Changing the film thickness to manipulate the microstructural properties has been considered as a potential method in practical application. Here, we report that atomic-scale structural properties regulated by film thickness in NiCO2O4(NCO)/CuFe2O4(CFO) bilayer heterostructure prepared on (001)-MgAl2O4 (MAO) substrate by means of aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The misfit dislocations at NCO/CFO interface and antiphase boundaries (APBs) bound to dislocations within the films both are found in NCO (40 nm)/CFO (40 nm)/MAO heterostructure to contribute to relaxation of mismatch lattice strain. In addition, the non-overlapping a/4[101]-APB is found and the structural transformation of this kind of APB is resolved at atomic scale. In contrast, only the interfacial dislocations form at interface without the formation of APBs within the films in NCO (10 nm)/CFO (40 nm)/MAO heterostructure. Our results provide evidence that formation of microstructural defects can be regulated by changing film thickness to tune magnetic properties of epitaxial bilayer spinel oxide films.

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, acting as cellular "pumps," facilitate solutes translocation through membranes via ATP hydrolysis. Their overexpression is closely tied to multidrug resistance (MDR), a major obstacle in chemotherapy and neurological disorder treatment, hampering drug accumulation and delivery. Extensive research has delved into the intricate interplay between ABC transporter structure, function, and potential inhibition for MDR reversal. Cryo-electron microscopy has been instrumental in unveiling structural details of various MDR-causing ABC transporters, encompassing ABCB1, ABCC1, ABCG2, as well as recently revealed ABCC3 and ABCC4 structures. The newly obtained structural insight has deepened our understanding of substrate and drug binding, translocation mechanisms, and inhibitor interactions. Given the growing body of structural information available for human MDR transporters and their associated mechanisms, we believe it is timely to compile a comprehensive review of these transporters and compare their functional mechanisms in the context of multidrug resistance. Therefore, this review primarily focuses on the structural aspects of clinically significant human ABC transporters linked to MDR, with the aim of providing valuable insights to enhance the effectiveness of MDR reversal strategies in clinical therapies.

Runaway electrons (RAEs) generation in high-pressure gases is an important physical phenomenon that influences significantly discharge shapes and properties of initiated plasma. The diffuse discharges formed due to RAEs in air and other gases at atmospheric pressure find wide application. In the present review, theoretical and experimental results that explain the reason for the RAEs occurrence at high pressures are analyzed and recommendations are given on the implementation of conditions under which the runaway electron beam (RAEB) with the highest current can be obtained at atmospheric pressure. Experimental results were obtained using subnanosecond, nanosecond, and submicrosecond generators, including those specially developed for runaway electron generation. The RAEB were recorded by oscilloscopes and collectors with picosecond time resolution. To describe theoretically the phenomenon of continuous electron acceleration, the method of physical kinetics has been used based on the Boltzmann kinetic equation that takes into account the minimum but sufficient number of elementary processes, including shock gas ionization and elastic electron scattering. Results of modeling allowed the main factors to be established that control the RAE appearance, the most important of which is electron scattering on neutral atoms and/or molecules. Theoretical modeling has allowed the influence of various parameters (including the voltage, pressure, gas type, and geometrical characteristics of the discharge gap) to be taken into account. The results of research presented here allow the RAEs accelerators with desirable parameters to be developed and the possibility of obtaining diffuse discharges to be accessed under various conditions. The review consists of the Introduction, 5 Sections, the Conclusion, and the References.

Dirac’s equation depicts electron mass as either positive or negative. Taken as correct description of nature, the equation identifies electron mass as ‘electrically active’ and therefore fundamentally different from the ordinary, ‘electrically passive’ mass. Following this cue, I demonstrate that electron mass (m_e) is the natural elementary mass: positive (m_e⁺) and negative (m_e^–) elementary masses neutralise to an elementary unit of the electrically passive mass (2m_e⁰). Further, I show that electron mass (m_e^± ) and the electrostatic field (e_f^±) surrounding it compose an elementary charge (e^±), thereby relating charge to mass. Two plain principles underlie these findings. 1) Electric charge and gravitational mass have a common root: positive (e⁺) and negative (e^–) charges coexist as neutral charge (2e⁰), which is the quantum of gravitational mass. 2) Charge is a static (nonrelativistic) ‘atom of electricity’ and obeys the laws of electrostatics; electron is the same ‘atom of electricity’ at ultrahigh (relativistic) speed and obeys the laws of electrodynamics. That is, charges are electricity at rest; electrons are electricity in motion – ‘same physical entities two behavioural identities.’ A decisive proof that this paradigm shift correctly portrays is that it verifiably unifies Newton’s law of gravity and Coulomb’s law of electrostatics to: 8G/m_pm_e = K/e²; where G and K are the respective constants, m_p the proton mass, m_e the electron mass, and e the elementary charge. Ultimately, the insights simplify matter to pure ‘atoms’ of positive and negative electricity.

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is a transparent thermoplastic with excellent optical properties, transparent surface, low moisture absorption, tensile and electrical resistance. In this study, the alloy was prepared through PMMA and cycloolefin copolymer (COC) due to some similar properties. The mechanical test showed that properties such as impact resistance, elongation, tensile, and flexural strength decreased by adding COC by up to 20% due to less incompatibility and miscibility, but mentioned properties improved by adding COC 40% due to sub-phase generation. The DSC and DMTA tests showed improvement in the thermal properties of alloys by adding 40% COC. SEM micrographs exhibited a softer surface and more phase elongation of the alloy. Finally, the sample was selected as the optimal sample in terms of mechanical properties irradiated by electron beam, and amplification results showed that a dose of 50 KGY increased the mechanical and thermal properties relatively.

Collective spread of aggregated viral particles may have beneficial effects on viral capability to survive in the external environment, to counteract immune responses, and to successfully colonize host cells. Here we ask whether SARS-Cov-2 particles, responsible for COVID-19, display collective clustering behavior. Looking at microphotographs and movies of SARS-Cov-2 particles emerging from the surface of cultured cells, we describe single virions that tend to aggregate in progressively larger globular assemblies, until a network-like appearance is achieved. When SARS-Cov-2 particles stick into each other, the squeezing of single virions leads to improved viral package in host’s fluids. We discuss how these findings might explain both the ability to spread of SARS-Cov-2 and the clinical severity of COVID-19 in humans, paving the way to novel therapeutic strategies to mechanically disrupt collective clustering.

Collisions of low energy electrons with molecules are important for understanding many aspects of the environment and technologies. Understanding the processes that occur in these types of collisions can give insights into plasma etching processes, edge effects in fusion plasmas, radiation damage to biological tissues and more. A radical update of the previous expert system for computing observables relevant to these processes, Quantemol-N, is presented. The new Quantemol Electron Collision (QEC) expert system simplifyies the user experience, improving reliability and implements new features. The QEC GUI interfaces the Molpro quantum chemistry package for molecular target setups and to the sophisticated UKRmol+ codes to generate accurate and reliable cross-sections. These include elastic cross-sections, super elastic cross-sections between excited states, electron impact dissociation, scattering reaction rates, dissociative electron attachment, differential cross-sections, momentum transfer cross-sections, ionization cross sections and high energy electron scattering cross-sections. With this new interface we will be implementing dissociative recombination estimations, vibrational excitations for neutrals and ions, and effective core potentials in the near future.

The exact etiology of myopia remains elusive. The author proposes the particle property of photon in living tissue and the photon-electron theory in living tissue, if the frequency of the photon exceeds the threshold, the photon has enough energy to strike the electron away and forms a hole of a diameter in photon diameter scale in living tissue include the eye. Longer time of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation will cause more holes and a larger radius of holes. The visual light which passes through the radiated hole in the eye cannot be refracted on the macula, this is myopia symptom of blurred vision, shortening the distance of the eye and the object will include more visual light into cornea and lens, this is myopia another symptom of nearsightedness. The particle property of photon causes elongation of the eye and the macular holes.Blue light and X-ray are two kinds of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation which can shot holes in eye and cause myopia.

A calculation is presented for the mass relationships between electron, muon and the tau particle. It is shown that charged leptons with mass levels beyond the one of the tau particle cannot exist because of insufficient binding energy. The underlying mechanism of the relationship between the leptons is the isospin feature of Dirac particles, which appears being a substantial attribute next to nuclear angular spin. It is further shown that the energy of the elementary electric charge, such as embodied by the mass of an electron, is due to the interaction between the isospins of the pion’s quark and antiquark.

Hetero-nanomaterials constructed by plasmonic metals and functional semiconductors show enormous potential in photocatalytic applications, such as water splitting, hydrogen production, CO₂ reduction, pollutants treatment. Their photocatalytic performances can be better regulated through adjusting structure, ingredient, and components arrangement. Therefore, the reasonable design and synthesis of metal/semiconductor hetero-nanostructures is of vital significance. In this article, we briefly review the recent progress in efficiently establishing metal/semiconductor nanomaterials for improved photocatalysis. The defined photocatalysts mainly include traditional binary hybrids, ternary multi-metals/semiconductor and metal/multi-semiconductors heterojunctions. The underlying physical mechanism for the improved photocatalytic activity of the established photocatalysts are highlighted. At the end of this article, a brief summary and possible future perspectives for further development in this field are demonstrated.

In the last decades bioresorbable and biodegradable polymers have gained a very good reputation both in research and in industry thanks to their unique characteristics. They are, indeed, able to ensure high performances and biocompatibility, at the same time avoiding post-healing surgical interventions for devices removal. In the medical device industrial use of such biopolymers, it is widely known that product formulation and manufacturing need to follow specific procedures in order to ensure both proper mechanical properties and desired degradation profile. Moreover, also the sterilization method is crucial and its impact on physical properties is generally underestimated. In this work we focused our attention on the effect of different terminal sterilization methods on two commercially available poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) with equivalent chemical composition (70% PLA and 30% PCL) and relatively similar initial molecular weight, but different chains arrangement and crystallinity. Results obtained show that crystallinity plays a key role, helping in preserving the narrow distribution of chains and, as a consequence, defined physical properties. These statements can be used as guidelines for a better choice of the most adequate biodegradable polymers in the production of resorbable medical devices.

The purpose of this study consists to verify if Er:YAG laser, at low fluences, is able to debond porcelain veneers, successfully used to improve anterior tooth esthetics, without damaging the tooth structures. A total of twelve freshly extracted teeth were used and samples were decontaminated, stored, prepared to obtain Veneers adhesion. One week after, Er:YAG laser with a non-contact sapphire tip with air-water spray was used for veneer debonding at 100 mJ of power and 30Hz of frequency (Fluence 5.91 J/cm2). Results demonstrated that veneer debonding is possible with an Er:YAG laser and that the total number of pulses does not seem related to its efficiency. SEM observation confirms that residual tooth structure is not altered when using these low fluences. Low fluences with Er:YAG laser are able to debond veneers while preserving the tooth structures. SEM observation confirmed that residual tooth structure is not altered with low fluences.

In this work, we designed a MEMS device which allows simultaneous direct measurement of mechanical properties during deformation under external stress and characterization of the evolution of microstructure of nanomaterials within a transmission electron microscope. This MEMS device makes it easy to establish the correlation between microstructure and mechanical properties of nanomaterials. The device uses piezoresistive sensors to qualitatively measure the force and displacement of nanomaterials, e.g., in wire and thin plate forms. The device has a theoretical displacement resolution of 0.19 nm and a force resolution of 2.1 μN. The device has a theoretical displacement range limit of 2.74 μm and a load range limit of 27.75 mN.

Labelling techniques such as electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer, allow access to distances in the range of tens of angstroms, corresponding to the size of proteins and small to medium-sized protein complexes. Such measurements do not require long-range ordering and are therefore applicable to systems with partial disorder. Data from spin-label-based measurements can be processed into distance distributions that provide information about the extent of such disorder. Using such information in modelling presents several challenges, including a small number of restraints, the influence of the label itself on the measured distance and distribution width, and balancing the fitting quality of the long-range restraints with the fitting quality of other restraint subsets. Starting with general considerations about integrative and hybrid structural modelling, this review provides an overview of recent approaches to these problems and identifies where further progress is needed.

