In the paper, the author discusses and computes bounds of the sine and cosine along straight lines on the complex plane.

This paper numerically investigates a 3D mesh independency study of a straight blade horizontal axis tidal turbine modelled using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The solution was produced by employing two turbulence models, the standard k-ε model and Shear Stress Transport (SST) in ANSYS CFX. Three parameters were investigated: mesh resolution, turbulence model, and power coefficient in the initial CFD, analysis. It was found that the mesh resolution and the turbulence model affect the power coefficient results. The power coefficients obtained from the standard k-ε model are 15% to 20% lower than the accuracy of the SST model. It can also be demonstrated that the torque coefficient increases with the increasing Tip Speed Ratio (TSR), but drops drastically after TSR = 5 and k-ε model failing to capture the non-linearity in the torque coefficient with the increasing TSR.

In this study, a matched-mode autoregressive source depth estimation method (MMAR) based on autoregressive (AR) wavenumber estimation is proposed for a moving source in shallow water waveguides. The signal original frequency and the environmental parameters, namely, the sound speed profile and bottom properties are known as a prior knowledge. The mode wavenumbers are estimated by the AR modal wavenumber spectrum. On the basis of the mode wavenumber estimation, the mode amplitudes can be estimated by the wavenumber spectrum that is obtained by generalized Hankel transform. The source depth estimation is determined by the peak of source depth function wherein the data mode best matches the replica mode that is calculated using a propagation model. Compared with other methods of moving source depth estimation, the proposed method exhibits a better performance in source depth estimation under low signal-to-noise ratio or the small range span. The selection of horizontal line array depth is illustrated by simulation and normal mode theory in details.

The central mechanism of biological evolution, variation-selection-inheritance (VSI), is one of the most universal mechanisms known. Much of our understanding of VSI, however, has been dominated by the Neo-Darwinian Modern Synthesis with a rather narrow understanding of what constitutes variation, selection, and inheritance. This unduly narrow understanding of VSI might have been a key cause behind our failure to adequately explain some critical puzzles in biological evolution, from the origin of the first cell to the origin of the eukaryotes, the puzzling biology of metabolism, apoptosis, aging, and cancer in metazoan.I broaden our understanding of VSI, in a spirit that is somewhat similar to several recent contributions and then extend this broadened view of VSI to its natural starting point: the origin of the First Universal Cell Ancestor (FUCA). I advance three principal arguments. First, survival comes before replication. Before the coming of reproducer and replicator, there must be survivors, to paraphrase Szathmary and Maynard Smith (1997). Second, natural selection, especially the non-Darwinian kind, can operate without replication or even metabolism, as long as different molecules, complexes, and vesicles have differential survival rate within a system. Third, merger and acquisition, via breaking-and-re-encapsulation, endocytosis, endosymbiosis, and processes similar to them, had been a far more powerful force of variation and selection in the pre-Darwinian period of evolution that led to LUCA and long before eukaryogenesis. Endosymbiosis therefore had been a far more foundational force than even Lynn Margulis and many of her supporters have appreciated. Our thesis thus goes beyond Woese’s emphasis of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and actually subsumes HGT with Margulis’ emphasis of endosymbiosis. Combing these three new perspectives with other perspectives and evidence sheds important new light upon the origin of FUCA, the singular water-shedding moment in the evolution of life.

The objective of this work is to evaluate the impact of the innovative modifications made to the conventional effluent capture and discharge devices used in subsurface flow wetlands (SSFW). The main modifications developed consist on extending the influence of the capture and discharge device in such a way that the SSFW width and height are fully covered. This improved innovative device was applied and evaluated in two subsurface flow wetlands, one on a pilot scale and one on a real scale. To evaluate the impact of the innovative device with respect to conventional one in the operational functioning of subsurface flow wetlands, the elimination of chemical oxygen demand was measured and compared. The results show that for the innovative device, the COD removal was 10% higher than for the conventional device, confirming the validity and effectiveness of the modifications implemented in the effluent capture and discharge devices used in SSFW.

The aim of this work is to evaluate the impact of proposed modifications to conventional capturing and discharging effluents devices in Subsurface Flow Wetland (SSFW) systems. Main modifications proposed consist on extending the influence of the capture and discharge device in such a way that the SSFW width and height are fully covered. Additionally an SSFW prototype was built as pilot including the proposed modifications and the impact of the innovative device is measured based on the efficiency of the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal as compared to a traditionally built SSFW. The results show that for the innovative device, the COD removal was 10% higher than for the conventional device.

Modules composed of a resistance gene flanked by Xer site-specific recombination sites, the vast majority of which were found in Acinetobacter baumannii, are thought to behave as elements that facilitate horizontal dissemination. The A. baumannii xerC and xerD genes were cloned, and the recombinant clones used to complement the cognate Escherichia coli mutants. The complemented strains supported resolution of plasmid dimers, and, as is the case with E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae plasmids, the activity was enhanced when cells were growing in low osmolarity growth medium. Binding experiments showed that partially purified A. baumannii XerC and XerD proteins (XerC_Ab and XerD_Ab) bound synthetic Xer site-specific recombination sites, some of them with a nucleotide sequence deduced from existing A. baumannii plasmids. Incubation with suicide substrates resulted in covalent attachment of DNA to a recombinase, probably XerC_Ab, indicating that the first step in the recombination reaction took place. The results described show that XerC_Ab and XerD_Ab are functional proteins and support the hypothesis that they participate in horizontal dissemination of resistant genes among bacteria.

Horizontal transfer of transposons (HTT) is an important source of genomic evolution in eukaryotes. The HTT dynamics is well characterized in eukaryotes including insects however, but there is a huge gap of knowledge about HTT regarding many eukaryotes’ species. In this study we analyzed the events of the HTT between Rhus gall aphids (Hemiptera) and other insects. We analyzed the Mariner-like transposable elements (MLEs) belongs to Rhus gall aphids for the possible HT events. The MLEs have patchy distribution and have high similarity over the entire length of element with insects MLEs from different orders. We selected representative sequences from the Rhus gall MLEs and identified five events of HT between MLEs of Rhus gall aphids and other insects from five different orders. We also found multiple HTT events among the MLEs of insects from the five orders which demonstrate that these Mariner elements have been involved in recurrent HT between these six order of insects. Our current study closed the knowledge gap of HTT and reported the events between Rhus gall aphids and other insects for the first time. We believe that this study about HTT events will help to understand the evolution and spread of transposable elements in the genomes of Rhus gall aphids.

