meta-analysis addresses some of the key questions related to sample processing before pH measurement and discusses various methods of condensate standardization that can be employed prior to conducting a pH assay. Given the recent widespread interest in research into the use of EBC to identify biomarkers, it is necessary to establish a pathway leading from analytical methods for biomarker evaluation using EBC pH to clinical applications of this technology. This review fills a gap in the literature and attempts to connect theory to practical analytical approaches to analyzing EBC samples and making critical treatment-related decisions next to the patient's bed.

Breath volatile organic compound analysis is a non-invasive tool for assessing health status; the compositional profile of these compounds in the breath of patients with chronic kidney disease is believed to change with decreasing renal function. We aimed to identify breath volatile organic compounds for recognizing patients with chronic kidney disease. Using thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, untargeted analysis of breath markers was performed using breath samples of healthy controls (n=18) versus non-dialysis (n=21) and hemodialysis (n=12) patients with chronic kidney disease in this cross-sectional study. A total of 303 volatile organic compounds alongside 12 clinical variables were used to determine the breath volatile organic compound profile. Metabolomic analysis revealed that age, systolic blood pressure, and fifty-eight breath volatile organic compounds differed significantly between the chronic kidney disease group (non-dialysis + hemodialysis) and healthy controls. Thirty-six volatile organic compounds and two clinical variables that showed significant associations with chronic kidney disease in the univariate analysis were further analyzed. Different spectras of breath volatile organic compounds between the control and chronic kidney disease groups were obtained. Multivariate model incorporating age, 2-methyl-pentane, and cyclohexanone showed high performance (accuracy, 86%) in identifying patients with chronic kidney disease, with odds ratios (95% confidence interval) P-values of 0.18 (0.07-2.49) 0.013; 2.10 (0.94-2.24) 0.025; and 2.31 (0.88–2.64) 0.008, respectively. Hence, renal dysfunction-associated characteristic profiles of breath volatile organic substances can be used as non-invasive markers to screen for chronic kidney disease.

Yogic and meditative traditions have long held that the fluctuations of the breath and the mind are intimately related. While respiratory modulation of cortical activity and attentional switching are established, the extent to which electrophysiological markers of attention exhibit synchronization with respiration is unknown. To this end, we examined 1) frontal midline theta-beta ratio, an indicator of attentional control state known to correlate with mind wandering episodes and functional connectivity of the executive control network; 2) pupil diameter (PD), a known proxy measure of locus coeruleus (LC) noradrenergic activity; and 3) respiration for evidence of phase synchronization and information transfer (multivariate Granger causality) during quiet restful breathing. Our results indicate that both TBR and PD are simultaneously synchronized with the breath, suggesting an underlying oscillation of an attentionally relevant electrophysiological index that is phase-locked to the respiratory cycle which could have the potential to bias the attentional system into switching states. We highlight the LC’s pivotal role as a coupling mechanism between respiration and TBR, and elaborate on its dual functions as both a chemosensitive respiratory nucleus and a pacemaker of the attentional system. We further suggest that an appreciation of the dynamics of this weakly coupled oscillatory system could help deepen our understanding of the traditional claim of a relationship between breathing and attention.

Many patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) suffer from shortness of breath and severe chest pain. Here we report successful therapy of a patient with diagnosis of COVID-19, severe chest pain and significant shortness of breath, using radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT). The latter started seven days after beginning of symptoms and drug therapy without success, and involved daily application of 15.000 to 20.000 radial extracorporeal shock waves over the intercostal muscles as well as the paravertebral muscles of the thoracic and lumbar spine, diaphragm and flanks. Immediately after the first rESWT session the patient experienced significant pain relief and improvement of breathing. Four days later the pain had completely subsided and breathing was largely normalized. This type of noninvasive, non-pharmacologic treatment could help many COVID-19 patients or patients who still suffer from breathing problems weeks after having been infected with SARS-CoV-2, giving them back quality of life.

Supplier selection/replacement strategies and optimized purchasing policies play a key role in efficient supply chain management in today’s dynamic market. Here we study supplier replacement in a one-level assembly system (OLAS) producing one type of finished product. To assemble the product, we need to provide multi-type components, but assembly will be interrupted if any single component is missing, and incoming units will get hoarded until the missing component arrives. The assembly process can be interrupted by various sources of uncertainty, including delays in component deliveries. There is consequently a non-negligible risk that the assembly process may get stopped any moment. This brings inventory-related costs, which should be minimized. Here we consider discrete lead-time distributions to mimic industry-world reality. We present a model that takes into account not only optimal assignment of component order release dates but also replacement of a critical supplier. For a given unit, we model several alternative suppliers with alternative pricing and lead-time uncertainties, and we evaluate the impact on the total assembly system. For a more general case where several suppliers may be replaced, we propose a genetic algorithm.