The industrial metaverse paradigm is generally a virtual environment that integrates various technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) to enhance business operations and processes. It aims to streamline workflows, reduce error rates, improve efficiency, and provide a more engaging experience for employees. The promise of the industrial Metaverse to drive sustainability and resource efficiency is compelling. Utilizing advanced technologies like the Industrial Metaverse is essential for staying competitive in today’s rapidly evolving business environment. However, the environmental impact of the technologies underpinning the industrial metaverse, like data centres and network infrastructure, should not be overlooked. The ecological footprint of these technologies must be considered in the sustainability equation. Researchers have warned that by 2025, without sustainable AI practices, AI will consume more energy than the human workforce, significantly offsetting carbon-zero gains. As the metaverse persists in evolving and gaining momentum, it will be necessary for companies to prioritize sustainability and explore new ways to balance technological advancements with environmental stewardship. However, recent studies have conjectured that the Metaverse holds the potential to reduce carbon emissions, as digital replacements for physical goods become more prevalent and physical activities like mobility and construction are reduced. However, the specific extent to which this substitution can alleviate environmental concerns remains understudied, presenting a knowledge gap in understanding the real-world impact of digital replacements. Thus, the objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the industrial metaverse as well as explore the environmental impact of the industrial metaverse. The methodological approach is that of integrative literature review design wherein multiple sources from web science and databases such as ACM library, IEEE Library, and Google Scholar, were analysed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the developments in the industrial metaverse. Specifically, firstly by considering the Industrial metaverse architecture we elucidate the concept of the "industrial metaverse" and the associated enabling technologies. Secondly, an exploration through discussion, of the prevalent use cases and deployment of the emerging industrial metaverse. Thirdly, exploration of the impact of the industrial metaverse on the environment. In the fourth instance, we address novel security and privacy risks as well as upcoming research challenges, keeping in mind that the industrial metaverse is based on a strong data fabric. Results point to the Industrial Metaverse as having both positive and negative environmental effects by energy consumption, e-waste, and pollution. Overall research, however, indicates that most industrial metaverse applications have a positive environmental impact and subsequently trend toward sustainability. Ultimately for sustainability in the industrial metaverse, enterprises may consider utilizing renewable energy sources and cloud services. Furthermore, examining the effects of products on the environment as well as creating a circular economy.

This study investigates the prevalence, causes, and spatial distribution of Abandoned, Lost, or Discarded Fishing Gears (ALDFGs) in the Gulf of Gabès, a critical fishing area in Tunisia. Five main fishing gear types—benthic trawls, encircling nets, longlines, gillnets, and trammel nets were analyzed for their loss rates and contributing factors. The study involved extensive surveys among local fishermen using geographic information system (GIS) tools for spatial mapping. The findings reveal varying loss rates among different gear types, with longlines experiencing the highest losses (59%), followed by trammel nets (45%), gillnets (40%), trawls (38%), and encircling nets (36%). Causes of gear loss include entanglement on obstructions, conflicts with other fishing gears, entanglement with marine animals, adverse weather conditions, and intentional dumping at sea. The study highlights the challenges posed by the consistent increase in regional fishing efforts. Spatial distribution mapping indicates two significant concentrations of ALDFGs, correlating with specific fishing activities and depths. The study emphasizes the importance of addressing gear losses as a threat to marine biodiversity and ecosystem health. Recommendations for mitigation include improving boat equipment, raising awareness among fishermen, implementing effective waste management, and exploring economic incentives for ALDFG recovery. This research contributes essential insights for fisheries management, environmental conservation, and sustainable practices in the Gulf of Gabès. Collaborative efforts are crucial to developing and implementing strategies that minimize the impact of ALDFGs on the marine environment while supporting the socio-economic interests of fishermen.

Objectives: To analyse and detail surgical process improvement activities that achieve the highest economic impact. Methods: Over 4 years, a team of technicians and healthcare professionals implemented a set of Lean surgical process improvement projects at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital (VHUH), Barcelona, Spain. These projects now form part of the daily routine in the surgical process. The economic impact on the hospital's surgical activity budget was analysed. Results: Process improvements have led to annual operational savings of over € 8.5 million. These improvements include better patient flow, better management of information between healthcare professionals, and improved logistic circuits. Conclusions: The current cultural shift towards process management in large hospitals implies shifting towards results-based healthcare, patient-perceived value (VBHC) and value-added payment. A Lean project implementation process requires long-term stability. The reason a considerable number of projects fail to complete process improvement projects is the difficulty involved in establishing the project and improving management routines. Few studies in the literature have investigated the economic impact of implementing Lean management a posteriori, and even fewer have examined actual cases. In this real case study, changes to surgical block management were initiated from zero. After being carefully thought through and designed, changes were carried out and subsequently analysed.

The aim of this study was to explore the perceived impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on radiographers’ activities and profession in Switzerland. A survey conducted in the UK, translated into French and German, was disseminated through professional bodies and social media. The participants were Swiss radiographers (clinical/educators/ researchers/students) and physicians working within the medical imaging profession (radiology/nuclear medicine/radiation-oncology). The survey covered five sections: demographics, AI-knowledge, skills, confidence, perceptions about the AI impact. Descriptive, association statistics and qualitative thematic analysis were conducted. A total of 242 responses were collected (89% radiographers; 11% physicians). AI is being used by 43% of participants in clinical practice, but 63.8% of them did not feel confident with AI terminology. Participants viewed AI as an opportunity (57.2%), while 18.5% considered it as a threat. The opportunities were associated with streamlining repetitive tasks, minimizing errors, increasing time towards patient-centred care, research, and patient safety. The significant threats identified were reduction on work positions (22.6%), decrease of the radiographers’ expertise level due to automation bias (16.4%). Participants (68.3%) did not feel well trained/prepared to implement AI in their practice, highlighting the non-availability of specific training (87.6%). 93% of the participants mentioned that AI education should be included at undergraduate education program. Although most participants perceive AI as an opportunity, this study identified areas for improvement including lack of knowledge, educational supports/training, and confidence in radiographers. Customised training needs to be implemented to improve clinical practice and understanding of how AI can benefit radiographers.

The construction industry generates significant CO2 emissions, and rebar is a major contributor to this environmental impact. Extensive research has been conducted to address this issue. Recent advancements have introduced algorithms to reduce rebar waste and consumption, demonstrating the feasibility of achieving near-zero rebar cutting waste (N0RCW) by considering special-length rebars. However, conventional lap splices, the most common rebar joint method, consistently consume excessive rebar quantities despite extending beyond their mandated zones. Conversely, couplers eliminate rebar lengths required for lapping splices, reducing the usage of rebar. Applying special lengths and couplers in heavily loaded structures like diaphragm walls can significantly reduce rebar usage and cutting waste, consequently reducing CO2 emissions and associated costs. This study aims to optimize rebar consumption and sustainability in diaphragm wall structures by integrating mechanical couplers with a special-length rebar approach. A case study confirmed a substantial reduction in purchased rebar usage (17.95% and 5.38%) and carbon emissions (15.24% and 2.25%) compared to the original design and previous study, respectively. Broadly implementing the proposed method across various buildings and infrastructure projects could further multiply these benefits, fostering the achievement of SDGs adopted by the United Nations for sustainable construction.

Although agricultural crops production systems in subtropical plateau regions currently pose high environmental risks, especially in developing countries, their environmental impacts and emission-reduction potentials remain unclear, and the development potential of such systems is likely huge. We conducted a case study in Yunnan Province, China, to quantify the environmental impacts from crop production during 2002–2021. The life cycle assessment method was employed to identify factors driving the environmental impacts, and potential mitigation strategies were proposed. The yield and total nutrient input of grain crops in Yunnan Province increased over the 20-year period, and environmental footprint of crops production in Yunnan Province was higher than that of other regions. Average annual mean greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and soil acidification potentials (AP) and water eutrophication potentials (EP) of crops production during 2002–2021 were 732 kg CO2-eq·Mg-1, 15.8 kg SO2-eq·Mg-1, and 2.7 kg PO4-eq Mg-1, respectively. GHG emissions from g crops mainly originated from applying agricultural materials during the crop life cycle. There was a significant correlation between surplus nitrogen and environmental impacts. Scenario testing showed that through crop sowing, nutrient regulation, and crop management, the crop yield could be increased and environmental costs could be reduced. The greatest reductions were found in wheat production: 53.1%, 67.9%, and 67.7% for GHG emissions, AP, and EP, respectively. Adopting comprehensive agricultural management measures could reduce the negative impact of crops production on the environment in subtropical plateau areas and achieve sustainable agricultural development.

The phenomenon of droplet impact on moving surfaces is widely observed in fields such as transportation, rotating machinery, and inkjet printing. Droplets exhibit non-axisymmetric behavior due to the motion of solid surfaces which significantly determines core parameters such as contact time, maximum spreading radius, and bounding velocity, thereby affecting the efficiency of related applications. In this study, we focus on kinetics and morphology of the non-axisymmetric bouncing behaviors for droplets impacting on a moving superhydrophobic surface (SHPS) within the normal (Wen) and tangential (Wet) Weber numbers. Considering the influences of moving surface on the contact area and contact time, the previous scaling formula for the horizontal velocity of droplets has been improved. Based on the velocity superposition hypothesis, we establish a theoretical model for the ratio of the maximum spreading radius at both ends depending on Wen and Wet. This research provides both experimental and theoretical evidence for understanding and controlling the non-axisymmetric behavior of droplets impacting on moving surfaces.

The inclusion of scientific journals in prestigious indexers is often associated with higher citation rates; journals included in such indexers are significantly more acknowledged than those that are not included in them. This phenomenon refers to the Matthew effect on journal citations, according to which, journals in exclusive rankings tend to be increasingly cited. This paper shows the opposite: that the inclusion of journals in local indexers ruled by inclusive logic reduces the Matthew effect on journal citations, since it enables them to be equally exposed. Thus, we based our arguments on the comparison of 68 Brazilian journals before and after they were indexed in the Scientific Periodicals Electronic Library (Spell), which ranks journals in the Brazilian management field based on local citations. Citation impact indicators and iGini (a new individual inequality analysis measure) were used to show that the inclusion of journals in Spell has increased their impact factor and decreased their citation inequality rates. In addition, the results indicated that the effect between ranking and inequality has declined after journals were included in Spell; this outcome indicates that the database has reduced the Matthew effect on journal citations.

Certain services can help avoid environmental impact in larger contexts. However, there is no commonly agreed bottom-up methodology for calculation of the total net reduction effect of specific digital services. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a common denominator for most methodologies. The most common method is the Attributional LCA (ALCA), and recently the emerging handprint ALCA estimating so-called positive environmental impacts. Moreover, Consequential LCA (CLCA) can be used to capture market effects. The third conceptual approach is Input-Output LCA. The purpose is to propose and test a new method based on some of the existing ones. The existing concepts are compared and a synthesis is made to create a practical but still useful method. The new method is applied to two illustrative cases in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) domain; the introduction of a 5G enabled drone for pipe inspection and the 5G enabled health consultation. Compared to simplified ALCA, the difference between the absolute score for the baseline system and the target system changes up to 15% when the proposed simplified CLCA (SCLCA) method is used. The results show that SCLCA, when combined with analytical methods for expressing digital ICT services’ own impact, is a fruitful approach which is both practical and feasible.

Registration of the flow pattern fine structure and the matter distribution of a free falling liquid drop in a target fluid at rest in the impact mode of coalescence, when the kinetic energy of the drop exceeds its available potential surface energy (APSE), was carried out by photo and video recording. The main attention was paid to the study of the flow structure at the initial stage of the cavity formation. To carry out color registration, the flow pattern was illuminated by several matrix LED and fiber optic sources of constant light. The planning of experiments and interpretation of the results were based on the properties of the complete solutions of the fundamental equations of fluid mechanics system, including the transfer and conversion of energy processes. Complete solutions of the system of equations describe large-scale flow components that are waves or vortices as well as thin jets (ligaments, filaments, fibers, trickles). In experiments, the jets are accelerated by the converted available potential surface energy (APSE) when the free surfaces of merging fluids were eliminated. The experiments were performed with the coalescence of water, solutions of alizarin ink, potassium permanganate, copper sulphate or iron sulphate drops in deep water. In all cases, at the initial contact, the drop begins to lose its continuity and breaks up into a thin veil and jets, the velocity of which exceeds the drop contact velocity. Small droplets, the size of which grows with time, are thrown into the air from spikes at the jet tops. On the surface of the liquid, the fine jets leave colored traces that form linear and reticular structures. Part of the jets penetrating through the bottom and wall of the cavity forms an intermediate covering layer. The forming layer jets are separated by interfaces of the target fluid. The processes of molecular diffusion equalize the density differences and form an intermediate layer with sharp boundaries in the target fluid. All noted structural features of the flow are also visualized when a fresh water drop isothermally spreads in the same tap water. The fast-changing and finely structured diffuse boundary of merging fluids, which at the initial stage has a complex and irregular shape, is gradually smoothed out by molecular diffusion processes. The similar flow patterns were observed in all performed experiments, however the geometric features of the flow depend on the individual thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the contacting fluids.