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is the transmission of genes between organisms by other means than parental to offspring inheritance. While it is prevalent in prokaryotes, HGT is less frequent in eukaryotes and particularly in metazoan. Here, we propose Alienness, a taxonomy-aware web application that parses BLAST results against public libraries to rapidly identify candidate HGT in any genome of interest. Alienness takes as input the result of a BLAST of a whole proteome of interest against any NCBI protein library. The user defines recipient (e.g. metazoan) and donor (e.g. bacteria, fungi) branches of interest in the NCBI taxonomy. Based on the best BLAST E-values of candidate donor and recipient taxa, Alienness calculates an Alien Index (AI) for each query protein. An AI >0 indicates a better hit to candidate donor than recipient taxa and a possible HGT. Higher AI represent higher gap of E-values between candidate donor and recipient and a more likely HGT. We confirmed the accuracy of Alienness on phylogenetically confirmed HGT of non-metazoan origin in plant-parasitic nematodes. Alienness scans whole proteomes to rapidly identify possible HGT in any species of interest and thus fosters exploration of HGT more easily and largely across the tree of life.

Pantoea stewartii subsp. indologenes (Psi) is a causative agent of leafspot of foxtail millet and pearl millet; however, novel strains were recently identified that are pathogenic on onion. Our recent host range evaluation study identified two pathovars; P. stewartii subsp. indologenes pv. cepacicola pv. nov. and P. stewartii subsp. indologenes pv. setariae pv. nov. that are pathogenic on onion and millets or on millets only, respectively. In the current study we developed a pan-genome using the whole genome sequencing of newly identified/classified Psi strains from both pathovars [pv. cepacicola (n= 4) and pv. setariae (n=13)]. The full spectrum of the pan-genome contained 7,030 genes. Among these, 3,546 (present in genomes of all 17 strains) were the core genes that were a subset of 3,682 soft-core genes (present in ≥16 strains). The accessory genome included 1,308 shell genes and 2,040 cloud genes (present in ≤ 2 strains). The pan-genome showed a clear liner progression with >6,000 genes, suggesting the pan-genome of Psi is open. Comparative phylogenetic analysis showed differences in phylogenetic clustering of Pantoea spp. using PAVs/wgMLST approach in comparison to core genome SNP-based phylogeny. Further, we conducted a horizontal gene transfer (HGT) study including four other Pantoea species namely, P. stewartii subsp. stewartii LMG 2715T, P. ananatis LMG 2665T, P. agglomerans LMG L15, and P. allii LMG 24248T. A total of 317 HGT events among four Pantoea species were identified with most gene transfers observed between Psi pv. cepacicola and Psi pv. setariae. Pan-GWAS analysis predicted a total of 154 genes including seven cluster of genes associated with the pathogenicity phenotype on onion. One of the clusters contain 11 genes with known functions and are found to be chromosomally located.

The sand-dust horizontal flux is an important parameter for the study on aeolian sand transport, as well as an important foundation. In this study, a field experiment was developed to measure the data of aeolian transport and microclimate during different dust events with an auto sand sampler, a piezoelectric saltation sensor (H11-Sensit) and a 10 m high meteorological tower in Ta Zhong, the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert from July to August in 2010. Then, the sampling efficiency of auto sand sampler and horizontal dust flux of near surface were analyzed based on observed data. The results were as follows: sand collector skip turnover increased with the increase of the intensity of dust weather frequency increases, the power function relationship y=2.115 x0.9841, R2 = 0.9206, flip frequency per minute increased from 0.2794 times to 1.3041 times, change is obvious; With the strength of the weather, time to flip the average sediment is shrinking. Sandstorm weather, skip to flip a volume of 3.7160 g, grade I flying sand weather flip a volume of 4.0275 g, the amount of class II flying sand weather turns over a 5. 0035g.The horizontal dust flux of different dust events that calculated with the equation Q=256M; the maximum of one dust event was about 190.335 kg, and the minimum was 1.2 kg. Overall, the sand transportation rate increased with wind speed. However, the changes of sand transportation rate did not quite fit in with wind speed during some dust events, and in this case the corresponding surface temperature was significantly higher. The experimental data obtained can provide theoretical basis for regional sand control and enacting effective engineering measures.

The principal minimum horizontal stress plays an important role in the study of reservoir characteristics, modeling of oil and gas reservoir, drilling, production and stimulating wells. However, it is currently not possible to measure the minimum horizontal stress along the wellbore as a geophysical parameter logging. Minimum horizontal stress is measured by leak-off test (LOT) at only several points in a well. In order to have the values all along the wellbore, experimental formulas were established to determine the minimum horizontal stresses for different fields. Then these formulas must be calibrated with LOT data whose number is usually limited, even sometimes unavailable. On the other hand, the empirical formulas of one field might not be accurate for another. This study presents a new approach to solve the problem of minimum horizontal stress estimation by a combination of artificial intelligence and geostatistics. The method consists of using artificial neural network (ANN) to build a model of minimum horizontal stress estimation from relevant parameters such as true vertical depth, pore pressure and vertical stress, then combined with Kriging interpolation to obtain the distribution in space of the minimum horizontal stress. Hence, this method can estimate the minimum horizontal stress with a limited amount of available data and therefore we do not need to drill new wells or to find empirical formulas for each survey area. The method was then applied in a case study involved real geomechanical dataset of Hai Thach - Moc Tinh field in Nam Con Son basin, Vietnam.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest public health challenges we are currently facing. To develop effective interventions against this, it is essential to understand the processes behind the spread of AMR. These are partly dependent on the dynamics of horizontal transfer of resistance genes between bacteria, which can occur by conjugation (direct contact), transformation (uptake from the environment) or transduction (mediated by bacteriophages). Mathematical modelling is a powerful tool to investigate the dynamics of AMR, however its application to study the horizontal transfer of AMR genes is currently unclear. In this systematic review, we searched for mathematical modelling studies which focused on horizontal transfer of AMR genes. We compared their aims and methods using a list of predetermined criteria, and utilized our results to assess the current state of this research field. Of the 43 studies we identified, most focused on the transfer of single genes by conjugation in Escherichia coli in culture, and its impact on the bacterial evolutionary dynamics. Our findings highlight the existence of an important research gap on the dynamics of transformation and transduction, and the overall public health implications of horizontal transfer of AMR genes. To further develop this field and improve our ability to control AMR, it is essential that we clarify the structural complexity required to study the dynamics of horizontal gene transfer, which will require cooperation between microbiologists and modellers.