One third of fatal car accidents and so much tragedies are due to alcohol abuse. These sad numbers could be mitigated if everyone had access to a breathalyzer anytime and anywhere. Having a breathalyzer built into a phone or a wearable could be the way to get around the reluctance to carry a separate device. Towards this goal, we propose an inexpensive breathalyzer that could be integrated in the screen of mobile devices. Our technology is based on the evaporation rate of the fog produced by the breath on the phone screen, which increases as a function of the breath alcohol content. The device simply uses a photodiode placed on the side of the screen to measure the signature of the scattered light intensity from the phone display that is guided through the stress layer of the Gorilla glass screen. A part of the display light is coupled to the stress layer via the evanescent field induced at the edge of the breath microdroplets. We demonstrate that the intensity signature measured at the detector can be linked to the blood alcohol content. We fabricated a prototype in a smartphone case powered by the phone’s battery, controlled by an application software installed in the smartphone and tested it in real-world environments. Limitations and future work toward a fully operational device are discussed.

In the present work a novel, portable and innovative eNose composed of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor array based ZIF-8, and ZIF-67 nanocrystals (pure and combined with gold nanoparticles) as sensitive layers has been tested as a non-invasive system to detect and differentiate disease markers, such as acetone, ethanol and ammonia, related with early diagnosis of diabetes mellitus through exhaled breath. The sensors have been prepared by spin coating, achieving continuous and homogenous sensitive layers. Low concentrations (5 ppm, 10 ppm and 25ppm) of the marker analytes were measured, obtaining high sensitivities, good reproducibility, short time response and fast signal recovery.

This paper is concerned with a hydraulic cylinder directly controlled by a variable speed fixed displacement pump. The considered configuration is referred to as a one-motor-one-pump (1M1P) motor-controlled hydraulic cylinder (MCC). A 1M1P MCC with a hydraulically driven passive load-holding function enabled by controlled system pressures is proposed. The proposed load-holding functionality works if there is a standstill command, a loss of power supply, or a hose rupture. Additionally, this paper conducts a comprehensive analysis of the proposed system's operation and load-holding function across four quadrants. Simulation results demonstrate the four-quadrant operation and good load-holding performance under the aforementioned scenarios. In conclusion, the proposed 1M1P MCC can be successfully used on practical applications characterized by overrunning loads and four quadrant operation.

This work investigated the isothermal holding time dependence of the densification, microstructure, weight loss and tensile properties of Fe-Mn-Si powder compacts. Elemental Fe, Mn and Si powder mixtures with a nominal composition of Fe-28Mn-3Si (in weight percent) were ball milled for 5h and subsequently pressed under a uniaxial pressure of 400 MPa. The compacted Fe-Mn-Si powder mixtures were sintered at 1200 ℃ for 0, 1, 2 and 3 h, respectively. In general, the density, weight loss and tensile properties increased with the increase of isothermal holding time. A significant increase in density, weight loss and tensile properties occurred in the compacts isothermally holding for 1 h, as compared to those with no isothermal holding. However, further extension of isothermal holding time (2 and 3 h) only played a limited role in promoting the density and tensile properties. The weight loss of the sintered compacts was mianly caused by the sublimation of Mn in Mn depletion region on the surface layer of the sintered Fe-Mn-Si compacts. The length of the Mn depletion region increased as isothermal holding time increased. A single α-Fe phase was detected on the surface of all the sintered compacts, and the locations beyond the Mn depletion region were comprised of a dual dominant γ-austenite and minor ε-martensite.

Hierarchical honeycomb patterns were manufactured with the breath-figures self-assembly by drop-casting on the silicone-oil lubricated glass substrates. Silicone oil promoted spreading of the polymer solutions. The process was carried out with the industrial grade polystyrene and polystyrene with the molecular weight Mw=35.000. Both of polymers gave rise to the patterns, built from micro- and nano-scaled pores. Ordering of the pores was quantified with the Voronoi tessellations and calculating the Voronoi entropy. Measurement of the apparent contact angles evidenced the Cassie - Baxter wetting regime of the porous films.