The relationship between child psychology and the widespread usage of mobile devices in the modern day is examined in "The Mobile Dilemma: Child Psychology and the Era of Technological Dependence." The abstract serves as a brief synopsis of the work, highlighting its important ideas and arguments. Concerns concerning the effects of excessive time spent on mobile devices on children's mental health and development have arisen in this age of technology dependency. The essay opens by pointing out the importance of investigating the psychological effects of kids' exposure to mobile gadgets. The effects of mobile phone addiction on learning, memory, and social and emotional health are investigated. The neurodevelopmental implications are explored further in the abstract, with a focus on the impact of mobile technology on brain plasticity and the formation of the developing brain. It offers advice on how to establish appropriate limits for children's screen time, encourages the development of digital literacy, and promotes responsible behavior.The pros and cons of using mobile devices in the classroom are also examined, along with their effects on students' ability to study and the risks and difficulties that could arise from implementing such a strategy. The emotional and social impacts of mobile device addiction are discussed in the abstract. This includes the impact on one's social life, empathy, ability to communicate, and sense of self-worth. The abstract also stresses the importance of interdisciplinary efforts involving parents, teachers, psychologists, and legislators to combat mobile device addiction through intervention and preventative techniques. Future directions are highlighted, with a focus on topics such as mobile technology development, digital well-being, privacy protection, mental health implications, screen time limits, digital literacy, and the impact of cultural and socioeconomic variables.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, we saw a huge impact on the lives of individuals in cities. The way people responded was controlled and limited. The lockdown restricted a lot of movements in the cities as well as contained the citizens in their houses. Through a semi-structured interview, the research aims to understand the change in behaviour and response of individuals across various cities. The paper aims to understand how people change their day-to-day life in cities during the pandemic and while the restrictions getting released post the first wave. The paper also understands how the pandemic impacted urban spaces and what value they hold for people. By interviewing individuals from different cities, the data were transcribed and analysed to understand this behavioural change and the attitude of people. The outcome of the research was derived as a concept map through the codes generated during the research.

This article aims to investigate gaps in the law and policies on e-waste management in communi-ties of Thailand and suggests a guideline for improving, developing, and designing legal measures and state policies for more effective enforcement of the law on e-waste management in communities. The findings reveal that the currently applicable law of Thailand lacks effective approaches and rules for e-waste management. Also, there is not any implementation of key envi-ronmental principles for e-waste management in communities, such as the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) that requires manufacturing companies to take part in being responsible for disposal ex-penses or the Public Participation principle that requires users, manufacturers, distributors, and government agencies to take parts in disposing e-waste. As a result, problems of e-waste in com-munities of Thailand have been continuously increasing. According to such problems, the authors suggest that legal measures on e-waste management in communities should be specifically de-signed by implementing key environmental principles as a basis in determining formats and guidelines of e-waste management, especially participation of all sectors that can help in solving and reducing e-waste in communities that is harmful to health, sanitation, and environment.

Despite laws and directives for the regulation and restriction of pesticide in farming, the large use of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) in paddy fields is a relevant worldwide cause of contamination of the environment. The aim of this work is to evaluate the environmental impact due to the use of PPPs by using an integrated approach based on chemical analyses and ecotoxicological hazard assessment, supported by statistical tools, in order to overcome the issues related to the traditional tabular evaluation. Samples of soil and water of seven conventional and organic paddies located in Northern Italy have been examined for two years by extensive chemical and ecotoxicological analyses. The results evidenced a direct relationship between the presence of Oxadiazon in water and bioassays responses as the main cause of the toxicity measured. This phenomenon affected both biological and conventional rice fields, due to the free circulation of water through irrigation canals. Therefore, the implementation of organic districts with a water circulation isolated from conventional fields represents a simple and effective countermeasure to safeguard the agricultural practices of organic crops.

Urban floods are typical urban disasters that threaten the economy and development of cities. Sponge cities can improve the flood resistance ability and reduce the floods by setting low-impact development measures (LID). Evaluating the floods reduction benefits is the basic link in the construction of sponge cities. Therefore, it is of great significance to evaluate the benefits of sponge cities from the perspective of different rain patterns. In this study, we investigated the urban runoff of various rainfall patterns in Mianyang city using the Strom Water Management Model (SWMM). We employed 2–100-year return periods and three different temporal rainfall downscaling methods to evaluate rain patterns and simulate urban runoff in Mianyang, with and without the implementation of sponge city measures. After calibration, model performance was validated using multi-source data concerning flood peaks and inter-annual variations in flood magnitude. Notably, the effects of peak rainfall patterns on historical floods were generally greater than the effects of synthetic rainfalls generated by temporal downscaling. Compared to the rainfall patterns of historical flood events, the flood protection capacities of sponge cities tended to be overestimated when using the synthetic rainfall patterns generated by temporal downscaling. Overall, an earlier flood peak was associated with better flood sponge city protection capacity.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the Spanish economy hard. The result is an unprecedented economic and social crisis due to uncertainty about the remedy, and due to the socio-economic effects on people’s lives. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the macro-economic impact of COVID-19 in 2020, using the principal indicators of the Spanish economic and productive model. National statistics were examined in the search for impacts or anomalies occurring since the beginning of the pandemic. To estimate the strength of the impact on each of the indicators analysed, we used Bayesian structural time series. Results: In 2020, the cumulative impact on the Gross Domestic Product was of -11.41% [95% credible interval: -13.46; -9.29]. The indicator for Business Turnover fell by -9.37% [-12.71; -6.07]. The reduction in business activity was related to the sharp fall in demand. The Spanish employment market was strongly affected; our estimates showed a cumulative increase of 11.9% [4.27; 19.45] in the rate of unemployment during 2020. The autonomous communities which are economically the most heavily dependent on the services sector were those which recorded the worst indicators. Conclusions: Our estimates portray a dramatic situation in our country, and show all too clearly the fragility of a productive system which has to make the behavioural changes that are necessary to confront the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this study we mimic the unique, transparent protective carapace (shell) of myodocopid ostracods, through which their compound eyes see, to demonstrate that the carapace ultrastructure also provides functions of strength and protection for a relatively thin structure. The bulk ultrastructure of the transparent window in the carapace of the relatively large, pelagic cypridinid (Myodocopida) Macrocypridina castanea was mimicked using thin film deposition of dielectric materials to create a transparent, 15 bi-layer material. This biomimetic material was subjected to the natural forces withstood by the ostracod carapace in situ, including scratching by captured prey and strikes by water-borne particles. The biomimetic material was then tested in terms of its extrinsic (hardness value) and intrinsic (elastic modulus) response to indentation along with its scratch resistance. The performance of the biomimetic material was compared with that of a commonly used, anti-scratch resistant lens and polycarbonate that is typically used in the field of transparent armoury. The biomimetic material showed the best scratch resistant performance, and significantly greater hardness and elastic modulus values. The ability of biomimetic material to revert back to its original form (post loading), along with its scratch resistant qualities, offers potential for a biomimetic eye protection coating that could enhance material currently in use.

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 changed the way we interact and engage in commerce at a fundamental level. Social distancing and stay-at-home orders leave businesses and cities wondering what economic activity will look like in the future. Given a likely reduction in face-to-face interactions, it is important to better understand how social interactivity influences economic outcomes. Here we measure the effect of social interactions in the workforce on patent production and economic efficiency. We decompose U.S. occupations into individual work activities, determine which of those activities are associated with face-to-face interactions, and reaggregate the labor force of each U.S. metropolitan statistical area (MSA) into a metric of social interactiveness. We then calculate each MSA’s density of social work activities and find that this measure is more highly correlated with an MSA’s per capita patent production than simple population density. This suggests that density of face-to-face interactions is the important driver of a city’s rate of invention. We close by exploring analogies between the development of cities and the development of stars, suggesting ways these analogies may help frame future research on cities.

This article is devoted to discussing the famous Impact factor citation suited to indicate the published scientific result's significance. Considering this problem based on the available statistical data, we demonstrate that: Impact factor follows a distribution having a heavy power tail that may lead to inconsistency in scientifically comparable journals' evaluation. Further, we remark that many papers recognized as sleeping and seemingly sleeping beauties are not considered when calculating. This makes the impact factor unsuitable in evaluating the original, groundbreaking discoveries and their consequences. Due to permanent changes in the composition of the underlying datasets, the impact factor can not be considered as a reliable indicator and to be used as a consistent evaluation metric. Overall, discussing all represented impact factor obstacles and other appropriate considerations, we conclude that the considered index can hardly be used as a reliable estimator of the publication's significance.

Investments in digital infrastructure in marginalised communities are set to increase in the next decade. These are premised on the potential of digital technologies to contribute towards solving societal problems, including the fragility of food value chains in rural areas. Although there are mixed empirical findings on the impact of these digital infrastructure investments, huge investments are continuing amid changing ICT policies in most developing countries. This paper, using a case study of a local livestock value chain in a rural community in Zimbabwe, argues for the application of non-conventional approaches towards digital infrastructure transformation impact assessment. Using selected theories and frameworks (socio-ecological systems framework, choice framework and technology affordances theory) as well as empirical data from a project in a rural community, the paper shows that real-time impact assessment using context-specific metrics may reveal hidden digital infrastructure transformation impacts, positive and negative, that are often overlooked when traditional impact assessment approaches are employed. The findings of this study contribute towards improving approaches towards ICT impact assessment. Practitioners engaging in impact assessment are challenged to move beyond dependence on traditional metrics (e.g. access) to the adoption of participatory processes to decipher context-appropriate metrics.

In Bangladesh, microcredit program has been in function for almost half a century. Though popularly termed as a tool for poverty alleviation and women empowerment, criticism about microcredit program’s actual effectiveness isn’t new. This study attempts to evaluate the impact of such programs by measuring borrowers’ social mobility. Using a multidimensional approach, indicators like household income, economic susceptibility, living conditions, consumption pattern, children’s education, healthcare facilities, women’s participation in decision-making were taken into account for measurement. Quantitative method was used. Based on a non-probability sampling, 107 microcredit borrowers were selected for conducting interview schedules who live in a rural, a semi-urban and an urban area. Statistical analysis of data reveals that those who have been taking loans for several number of years have all managed to increase their income level to a variety of extent, but only those have gained some sort of mobility who have been taking loans for more than 4-5 years and have taken 5 times or more. Few of them have actually moved from microcredit to become a microfinance client by taking bigger amount of loans and having savings. Positive responses about the indicators being used in the study were found among the handful of those who have mobilized significantly. In true sense, most of the borrowers are stuck at the bottom end of socio-economic ladder and are struggling to manage a better living standard.

The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus obstructed the Chinese economy and has expanded to the rest of the world at a rapid pace affecting at least 215 countries, areas and territories. The advancement of the disease and its economic repercussions is profoundly ambiguous, making it challenging for policymakers to formulate suitable microeconomic and macroeconomic policy responses. The scenarios in this paper illustrate how an outbreak could significantly affect the global economy in the short run. It has been estimated that each additional month of crisis would cost from about 2.5-3% of the global GDP and that the GDP growth would take a blow, reaching about 3-6%, depending on the country. Scenarios also suggest that GDP can drop by more than 10% and even exceed 15% in some countries. Via addressing the economic consequence of COVID-19 in different industries and countries, the paper presents assessments of the likely global economic costs of COVID-19 and the GDP growth of different countries. Economies will be negatively affected because of the high number of jobs at risk. Countries highly dependent on foreign trade are more negatively affected. Given that disease and its economic influence are highly unpredictable in numerous aspects, the global economy at the moment is the most critically threatened in history.

This study evaluates various safety aspects of standardized impacts that cyclists may suffer while wearing a bicycle helmet, by combining a partially validated finite element model of the cranio-cervical region and a newly developed bicycle helmet model. Under EN 1078 standardized impact conditions, the results of simulated impact tests show that the helmet can absorb 40% to 50 % of the total impact energy at impact velocities above 4 m/s. Further, based on a relationship between Head Injury Criterion and the risk of injury from field data, the results of the simulations suggest that minor injuries may occur at impact velocities of 10 km/h, serious injuries at 15 km/h, and severe injuries at 20 km/h. Fatal injuries will likely occur at impact velocities of 30 km/h and higher.