The problems of formation and propagation of surface seismic waves in vertically layered and horizontally inhomogeneous media are studied. A mathematical model has been developed for the propagation of surface seismic waves in an inhomogeneous medium based on the use of the fundamental principles of wave dynamics and Fourier transforms. The existence of various types of groups of these waves is proved, and their main properties are studied. It has been established that the reflection coefficients of different groups of a dispersive wave on models of half-spaces (a layered, inhomogeneous medium) with a sharp velocity differentiation are characterized by the same dependence on the angle of incidence as in the absence of dispersion. In the region of the critical angle, which depends on the period of the incident wave, a local decrease in the intensity of wave reflection is observed, which is associated with the origin of the head dispersive wave. It has been found that the reflection coefficients of Rayleigh waves from low-velocity layers, thin (d / λ2 = 0.205) and thick (d / λ2 = 0.82) are approximately 0.2 ± 0.04 and practically do not change with increasing angle of incidence. On the basis of theoretical studies, it was revealed that reflected surface waves carry information both about the elastic properties of the reflecting medium and about the dimensions of the reflecting horizontal inhomogeneity. An experimental dispersion curve of the group velocity of Rayleigh waves on the Central Asia-Caucasus path has been obtained. The seismic stress state of the "subgrade-base" system was studied. Based on the analysis of the results of numerical experiments, it has been established that in order to obtain a complete picture of the seismically stressed state of the subgrade, it is necessary to take into account the contribution to it of each component of the accelerogram of a real earthquake.

At container terminals, many cargo handling processes are interconnected and take place in parallel. Within short time windows, many operational decisions need to be taken considering both time and equipment efficiency. During operation, many sources for disturbance exist. These are the reason why perfectly coordinated processes are possibly unraveled. An approach that considers disturbance factors while optimizing a given objective is simulation-based optimization. This study analyses simulation-based optimization as a procedure to simultaneously scale the number of utilized equipment and to adjust the choice and tuning of operational policies. The four meta-heuristics Tree-structured Parzen Estimator, Bayesian Optimization, Simulated Annealing, and Random Search guide the simulation-based optimization process. The results show that simulation-based optimization is suitable to identify the amount of required equipment and well-performing policies. Thereby, there is no clear ranking which of the meta-heuristics finds the best approximation of the optimum. The approximated optima suggest that pooling terminal trucks as well as a yard block assignment close to the quay crane is preferable. With an increasing number of quay cranes, the number of optimal terminal trucks for each quay crane decreases as well as the range of truck utilization within one experiment.

Genes coding for enzymes of the denitrification pathway appear randomly distributed among isolates of the ancestral genus Thermus, but only in few strains of the species T. thermophilus the pathway has been studied to a certain detail. Here, we review the enzymes involved in this pathway present in T. thermophilus NAR1, a strain extensively employed as a model for nitrate respiration, on the light of its full sequence recently assembled through a combination of PacBio and Illumina technologies in order to counteract the systematic errors introduced by the former technique. The genome of this strain is divided in four replicons, a chromosome of 2,021,843 pb, two megaplasmids of 370,865 and 77,135 bp and a small plasmid of 9,799 pb. Nitrate respiration is encoded in the largest megaplasmid, pTTHNP4, within a region that includes operons for O2 and nitrate sensory systems, a nitrate reductase, nitrate and nitrite transporters and a nitrate specific NADH dehydrogenase, in addition to multiple insertion sequences (IS), suggesting its mobility-prone nature. Despite nitrite is the final product of nitrate respiration in this strain, the megaplasmid encodes two putative nitrite reductases of the cd1 and Cu-containing types, apparently inactivated by IS. No nitric oxide reductase genes have been found within this region, although the NorR sensory gene, needed for its expression, is found near the inactive nitrite respiration system. These data clearly support that partial denitrification in this strain is the consequence of recent deletions and IS insertions in genes involved in nitrite respiration. Based on these data, the capability of this strain to transfer or acquire denitrification clusters by horizontal gene transfer is discussed.

Energy dissipation is one of the most important factors in choosing stepped spillways. However, few studies are about energy dissipation with different horizontal face angles. In this paper, the realizable k-ε turbulence model was used to study the flow field and energy dissipation rates of different stepped spillways with five horizontal face angles in the skimming flow regions. It shows that the free water surfaces and energy dissipation rates change with horizontal face angles and the energy dissipation rates initially decrease and then increase as the horizontal face angle increases. And the horizontal face angles cause the great changes of flow field.

We monitored the water quality and hydrological conditions of a horizontal subsurface constructed wetland (HSSF-CW) in Beijing, China, for 2 years. We simulated the area rate constant and the temperature coefficient with the first-order kinetic model. We examined the relationships between the nitrogen (N) removal rate, N load, seasonal variations in the N removal rate, and environmental factors, such as the area rate constant, temperature, and dissolved oxygen (DO). The effluent ammonia (NH₄⁺-N) and nitrate (NO₃⁻-N) concentrations were significantly lower than the influent concentrations (p<0.01, n=38). The NO₃⁻-N load was significantly correlated with the removal rate (R²=0.9566, p<0.01), but the NH^₄+-N load was not correlated with the removal rate (R²=0.0187, p>0.01). The area rate constants of NO₃⁻-N and NH₄⁺-N at 20 °C were 27.01±26.49 and 16.63±10.58 m∙yr⁻¹, respectively. The temperature coefficients for NO₃⁻-N and NH₄⁺-N were estimated at 1.0042 and 0.9604, respectively. The area rate constants for NO₃⁻-N and NH₄⁺-N were not correlated with temperature (p>0.01). The NO₃⁻-N area rate constant was correlated with the corresponding load (R²=0.9625, p<0.01). The NH₄⁺-N area rate was correlated with DO (R²=0.6922, p<0.01), suggesting that the factors that influenced the N removal rate in this wetland met Liebig's law of the minimum.

Gravel packing completion method for horizontal wells has the advantages of maintaining high oil production for a long time, maintaining wellbore stability and preventing sand production, so it has become the preferred completion method for horizontal wells. At present, this technology still faces the problems of high sand bed height and poor gravel migration. In order to improve the efficiency of gravel packing in horizontal wells, pulsed gravel packing technology for horizontal wells is proposed for the first time. Based on the mechanism of hydraulic pulse, the Eularian model, RNG K-ε model and CFD model are used to simulate the solid-liquid two-phase flow. By optimizing the parameters such as frequency and amplitude of pulse waveform, the optimal pulse waveform of pulsed gravel packing in horizontal wells is determined. The effects of parameters such as sand-carrying fluid displacement, sand-carrying fluid viscosity, sand-carrying ratio, gravel particle size and string eccentricity on pulsed gravel packing in horizontal wells are studied, and the distribution law of gravel migration velocity and volume fraction in horizontal wells is obtained. According to the results, it can be seen that with the increase of displacement and viscosity of carrier fluid, the volume fraction of fixed bed and moving bed decreases gradually, while that of suspension bed increases gradually. With the increase of sand-carrying ratio, gravel particle size and string eccentricity, the volume fraction of fixed bed and moving bed increases gradually, while that of suspended bed decreases gradually. Comparing the effects of conventional gravel packing and pulsed gravel packing in horizontal wells, it can be concluded that the efficiency of pulsed gravel packing in horizontal wells is higher. The volume fraction of fixed bed and moving bed decreased by 30% and 40% respectively, while the volume fraction of suspended bed increased by 20%. The migration velocity of moving bed and suspended bed increased by 40% and 25% respectively. And the migration ability of gravel improved obviously.