Key elements of Blue-Green Infrastructure are vegetation and stormwater storage. A combination of a bioretention cell with an underlying trench (BC-T) serving as a tree pit is often used in dense urban environments. An adequate ratio of drained area to bioretention cell area is a crucial design parameter. The ratio is derived from the hydrological balance; however, input data are often difficult to obtain or uncertain. The goal is to study the sensitivity of such data (tree water uptake and water holding capacities of soil filter and trench substrate) in the BC-T design. Sensitivity analysis is performed for the setup of a BC-T used in Prague, Czech Republic. A 10-year rainfall series (1 hour resolution) is used as an input. Data that are subject to the sensitivity analysis are changed for different trench exfiltration rates, and the effect on the size of the drained area is studied. At low trench exfiltration rates (1.8 mm.h-1), both the water holding capacity of the trench substrate and potential tree water uptake have a significant influence (more than a 20% change in the size of the drained area) and cannot be neglected. At good exfiltration rates (more than 18 mm.h-1) or when the trench is equipped with an underdrain, all studied parameters can be neglected. However, it is recommended to reduce the size of the drained area by 10-20%.

This study investigates multiple extrusion regimens with twin screw extruder for valorising soy press cakes (by-products of soy drink & tofu manufacturing process) by varying physical conditions of extrusion (temperature and moisture content) for improving their morphological, physico-chemical, technological, and sensory parameters. Valorised soy press cakes were compared before and after extrusion. Four extrusion regimens (moisture content 30%-60% and temperature 110°C -120°C) were designed for producing different extruded samples. Small amounts (3%-6%) of untreated and extruded press cakes were utilised in the development of meat analogues. All samples showed comparable nutritional and trypsin inhibition activity with almost all samples possessing most essential amino acids above significant amounts. Press cakes with higher moisture indicated improved bulk density, water holding and oil holding capacity. Interestingly, the same samples also reportedly had texture more closely resembling native meat texture and scored the highest in overall sensory acceptance. Our results thus indicate that soy press cake samples from drink manufacturing process, when extruded with the regimen with 60% moisture and temperature of 120°C show the greatest potential in developing meat analogues.

Many individuals are wearing face masks improperly at ‘half mask’ and potentially breathing out microbes that can contaminate the air as well as anything below the nose. This note provides the first report that bacteria and fungi breathed out during nasal air exhalation are able to be cultured after landing on blood agar plates. The CFU’s are higher after both 10 breaths and extremely significant for 20 breaths compared to the control plates exposed to the air. Implications of this finding are that going ‘nose commando’ may be able to continue the spread of respiratory diseases such as COVID-19.

Diabetes mellitus is a widespread chronic metabolic disorder demanding regular blood glucose level surveillance (BGLs). Current invasive techniques, such as finger-prick tests, often result in discomfort for patients, leading to infrequent monitoring and potential health complications. The primary objective of this study was to design a novel, portable, non-invasive system for diabetes detection using breath samples, named as DiabeticSense, an affordable digital health device for early detection, encouraging immediate intervention. The device employed MOSFET-based electrochemical sensors to assess volatile organic compounds in breath samples, whose concentrations differ between diabetic and non-diabetic individuals. The system merged body vital signs with sensor voltages obtained by processing breath sample data to predict diabetic conditions. Our research used readings from 100 patients at a nationally recognised hospital to form the dataset. Data was then processed 10 using a Gradient Boosting Classifier model, and performance was cross-validated. The proposed system attained a promising accuracy of 86.6%, marking an improvement of 20.72% over an existing regression technique. The developed device introduces a non-invasive, cost-effective, and user-friendly solution for preliminary diabetes detection. It has the potential to increase patient adherence to regular monitoring.

Adaptation to external forces relies on a well-functioning proprioceptive system including muscle spindle afferents. Muscle length-tension control in reaction to external forces is most important regarding the Adaptive Force (AF). This study investigated the effect of different procedures, which are assumed to influence the function of muscle spindles, on the AF. 19 elbow flexors of 12 healthy participants were assessed by an objectified manual muscle test (MMT) with different procedures: regular MMT, MMT after pre-contraction (self-estimated 20% MVIC) in lengthened position with passive return to test position (CL) and MMT after CL with a second pre-contraction in test position (CL-CT). During regular MMTs, muscles maintained their length up to 99.7±1.0% of the maximal AF (AFmax). After CL, muscles started to lengthen at 53.0±22.5% of AFmax. For CL-CT, muscles were again able to maintain the isometric position up to 98.3±5.5% of AFmax. AFisomax differed highly significantly between CL vs. CL-CT and regular MMT. CL is assumed to generate a slack of muscle spindles which led to a substantial reduction of the holding capacity. This was immediately erased by a pre-contraction in test position. The results substantiate that muscle spindle sensitivity seems to play an important role for neuromuscular functioning and musculoskeletal stability.