A framework of similarity laws, termed oriented-density-length-velocity (ODLV) framework, is suggested for the geometric distorted structures subjected to impact loading. The distinct feature of this framework is that the newly proposed oriented dimensions, dimensionless numbers and scaling factors for physical quantity are explicitly expressed by the characteristic lengths of three spatial directions, which overcome the inherent defects that traditional scalar dimensional analysis could not express the effects of structural geometric characteristics and spatial directions for similarity. The non-scalabilities of geometrical distortion as well as other distortions such as different materials and gravity could be compensated by the reasonable correction for the impact velocity, the geometrical thickness and the density, when the proposed dimensionless number of equivalent stress is used between scaled model and prototype. Three analytical models of beam, plate and shell subjected to impact mass or impulsive velocity are verified by equation analysis. And a numerical model of circular plate subjected to dynamic pressure pulse is verified in more detail, form the view of point of space deformation, deformation history and the components of displacement, strain and stress. The results show that the proposed dimensionless numbers have attractively perfect ability to express the dimensionless response equations of displacement, angle, time, strain and strain rate. When the proposed dimensionless numbers are used to regularize impact models, the structural responses of the geometrically distorted scaled models can behave the completely identical behaviors with those of the prototype on space and time —not only for the direction-independent equivalent stress, strain and strain rate but also for the direction-dependent displacement, stress and strain components.

The article focuses on mining of non-energy mineral resources with minimum environmental impacts. It issues from research results of a project Competence Centre for Effective and Ecological Mining of Mineral Resources implemented at the Faculty of Mining and Geology at VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Geological Survey, a company Watrad ltd., a state enterprise Diamo, a company RPS Ostrava plc and a company Sedlecký kaolin plc. The paper starts with a partial analysis of the existing legal norms related to mining and processing of mineral resources. Next, it analyses mineral resource mining options free of negative environmental impacts. The fundamental tool to assess potential environmental impacts of mining is the implementation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for a given mineral resource. In the Czech Republic environmental impact assessment is carried out by course of Act 100/2001 Coll. Its important amendment is Act 39/2015 Coll. claiming, inter alia, that the environmental impact assessment is rigidly connected with other permits and procedures, such as the zoning process and building construction permits. The article describes the environmental impacts of mining of non-energy mineral resources, including the following factors: appropriation of land, impacts on surface water, ground water and soil, noise, influence on the landscape character, and air pollution. The paper also includes a case study summarizing information on the environmental factors that may play a role in potential underground mining of graphite in the deposit Český Krumlov - Městský Vrch and the deposit Lazec - Křenov.

Epitaxial lithium ferrite (LiFe5O8) films with different thicknesses have been successfully fabricated on SrTiO3 (001) substrates by magnetron sputtering deposition technique. The microstructural and magnetic properties are characterized by advanced transmission electron microscope and magnetic measurement device. It was found that the formation of structural defects can be influenced by the thickness of the film. Apart from the misfit dislocations, the orientation domains form in thinner film and twin boundaries appear in thicker film, respectively, contributing to the misfit strain relaxation in the heterosystem. The magnetic measurement shows that the thinner films have enhanced magnetization and a relatively lower coercive field compared with the thicker films containing the antiferromagnetic twin boundaries. Our results provide a way for tuning the microstructure and magnetic properties of lithium ferrite films by changing the film thickness.

Samples of ZrO2 ceramics with different concentrations of impurity titanium ions were synthesized by mixing powders of zirconium and titanium oxides in various mass ratios. The phase composition and surface morphology of the studied ceramics were determined by X-ray phase analysis and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that irradiation of samples with xenon ions (220 MeV) with fluences 1010 and 1012 ion/cm2 leads to a decrease in the intensity of the pulse cathodoluminescence band at 2.5 eV. It is shown that ion irradiation causes the appearance of a new peak of thermoluminescence at 450-650 K of a non-elementary form associated with radiation-induced traps of charge carriers. In contrast to electron irradiation, an increase in the fluence of ions leads to a decrease in the intensity of this peak. In contrast to electron irradiation, an increase in the fluence of ions leads to a decrease in the intensity of this peak. A complex nonmonotonic dependence of the cathode and thermoluminescence intensity on the dopant concentration was found, which may be due to the effects of concentration quenching and aggregation of defective centers.

The structures of Ag complexes with dimethyl amino phenyl substituted phtalocyanine m[dmaphPcAg]q of various charges q and in two lowest spin states m were optimized using the B3LYP method within the D4h symmetry group and its subgroups. The most stable reaction intermediate in the supposed photoinitiation reaction is 3[dmaphPcAg]-. Group-theoretical analysis of the optimized structures and of their electron states reveals two symmetry-descent mechanisms. Stable structures of maximal symmetry of complexes 1[dmaphPcAg]+, 3[dmaphPcAg]+, 2[dmaphPcAg]0 and 4[dmaphPcAg]2- correspond to the D4 group as a consequence of the pseudo-Jahn-Teller effect within unstable D4h structure. Complexes 4[dmaphPcAg]0, 1[dmaphPcAg]-, 3[dmaphPcAg]- and 2[dmaphPcAg]2- with double degenerate electron ground states in D4h symmetry structures undergo a symmetry descent to stable structures corresponding to maximal D2 symmetry not because of a simple Jahn-Teller effect but due to hidden pseudo-Jahn-Teller effect (strong vibronic interaction between excited electron states). The reduction of the neutral photoinitiator causes symmetry descent to its anionic intermediate because of vibronic interactions that must significantly affect the polymerization reactions.

Transmission electron microscopy methods were used to analyze the cementite substructure in the head of special-purpose long rails of DT400IK category made of hypereutectoid steel after long-term operation on an experimental track on the Russian Railways ring (the passed tonnage is 187 million tonnes). It is noted that the study of various aspects of cementite – its structure, morphology, chemical composition, crystal lattice defects is relevant. The steel structure is represented by three morphological components at a distance of 10 mm from the sample surface: lamellar perlite, fractured and fragmented perlite. The volume fraction of lamellar perlite in the material is 65%. It is shown that after operation, the cementite plates are bent and separated by ferrite bridges. In the plates of ferrite and cementite, a dislocation substructure is formed which is of chaotically distributed and network type in ferrite and of ordered type in cementite. An increased density of dislocations at ferrite-cementite interfaces compared to the volume of ferrite plates was noted. Two possible mechanisms of deformation transformation of lamellar perlite grains are indicated: fracture of cementite plates and carbon pulling out from the lattice of the carbide phase. It is indicated that in the dissolution of cementite plates, the interfacial boundaries “α-phase-cementite” play an important role. The removal of carbon from cementite plates occurs most intensively near defects in ferrite and cementite. The formed nanosized particles of tertiary cementite are unevenly distributed in the ferrite plates, most of them are observed at the locations of ferrite subgrains and interfacial boundaries. This results in non-uniform diffraction contrast in dark-field images of cementite plates. Nanosized particles of cementite can be taken out into the interlamellar space of pearlite colonies in the process of dislocation slip, or they are formed as a result of deformation decomposition, which is less likely. Fragmentation of ferrite and cementite plates is revealed and azimuthal components of total misorientation angles are estimated. The mechanisms of mass transfer of carbon atoms over interstitial sites, deformation vacancies, dislocation tubes, grain boundaries and fragments are considered. According to all the established patterns of the cementite substructure transformation, a comparison with the results for rails made of hypoeutectoid steel was performed.

Spectroscopic methods are used to study the processes of accumulation of electron and hole trapping centers and energy transfer of electronic excitations to impurities in CaSO4-Mn and BaSO4-Mn. It is shown that the transfer of energy from the host to impurities occurs at the moment of charge transfer from the excited anionic complex SO_4^(2-) to the hybrid radiative electronic states at 2.95–3.1 eV formed from the electronic states of the Mn^(+)-SO_4^(-) and SO_4^(3-)-SO_4^(-) trapping centers. It was found that, in sulfates, under irradiation, as a result of charge transfer from excited anionic complexes of the host to the excited states of impurities Tl^(+),Cu^(+),Mn^(2+), hybrid radiative states emerge at 2.95–3.15 eV, occupying the same energy levels as the intrinsic electronic trapping center SO_4^(3-) of the host at 2.95–3.1 eV.

In this paper, we have constructed a WKB approximation for graphene having a Y-shaped Kekul\'e lattice distortion and a special folding of the $\mbox{\boldmath$K$}$ and $\mbox{\boldmath$K$}^\prime$ valleys, which leads to very specific linear energy dispersions with two non-equivalent pairs of subbands. These obtained semi-classical results, which include the action, electron momentum and wave functions, are utilized to analyze the dynamics of electron tunneling through non-square potential barriers. In particular, we explore resonant scattering of an electron by a potential barrier built on Kekul\'e-distorted graphene. Mathematically, a group of consecutive equations for a semi-classical action have been solved by following a perturbation approach under the condition of small strain-induced coupling parameter $\Delta_0 \ll 1$ (a good fit to its actual value $\Delta_0 \backsim 0.1$). Specifically, we consider a generalized model for Kek-Y graphene with two arbitrary Fermi velocities. The dependence of the electron transmission amplitude on the potential profile $V(x)$ and band parameters of Kekul\'e-patterned graphene has been explored and analyzed in details.

Based on the marine natural products piperafizine B, X334 and our previously reported compound 4m, fourteen novel 3,6-diunsaturated 2,5-diketopiperazine (2,5-DPK) derivatives (1-2, 4-6, 8-16), together with two known ones (3 and 7), were designed and synthesized as anticancer agents against cell lines A549 and Hela. The MTT assay results showed that the derivatives 6, 8-12 and 15 had moderate to good anticancer capacities with the IC50 values ranging from 0.7 to 8.9 μM. Among them, compound 11 with naphthalen-1-ylmethylene and 2-methoxybenzylidene functions at the 3- and 6-positions of 2,5-DPK ring, respectively, displayed good inhibitory activities to both cancer cells A549 (IC50 = 1.2 μM) and Hela (IC50 = 0.7 μM). It could also induce apoptosis and obviously block the cell cycle progression at G2/M phase in both cells at 1.0 μM. The electron withdrawing functions might not be favorable for the derivatives with high anticancer activities. Additionally, compared to piperafizine B and X334, these semi-N-alkylated derivatives have high liposolubilities (> 1.0 mg•mL-1). Compound 11 can be further developed aiming to the discovery of novel anticancer candidate.

As a consequence of a three-stage synthesis from terephthalic aldehyde, a series of 3,3 '- (1,4-phenylene) perchlorates including methyl, hydrogen, acetyl, bromio, methoxy and nitro groups (R = Br, H, Me). The matching formazans were reacted with formalin in dioxane in the presence of perchloric acid to produce tetrazin ium salts. Formazans were synthesized by reacting terephthalic aldehyde phenylhydrazone with ar ene diazonium tosylates in a DMF/pyridine combination. The use of ar ene diazonium tosylates greatly simplified the separation and purification of formazans. The p henylhydrazone was produced in aqueous dioxane using the usual approach from terephthalic aldehyde and phenylhydrazine/hydrochloric acid. Individual f ormazans and tetrazinium perchlorates were isolated and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, NMR, UV spectroscopy. The electrochemical reduction of tetrazinium perchlorates was investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV). Thus, all salts in the cathode region have two one-electron reduction peaks, which are connected to the sequential production of a radical cation and a biradical. It was discovered that donor substituents (R: OMe, Me) in the aromatic ring at position 1 accelerate tetrazinium cation reduction, whereas acceptor substituents (R: NO₂, COMe,) inhibit this process. On this premise, it was proposed that in the presence of donor substituents in the aromatic ring at position 1, the matching bis-verdazyl radicals should be easily generated. As a result, 3,3'- (1,4-phenylene) perchlorates are possible antecedents of symmetric biradical systems based on verdazyl radicals.

The response of carbon fixation in C3 plants to elevated CO2 is relatively larger when photosynthesis is limited by carboxylation capacity (VC) than when limited by electron transport (J). Recent experiments under controlled, steady-state conditions have shown that photosynthesis at elevated CO2 may be limited by VC even at limiting PPFD. These experiments were designed to test whether this also occurs in dynamic field environments. Leaf gas exchange was recorded every 5 minutes using two identical instruments both attached to the same leaf. The CO2 concentration in one instrument was controlled at 400 mol mol-1 and one at 600 mol mol-1. Leaves were exposed to ambient sunlight outdoors, and cuvette air temperatures tracked ambient outside air temperature. The water content of air in the leaf cuvettes was kept close to that of the ambient air. These measurements were conducted on multiple, mostly clear days for each of three species, Glycine max, Lablab purpureus, and Hemerocallis fulva. The results indicated that in all species, photosynthesis was limited by VC rather than J at both ambient and elevated CO2 both at high midday PPFDs and also at limiting PPFDs in the early morning and late afternoon. During brief reductions in PPFD due to midday clouds, photosynthesis became limited by J, The net result of the apparent deactivation of Rubisco at low PPFD was that the relative stimulation of diurnal carbon fixation at elevated CO2 was larger than would be predicted when assuming limitation of photosynthesis by J at low PPFD.