In this study, the thermal behavior of a PCM-based heat sink in the presence of horizontal fins was numerically investigated. These types of heat sink can be effective in electronic cooling applications. Independent variables included aspect ratio (AR), number of horizontal fins (n) and their length (LR), while the objective function was defined to maximize the safe operation time (tmax). The incorporation of horizontal fins has a positive effect (thermal conductivity enhancement) as well as a negative effect (latent heat reduction). Based on the results, the optimal number of horizontal fins was five. As the number of fins rises up to five, the incremental effect of thermal conductivity improvement (positive effect) was superior to the decremental effect of the latent heat reduction (negative effect), hence the objective function (tmax) improved. However, with a further increase in the number of fins upon five, the negative effect prevailed over the positive effect and therefore the safe operation time diminished.

As the structure of horizontal gas wells is more complicated than that of vertical wells, the form of the liquid-carrying in different sections does not well agree. This makes it problematic to apply the widely used liquid-carrying theory of vertical gas wells in horizontal gas wells. Since the theory focused on the critical gas flow rate, it cannot quantify how much liquid it can remove. Simultaneously, it ignores the fact that the liquid-carrying ability of gas flow is limited and the producing liquid has a certain amount of flowing energy. In this study, the gas-liquid flow law of horizontal gas wells and wellhead drainage stability in different tubing depths were firstly studied. Then, the stability of gas drainage for different tubing depths was analyzed and confirmed. Given the disadvantages of the typical theory of critical gas flow, the mathematical model of different tubing depths for gas drainage is established for horizontal gas wells. The innovative model could take the energy of gas flow and liquid flow into account, and quantify the liquid volume which was removed. By verifying the model with the experiments, the result showed that the relative error of the model is generally less than 10%. It shows the research could provide a scientific basis for the analysis and liquid-carrying capacity for horizontal gas wells.

Members of the Fusarium oxysporum species complex (FOSC) has the capacity to specialize into host-specific pathogens known as formae speciales through horizontal gene transfer between pathogenic and endophytic individuals. To this day, the origin of these formae speciales and the genetic determinants dictating the switch from endophytic to pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum (Fox) are still unknown. F. oxysporum f. sp. vanillae (Fov), member of FOSC, is the causal agent of root and stem rot disease, representing the main phytosanitary problem in vanilla plantations worldwide. Here we analyzed the RNA-seq libraries resulting from the interaction vanilla-Fov at early and late stages of the infection, and what we initially identified as control in a previous study, detecting the presence of Fox endophytes. We identified virulence, hypervirulence, sporulation, conidiation, necrosis, and production of fusaric acid as key processes taking place during Fov-vanilla interaction. Through comparison with endophytic Fox, we found that Fov can infect vanilla thanks to the presence of pathogenicity islands and genomic regions associated with supernumerary chromosomes. These play a central role as carriers of genes involved with pathogenic activity and could have being obtained by Fov through horizontal gene transfer. We also found that, unlike other pathogenic members of FOSC, Fov do not use Secreted in Xylem proteins (SIX) to infect vanilla.

A modified free-wake vortex ring model is proposed to compute the dynamics of a floating horizontal-axis wind turbine. The model is divided into two parts. The near wake model uses a blade bound vortex model and trailed vortex model, which is developed based on vortex filament method. By contrast, the far wake model is based on the vortex ring method. The proposed model is a good compromise between accuracy and computational cost, for example when compared with more complex vortex methods. The present model is used to assess the influence of floating platform motions on the performance of a horizontal-axis wind turbine rotor. The results are validated on the 5MW NREL rotor and compared with other aerodynamic models for the same rotor subjected to different platform motions. It was found that the results from the proposed method are more reliable than the results from BEM theory especially at small angles of attack in the region of low wind speeds, on the one hand, and high wind speeds with blade pitch motions, on the other hand. And also the proposed method is less time consuming and has similar accuracy when comparing with more advanced vortex based methods.

Lead (Pb) is a toxic environmental heavy metal that induces serious clinical defect on all organs with the nervous system being the primary target. Curcumin is the main active constituent of turmeric rhizome (Curcuma longa) with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This study is aimed at evaluating the therapeutic potentials of curcumin on Pb-induced neurotoxicity. Thirty six male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned into five (5) groups with 12 rats in the control (normal saline) and 6 rats for the lead treated group (LTG) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for 4 weeks), recovery group (RC) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for 4 weeks), treatment group 1 (Cur100) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for 4 weeks, followed by 100 mg/kg curcumin for 4 weeks) and treatment group 2 (Cur200) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for 4 weeks, followed by 200 mg/kg curcumin for 4 weeks) groups each. All experimental groups received the oral treatments through orogastric-tube on alternate days. Motor function was assessed using horizontal bar method while Pb concentration in the cerebellum of the rats were evaluated using ICP-MS techniques. Pb-administered rats showed significant decrease in motor scores, SOD activity with increase MDA levels and Pb concentration in their cerebellum with marked alterations in the histological architecture of the cerebellar cortex layers. However, treatment with curcumin improved the motor score, reduced Pb concentration in the cerebellum and ameliorates the markers of oxidative stress as well as restored the histological architecture of the cerebellum. The results this in study suggested that curcumin attenuates Pb-induced neurotoxicity via inhibition of oxidative stress and chelating activity.

Lead (Pb) is a toxic environmental heavy metal that induces serious clinical defect on all organs with the nervous system being the primary target. Curcumin is the main active constituent of turmeric rhizome (Curcuma longa) with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This study is aimed at evaluating the therapeutic potentials of curcumin on Pb-induced neurotoxicity. Thirty six male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned into five (5) groups with 12 rats in the control (normal saline) and 6 rats for the lead treated group (LTG) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for 4 weeks), recovery group (RC) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for 4 weeks), treatment group 1 (Cur100) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for 4 weeks, followed by 100 mg/kg curcumin for 4 weeks) and treatment group 2 (Cur200) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for 4 weeks, followed by 200 mg/kg curcumin for 4 weeks) groups each. All experimental groups received the oral treatments through orogastric-tube on alternate days. Motor function was assessed using horizontal bar method while Pb concentration in the cerebellum of the rats were evaluated using ICP-MS techniques. Pb-administered rats showed significant decrease in motor scores, SOD activity with increase MDA levels and Pb concentration in their cerebellum with marked alterations in the histological architecture of the cerebellar cortex layers. However, treatment with curcumin improved the motor score, reduced Pb concentration in the cerebellum and ameliorates the markers of oxidative stress as well as restored the histological architecture of the cerebellum. The results this in study suggested that curcumin attenuates Pb-induced neurotoxicity via inhibition of oxidative stress and chelating activity.