In this paper we describe many important aspects connected with lubricants, namely: the most cheapest organic lubricant in the word, how effectively save lubricant between pairs of friction, what kind of rational shapes for the lubricant must be, what it will be connected with wear and tear using the new organic lubricant (for this purpose formulas and curves are shown in computer program MathCad with calculation). Moreover, there is one physical model which helps to catch car exhausted gases. In conclusion, some recommendations will be given to realize them into the practice during the operation for the different mechanisms including ecology.

We conducted many model simulations to understand the causes of the damages of coronavirus to lung tissues and constructed a diagram showing viral development, immune response and damage accumulation curves. We found that main causes are (1) the phase lag between the viral reproduction process and a belayed immune response, (2) the direct viral damages and massive collateral damages which are mainly caused by belated immune responses, and (3) further tissue damages triggered by accumulated wastes in lungs. We deduced from those causes that the key strategies for preventing lung damages include avoiding direct lung infection, altering host-virus interactions, promoting immune responses, diluting virus concentrations in lung tissues by promoting viral migration to the rest of the body, maintaining waste removal balance, protecting heart function and renal function, avoiding other infections, reducing allergic reactions and other inflammation, etc. We finally discussed how to use dietary, medical, emotional, lifestyle, environmental, mechanical factors, etc. to alter disease outcomes. We show why true benefits of those factors cannot be determined by randomized controlled trials, and why the multiple-factor optimization approach can be highly effective by examining organ usable capacity in the cause of death. This treatment protocol using water, air, salt, sound, temperature, emotion, exercise, etc. can be the most powerful cures for viral and non-viral lung infections because they do not depend on molecular specificity and are freely available to anyone.

Neuromuscular symptoms in long COVID patients are common. Since adequate diagnostics are still missing, investigating muscle function might be beneficial. The holding capacity (maximal isometric Adaptive Force; AFisomax) was previously suggested to be especially vulnerable for impairments. This longitudinal, non-clinical study aimed to investigate the AF in long COVID patients in recovery process. AF parameters of elbow/hip flexors were assessed in 17 patients at three timepoints (pre: long COVID state, post: immediately after first treatment, end: recovery) by an objectified manual muscle test. The tester applied an increasing force on the limb of the patient, who had to resist isometrically for as long as possible. The intensity of 13 common symptoms were queried. At pre, patients started to lengthen their muscles at ~50% of the maximal AF (AFmax), which was then reached during eccentric motion, indicating unstable adaptation. At post and end, AFisomax increased significantly to ~99% and 100% of AFmax, respectively, reflecting stable adaptation. AFmax was statistically similar for all three timepoints. Symptoms intensity decreased significantly from pre to end. In conclusion, maximal holding capacity seems to be impaired in long COVID patients and increases with substantial health improvement. AFisomax might be a suitable sensitive functional parameter to assess long COVID patients and to support therapy process.

The reliable online analysis of volatile compounds in exhaled breath remains a challenge as a plethora of molecules occur in different concentration ranges (i.e. ppt to %), and need to be detected against an extremely complex background matrix. While this complexity is commonly addressed by hyphenating a specific analytical technique with appropriate preconcentration and/or preseparation strategies prior to detection, we herein propose the combination of three analytical tools based on truly orthogonal measurement principles as an alternative solution: field-asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy-based sensors utilizing substrate-integrated hollow waveguides (iHWG), and luminescence sensing (LS). These three tools have been integrated into a single compact analytical platform suitable for online exhaled breath analysis. The analytical performance of this prototype system was tested via artificial breath samples containing nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and acetone as a model volatile organic compound (VOC) commonly present and detected in breath. Functionality of the combined system was demonstrated by detecting these analytes in their respectively breath-relevant concentration range and mutually independent of each other generating orthogonal yet correlated analytical signals. Finally, adaptation of the system towards the analysis of real breath samples during future studies is discussed.