A micro Sagnac interferometer integration is proposed for electron cloud distributed sensors. The Sagnac interferometer consists of four microring probes integrated into a Sagnac loop. Each of the microring probes is embedded with the silver bars to form the plasmonic wave oscillation. At the center microrings, electrons are trapped and oscillated by the whispering gallery modes (WGMs), where the plasmonic antennas are established and applied for wireless fidelity (WiFi) and light fidelity (LiFi) transmissions for distributed sensors. The antenna gains are 2.59dB, 0.93dB, 1.75dB, and 1.16dB respectively for the four antennas formed at the center microrings. The polarized light of 1.50µm wavelength is fed into the interferometer input, which is polarized randomly into upstream and downstream directions. The polarization components can be obtained by the space-time modulation control. By controlling the electron cloud spin orientation, the space-time projection can be applied, and the ultra-high measurement resolution can be obtained in terms of fast switching time (change in phase). In manipulation, the applied stimuli are substituted by the change in input source power. The light input power variation causes a change in electron cloud density. Similarly, when the electron cloud is excited by the microscopic medium, which can be employed as the microscopic sensors. The WGM sensors have sensitivities of 1.35µm-2, 0.90µm-2, 0.97µm-2 and, 0.81µm-2, respectively. The WGMs behave as a four-point probe for the electron cloud distributed sensors, where the electron cloud sensitivities of 2.31 prads-1mm3 (electrons)-1, 2.27prads-1mm3 (electrons)-1, 2.22 prads-1mm3(electrons)-1, 2.38prads-1mm3(electrons)-1 are respectively obtained.

This paper presents an advanced microstructural analysis of the AlSiMg, Ti64 and N700 powders used for additive manufacturing. The internal microstructure of the regular and irregular powder grains were characterized down to atomic resolution by using scanning electron microscopy and high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy.The accretionary forms on top of the irregular AlSiMg powder grains exhibit a slightly coarse microstructure with a network of eutectic Si consisting of nano-crystallites, suggestinga slower cooling than the grain itself that contain a predominately amorphous Si network. A nm thin amorphous C layer on the surface of some Ti64 plasma atomized powder grains promoted the attachment of satellites and growth of envelopes. In case of gas atomized N700 powder grains, we identified thin oxide and carbon amorphous layers as well as metal segregations at the interface between the grain body and the accretionary forms.

In quantum field theory (QFT), it is well known that when Feynman diagrams containing loops are evaluated to account for self interactions, probability amplitude comes out to be infinite which is physically not admissible. So, to make the QFT convergent, various renormalization methods are conventionally followed in which an additional (infinite) counter term is postulated which neutralizes the original infinity generated by diagram. The resulting finite values of amplitudes have agreed with experiments with surprising accuracy. However, proponents of renormalization methods acknowledged that this ad-hoc procedure of subtraction of infinity from infinity to reach at a finite value is not at all satisfactory and there is no physical basis for bringing in the counter term. So, it is desirable to establish a method in QFT which does not generate any infinite term (thus not requiring renormalization), but which predicts same results as conventional methods do. In this paper, we describe such a technique taking self interaction quantum electrodynamics diagram representing electron or photon self energy. In our method, no problem of infinity arises and hence renormalization is not necessary. Still, the dependence of calculated probability amplitude on physical variables in our technique comes out to be same as conventional methods. Using similar procedure, we hope, the problem of non-renormalizability of quantum gravity may be solved in future.

The cytostatic agent hydroxyurea (HU) has proven to be beneficial for a variety of conditions in the disciplines of oncology, hematology, infectious disease and dermatology. It disrupts the S-phase of the cell cycle by inhibiting the ribonucleotide reductase enzyme, thus blocking the transformation of ribonucleotides into deoxyribonucleotides, a rate limiting step in DNA synthesis. HU is listed as an essential medicine by the World Health Organization. Several studies have indicated that HU is well tolerated and safe in pregnant women and very young pediatric patients. To our knowledge, only a few controlled studies about the adverse effects of HU therapy have been done in humans. Despite this, the prevalence of central nervous system abnormalities, including ischemic lesions and stenosis have been reported. This review will summarize and present the effects of HU-exposure on the prenatal and perinatal development of the rat cerebellar cortex and deep cerebellar nuclei neurons. Our results call for the necessity to better understand HU effects and define the administration of this drug to gestating women and young pediatric patients.

Atoms in Molecules (AIM), Natural Bond Orbital (NBO), and normal coordinate analysis have been carried out at the global minimum structures of TH₅⁺ (T = C/Si/Ge). All these analyses lead to a consistent structure for these three protonated TH₄ molecules. The CH₅⁺ has a structure with three short and two long C-H covalent bonds and no H-H bond. Hence, the popular characterization of protonated methane as a weakly bound CH₃⁺ and H₂ is inconsistent with these results. However, SiH₅⁺ and GeH₅⁺ are both indeed a complex formed between TH₃⁺ and H₂ stabilized by a tetrel bond, with the H₂ being the tetrel bond acceptor. The three-center-two-electron bond (3c-2e) in CH₅⁺ has an open structure, which can be characterized as a V-type 3c-2e bond and that found in SiH₅⁺ and GeH₅⁺ is a T-type 3c-2e bond. This difference could be understood based on the typical C-H, Si-H, Ge-H and H-H bond energies. Moreover, this structural difference observed in TH₅⁺ can explain the trend in proton affinity of TH₄. Carbon is selective in forming a ‘tetrel bond’ and when it does, it might be worthwhile to highlight it as a ‘carbon bond’.

The diameter of a H13 steel tool with M6 threads and a pin diameter of 5.9 mm and a pin length of 5 mm was measured after each 25.4 mm length of friction stir processing (FSP) of 6061-T6 extrusions. The change in pin diameter with FSP time or distance did not exhibit any steady state and was found to have two distinct regions. Metallographic analysis of two tools subjected to FSP for 60 and 120 seconds showed that (i) threads fractured in early stages of FSP, (ii) a built-up layer formed between the threads, and (iii) threads progressively wore with processing time. The metallographic analysis of an embedded tool showed the presence of a fractured piece of the tool in the stir zone. These points are discussed in detail in the paper.

Although good field emission from graphene has been demonstrated from a wide variety of different microfabricated structures, very few of them can be used to improve the design of cold field emitters for electron microscopy applications. Most of them consist of densely packed nano-emitters, which produce a large array of defocused overlapping electron beams, and therefore cannot be subsequently focused down to a single nanometer electron probe. This paper reviews the kind of single-tip cathode structures suitable in cold field emission guns for instruments such as scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope or scanning transmission electron microscopy, and reviews progress in fabricating them from graphene-based materials.

Carbon nanotubes are hybridized with metal crystals to impart multifunctionality into the nanohybrids (NHs). Simple but effective synthesis techniques are desired to form both zero-valent and oxides of different metal species on carbon nanotube surfaces. Sol-gel technique brings in significant advantages and is a viable technique for such synthesis. This study probes the efficacy of sol-gel process and aims to identify underlying mechanisms of crystal formation. Standard electron potential (SEP) is used as a guiding parameter to choose the metal species; i.e., highly negative SEP (e.g., Zn) with oxide crystal tendency, highly positive SEP (e.g., Ag) with zero-valent crystal-tendency, and intermediate range SEP (e.g., Cu) to probe the oxidation tendency in crystal formation are chosen. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction are used to evaluate the synthesized NHs. Results indicate that SEP can be a reliable guide for the resulting crystalline phase of a certain metal species, particularly when the magnitude of this parameter is relatively high. However, for intermediate range SEP-metals, mix phase crystals can be expected. For example, Cu will form Cu₂O and zero-valent Cu crystals, unless the synthesis is performed in a reducing environment.

This paper studies ionospheric vertical total electron content (VTEC) variations before the 2014 Mw8.2 Chile earthquake. VTEC derived from 14 GPS (Global Positioning System) stations and GIM (Global Ionospheric Map) were used to analyze ionospheric variations before the earthquake using the sliding interquartile range method, and results showed that significant positive VTEC anomalies occurred on 28 March. To explore possible causes of these anomalies, effects of solar and geomagnetic activities were examined, and VTEC variations during 17 March to 31 March in 2009-2013 were cross-compared. Also, VTEC for a full year before the earthquake was investigated. Results indicated that these anomalies were weakly associated with high solar activities and geomagnetic storms and that these anomalies were not normal seasonal and diurnal variations. An analysis of the spatial distribution of the observed anomalies was also presented, and it demonstrated that anomalies specifically appeared around the epicenter on 28 March. It suggests that observed anomalies may be associated with the subsequent Chile earthquake. Equatorial anomaly variations were analyzed to discuss the possible physical mechanism, and results showed that the equatorial anomaly unusually increased on 28 March, which indicates that anomalous electric fields generated in the earthquake preparation area and the meridional wind are possible causes of the observed ionospheric anomalies.

We report a preliminary exploration on the low-pressure Ar-O2 plasma generated by low-frequency alternating current (AC) power supply in the low-temperature Plasma Experimental Power Supply (CTP-2000S) for the first time. The electron density 〖(n〗_e), the electron temperature 〖(T〗_e) and the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) are measured by the single Langmuir probe in this experiment. Experimental results show that the ne increases with gas pressure rising, while the ne decreases with the oxygen concentrations rising. And, a plasma density peak is also observed with the AC power supply increase. A comparison between this work and the previous results by RF source suggests that the low-frequency AC power supply may be very fruitful exploration to generate the low-pressure plasma.

The minimum energy structures of the Si3C5 and Si4C8 clusters are planar and contain planar tetracoordinate carbons (ptCs). These species have been classified, qualitatively, as global () and local () aromatics according to the adaptive natural density partitioning (AdNDP) method, which is an orbital localization method. This work evaluates these species' aromaticity, focusing on confirming and quantifying their global and local aromatic character. For this purpose, we use an orbital localization method based on the partitioning of the molecular space according to the topology of the electronic localization function (LOC-ELF). In addition, the magnetically induced current density is analyzed. The LOC-ELF-based analysis coincides with the AdNDP study (double aromaticity, global and local). Besides, the current density analysis detects global and local ring currents. The strength of the global and local current circuit is significant, involving 4n+2 - and -electrons, respectively. The latter implicates the Si-ptC-Si fragment, which would be related to the 3c-2e -bond detected by the orbital localization methods in this fragment.

In 2011, commercial aviation contributed approximately 3.5% of global anthropogenic climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases during flight and operational non-CO2 climate effects. Over the last few years, numerous aviation-related organisations have set goals to reduce aviation’s climate impact. These goals, however, lack alignment, are poorly or ambiguously defined, or are internally inconsistent. This increases uncertainty about what aviation should work towards, how various stakeholders can contribute, and introduces problems with respect to accountability. In order to address this issue, this paper presents a comprehensive definition of a climate neutral air transport system as an “air transport system of which the climate effects of all its greenhouse gases and non-carbon dioxide effects throughout the entire life-cycle of each element of the system is balanced”. The proposed definition spans relevant system and encompasses all life cycle phases. To achieve a climate neutral air transport system by 2050, all life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions and non-CO2 climate effects remaining after in-sector reduction should be neutralised, as should all remaining non-CO2 climate forcing from emissions prior to 2050. Clarity on governance is furthermore needed, as the goal and associated targets proposed should be adopted globally.

When asked to estimate the carbon footprint of a bundle of relatively low carbon footprint items and relatively high carbon footprint items, people typically report a lower value compared to estimating the high carbon footprint items alone. This finding is called the negative footprint illusion and suggests people report the average rather than sum of the combined items’ carbon footprint. In a recent paper by Gorissen et al. (2024), the authors claimed that people are immune to this illusion if the question is framed differently. Specifically, they found that estimates of the environmental friendliness of a set comprising a burger (high carbon footprint) and an organic apple (low carbon footprint) was higher than for a set comprising the burger alone, whereas no difference was found between the two sets when participants were asked to estimate how environmentally damaging they were. Using larger item categories wherein the degree of the items’ environmental impact is clearly communicated, here we show it does not matter whether participants are required to estimate how friendly or damaging the items are. The roles of attribute substitution, dependent variables, and independent variables (stimulus characteristics) in modulating the negative footprint illusion is discussed.

The aim of this research work is to study the influence of temperature, solar irradiation and wind dust on the production of solar energy. In addition, it aims to study the assessment of water quality, in particular groundwater used for cooling and cleaning photovoltaic panels (quality analysis). it's an important source, stable and sustainable can be used entirely for cooling and cleaning PV modules from the sales dust, in order to improve their performance. To date, all research studies carried out in this context of cooling and cleaning using water have not taken account of the nature of this water. We have taken a sample of water from a well in a rural area in the Darra Tafilalet region of Morocco. This region has an arid and semi-arid climate, with very high temperatures and dust-laden winds, particularly in summer. These meteorological characteristics influence the efficiency of cells, particularly photovoltaic (PV) panels, reducing their performance. Next, the water sample was analysed in the laboratory. The results obtained show that the groundwater in this area is very sensitive to cooling and cleaning photovoltaic panels. Moreover, these results indicate that the temperature, solar irradiation and wind-blown dust have a significant influence on energy production.