Inteins, often referred to as protein introns, are highly mobile genetic elements that invade conserved genes throughout the tree of life. Inteins have been found to invade a wide variety of key genes within actinophages. While in the process of conducting a survey of these inteins in actinophages we discovered that one protein family of methylases contained a putative intein, and two other unique insertion elements. These methylases are known to occur commonly in phages as orphan methylases (possibly as a form of resistance to restriction-modification systems). We found that the methylase family is not conserved within phage clusters and has a disparate distribution across divergent phage groups. We determined that two of the three insertion elements have a patchy distribution within the methylase protein family. We also found that the third insertion element is likely a second homing endonuclease, and that all three elements (the intein, the homing endonuclease, and what we refer to as the ShiLan domain) all have different insertion sites that are conserved in the methylase gene family. Furthermore, we find strong evidence that both the intein and ShiLan domain are partaking in long distance horizontal gene transfer events between divergent methylases in disparate phage hosts within the already dispersed methylase distribution. The reticulate evolutionary history of methylases and their insertion elements reveals high rates of gene transfer and within-gene recombination in actinophages.

This study analyses some of the leading technologies for the construction and configuration of IT infrastructures to provide services to users. For modern applications, guaranteeing service continuity even in very high computational load or network problems is essential. Our configuration has among the main objectives of being highly available (HA) and horizontally scalable, that is, able to increase the computational resources that can be delivered when needed and reduce them when they are no longer necessary. Various architectural possibilities are analysed, and the central schemes used to tackle problems of this type are also described in terms of disaster recovery. The benefits offered by virtualisation technologies are highlighted and are bought with modern techniques for managing Docker containers that will be used to build the back-end of a sample infrastructure related to a use-case we have developed. In addition to this, an in-depth analysis is reported on the central autoscaling policies that can help manage high loads of requests from users to the services provided by the infrastructure. The results we have presented show an average response time of 21.7 milliseconds with a standard deviation of 76.3 milliseconds showing excellent responsiveness. Some peaks are associated with high-stress events for the infrastructure, but the response time does not exceed 2 seconds even in this case. The results of the considered use case studied for nine months are presented and discussed. In the study period, we improved the back-end configuration and defined the main metrics to deploy the web application efficiently.

Recent state-of-the-art scene text recognition methods have primarily focused on horizontal text in images. However, in several Asian countries, including China, large amounts of text in signs, books, and TV commercials are vertically directed. Because the horizontal and vertical texts exhibit different characteristics, developing an algorithm that can simultaneously recognize both types of text in real environments is necessary. To address this problem, we adopted the direction encoding mask (DEM) and selective attention network (SAN) methods based on supervised learning. DEM contains directional information to compensate in cases that lack text direction; therefore, our network is trained using this information to handle the vertical text. The SAN method is designed to work individually for both types of text. To train the network to recognize both types of text and to evaluate the effectiveness of the designed model, we prepared a new synthetic vertical text dataset and collected an actual vertical text dataset (VTD142) from the Web. Using these datasets, we proved that our proposed model can accurately recognize both vertical and horizontal text and can achieve state-of-the-art results in experiments using benchmark datasets, including the street view test (SVT), IIIT-5k, and ICDAR. Although our model is relatively simple as compared to its predecessors, it maintains the accuracy and is trained in an end-to-end manner.

Hymenoscyphus albidus is a native fungus in Europe where it behaves as a harmless decomposer of leaves of common ash. Its close relative Hymenoscyphus fraxineus was introduced into Europe from Asia and currently threatens ash (Fraxinus sp.) stands all across the continent causing ash dieback. H. fraxineus isolates from Europe were previously shown to harbor a mycovirus named Hymenoscyphus fraxineus Mitovirus 1 (HfMV1). In the present study, we describe a conspecific mycovirus that we detected in H. albidus. HfMV1 was consistently identified in H. albidus isolates (mean prevalence: 49.3%) which were collected in the sampling areas before the arrival of ash dieback. HfMV1 strains in both fungal hosts contain a single ORF of identical length (717 AA) for which a mean pairwise identity of 94.5% was revealed. The occurrence of a conspecific mitovirus in H. albidus and H. fraxineus is most likely the result of parallel virus evolution in the two fungal hosts. HfMV1 sequences from H. albidus showed a higher nucleotide diversity and a higher number of mutations compared to those from H. fraxineus, probably due to a bottleneck caused by the introduction of H. fraxineus in Europe. Our data also points to multiple interspecific virus transfers from H. albidus to H. fraxineus, which could have contributed to the intraspecific virus diversity found in H. fraxineus.

Efficient use of agricultural wastes and by-products, basically transforming waste materials into value added products, is considered as pivotal for an effective bioeconomy strategy for the rural development. To this scope, citrus waste management represents a major issue for citrus processors but, at the same time, it embodies a potentially unexploited resource for the rural sustainable development. This study focuses on analyzing the current management of citrus waste in South Italy and identifying the determinants and barriers that may affect an entrepreneur’s choice on the destination of citrus waste. Citrus processors’ preferences about the contract characteristics needed to take part in a co-investment scheme have been investigated. Both analyses are preliminary steps to design an innovative and sustainable citrus by-product supply chain. Results show that the distance between the citrus processors and the citrus by-products plant is one of the main criteria for choosing alternative valorization pathways. Moreover, the required guaranteed capital, the short duration of the contract, and low risk are contract scheme characteristics that improve entrepreneurs’ willingness to co-invest in the development of a citrus waste multifunctional plant.

Access to reliable, clean, modern cooking enhances life chances. One option is photovoltaic cooking systems. Accurate solar data is needed to ascertain to what extent these can satisfy the needs of local people. This paper investigates how to choose the most accurate satellite derived solar irradiance database for use in Africa. This is necessary because there is a general shortage of ground measurements for Africa. The solar data is needed to model the output of solar cooking systems, for instance, a solar panel, battery and electric pressure cooker. Four easily accessible satellite databases are validated against ground measurements using a range of statistical tests. Results demonstrate the impact of the mathematical measure used and the phenomenon of balancing errors. Fitting of the satellite model to appropriate climate zone and/or nearby measurements improves accuracy, as does higher spatial and temporal resolution of input parameters. That said, all the four databases reviewed were found to be suitable for simulating PV yield in East Africa.

A high-voltage transmission tower consists of structures to avoid the risk of electric shock and to prevent the risk of collapse. Hence, towers are generally designed to be high-rise for efficiency. The main posts of the tower are primary structural members that resist loads under various load conditions. Therefore, the contribution of the secondary member to securing the stiffness and strength of the main posts by reducing the effective buckling length is important. However, there are no detailed design criteria for secondary members. In this study, the structural effects of horizontal members and braces on the torsional stiffness, elastic buckling strength, and load-carrying capacity of transmission towers were observed through various structural analysis methods including linear-elastic, eigenvalue, and geometric nonlinear and inelastic analyses under governing load combinations. According to the analytical study, rather than the horizontal members, the brace spacing significantly affects the structural performance. Therefore, the number of horizontal members can be minimized if sufficient brace members are erected. If the brace spacing is wide, it is recommended that the horizontal members be erected to create K bracing, and the buckling resistance of the main posts can be thus enhanced.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) manages an in-situ solar irradiance radiometric network of 13 stations and a very dense sunshine recording network; located in all six macro-climate zones of South Africa. A sparsely distributed radiometric network and over a landscape with dynamic climate and weather shifts is inadequate for solar energy studies and applications. Therefore, there is a need to develop mathematical models to estimate solar irradiation for a multitude of diverse climates. In this study, the annual regression coefficients, a and b, of the Ångström-Prescott (AP) model that can be used to estimate global horizontal irradiance from observed sunshine hours were calibrated and validated with observed station data. The AP regression coefficients were calibrated and validated for each of the six macro-climate zones of South Africa using the observation data that spans 2013 to 2019. The predictive effectiveness of the calibrated AP model coefficients was evaluated by comparing estimated and observed daily global horizontal irradiance. The maximum annual relative Mean Bias Error (rMBE) was 0.371 %, relative Mean Absolute Error (rMAE) was 0.745 %, relative Root Mean Square Error (rRMSE) was 0.910 % and the worst-case correlation coefficient (R2) was 0.910. The statistical validation metrics results show that there is a strong correlation and linear relation between observed and estimated solar radiation values. The AP model coefficients calculated in this study can be used with quantitative confidence in estimating daily GHI data at locations in South Africa where the daily observation sunshine duration data is available.

Shale gas reservoirs (SGR) are important replacements for conventional energy resources and have been widely exploited by hydraulic fracturing technologies. On the one hand, due to the inherent ultra-low permeability and porosity, there is stress sensitivity in the reservoirs generally. On the other hand, hydraulic fractures and the stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) generated by the massive hydraulic fracturing operation have contrast properties with the original reservoirs. These two phenomena bring huge challenges in SGR transient pressure analysis. Although some works in the literatures have been done on the transient pressure analysis of multi-fractured horizontal wells in SGR, unfortunately, none of them has taken the stress sensitivity and spatially varying permeability of SRV zone into consideration simultaneously. To fill this gap, this paper first idealizes the SGR to be four linear composite regions. What’s more, SRV zone is further divided into sub-sections on the basis of non-uniform distribution of proppant within SRV zone which easily yields spatially varying permeability away from the main hydraulic fracture. The stress sensitivity is characterized by the varying permeability depended on the pore pressure. By means of perturbation transformation and Laplace transformation, an analytical multi-linear flow model (MLFM) is obtained and validated by the comparison with the previous model. On the basis of our model, the flow regimes are identified and the sensitivity analysis of critical parameters are conducted to further understand the transient pressure behaviors. The research results provided by this work are of significance for well test interpretation and production performance analysis of SGR.

The processing of woody biomass waste piles for use as fuel instead of burning them was investigated. At each landing slash pile location, a 132 kW grapple excavator was used to transfer the waste piles into a 522 kW horizontal grinder. Economies of scale could be expected when grinding a larger pile, although the efficiency of the loading operation might be diminished. Here, three piles were ground and the operations were time-studied: Small (20 m long × 15 m wide × 4 m high), Medium (30 × 24 × 4 m), and Large (35 × 30 × 4 m) piles. Grinding the Medium pile was found to be the most productive at 30.65 bone dry tons per productive machine hour without delay (BDT/PMH₀), thereby suggesting that there might be an optimum size of slash pile for a grinding operation. We also examined modeling of the excavator and grinder operations, and we observed that the constructed simulation model well-replicated the actual operations. Based on the modeling, we estimated that the productivity of grinding at a landing area of 710 m² of slash pile location was 31.24 BDT/PMH₀, which was the most productive rate.

Tidal stream energy is a low carbon energy source. Tidal stream turbines operate in a turbulent environment, and the effect of the structure between the turbine and seabed on this environment is not fully understood. An experimental study using 1:72 scale models based on a commercial turbine design was carried out to study the support structure influence on turbulence intensity around turbine blades. The study was conducted using the wave-current tank at LABIMA, University of Florence. A realistic flow environment (ambient turbulent intensity = 11%) was established. Turbulence intensity was measured upstream and downstream of a turbine mounted on two different support structures (one resembling a commercial design, the other the same with an additional vertical element), in order to quantify any variation in turbulence and performance between the support structures. Turbine drive power was used to calculate power generation. Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry was used to record and calculate upstream and downstream turbulence intensity. In otherwise identical conditions, performance variation of only 4% was observed between two support structures. Turbulent intensity at 1, 3 and 5 blade diameters, both upstream and downstream, showed variation up to 21% between the two cases. The additional turbulent structures generated by the additional element of the second support structure appears to cause this effect, and the upstream propagation of turbulent intensity is believed to be permitted by surface waves. This result is significant for the prediction of turbine array performance.

Cephalopod fishing in Brazil has been on the rise as a result of the growing demand for high quality food. Therefore, for the sustainable exploitation of this resource, adequate evaluation and scientifically supported management strategies are necessary. Notably, the squid which belongs to the family Loliginidae are fishery resources of increasing importance in the marine ecosystem of the Continental Shelf Southeast and South of Brazil. However, information about stock status, knowledge of life history, ecology and the distribution of the early stages of its life cycle is still very insufficient. The present review analyzed more than 100 scientific articles, related to the history of life and ecology, the identification of the occurrence of cephalopods of the Loliginidae family in the region between Cabo de São Tomé (RJ) and Cananeia (SP), the patterns of family distribution to oceanographic processes that were identified from horizontal and vertical maps of abundance, temperature and salinity in plankton sampling collected by 11 oceanographic cruises conducted by the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (USP) and published in 2013. Respectively, Generalized Linear Models (GLM) were used to detect the factors that would explain the occurrence and abundance of Loliginidae, which indicated the depth and sea surface temperature (SST), height of the sea surface (HSS), salinity of the sea surface (SSS), chlorophyll-a concentration Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and plankton density (PD). Also, a Redundancy Analysis (RDA) revealed the main distribution patterns observed for the three main species of Loliginidae in relation to the oceanographic variables. Doryteuthis sanpaulensis predominated in the northern region of the sampling area, associated with cold waters and resurgence events. Doryteuthis pleii occurred mainly in the southern region of the study area in warmer waters. Lolliguncul brevis was found only in the estuarine region of Santos, i.e in the shallow and less saline waters. The results obtained represents a relevant contribution to sustainable management for the exploitation of these resources and also contributes to the knowledge about squid fishing oceanography in the regional marine ecosystem.