In this paper, we aim to present real implementation cases where non-visible elements of environmental impact assessments (EIA), wind flow, are visualized using a 3D digital twin technology. The conventional EIA process serves as a crucial tool in the evaluation of potential environmental impacts prior to the initiation of development projects. This evaluation helps to establish a legal and institutional framework that seeks to minimize the adverse effects on the environment. However, traditional EIA methods present challenges, particularly for non-experts, in comprehending the results of assessments involving non-visible environmental factors such as noise, air quality, and wind flow. These elements are often represented in static images or numerical tables, limiting accurate understanding and engagement. Our proposed method, termed Digital Twin based EIA, addresses these limitations by leveraging digital twin technology. This advanced methodology allows for the visualization of non-visible environmental elements in a spatio-temporal dimension, providing a more interactive and comprehensive user interface/experience for both citizens and stakeholders. In this context, we present a unique case study that focuses on visualizing wind flow using this technology. This paper serves as an example of how digital twin platforms can enhance traditional EIA processes, offering a more immersive and informative experience. The evolution of EIA into the digital realm signifies an important step forward in fostering public understanding and engagement in environmental protection efforts.

Amidst escalating environmental concerns, short natural fiber thermoplastic (SNFT) biocomposites have emerged as sustainable materials for the eco-friendly production of mechanical components. However, their limited durability has prompted research into the experimental evaluation of the deterioration of the mechanical characteristics of SNFT biocomposites, particularly under the influence of ultraviolet rays. However, conducting tests to evaluate the mechanical properties can be time-consuming and expensive. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was employed to predict the mechanical properties (tensile strength) and the impact performance (resistance and absorbed energy) of polypropylene reinforced with 30 wt.% short flax or wood pine fibers (referred to as PP30-F or PP30-P, respectively). Eight parameters were collected from experimental studies. The ANN input parameters comprised nondestructive test results, including mass, hardness, roughness, and natural frequencies, while the output parameters were the tensile strength, the maximum impact load and absorbed energy. The model was developed using the ANN toolbox in MATLAB. The linear coefficient of correlation and mean squared error were selected as the metrics for evaluating the performance function and accuracy of the ANN model. They calculate the relationship and the average squared difference between the predicted and actual values. The data analysis conducted by the models demonstrated exceptional predictive capability, achieving an accuracy rate exceeding 96%, which was deemed satisfactory. For both the PP30-F and PP30-P biocomposites, the ANN predictions deviated from the experimental data by 3, 5, and 6% about the impact load, absorbed energy, and tensile strength, respectively.

Air pollution poses a significant risk to public health and ecosystems. The use of sophisticated models to simulate the transformation and dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere is a recognized method to assess air pollution levels and its sources and inform policy decisions for effective mitigation strategies in urban and industrial environments. The reliability of models depends, in part, on the sensitivity to the variance of input parameters, which can introduce uncertainty into the model's predictions. This uncertainty is especially challenging when the input parameters exhibit inherent variability. In this study, we analyse the uncertainty of an integrated emission/dispersion model by evaluating the relationship between input parameters and model outcomes. We uncover new aspects of this relationship while clarifying some previously known dependencies. Wind speed was found to have the most significant effect on calculated concentrations, with small differences leading to substantial concentration variations. The time of day, which reflects prevailing vertical turbulence conditions, was also found to have a notable impact on concentrations, whereas ambient temperature can also significantly influence model’s results. Based on these findings, we offer specific recommendations for regulators and scientists involved in environmental impact assessment to improve the accuracy and reliability of air pollution modelling.

Although child-centred care is increasingly referred to within the nursing literature, a clear definition of child-centred care and clarity around the concept is yet to be achieved. The objectives of this review were to examine: 1) What constitutes the concept of child-centred care in healthcare? 2) How has the concept of child-centred care developed? 3) What is the applicability of child-centred care and what are its limitations? and 4) How does the concept of child-centred care benefit and inform children’s healthcare? In total, 2984 papers were imported for screening, following removal of duplicates and screening, 21 papers were included in the scoping review.The findings suggest that child-centred care is an emerging, ambiguous, poorly defined concept; no clear consensus exists about what constitutes child-centred care. Although it seems antithetical to argue against child-centred care, little robust evidence was identified that demonstrates the impact of, and benefit from, child-centred care. If child-centred care is to be a sustainable, convincing model to guide practice and compete with other models of care it needs to establish robust evidence of its effectiveness, impact on children and their families as well as the wider impacts on the healthcare system.

The pursuit of sustainable wellbeing is one of the research objectives of positive experience design. Driven by this goal, the purpose of this paper is to provide an impact-centered sustainable positive experience design model. Firstly, the literature review method was used to define the research status and concept of impact-centered sustainable design. Secondly, an impact-centered sustainable positive experience design model was constructed, and relevant formulas for concept generation and concept evaluation were proposed. Thirdly, design verification was conducted through a workshop. Finally, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) questionnaire was used to evaluate and discuss the design model. An impact-centered sustainable positive design model was proposed, which includes the important impact dimensions of sensory experience and meaningful experience on users’ quality of life at different levels: healthy living (pleasure index, health behavior), harmonious community (social connectivity, social contribution), and livable environment (living environment, environmental contribution). Based on positive experience related theory, this study takes long-term impacts as the starting point for sustainable positive experience design, which helps designers to generate design concepts from a systematic and long-term perspective.

In conclusion, this qualitative exploration has unveiled the profound and essential impact of music on psychological well-being, especially in the post-pandemic world. Through in-depth literature reviews, informal interviews, and observations with thirty CAS participants from SMC, the researcher uncovered ten salient themes that collectively illustrate music's multifaceted role as a potent remedy. These findings showcase how music serves as an emotional outlet, a cognitive enhancer, and a source of inspiration. The emotional depth and spiritual resonance participants associate with music underscore its capacity to address diverse human needs, making it an indispensable tool in navigating the complexities of our post-pandemic reality. Moreover, the cognitive benefits observed, such as improved concentration and focus, are particularly pertinent in the context of remote work and education, highlighting music's necessity in our daily lives. Additionally, this study emphasizes the vital role of virtual music communities in fostering social connections, even amidst physical isolation, further underscoring the enduring relevance of music in these challenging times. This research contributes to the expanding knowledge of music's impact on well-being, offering a holistic perspective encompassing spiritual, emotional, social, and cognitive dimensions. It enriches existing music psychology theories and invites further exploration into the mechanisms underpinning music's diverse effects. These insights have practical implications for fields such as mental health, education, and remote work, where music can be utilized as an essential tool for stress reduction and emotional regulation. This is highlighted further in the Suggested songs that can help sought the mind, body, spirit and soul. Looking ahead, future research could delve deeper into the long-term impact of music engagement on well-being and explore the universality of music's benefits through cross-cultural studies. Overall, music, as illuminated by this study, stands as a timeless and indispensable companion, offering solace, inspiration, vitality, and connection in the face of any contemporary challenges.

To solve the problem of deformation and stress in segments when a full-face hard rock tunnel boring machine (TBM) tunnel for an urban subway passes through existing buildings, a three-dimensional mechanical calculation model of TBM tunneling under existing buildings was established based on numerical analysis to comprehensively study the spatial attributes of tunnel segments during TBM tunneling. The Qingdao Metro Line 1 TBM tunnel in the hard rock stratum of Xiaobei District passes through existing buildings. The results indicated that (1) the stress and deformation of the segments were different at different positions. The horizontal and vertical stress and displacement of the segments in front of the building were significantly affected by the building. When the segment was not in the area below the horizontal plane of the building, the vertical stress of the segment was significantly greater than the two stresses in the horizontal direction. (2) The vertical displacements of the vault and the arch bottom were the largest, and the influence of vertical accessories was stronger when the segment was closer to the building.(3) When the tunnel was excavated to approximately one tunnel diameter in front of the building, the building was affected. If the surrounding rock is unstable, the excavation face may collapse and the ground surface may sink, possibly leading to inclination, cracking, and uneven settlement of the building.

In this research, we investigate the healthcare expenditure patterns in Uzbekistan, analyze their economic implications, and provide policy recommendations. The study focuses on the time frame from 2000 to 2019, employing quantitative data analysis, theoretical frameworks such as Wagner’s Law, and an economic geography perspective. Our objective is to gain insights into the relationship between economic development and healthcare spending, identify spatial disparities, and forecast future trends. The findings reveal fluctuations in per capita healthcare spending, emphasizing the necessity for sustainable financing mechanisms and preventive measures. Ultimately, our study underscores the significance of aligning healthcare expenditure decisions with economic objectives while prioritizing the well-being of the population.

In response to the problem of increasing climate change and energy security, investment in renewable energy sources has increased significantly both in Europe and globally. Wind and solar power plants are expected to be the largest contributors to global decarbonization, ranking first and second in projected capacity by 2050. Since all power plants have some impact on the environment, this also applies to photovoltaic power plants. Because of the large capacities projected for PV installed capacity, their environmental impacts should be evaluated. The environmental impacts of PV power plants change over time. Improving the manufacturing technology of PV system components, increasing the efficiency of solar cells, and using materials that are less harmful to the environment will reduce these impacts. Manufacturing PV system components is a highly energy-intensive process that involves greenhouse gas emissions. As new renewable energy capacity is built, the amount of "green" electricity on the grid increases, reducing CO2 emissions per kWh consumed. The objective of this paper is to analyze the current status of the environmental impact of PV power plants under these changing conditions in terms of CO2 emissions, land use, pollutant and noise emissions, and water consumption. The capacity installed to date will reach the end of its lifetime by 2050, which means that the amount of waste associated with it will increase over time. This can have a significant impact on the environment, which is why part of the work is dedicated to this problem. In addition to the available information from the literature, in the part related to land use, the authors also made their own estimates based on data on newly installed PV power plants and PV modules available on the market. The results of the analysis show that there is enough land both in Europe and worldwide to install the planned capacities of rooftop and ground-mounted PV power plants. CO2 emissions are at the same level as for concentrated solar power, with a decreasing trend. Pollutant emissions, noise and water consumption are not a major problem compared to other types of power plants. Overall, it can be concluded that the expansion of PV capacity has a very positive impact on the environment.

Although the similarity laws were widely used in impact fields, the scaling relations of anisotropic elastic structures often were broken when the geometric distortion (not equal scaling in different spatial directions) and the material distortion (different materials used for scaled model and full-size prototype) were considered. To overcome the difficulty of geometric and material distortion, a directional framework of similarity laws, termed as oriented-density-length-velocity (ODLV) system, is proposed for the anisotropic elastic structure under impact loads. Different from previous similarity law systems using scalar dimensional analysis, the directional similarity law framework mainly considers spatial anisotropy for structural geometry and material parameters. Based on the oriented dimensional analysis and the orthotropic Hooke's law, directional dimensionless numbers and directional scaling relations with geometric power properties for the elastic modulus and the Poisson's ratio are presented systematically. By selecting the dominant material parameters controlling similarity, three important scaling techniques with correction of geometric width and thickness are proposed to compensate for the difficulty of distortion. A clamped square plate with different anisotropic and isotropic elastic materials subjected to dynamic pressure pulse is verified numerically and discussed in detail. The results show that the thin square plate prototype must be scaled to be the thinner/thicker rectangular plate, and the components of displacement, stress and strain between scaled model and full-scale prototype behave good consistency in both spatial and temporal fields.

A toy model for the distribution of the impact factor (IF) of a journal is proposed. The model demonstrates the presence of a heavy tail for the IF distribution, which occurs due to some random non-scientific circumstances. Therefore, the use of IF as an indicator of the quality of scientific papers seems to be inadequate.

Sharing activity is getting higher attention due to increasing popularity in recent years. In the paper, the authors investigated the main elements affecting the sharing activity. (1) Literature review: The theoretical part starts from the revision of definitions of sharing activity; description of the links between sharing and sustainable development, policy recommendations and relevant regulation in the field; later on, the study emphasises the key elements important for sharing. Finally, the authors investigated how the Covid-19 pandemic affected sharing activity; (2) Methods: During empirical research, the authors revised the list of 37 variables. The study uses data for each of the 27 EU countries from 2011 to 2020. The authors investigated correlation between macroeconomics variables to determine key variables for the regression model; (3) Results: The authors constructed a dynamic regression model that can be applied to predict the number of participants visiting sharing platforms in the European Union (EU); (4) Conclusions: The study shows that seeking to forecast the number of visits to sharing platforms it is necessary to use values of main macroeconomic variables such as consumer price index, productivity index, total unemployment rate, the number of users and households connected to the Internet, etc.