Abstract: Coal bed methane (CBM) reservoirs are complex systems whose properties differ from those of conventional reservoirs. Coal seams are dual-porosity systems that comprise the porosities of the matrix and cleat system. Gas in the coal seams can be stored as free gas in the cleat system and as adsorbed gas in the porous medium. The flow mechanisms of the natural gas through the formation include desorption, diffusion, and Darcy’s flow regimes. The permeability of CBM reservoirs is more sensitive to pressure variations than conventional gas reservoirs. To study the flow behavior of CBM reservoirs it is mandatory to use a model that considers their unique characteristics. The objective of this study was to propose a physical and mathematical model of production performance for horizontal wells in CBM reservoirs whose permeability is dependent on pressure. A solution for the model was obtained by applying Pedrosa´s transformation, perturbation theory, Laplace transformation, the point source method, and Sthefest´s algorithm. The solution to this problem was validated with previous work thoroughly. The type curves of the model were built and the pressure transient behavior of the model was analyzed and discussed. The effects of several parameters on pressure behavior were also discussed.

Bacterial conjugation, also referred to as bacterial sex, is a major horizontal gene transfer mechanism where the DNA is transferred from a donor to a recipient bacterium by direct contact. Conjugation is universally conserved among bacteria and occurs in a wide range of environments (soil, plant surfaces, water, sewage, biofilms and host-associated bacterial communities). Within these habitats, conjugation drives the rapid evolution and adaptation of bacterial strains by mediating the propagation of various metabolic properties, including symbiotic life-style, virulence, biofilm formation, or resistance to heavy metals and, most importantly, resistance to antibiotics. These properties make of conjugation a fundamentally important process at the center of extensive study. Here, we review the key steps of conjugation by following the life-cycle of the F plasmid during transfer from the donor to the recipient cell. We also discuss our current knowledge of the extent and impact of conjugation within an environmentally and clinically relevant bacterial habitat, bacterial biofilms.

In the steeply inclined and extremely thick coal seams (SIETCS) mined using the horizontal sublevel top-coal caving (HSTCC) method, the uncertainty of gas emission is a safety threat to the mining operations. In order to reduce the occurrence of accidents, the determination of gas emission is crucial. In this paper, we first proposed a prediction model for workers at the floor coalbed to calculate gas emission on site. We then put forward a finite element numerical simulation for researchers to predict gas emission from the floor coalbed. At last, we measured gas emitted from the floor coalbed of SIETCS in Wudong Coal Mine in a specific mining period and used the data to verify the applicability and accuracy of these two gas-emission prediction methods. The results showed that the gas emission from Wudong Coal Mine was 1.08 m³/min calculated based on the prediction model and 1.07 m³/min obtained using the user-defined integration method. Both methods have their own advantages, disadvantages and applicable objects, and are important in predicting gas emission from SIETCS mined using HSTCC method.

Here, I introduce a concept called autonomous selection to refer to a source of selection that is part of the individuals upon which it acts. The concept is motivated by a set of phenomena with the following characteristics: Natural selection shaped a variant (e.g., gene, epigenetic mark, or combination thereof) to act in a manner that reduces the frequency of one or more heritable traits of the individual in which it is located if those traits are detrimental to individual or group fitness. Phenomena with these characteristics are peculiar to traditional evolutionary theory but have been identified rather frequently in recent decades. They are also relevant to adaptive evolution: By reducing the frequency of a trait detrimental to fitness, the variant accelerates the evolution of adaptations, which allows its holders to adapt better to constantly changing environments. The variant is shaped by (natural) selection, but also does (autonomous) selection. Several phenomena with these characteristics have been invoked by proponents of the extended evolutionary synthesis (EES). The concept of autonomous selection helps resolve some of the controversy surrounding the EES: EES proponents call attention to the incompleteness of contemporary theory, emphasizing individuals’ processes that influence which adaptations those individuals evolve. I argue for the special importance of individuals’ processes that do not just influence those individuals’ adaptations, but also accelerate the adaptive evolution of those individuals. All known phenomena that fit this description are examples of autonomous selection. Other phenomena raised by EES proponents do not meet this threshold.

Mutual survival among different species of living organisms is quite common in our living world. That mutual survival can produce symbiotic or parasitic relationship among different living organisms. But at the same time, some relationships are harmful to the living organisms creating pathogenic relationships. Why some mutual survivals are beneficial, whereas some relationships are harmful creating different diseases in the living world? That harmful or pathological relationship producing different diseases in both the animal and plant kingdom has been extensively studied by the scientific community several times under the heading of ‘Host-pathogen interaction’ and ‘Disease pathogenesis’. But it is still not clear why some mutual survivals are beneficial or non-harmful, whereas some co-survivals are harmful producing different disease conditions in the living world mainly due to different immune mediated reactions or direct toxic effect of substances produced by an organism. To find the answer to this question, we have to search retrospectively to the evolutionary pattern of our diverse living world. If it is assumed that we have originated from Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) by different cumulative mutations, horizontal gene transfer, mobile genetic elements (MGE), transposition and natural selection, then it would be quite pragmatic to consider that two things were moving side by side in our ancient living world. On one hand it’s purpose was to create the diversification of both unicellular and multi-cellular living world and on the other hand it’s another purpose was to maintain the specific identity of the living organisms. It is the second purpose or the maintenance of specific identity that ultimately led to the development of Immune system.