The objective of this work is to compare how the gases emitted during the manufacture of the clinker vary in a cement plant, using two types of fuel: petroleum coke and unusable tires (UTs). The study is based on a case study using real time data on more than 40 process variables. Gases are analysed from two points of the production process: Sintering Kiln, main focus of emission to the atmosphere by chimney, and Preheater. The variation of CO and NOx depending on the oxygen and fuel type is studied. The SO2 levels are also analyzed, observing a decrease when using the UTs. The quality of the Clinker has been compared depending on the fuel type. The results are compared, on the one hand, with the quality of the clinker, determined by the content of the majority (C3S, Alite) and minority (Free CaO) phases, and, on the other hand, with the Kiln sintering temperature, the most influential parameter in the productive process. It is verified that Clinker quality is maintained, regardless of the type of fuel used. Concluding that the use of UTs as fuel can generate an important economic and environmental benefit for cement companies and their environment.

One of the main drivers behind the urbanization process is attributed to economic fundamentals of urban growth, which boost migration from rural to urban context. This migration can be studied geographically, with increasing rates of population as the main component in developing countries, over Asia and Africa, specifically. Research has been focusing in creating models and adaptative schemes to manage and plan cities to promote sustainable development for housing large quantities of population and preserve a long-term living environment. The approach from a smart city perspective, adjusted to the rapid urbanization condition can be helpful to deal urban issues by convergence and interaction between urban agents and information technology. At academia, few works have addressed the role of Smart Cities to face the challenge of rapid urbanization. The aim of this study is to research and analyze if strategies with smart city vision can lessen environmental impacts at cases with rapid urbanization, and how can we leverage technology to promote environmental sustainability at rapid urbanization phenomena occurring at developing countries using RIAM environmental assessment method in the case of Beijing, China'.

We report the experiences of the bike sharing system in Ningbo, China. To analyze the impact of the system, system log data are collected for the whole month of May 2014 (with more than 1.7 million usage records), supplemented by questionnaire data from 1,856 respondents. Our results show that public bike usage follows the same pattern as road traffic, with morning and evening peaks on week days. In terms of mode substitution, 16% of public bike trips would have been made by private cars. In average, each public bike is used 3.7 times per day, with each trip lasting around 23 minutes and covering around 3.5 kilometre. This translates into a reduction of car travel by more than 11 million kilometre per year, a significant contribution to the sustainability of urban transport in Ningbo.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 poses a devastating threat to human society in terms of health, economy and lifestyle. Establishing accurate and real-time models to predict and assess the impact of the epidemic on the economy is instructive. We have designed a new model to quantitatively assess the impact of the COVID-19 on the economy of China’s mainland. The nominal GDP in the Q1 of 2020 that we predicted for China’s mainland with the Baidu Mi-gration Data is RMB 20,785.7 billion, which is less by 3.59% than that in 2019. The estimated val-ue is confirmed roughly by the official report released in April 17, 2020 (RMB 20,650 billion, 6.8% year-on-year declined). Strict control measures during the epidemic have greatly reduced Chi-na's economic activity and had a serious impact on the country's economy. Orderly promotion of population mobility plays a decisive role in economic recovery.

This paper summarizes opinions on the economic impacts of horticulture research and extension at MSU Coastal Research and Extension Center. More than 8,400 horticulture producers, master gardeners, research and extension staff, and non-profit organizations participated in horticulture events during the last five years. Qualitative assessments of horticulture research and extension performed by the faculty and staff were solicited during voluntary surveys.

Introduction In 2016 the European Union setup its first structured food provision program to combat food insecurity. We aimed to measure the program’s capacity in assisting its beneficiaries to achieve a healthy diet and measure their satisfaction. Methods A computational study was carried out to calculate daily food provision per person under the program for January 2016-December 2017. A cross sectional survey in 3942 beneficiaries took place in December 2017-June 2018 collecting anthropometric, sociodemographic and program satisfaction data. Descriptive statistics were performed and reported as relatively frequencies, mean ± standard deviation. Results Dairy, fresh meat, legumes, sugar, olive oil and tomato concentrate were the most commonly procured items. The program’s contribution to vegetable, dairy and cereal intake was the lowest (3.4%, 6.1%, 6.0% respectively) as opposed to free sugars (12.2%) and oils (24.5%). The program’s algorithm favors greatly (almost 3-fold) single person applications compared to 4+ persons applications. The monetary value was estimated at 21.23±23.4 euros/food provision, however 64.4% of beneficiaries reported a high positive impact on the household budget. 50.7% and 41.6% reported high positive impact on feelings of anxiety and security, respectively. ~70% of the beneficiaries were highly satisfied with the foods provided, with lower scores for quality and shelf-life (50.7% and 58.8% high respectively). Conclusions The program is met by high beneficiary satisfaction and is perceived as a substantial assistance. Increases in the amounts and variety of foods delivered, with a focus on fruit, vegetables and fish should be considered, to further improve the program’s dietary impact.

Due to the high solar irradiance or energy price, certain regions in the U.S. may reach 100% PV penetration and experience degradation of frequency response greater than the interconnection as a whole. Therefore, in this section, the 100% PV penetration region in each interconnection is simulated to study the local high PV penetration effects. The study was performed by quantifying RoCoF, frequency nadir, and settling frequency at different regional PV penetration levels. The impact of high regional PV penetration on the compliance of grid code on frequency response is also studied.

Introduction: Pharmaceutical products are inevitable for human health. Owing to the growing need for pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical companies introduce drugs annually into the market in addition to the extensive collection of existing pharmaceutical products. Households, farms, health facilities, and pharmaceutical industries release pharmaceutical waste into the environment at low concentrations through routine pharmaceutical use, damage, and expiry. The effects of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) on non-target species in the environment are not known. Over the years, pharmaceuticals such as diclofenac and ibuprofen in trace amounts have been detected in public water systems, ground and surface water. Unwanted medicines should be safely disposed of at a reduced financial cost to mitigate the public and environmental health risks. Lack of general knowledge of how to dispose of unused pharmaceuticals leads to improper disposal resulting in accidental toxicity, rising healthcare costs, landfills pilfering/scavenging, water supply pollution, anti-microbial resistance, and death. To mitigate such effects, pharmacists should raise public awareness about safe disposal practices. Objective: This review aims to examine the sources of pharmaceutical waste, disposal costs, secure disposal methods, the effects of inappropriate disposal, and the role of pharmacists in the disposal. Method: The information on the stated objectives was gathered from available sources through a comprehensive literature review. Conclusion: Many countries contain tons of pharmaceutical waste that are expensive to destroy. Because of improper disposal, pharmaceutical waste has been found at trace amounts in drinking and surface water. A practical, environmentally sustainable approach to pharmaceutical waste management, with policies and guidelines, and public awareness campaigns, are necessary to address the problem of safe waste disposal. The national drug regulatory bodies should conduct environmental risk assessment resulting from the disposal of unwanted pharmaceuticals. Pharmacists should facilitate extensive training on sustainable drug use and proper pharmaceutical waste disposal at all levels to reduce the risks associated with improper disposal. Reduction of pharmaceutical waste generation at each step of a drug’s lifecycle, implementing takeback options, collection at approved sites, and modern technology to treat wastewater are highly recommended to reduce the effects of unwanted pharmaceuticals on human health and the environment.

This paper revisits a classic problem in physics - Hertz elastic dynamics of two colliding elastic spheres. This study obtains impact period in terms of hypergeometric function and successfully combines Deresiewicz's three segmental solutions into one single solution. Our numerical investigation confirms that Deresiewicz's inversion is a good approximation. As an essential part of this study, a general Maple code is provided.

Background and Research Highlights: Despite all the concerns and initiatives, natural resources like forests, as well as biodiversity are decreasing at an alarming rate worldwide. Conservation is considered as one of the major tools to prevent such loss and rapid degradation. Evidence around the world shows the adverse effects of conservation laws and policies on indigenous peoples and other local communities. Objectives: This study was conducted in one of the forest-dependent communities situated in Sundarban (world’s largest mangrove forest) to understand the impact of conservation laws and policies on their livelihood. Materials and Methods: A qualitative methodology was designed to collect data, using focus group discussions and case study with community people, and individual interviews with the personnel from NGOs and relevant government departments. Findings: Strict conservation policies and restrictions in accessing forest resources made lives and livelihoods of the local community insecure and unstable, thus putting the community in a vulnerable situation. The had to leave their traditional mode of income and look for alternative livelihood options. Almost no evidence was found in relation to upkeeping their rights in conservation activities. Prohibited movement, provision of punishment for entering into the forest without proper permission and struggles in everyday life were some of the highlighted issues. They had no participation in conservation activities, management of alternative livelihood options, and even they were not sensitized before putting restrictions. Although they had a history of emotional and physical attachment with the forest, existing activities did not consider these issues. In addition, corruption and abuse of power by law enforcement agencies towards the local community intensified the sufferings. Conclusion: This study argues that the realization of human rights in conservation activities and the sensitization of the implementing stakeholders are prerequisites for ensuring the sustainability of both biodiversity and the affected people.

In Ghana, about 73% of households rely on solid fuels for cooking. Over 13,000 annual deaths are attributed to exposure to indoor air pollution from inefficient combustion. In this study, assessment of thermal efficiency, emissions and total global warming impact of three cookstoves commonly used in Ghana was completed using IWA water boiling test (WBT) protocol. Statistical averages of three replicate tests for each cookstove were computed. Thermal efficiency results were: wood-burning cookstove 12.2% (Tier 0), traditional charcoal cookstove 23.3% (Tier 1-2) and improved charcoal cookstove 30% (Tier 2-3). The wood-burning cookstove emitted more CO, CO2 and PM2.5 than charcoal cookstove (coalpot) and improved cookstove. Emission factor for PM2.5 and emission rate for the wood-burning cookstove (Tier 0) were over four times higher than the traditional charcoal cookstove (Tier 3) and improved cookstove (Tier 2). On the basis of WBT, annual global warming impact potential for emissions are estimated at 4 tonnes of CO2e for the wood-burning cookstove, 1.5 tonnes of CO2e for charcoal cookstove (coalpot) and 1 tonne of CO2e for improved cookstove. We conclude that there is the need for awareness, policy and incentives to enable end-users switch to improved cookstoves for increased efficiency, reduced emissions/global warming impact.

ackground: The swift assimilation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across multiple industries is altering the worldwide economic terrain. Unprecedented opportunities and difficulties are brought about by this revolutionary technology, which has an impact on innovation, trade, labor markets, and security. Objective: The goal of this study is to thoroughly investigate the economic effects of AI by exploring how it may affect labor markets, innovation, trade internationally, and security. The goal is to offer insights that support strategic decision-making and policy formation by examining current trends, opportunities, and difficulties. Results: The research highlights the dual character of artificial intelligence's influence, highlighting both its potential to spur economic expansion and its drawbacks, including the loss of jobs, a lack of standards, and security issues. The study highlights how crucial cooperation is to overcoming these obstacles and realizing AI's full potential. Conclusion: The balancing opportunities and risks becomes critical as AI continues to change the economic landscape. The report promotes proactive steps including ethical AI design guidelines, ongoing worker retraining, and flexible regulatory strategies. As we shape an AI future that puts inclusion, creativity, and responsible governance first, collaboration emerges as a key theme.

The undoped and tungsten (W)-doped vanadium dioxide (VO₂) thin films were prepared by electron beam evaporation associated with ion-beam assisted deposition (IAD). The influence of different W-doped contents (3%-5%) on the optical, electrical, structural, and thermos-mechanical properties of VO₂ thin films was investigated experimentally. Spectral transmittance results showed that with the increase of W-doped contents, the transmittance in the visible light range (400-750 nm) decreases from 60.2% to 53.9%, and the transmittance in the infrared wavelength range (2.5 μm to 5.5 μm) drops from 55.8% to 15.4%. As the W-doped content increases, the residual stress in the VO₂ thin film decreases from -0.276 GPa to -0.238 GPa, but the surface roughness increases. For temperature-dependent spectroscopic measurements, heating the VO2 thin films from 30°C to 100°C showed the most significant change in transmittance for the 5% W-doped VO₂ thin film. When the heating temperature exceeds 55°C, the optical transmittance drops significantly, and the visible light transmittance drops by about 11%. Finally, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to evaluate the microstructure characteristics of VO₂ thin films.