The Fusarium fujikuroi species complex (FFSC) includes socioeconomically important pathogens that cause disease and/or mycotoxin contamination on numerous crops. Here, we used comparative genomics to elucidate processes underlying the ability of pine-associated and grass-associated FFSC species to colonize tissues of their respective plant hosts. We characterized the identity, possible functions, evolutionary origins, and chromosomal positions of the host-range-associated genes encoded by the two groups of fungi. The 72 and 47 genes identified as unique to the respective genome groups were potentially involved in diverse processes, ranging from transcription, regulation, and substrate transport, through to virulence/pathogenicity. Most emerged early during the evolution of Fusarium/FFSC and were subsequently retained only in some lineages, while some had origins outside Fusarium. Although differences in the densities of these genes were especially noticeable on the conditionally dispensable chromosome of F. temperatum (representing the grass-associates) and F. circinatum (representing the pine-associates), the host-range-associated genes tended to be located towards the subtelomeric regions of chromosomes. Taken together, these results demonstrate that multiple mechanisms drive the emergence of genes in grass- and pine-associated FFSC taxa examined and highlighted the diversity of molecular processes potentially underlying niche-specificity in these and other Fusarium species.

Plant-parasitic nematodes cause expressive annual yield losses to worldwide agricultural production. Most cultivated plants have no known resistance against nematodes and the few bearing a resistance gene can be overcome by certain species. The chemical methods that have been deployed to control nematodes were largely banned from use due to their poor specificity and high toxicity. Hence, there is an urgent need for the development of cleaner and more specific control methods. Recent advances in nematode genomics, including in phytoparasitic species, provide an unprecedented opportunity to identify genes and functions specific to these pests. Using phylogenomics, we compared 61 nematode genomes, including 16 for plant-parasitic species and identified more than 24,000 protein families specific to these parasites. In the genome of Meloidogyne incognita, one of the most devastating plant parasites, we found ca. 10,000 proteins with orthologs restricted only to phytoparasitic species and no further homology in protein databases. Among these phytoparasites-specific proteins, ca. 1,000 shared the same properties as known secreted effectors involved in essential parasitic functions. Of those, 68 were novel and showed strong expression during the endophytic phase of the nematode life cycle, based on both RNA-seq and RT-qPCR analyses. Besides effector candidates, transcription-related and neuro-perception functions were enriched in phytoparasites-specific proteins, revealing interesting targets for nematode control methods. This phylogenomics analysis, constitutes an unprecedented resource for the further understanding of the genetic basis of nematode adaptation to phytoparasitism and for the development of more efficient control methods.

Distinctive strains of Pantoea are used as soil inoculants for their ability to promote plant growth. Pantoea agglomerans strain C1, previously isolated from the phyllosphere of lettuce, can produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), solubilize phosphate, and inhibit plant pathogens, such as Erwinia amylovora. In this paper, the complete genome sequence of strain C1 is reported. In addition, experimental evidence is provided on how the strain tolerates arseniate up to 100 mM, and on how secreted metabolites like IAA and siderophores act as biostimulants in tomato cuttings. The strain has a circular chromosome and two prophages for a total genome of 4,846,925-bp, with a GC content of 55.2%. Genes related to plant growth promotion and biocontrol activity, such as those associated with IAA and spermidine synthesis, solubilization of inorganic phosphate, acquisition of ferrous iron, and production of volatile organic compounds, siderophores and GABA, were found in the genome of strain C1. Genome analysis also provided better understanding of the mechanisms underlying strain resistance to multiple toxic heavy metals and transmission of these genes by horizontal gene transfer. Findings suggested that strain C1 exhibits high biotechnological potential as plant growth-promoting bacterium in heavy metal polluted soils.

Crash prediction of the sharp horizontal curve segment (SHCS) of a freeway is an important tool in analyzing safety of SHCSs and in building a crash prediction model (CPM). The design and crash report data of 88 SHCSs from different institutions were surveyed and three negative binomial (NB) regression models and three generalized negative binomial (GNB) regression models were built to prove that the interactive influence of explanatory variables plays an important role in fitting goodness. The study demonstrates the effective use of the GNB model in analyzing the interactive influence of explanatory variables and in predicting freeway basic segments. Traffic volume, highway horizontal radius, and curve length have been formulated as explanatory variables. Subsequently, we performed statistical analysis to determine the model parameters and conducted sensitivity analysis. Among the six models, the result of model 6, which considered interactive influence, is much better than those of the other models by fitting rules. We also compared the actual results from crashes of 88 SHCSs with those predicted by models 1, 3, and 6. Results demonstrate that model 6 is much more reasonable than models 1 and 3.

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the most crowded city and economic hub of Viet Nam, has been experiencing land subsidence over the past decades. This effort aims to contribute the spatial distribution of subsidence in HCMC in its horizontal and vertical components using synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) time series. To this purpose, an advanced Persistent Scatterers and Distributed Scatterers (PSDS) InSAR technique was applied to two European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-1 datasets consisting of 96 ascending and 202 descending images, acquired from 2014 to 2020 over the HCMC area. A time series of 33 COSMO-SkyMed ascending images was also used for comparison. The combination of ascending and descending satellite passes is used to decompose the light of sight velocities into horizontal east-west and vertical components. Taking into account the presence of east-west horizontal motion, our findings indicate that the accuracy of the decomposed vertical velocity can be improved by up to 3 mm/year for Sentinel-1 data. The obtained results revealed that subsidence is most pronounced in the areas along the Sai Gon River, in the northwest-southeast axis, and in the southwest of the city, with a maximum value of 80 mm/yr, which is in accordance with the findings of the literature. The amplitude of east-west horizontal velocities is relatively small and large-scale eastward movement can be observed in the west of the city at a rate of 3-5 mm/yr. This confirmed that the displacement in Ho Chi Minh City area is mainly vertical downward. Together, these results reinforced the remarkable suitability of ESA's SAR Sentinel-1 for subsidence applications, even for non-European countries such as Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste can be disposed in deep horizontal drillholes in sedimentary, metamorphic, or igneous rocks. Horizontal drillhole disposal has safety, operational, and economic benefits: The repository is deep in the brine-saturated zone far below aquifers in a reducing environment of formations that can be shown to have been isolated from the surface for millions of years; its depth provides safety against inadvertent intrusion, earth¬quakes, and near-surface perturbations; it can be placed close to the reactors and interim storage facilities, minimizing transportation; disposal costs per ton of waste can be kept substantially lower than for mined repositories by its smaller size, reduced infrastructure needs, and staged imple¬mentation; and, if desired, the waste could be retrieved using “fishing” technology. In the proposed disposal concept, corrosion-resistant canisters containing unmodified fuel assemblies from commercial reactors would be placed end-to-end in up to 50 cm diameter horizontal drill¬holes, a configuration that reduces mechanical stresses and keeps the temperatures below the boiling point of the brine. Other high-level wastes, such as capsules containing 137Cs and 90Sr, can be disposed in small-diameter drillholes. We provide an overview of this novel disposal concept and its technology, discuss some of its safety aspects, and compare it to mined repositories and the deep vertical borehole disposal concept.