The molecular entity that catalyzes ferredoxin (Fd)-dependent cyclic electron flow around photosystem I (PSI) (Fd-CEF) remains unknown. To elucidate the in vivo molecular mechanism of Fd-CEF, the evaluation of Fd reduction‒oxidation kinetics is a good indicator of Fd-CEF activity. Recent research showed that the expression of Fd-CEF activity requires the oxidation of plastoquinone, and furthermore, chloroplast NAD(P)H dehydrogenase does not catalyze Fd-CEF in Arabidopsis thaliana. In the present research, the effect of reduced Fd on Fd-CEF activity was analyzed by comparing wild-type and pgr5-deficient mutants (pgr5hope1). PGR5 has been proposed to be the mediator of Fd-CEF, and pgr5hope1 showed the same CO2 assimilation rate and the same reduction‒oxidation level of PQ as WT, but P700 oxidation with Fd was highly reduced, unlike WT. As expected, the activity of Fd-CEF was enhanced in pgr5hope1 compared to the wild type, and its activity was also enhanced with the oxidation of PQ by the increase in the CO2 assimilation rate. The present in vivo research clearly shows that the expression of Fd-CEF activity requires reduced Fd in addition to oxidized PQ, and PGR5 does not catalyze Fd-CEF.

Auger-emitting radionuclides exemplified by Pd-103, exhibit considerable therapeutic potential in cancer treatment due to their heightened cytotoxicity and localized biological impact. Despite these advantages, the separation of such radionuclides presents a complicated challenge, requiring intricate and time-intensive "wet chemistry" methods attributed to the exceptional chemical inertness of the associated metals. This study proposes an innovative solution to this separation challenge through the design and implementation of a radionuclide separation equipment (RSE). The equipment employs a dry distillation approach, capitalizing on differences in partial vapor pressures between irradiated and resulting radioactive metals, with a diffusion-driven extraction method applied to separate Pd-103 radionuclides generated via proton irradiation of Rh-103 at the ATOMKI MGC-20 cyclotron. Optimization endeavors focused on determining the optimal temperature for effective metal separation, adjusting diffusion, evaporation, and deposition rates, as well as addressing chemical impurities. Calculations indicate 17 % ± 2 % separation efficiency with our RSE. Approximately 77% ± 2% and 49% ± 2% of the deposited Pd-103 were isolated on substrates of Nb foil and ZnO-covered W disk, respectively. The proposed innovative dry distillation method that has been experimentally tested, offers a promising alternative to conventional separation techniques, enabling enhanced purity and cost-efficient cancer treatment strategies.

Copper-nitride (Cu3N) semiconductor material is attracting much attention as a potential, next-generation thin-film solar-light absorber in solar cells. In this communication, polycrystalline Cu3N thin films were prepared using reactive-RF-magnetron-sputtering deposition, at room temperature, onto glass and silicon substrates. The very-broadband optical properties of the Cu3N thin film layers were studied by UV-MIR (0.2-40 μm) ellipsometry and optical transmission, to be able to achieve the goal of a low-cost absorber material to replace the conventional silicon. The reactive-RF-sputtered Cu3N films were also investigated by focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy, and both FTIR and Raman spectroscopies.

It is known that exposure to heavy metals such as lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) has several adverse effects, particularly on the human reproductive system. Pb and Cd have been associated with infertility in both men and women. In pregnant women, they have been associated with spontaneous abortion, preterm birth, and impairment of the development of the fetus. Since these heavy metals come from both natural and anthropogenic activities and their harmful effects have been observed even at levels of exposure, their exposure remains a public health issue, especially for the reproductive system. Given this, the present study aimed to investigate the potential reproductive effects of Pb and Cd levels in the follicular fluid (FF) of infertile women and no-smokers exposed to heavy metals for professional reasons or living in rural areas near landfills and waste disposal areas, to correlate the intrafollicular presence of these metals with possible alterations in the ultrastructure of human cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs), probably responsible of infertility. Blood and FF metals were measured using atomic absorption spectrometry. COCs corresponding to each FF analyzed were subjected to ultrastructural analyses by transmission electron microscopy. We demonstrated for the first time that intrafollicular levels of Pb (0.66 µg/dL to 0.85 µg/dL) and Cd (0.26 µg/L - 0.41 µg/L) could be associated with morphological alterations of both the oocyte and CCs ultrastructure. Since blood Cd levels (0.54 µg/L - 1.87 µg/L) were above the current reference values established by the guidelines of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), whereas blood Pb levels (1.28 µg/dL - 3.98 µg/dL) were below the ATSDR reference values we believe that these alterations could be due especially to Cd, even if we cannot exclude a possible additional effect of Pb. Our results highlighted that oocytes were affected in maturation and quality, whereas CCs showed scarcely active steroidogenic elements. Regressing CCs, with cytoplasmic alterations, were also numerous. According to Cd's endocrine-disrupting activity, the poor steroidogenic activity of CCs might correlate with delayed oocyte cytoplasmic maturation. So, we conclude that levels of heavy metals in the blood and the FF might negatively affect fertilization, embryo development, and pregnancy, compromising oocyte competence to fertilization both directly and indirectly, impairing CC steroidogenic activity, and inducing CC apoptosis.

Single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM SPA) has recently emerged as an exceptionally well-suited technique for determining the structure of membrane proteins (MPs). Indeed, in the last years, it was observed a huge increase in the number of MPs solved by cryo-EM SPA at a resolution better than 3.0 Å in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). However, sample preparation remains a significant challenge in the field. Here, we evaluated in the MPs solved by cryo-EM SPA deposited in the PDB in the last two years at a resolution below 3.0 Å the most critical parameters for sample preparation: i) the surfactant used for protein extraction from the membrane, ii) the surfactant, amphiphiles, nanodiscs or other molecules present in the vitrification step, iii) the vitrification method employed, and iv) the type of grids used. The aim is not to provide a definitive answer on the optimal sample conditions for cryo-EM SPA of MPs, but rather assess the current trends in the MP structural biology community towards obtaining high-resolution cryo-EM structures.

Copper-nitride (Cu3N) material is attracting much attention as a potential next-generation thin-film solar-light absorber. In this work, polycrystalline Cu3N thin films were prepared using reactive-RF-magnetron sputtering, at room temperature,onto glass and silicon substrates. The optical properties of the Cu3N thin layers were studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry and transmission, to achieve a low-cost absorber material to replace conventional silicon. The reactive-RF-sputtered Cu3N films were also investigated by FIB-SEM microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy.

We present a model that incorporates the effect of two-body currents in quasielastic electron-nucleus scattering within the framework of a consistent superscaling formalism. This is achieved by defining an averaged single-nucleon hadronic tensor based on the 1p1h matrix element of the one-body current plus meson-exchange currents (MEC). The consistent treatment of one- and two-body currents in our model enables the calculation of exchange current effects in the kinematical region where the Fermi gas response is zero, but not the scaling function. The effect of MEC is consistently taken into account when extracting the phenomenological scaling function from electron scattering data. With this model, we investigate the effect of MEC on the response functions taking into account the effective mass of the nucleon, and examine the consequences it has on the inclusive (e,e′) cross section. We find that 1p1h MEC deplete the quasielastic transverse response, while they not alter significantly the scaling behavior of (e,e′) data.

Under inflammatory conditions including lymphatic disorders, bone marrow-derived myeloid cells often express lymphatic endothelial cell (LEC) markers called LEC progenitor cells, which extend lymphatic vessels by fusing with existing lymphatic vessels. However, studies on the mechanism of lymphatic regeneration using three-dimensional images of lymphatic structures are limited. In this study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the three-dimensional structure of lymphangiogenesis in a mouse model of secondary lymphedema. The model was established in C57BL/6J mice via circumferential incision in the inguinal region of the left hind limb. Skin samples were obtained from the lymphedema region on days 2, 5, and 8 after surgery. To determine lymphatic vessel positions using SEM analysis, we detected anti-lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor 1 (LYVE-1) immunoreactivity in serial sections and overlaid them during SEM observation. On days 2 and 5, spherical cells, probably myeloid cells, were attached and fused to the LYVE-1-positive lymphatic vessel walls. On day 8, spherical cells were converted to string-shaped cells, forming a new lymphatic vessel wall resembling an intraluminal pillar. Our results show the three-dimensional lymphatic structures formed during lymphatic regeneration.

The pulse duration in short-pulse schemes for Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission Free Electron Lasers (SASE FELs) is limited by the FEL coherence time. A recently proposed concept allows to overcome the coherence time barrier and to get much shorter pulses. When the lasing part of an electron bunch is much shorter than the coherence time, one can suppress the radiation in the long main undulator while preserving microbunching within that short lasing slice. Then a short radiation pulse is produced in a relatively short radiator. A possible suppression method, an excessive reverse undulator taper, is discussed and illustrated numerically in this paper. We also performed first experimental tests of this method at the soft X-ray FEL user facility FLASH. The measured pulse duration approaches 1 fs (FWHM) at the wavelength of 5 nm.

: The paper presents the results of uniaxial tensile tests of samples of hypoeutectic aluminum-silicon alloy A319. According to the results of which the influence of surface treatment by a pulsed electron beam on the mechanical properties of the material was determined. The peculiarities of localization of deformation in the material, caused by grinding of the surface layer material structure due to rapid crystallization during electron beam treatment were revealed. The surface treatment up to 100 µm depth leads to the formation of a fine dendritic columnar structure of silumin and to an increase in the plasticity of the samples. The influence of surface treatment affects the increase of deformation localization in the region of stable concentrator before failure. The largest increase in ductility and localization of deformation occurs during processing with energy density of 15 J/cm2. In the process of specimen deformation, unstable, metastable, and stable areas of plastic deformation localization are formed and replaced, and the formation of stable areas of localized plastic deformation, in which the specimen fails at the end of the test, can be detected at the initial stages of testing. In specimens, during testing in the zone of localized plastic deformation, bands are formed that pass through the entire surface of the specimen at an angle from 35 to 55 degrees to the axis of tension, their evolution leads to the formation of stable zones of localized plastic deformation and to the failure of the specimen.

A procedure, dedicated to superconductivity, is extended to study the properties of interacting electrons in normal metals in the thermodynamic limit. Each independent-electron band is shown to split into two correlated-electron bands. Excellent agreement is achieved with Bethe's wave-function for the one-dimensional Hubbard model. The groundstate energy, reckoned for the two-dimensional Hubbard Hamiltonian, is found to be lower than values, obtained thanks to the numerical methods. This analysis applies for any spatial dimension and temperature.

High-energy small electron beams generated by linear accelerators are used for radiotherapy of localized superficial tumors. The aim of the present study is to assess the dosimetric performance under small radiation therapy electron beams of the novel PTW microSilicon detector by comparison with commercially available dosimeters. Relative dose measurements of circular fields with 20, 30, 40 and 50 mm aperture diameters were performed for 4 to 12 MeV energy range of electron beams generated by an Elekta Synergy linac. Percentage depth dose, transverse profiles and output factors normalized to the 10 × 10 cm2 reference field were measured. All dosimetric data were collected in a PTW MP3 motorized water phantom at SSD of 100cm by using the novel PTW microSilicon detector. The PTW diode E and the PTW microDiamond were also used in all beam aperture for benchmarking. Data for the biggest field size were also measured by the PTW Advanced Markus ionization chamber.Measurements performed by the microSilicon are in good agreement with the reference values for all the tubular applicators and beam energies, within the stated uncertainties. This confirms the reliability of the microSilicon detector for relative dosimetry of small radiation therapy electron beams collimated by tubular applicators.

In horses, there is an increasing interest in developing long-lasting drug formulations, with bi-opolymers as viable carrier alternatives in addition to their use as scaffolds, suture threads, screws, pins, and plates for orthopedic surgeries. This communication focuses on the prolonged biocompatibility and biodegradation of PLA, prepared by hot pressing at 180 ºC. Six samples were implanted subcutaneously on the lateral surface of the neck of one horse. The polymers remained implanted for 24 to 57 weeks. Physical examination, plasma fibrinogen, and the mechanical noci-ceptive threshold (MNT) were performed. After 24, 28, 34, 38, and 57 weeks, the materials were removed for histochemical analysis using hematoxylin-eosin and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). There were no essential clinical changes. MNT decreased after the implantation procedure, returning to normal after 48h. A foreign body response was observed by histopathologic evalua-tion up to 38 weeks. At 57 weeks, no polymer or fibrotic capsules were identified. SEM showed surface roughness suggesting a biodegradation process, with an increase in the average pore di-ameter. As in the histopathological evaluation, it was not possible to detect the polymer 57 weeks after implantation. PLA showed biocompatible degradation and these findings may contribute to future research in the biomedical area.